Namhansanseong café with decaf flat white and long sausage bread: Sum

A large bakery café near Namhansanseong in Gwangju, Gyeonggi: Café Sum.

• You can see a lush green countryside view all at once, which is so relaxing on the eyes. Great atmosphere!
• Lots of good coffee and bakery options. The Americano has no sourness — good. And it's a flat white gem!

Where is café Sum, and what are its hours and parking?

• Address: 108-11 Ojeon-gil, Namhansanseong-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Weekdays 10:00–20:30, weekends 10:00–21:30
• Break time: None
• Last order: Weekdays 20:00, weekends 21:00
• Parking: Easy, right in front of the café

I wanted to drive past Namhansanseong and stop by a café, so we did. The parking lot at Sum is big, so parking was easy.

The look of café Sum from outside

A pretty striking exterior — looks exactly like the kind of large café in Gwangju you'd want to seek out, right?

This is the entrance. From outside it looks pretty closed off before you go in, but once you're inside, the floor-to-ceiling window view is amazing :)

Inside Sum: window seats, terrace and the second-floor Jajak Stay

First floor of Sum

The moment you walk in, an open view and a display full of delicious-looking bread — 👍

One whole side is a floor-to-ceiling window, so the view is gorgeous. The seats aren't packed tightly together either, so I could relax comfortably.

The first-floor terrace

Maybe because it's autumn, there was a gentle breeze on the outdoor terrace, and the atmosphere was great. Even though the sky was overcast, the greenery everywhere made it easy on the eyes.

Second floor of Sum

There's a second floor too, and it was even better.

Going outside, there's also a way up to the rooftop, and we took photos at the bottom of the stairs — they turned out great 👍🏻

Jajak Stay on the second floor

There's a space that connects from the second floor, so I went to check it out — it's called Jajak Stay, and it felt like a separate little annex. It was full of autumn atmosphere, so great for photos here too!

Menu prices at café Sum

Here's the menu board at this large Gwangju bakery café. Americano is ₩6,500 and café latte is ₩7,000. Great that they have decaf too! Just keep in mind these are large-café prices :)

What bread does Sum bake?

So many bakery items, right? Perfect if you're coming to this large Gwangju café specifically for the bread. Salt bread, ang-butter salt bread, briquette bread, mammoth bread, mont blanc, mocha buns, sausage bread, cakes — a huge variety anyone would enjoy. I wanted to eat it all, but as a pregnant mom watching her blood sugar, I had to hold back 😂

What we ordered at Sum

• New York cheesecake ₩7,500
• Green onion cream cheese salt bread ₩5,500
• Long sausage pastry ₩5,800
• Americano ₩6,500
• Decaf flat white ₩8,000

How did the green onion cream cheese salt bread and long sausage pastry taste?

I decided today was just a cheat day and had bread and coffee instead of lunch. We ordered two kinds of bread, cheesecake, and coffee.

It's been such a long time since I've had bread that's actually delicious instead of sugar-free...

I picked something hearty since I was eating it as a meal replacement. The green onion cream cheese salt bread is huge — plenty for a meal! The tasty salt bread has cream cheese and chives drizzled generously in between.

There's a generous amount of green onion cream cheese packed inside, and it was delicious. The salt bread itself is plain, which makes it pair even better ~

My husband picked the long, slender sausage pastry. Looks like fried onion flakes on top, and they were crispy and tasty.

Inside the pastry-like bread was a plump, juicy sausage — the texture and taste of the bread were both great.

The cheesecake was a bit on the sweet side, but soft enough to melt in your mouth :)

I hadn't had coffee at all through most of my pregnancy, but now that I'm in the third trimester, I figured it should be okay, so I ordered a decaf flat white and an Americano. The iced Americano had no sourness, so it'd be perfect for people who like that, and the flat white was rich and delicious even though it was decaf. It had been so long since I'd had one — it was honestly so, so good! Haha.

Who is café Sum best for?

If you're looking for a large café in Gwangju, I think Sum is worth a stop. It's a bit further in past Namhansanseong, good for a drive, and the floor-to-ceiling window opens onto a countryside view that clears your head instantly. Both the bread and the coffee are great, so it's a lovely place to unwind. I was so happy to have a café date after such a long time :D