Badminton space and autumn chestnut bread at La Cuesta, a Gonjiam café

La Cuesta Gwangju: a large café near Hwadam Botanic Garden

La Cuesta Gwangju is a large two-story bakery café on Gyeongchung-daero in Gonjiam. It's close to Hwadam Botanic Garden, so if you're looking for a large café in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, it's worth a visit at least once. Fall is coming and crowds will flock to Hwadam Botanic Garden, so I'd recommend adding this to your Gwangju itinerary.

This is a place I keep going back to, and the café is quite a bit bigger than you'd expect — a genuinely large café.

With two floors, there's a really wide variety of seating. Besides indoor seats, there are outdoor tables too, so on a nice day it's great to spend time relaxing outside.

They were also selling gift sets for Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving). The packaging was pretty and there was a special Chuseok discount, so a lot of people were buying them!

How much seating does La Cuesta have?

What I liked most was how many tables there are. Even at large cafés it can sometimes be tricky to find a spot, but La Cuesta has plenty of seating, so it looked easy to find a place even with a group. It's a good atmosphere for taking a break while sightseeing near Hwadam Botanic Garden, or just chatting comfortably.

What's in the La Cuesta bakery case?

There's a wide variety of bread, so it's a fun large café in Gwangju to browse — it's tasty enough that you'd think it was a dedicated bakery, with lots of different breads to try.

Autumn chestnut bread

The autumn chestnut bread is stuffed generously with chestnuts inside. It wasn't dense — the air pockets were just right, and it was delicious.

Rice white roll chestnut bread

I also picked the rice white roll chestnut bread. I chose breads with different textures so I could enjoy a variety.

La Cuesta latte

The La Cuesta latte, which sounds like the café's signature menu just from the name, was delicious too!

It wasn't too heavy, and the coffee and sweetness blended well, making it a great match with the bakery items. Personally, bread and latte go so well together that it's a menu combo I can safely recommend to anyone visiting the café.

Watermelon juice

It's getting cool out, so I wasn't sure watermelon juice would be tasty out of season, but it was surprisingly great.

You could really taste the refreshing, clean flavor unique to watermelon. Rather than tasting like watermelon syrup, it really tasted like it was made from blended watermelon, so I enjoyed it a lot.

Outdoor tables with a fountain view

The two drinks matched perfectly in color too. I ate at an outdoor table, and it was great to relax while watching the fountain.

A lot of people take photos here too. Full of atmosphere — watching the fountain. On a nice day, sitting at an outdoor table is definitely the way to go.

Can you pack leftover bread to go?

If you're too full to eat everything right away, they'll pack it up for you.

You can pack it up and open it again later. The packaging is neat and easy to handle, and they even provide plastic gloves.

Packed up, just like that! The bakery is famous enough that some people come just to buy bread.

Soft, fluffy rice white roll. Since it's made with 100% rice, it feels somehow healthier? I enjoyed it a lot.

Badminton and basketball above the café

What's special about La Cuesta! There's a space above the café where you can do outdoor activities.

There's a space for badminton or basketball, so rather than just a café you grab coffee at and leave, it's a great spot to spend time with family or friends!

I played a quick round of badminton. Being able to enjoy this kind of activity too — lucky!

If you're looking for a large café near Hwadam Botanic Garden, or a place where you can enjoy delicious bakery items and coffee together, I recommend giving La Cuesta Gwangju a visit~~