Quiet weekend Namhansanseong café with purple sweet potato latte: Sum

Looking for a quiet Namhansanseong café on the weekend and finding Sum

Sum (SOOM) is a big Namhansanseong café that's perfect for a quick escape from Seoul, on a weekend or a weekday afternoon. Honestly, I hadn't planned on coming here at all. I'd first gone to a valley café that's all over Instagram. Wow.. it was unbelievably crowded. And maybe because it's a spot that's good for kids, there were children everywhere and it was just so chaotic T_T

But I came to Namhansanseong on the weekend to heal!! I didn't want to spend my time somewhere this hectic. So I went looking for cafés nearby and stumbled on one I really liked. A big café that hardly anyone knows about, with no crowds.. you know how hard that is to find, right? And with a floor-to-ceiling window view on top of that..

I liked Sum so much that I wanted to share it on my blog, so I ordered drinks and took photos, and then thought, 'There's no way it's on a sponsorship site..?' I checked, and it was on the list, so I got a refund and paid again as a sponsored visit.. haha. Please know that even if it hadn't been sponsored, I would have posted about it because I wanted to recommend it!!

How big is Sum from the outside?

Sum in Namhansanseong uses two whole buildings, the main building and the annex. You can tell how huge it is just from the exterior. I never expected such a big café around here, so my eyes went wide the moment I got out of the car.

This photo was taken from the terrace inside Sum! It's also the way in from the parking lot to the café!

Sum's location and how to get there

Sum is easy to find, right on the main road of the scenic drive that climbs the mountain from the Baegun Valley or rotary side of Namhansanseong. Public transport is a hassle, though, so I recommend planning it as a car outing.

Is parking at Sum easy?

Sum has a free dedicated parking lot, so parking was super convenient. Even on a weekend the lot was roomy. You can park right in front of the building, and there's more parking just below. Recommended if you're looking for a café near Seoul with easy parking!

Sum's hours and closing days

• Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Closed: every Monday (except public holidays)

Is there a wait on weekends?

Sum seems to be a newly built Namhansanseong café that not many people know about yet. It's big but peaceful, so it was great for a weekend visit. Highly recommended if you don't want to get jostled in a crowded weekend café! Looking for a quiet weekend café near Seoul? It's Sum, haha.

Main building 1st floor: bakery display and big windows

Come in through the entrance and you're on the main building's 1st floor, with the bakery display and the order/pickup counter right there.

This is the main building's 1st floor from above! There were lots of kinds of bread and it all looked very fresh. I'll tell you more about the bakery menu below :)

The first thing you notice inside Sum is the huge window filling the wall. Beyond the frame spreads the green forest of Namhansanseong, and even sitting indoors you get an open, outdoorsy feeling. There's an outdoor terrace if you go outside too, which I'll introduce below!

Main building 2nd floor: my favorite window seat and the disappointing blinds

The view from the stairs up to Sum's main building 2nd floor is really pretty. The fresh green outside and the stylish café interior go together beautifully.

I visited around 11 a.m., maybe that's why, but the blinds were down at the side seats, which was a bit of a shame. The view would have been so much prettier with them up! I want to show off this view..!

Still, if you go to the very back of the main building's 2nd floor, there's a spot where you can enjoy the wide-open window view. With so few people, I could sit wherever I wanted, which was great. This is my favorite seat ❤️

What do you think? Just looking at the view feels healing, doesn't it..? I think it would be great for anyone looking for a café near Seoul for working on a laptop, a quiet café, or a café where you can heal with nature views!

Annex 1st floor: projector music room

When you cross from Sum's main building to the annex, there's a projector music room on the 1st floor. Sweet music was playing when I went in. I heard this space can also be rented!

Annex 2nd floor: cozier, moodier interior than the main building

When you come up to Sum's annex 2nd floor, the mood changes a little, but you can still fully enjoy the nature view through the same big windows.

The annex feels a bit cozier than the main building, right? To me, the main building is stylish and clean, while the annex has a more sentimental, atmospheric interior.

Sum's outdoor terrace: when is it nice to sit?

There's an outdoor terrace in front of Sum's main building and annex. On a summer afternoon it would be too hot for the outdoor tables, but in spring and fall I think sitting on the terrace would be wonderful. Green views and birdsong, total healing is possible! Even in summer, maybe it's fine after the sun goes down a bit!

With everything around so green, I think people who want Instagram-style photos will love it. But did you know Sum has more outdoor space besides the 1st-floor terrace tables? There are two rooftops!

Two rooftops: main building and annex

You can reach Sum's rooftops from the 2nd floors of the main building and the annex. Both have a similar layout, and what I liked was the glass railings and being able to see the Namhansanseong forest around the café from even higher up.

From the annex rooftop you can see the main building and Namhansan forest all at once. Looks perfect for zoning out at the trees and grass, doesn't it?

Sum's menu and order policy

Sum requires one drink per person. These days that seems standard at any café, honestly. The main drinks are the mocha cream latte, vanilla bean latte, Bora Bora lemonade and honey grapefruit black tea.

We'd had coffee in the morning, so I ordered the purple sweet potato latte and my friend ordered the Bora Bora lemonade, but looking at it now, I'm really curious about the chestnut-skin (bonnae) chestnut latte?!

Sum as a Namhansanseong bakery café

I'd also recommend Sum as a Namhansanseong bakery café, because there are so many kinds of bread.

I was planning to go for lunch afterward, so I didn't order any bakery items, but there are a lot of reviews saying Sum's bakery is delicious.

You know how you can kind of tell just by looking whether bread will be good or not..? Lol. The fact that it looked moist and fresh made me think, ah, this is a bakery worth visiting.

There weren't as many cakes as baked goods, but the black sesame cake looked really delicious..!

Purple sweet potato latte vs Bora Bora lemonade: how sweet were they?

Sadly I left the bakery for next time and carried just the drinks up to Sum's 2nd floor. The iced purple sweet potato latte and the Bora Bora lemonade, aren't both colors so pretty..? And the name Bora Bora lemonade is so cute.. haha.

For me, the purple sweet potato latte was just sweet enough and the Bora Bora lemonade felt very sweet. But my friend said the opposite, the purple sweet potato latte wasn't sweet and the Bora Bora lemonade was just right.. lol. For the record, I don't like sweet things, so my friend's taste is probably more typical, haha. We each ordered the drink that suited us, and from the space to the drinks we were very satisfied.

Who Sum is recommended for

Sum (SOOM) in Namhansanseong was a big café where I really liked the wide-open window views and the pleasant terrace. If you're looking for a quiet café with open views that isn't crowded even on weekends, around Namhansanseong or Gwangju, Gyeonggi, or a café near Seoul that's good for working on weekends, I highly recommend Sum in Namhansanseong!