Coffee spaces not to be missed when coming to Vietnam

L'Usine -Indochina, a time to remember

Go straight on Dong Khoi Street, near the City Opera House, pass the fashion centers, you will come across a yellow archway full of paintings like a gallery. Don't turn around when you reach the end of the street, but continue to walk through the door at the end of the archway, a creative art district will appear that will surprise you.

Like an ant cave, behind the small door is a world of sophisticated and complex architecture. The further you go inside, the more you will be amazed by the combination and clever use of space. Known as a "headquarters" of the community that loves design and creativity with an integrated restaurant - cafe, art exhibition and fashion display area, the French-style cafe L'Usine is located on the first floor of the apartment building on Dong Khoi Street.

Right at the entrance of the stairs is a gallery of copied paintings, souvenir paintings and a fashion shop. The space has a strong French architectural style, once ranked in the list of the most creative cafes in the world. The attraction of the shop is not only the elaborate antique collection with Brazilian flip-flops, Lomo cameras... This place also attracts the footsteps of gourmets with its cakes.homemadea cheesy aroma, or a plate of food with bread, salad, spaghetti decorated delicately.

• L'Usine
• 1st Floor, 151/5 Dong Khoi, District 1, HCMC
• Tel: 028 6674 9565
   

Cafe RuNam -Silence in the middle of the street

Café RuNam offers a moment of silence amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy city. Designed according toconceptRuNam surprises those who first set foot in it with its meticulousness in decoration and design details. With the classic European vibe combined with the rustic Vietnamese features, from the stone blocks, the lighting system, to the wooden and lacquer gift boxes or the Dong Gia antique ceramic cups, RuNam offers a very private corner for intimate conversations.

Café RuNam is famous for its distinctive coffee quality, selected from different types of coffee beans from all regions of Vietnam. The interesting highlight here is the basalt rock brought back from the highlands, the habitat of coffee trees. On a weekend afternoon, indulge yourself with a hand-embroidered lampshade and a cup of bitter black coffee with a strong Robusta aroma, giving yourself a moment of silence in Saigon in the mid-1960s.

• Cafe Runam
• 96 Mac Thi Buoi, District 1, HCMC
• 202 Pasteur, District 3, HCMC
• 65 Le Loi, District 1, HCMC
• Website:www.caferunam.com

Khanhcasa Tea House -Romantic green garden

Located in prime locations of the city, Khanhcasa Tea House attracts with its cool mint space in the middle of a green natural garden with many types of relaxing chairs. As the home of classic tea parties, Khanhcasa Tea House introduces elegant tea-drinking style through the attention to small items: from cups made from bone china - a type of porcelain considered high-class in porcelain lines, to hand-embroidered tablecloths, hand-crafted glass tea filters.

For tea connoisseurs, the catalogue of more than 365 diverse types of tea from Vietnam to imported teas from all over the world such as England, France, Germany, America... here is a "tea library". There is a whole different and unique world for friends to share stories about culture and life.

• Khanhcasa Tea House
• 48 - 50 Dong Khoi, District 1, HCMC
• L2 – 01 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, District 1, HCMC

Giang Cafe -Where Hanoi is stained with time

In Hanoi, among countless coffee shops with all styles and shapes, people often look for old habits, traditional coffee shops with a touch of history. One of them is Giang Cafe. From the space of the shop to the flavor of the coffee contained in it, it reminds people of an ancient, elegant Hanoi through the ups and downs of time.

Giang is the perfect place for visitors to learn about the culinary culture of Hanoians through hot, delicious, and rich cups of egg coffee. This is one of the oldest coffee brands in Hanoi, founded by Mr. Nguyen Van Giang - who used to be a bartender at the Metropole Hotel during the French colonial period. Giang's famous egg coffee was adapted from the cappuccino drink when he worked at the Metropole at that time. From egg coffee, egg cocoa, green bean egg coffee, to Rum egg coffee, egg beer, and even a timely variation with egg matcha, all drinks are still made with the main ingredient of eggs.

Egg coffee is even more delicious, especially when enjoyed in the cold of Hanoi winter. The coffee is served hot, so it should be enjoyed immediately to feel every bit of bitter coffee in the mouth, mixed with the fragrant, fatty taste of eggs. If you are afraid of the bitter taste of coffee, you can switch to sipping a cup of fragrant egg cocoa, for those with a sweet tooth.

• Giang Cafe
• 39 Nguyen Huu Huan, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

Lam Cafe -Coffee and antique paintings

Café Lâm has two locations in Hanoi, but I still prefer to sit outside, under the eaves of an old house, sipping coffee and watching people passing by. Although located on the busiest street in the center, when you step into the shop, you do not feel the rush and hustle of everyday life. Perhaps it is because of the impressive ancient paintings of people and streets of Hanoi, the self-portraits with handwriting of famous painters Bui Xuan Phai, Duong Bich Lien, Nguyen Sang, musicians, writers, poets such as Van Cao, To Hoai, Nguyen Hong, The Lu...

Established in 1952 in Chi Linh flower garden, Lam café took its name from its first owner, Mr. Nguyen Van Lam. By 1960, the café was officially located on Nguyen Huu Huan as it is now. The 100% pure coffee roasting and grinding formula has been passed down through generations, to ensure the coffee has its own unique flavor. That's why my British friend Hugo decided to travel thousands of kilometers to Vietnam just to enjoy this famous coffee flavor!

• Lam Cafe
• 60 Nguyen Huu Huan, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
• 91 Nguyen Huu Huan, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

Me Linh Cafe -Go Up the Mountain to Drink Weasel Coffee

Located on the outskirts of the city, more than 20km from the center, to get here, you will cross Ta Nung pass, to the buckwheat garden of Van Duc pagoda, and the extremely beautiful roads covered with green pine trees. Then you will come to Me Linh Garden Coffee, a small plantation in the middle of the Da Lat countryside. From the coffee shop space, you can comfortably enjoy a 360-degree view of the entire Da Lat city with Cam Ly dam lake right in front. In the distance is a coniferous forest nestled between the mountain slopes. And right at your feet is a whole coffee farm.

Me Linh Cafe attracts by the quality of pure coffee, especially civet coffee. Here you can order a cup of pure coffee from Robusta or Arabica beans, observe the coffee roasting process. If you like, you can freely walk around the plantation, observe the civets dozing, holding red coffee beans, and even learn how to dry civet droppings to collect the beans. The special thing like in most coffee farms in Da Lat, here they always dry the beans naturally in the sun, so the coffee beans are fragrant and have a strong flavor. Enjoy a cup of strong iced brown coffee right in the middle of the plateau, why not?

• Me Linh Coffee Garden
• Group 20, Village 4, Ta Nung Commune, Da Lat, Lam Dong.

North Pole Cafe -Lo Lo Coffee

As the only coffee shop located in Lo Lo Chai village of Ha Giang, as its name suggests, Café Cuc Bac is located in the northernmost part of Vietnam, about 1.4km from Lung Cu flagpole and less than 1km from the border marker of Yunnan province, China.

Follow the dirt road to the highest point on the map of Vietnam, go through the small wooden gate leading to Cuc Bac cafe, this is probably the only place in Vietnam where you can sip a cup of coffee when the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, even colder when winter comes. Located on the Dong Van stone plateau, at the foot of Long Son mountain, Cuc Bac cafe is a familiar stop for those who love to travel and explore.

This is a traditional house of the Lo Lo people built from clay with a red kitchen, smoked meat, children running around the yard, a small cat hiding in the corner... Cafe Cuc Bac is small, and does not have a rich selection, only coffee, green tea and corn wine. But giving yourself a cup of coffee in the far north of the country, or sipping a glass of corn wine fermented from the mountain spring water is an incomparable experience.

• North Pole Cafe
• Lo Lo Chai, Lung Cu, Dong Van, Ha Giang.

Hue Café Rostery -Impressions of Hue's old house coffee space

Located on the busiest ancient street of Hue city, opposite the quiet river, Hue Café Rostery is nestled on the 2nd floor of an old Hue house. The small path leading to the cafe has a faint scent of old agarwood, just like the ancient look of the house.

Hue Café Rostery space is imbued with the ancient Hue style with aged wooden tables and chairs or artistic iron doors with patterns considered the standard of ancient house architecture.

The special thing that attracts customers here is the special coffee that is completely hand-ground to create a traditional coffee flavor that cannot be mistaken for anywhere else. Many people who come and enjoy it still praise this as "Premium coffee with a strong traditional flavor".

Sitting on the balcony of Hue Café Rostery on a sunset afternoon, watching the flow of people going back and forth, occasionally somewhere the cries of street vendors are heard, you will feel like you are reliving familiar emotions, a Hue that is so peaceful and profound.

• Hue Café Rostery
• 2nd Floor - 131 Huynh Thuc Khang, Hue City

Café 79 -There is a peaceful corner of Da Nang

Amidst the daily changes of Da Nang, some of the original simplicity is still preserved, such as Café 79, which has existed for nearly 30 years. The shop is located on one of the busiest streets in Da Nang, but it is always peaceful, regardless of the hustle and bustle of the crowded city.

Café 79 impresses with its bougainvillea trellis covering the entire walkway, dotted with tiny flowers, and the rustic signboard painted a long time ago that is still intact. The small house is designed in French architecture with low, nostalgic yellow walls and closed yellow doors that only let in a few rays of sunlight.

Guests can choose to sit outdoors or indoors, on small tables and chairs, chatting with friends or simply watching the street. In the background music, there is the sound of sugar being stirred in a cup of early morning coffee, people laughing and talking or the sound of car horns on the street.

Come here in the morning, feel the fresh air of the beautiful coastal city and reward yourself with a cup of hot milk coffee to feel all your worries disappear and drift away into nothingness.

• Café 79
• 107 Hoang Dieu, Da Nang City

Reaching Out Tea House -The beauty of silence

Located in an ancient house in Hoi An, Reaching Out Tea Shop has its inherent rusticity and nostalgia. With the spirit of “The beauty of silence”, as soon as you step in here, you will be surprised by the unusually quiet space.

The staff at Reaching Out are deaf, so all communication here will be conveyed in a very unique way. On each table is placed a small wooden tray, on top of which is a pad of paper, seven small wooden pieces with common keywords in service written on them, and two pencils. Customers will order by writing what they want on the paper, or when you need to order more drinks or pay, you just need to put the wooden piece with the writing on it on the table, the staff will pass by and bring what you request.

Reaching Out Tea House has an indoor space with rustic wooden tables and chairs, two large windows next to the entrance door, a "prime" location because here you can admire the beautiful old town with bougainvillea flowers in front of your eyes. Or you can choose to sit in the picturesque backyard filled with green trees and bright sunlight. What more elegant pleasure is there than sitting and enjoying a cup of herbal tea and immersing yourself in nature?

• Reaching Out Tea House
• 131 Tran Phu, Hoi An

U Café -Vietnamese - Japanese ecological house

Choosing a location far from the old town, U café of Ms. Usuda Reiko (former Secretary General of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association of Kawasaki City, Japan) is known to many tourists as a "green house". The architecture of the house is built with main materials from bricks, wood, and bamboo. The interior design also follows the trend of modern green architecture, friendly to nature, and full of Japanese style. Along with that is the fusion food school and the ritual of bowing down to greet guests in the true Japanese style.

The special feature here is the environmentally friendly water filtration system. Adhering to the principle of “social and environmental balance”, U café is equipped with an ecological sewer system combined with regular water quality tests, so hygiene and safety are guaranteed.

Café U is voted as one of the most beautiful places to watch the sunset in Hoi An because of the peaceful beauty of the Hoai River in front. Any time here has its own beauty. You can enjoy the leisure by relaxing on the rattan chairs on the cool lotus pond, reading a book and feeling Hoi An in a very unique way.

• U CAFE
• 120 Huyen Tran Princess, Thanh Nam, Hoi An

Dragonfly Coffee -Coffee on the roof

Chuon Chuon Coffee is considered the "Peak of Duong Dong" because of its prime location, offering a panoramic view of the town center. The shop impresses visitors with its spacious, green space and beautiful view.

The drinks here are rich with separate menus for daytime and evening, with average prices ranging from 35,000 to 40,000 VND. From the cafe, you can look far away to see the sea, sky, river, and mountains of Phu Quoc. The cafe is located on high ground, and the sign from the street is quite small, so it is a bit difficult to find. Therefore, you should pay attention to go from the town center to Sao Mai Hotel, then turn onto the red dirt road and go straight up to reach the cafe.

• Dragonfly Coffee
• Sao Mai Hill, 69 Tran Hung Dao, Duong Dong, Phu Quoc
• Tel: 0297. 3608 883.
• Facebook:www.facebook.com/chuonchuonhilltop

Article: Bamboo, Que Lan, Trung An

Photo: Kira Creative & Nha Coi and author team

The Thanh