Must-visit coffee shops when you come to Vietnam.

L'Usine -Indochina, a time to remember

Go straight down Dong Khoi Street, near the City Opera House, past the fashion centers, and you'll come across a yellowed archway adorned with paintings like a gallery. Don't turn back at the end of the street; continue through the last door of the archway, and a creative art district will surprise you.

Like an anthill, behind the small door lies a world of sophisticated and intricate architecture. The further you go inside, the more amazed you'll be by the incredibly skillful combination and utilization of space. Known as a "headquarters" for the design and creative community, with an integrated restaurant-cafe, art exhibition, and fashion showroom, the French-style café L'Usine is located on the first floor of an apartment building on Dong Khoi Street.

Right at the entrance to the staircase is a gallery of copied paintings, souvenirs, and a fashion shop. The space, with its strong French architectural style, has been listed among the world's most creative cafes. The cafe's appeal lies not only in its meticulously curated collection of antiques, including Brazilian flip-flops and Lomo cameras, but also in its selection of pastries that draw in food connoisseurs.home-madeThe aroma of cheese, or a plate of food with bread, salad, and spaghetti, all exquisitely presented.

• L'Usine
• 1st Floor, 151/5 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Tel: 028 6674 9565
   

Cafe RuNam -A moment of silence in the street

Café RuNam offers a moment of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy city. It is designed according to...conceptRuNam, in particular, surprises newcomers with its meticulous attention to detail in decoration and design. Combining the classic charm of European streets with the rustic elegance of Vietnam, from the stone blocks and lighting fixtures to the wooden and lacquered gift boxes and the antique Dong Gia ceramic teacups, RuNam offers a very private corner for intimate conversations.

Café RuNam is renowned for its distinctive coffee quality, carefully selected from various coffee beans across Vietnam. A unique feature is the basalt rock brought from the highlands, a natural habitat for coffee plants. On a weekend afternoon, relax by the hand-embroidered lampshade and savor a cup of rich, bitter Robusta black coffee, treating yourself to a moment of Saigon's tranquility from the 1960s.

• Cafe Runam
• 96 Mac Thi Buoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• 202 Pasteur Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
• 65 Le Loi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• government:www.caferunam.com

Khanhcasa Tea House -Romantic green garden

Located in prime city locations, Khanhcasa Tea House captivates with its cool, mint-colored ambiance nestled amidst lush green gardens, featuring various types of relaxing seating. A haven for classic tea ceremonies, Khanhcasa Tea House showcases an elegant tea-drinking style through meticulous attention to detail: from bone china tea sets – considered a high-class type of porcelain – to hand-embroidered tablecloths and handcrafted glass tea strainers.

For tea connoisseurs, the catalog of over 365 diverse tea varieties, ranging from Vietnamese teas to imported teas from around the world such as England, France, Germany, and the USA, is a true "tea library." It's a unique and diverse world where friends can share stories about culture and life.

• Khanhcasa Tea House
• 48-50 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• L2 – 01 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Café Giảng -A place in Hanoi steeped in the colors of time.

In Hanoi, amidst countless cafes of all styles and shapes, people often seek out old-fashioned, traditional cafes steeped in history. One such example is Café Giảng. From its ambiance to the flavor of its coffee, it evokes memories of an ancient, elegant Hanoi, marked by the ups and downs of time.

Giang is the perfect place for tourists to learn about Hanoi's culinary culture through a steaming, fragrant, and rich cup of egg coffee. It's one of the oldest coffee brands in Hanoi, founded by Mr. Nguyen Van Giang, a former bartender at the Metropole Hotel during the French colonial era. The famous egg coffee at Giang was a variation of the cappuccino he made while working at the Metropole. From egg coffee, egg cocoa, egg coffee with mung beans, to rum egg coffee, egg beer, and even a modern twist with matcha egg, all the drinks are made with eggs as the main ingredient.

Egg coffee is even more delicious, especially when enjoyed in the cold winter weather of Hanoi. The coffee is served piping hot, so it's best enjoyed immediately to savor the bitter coffee in your mouth, blending with the rich, creamy egg flavor. If you're afraid of the bitterness of the coffee, you can switch to a fragrant egg cocoa, perfect for those with a sweet tooth.

• Café Giảng
• 39 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Café Lâm -Coffee and antique paintings

Café Lâm has two locations in Hanoi, but I still prefer sitting outside, under the eaves of an old house, sipping coffee and watching the people go by. Despite being located on one of the busiest streets in the city center, stepping inside the café doesn't give you the feeling of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Perhaps this is due to the impressive antique paintings depicting people and streets of Hanoi, the self-portraits accompanied by signatures of renowned painters like Bui Xuan Phai, Duong Bich Lien, Nguyen Sang, and musicians, writers, and poets such as Van Cao, To Hoai, Nguyen Hong, and The Lu…

Founded in 1952 in Chi Linh flower garden, Café Lam takes its name from its first owner, Mr. Nguyen Van Lam. In 1960, the café officially relocated to Nguyen Huu Huan Street, where it is today. The recipe for roasting and grinding 100% pure coffee beans has been passed down through generations, ensuring the coffee's unique flavor. That's why my British friend Hugo decided to travel thousands of kilometers to Vietnam just to enjoy this renowned coffee!

• Drink Lam
• 60 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
• 91 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Café Mê Linh -Go up the mountain to drink civet coffee.

Located on the outskirts of the city, more than 20km from the center, to get here you'll cross the Ta Nung pass, visit the buckwheat fields of Van Duc Pagoda, and enjoy incredibly beautiful roads lined with green pine trees. Then you'll arrive at Me Linh Garden Coffee, a small plantation in the countryside of Da Lat. From the coffee shop, you can comfortably admire a 360-degree view of the entire city of Da Lat with Cam Ly Reservoir right in front. In the distance, you'll see a coniferous forest nestled among the mountain slopes. And right below you lies an entire coffee farm.

Café Mê Linh attracts customers with its high-quality, pure coffee, especially civet coffee. Here, you can order a cup of pure coffee made from Robusta or Arabica beans and observe the roasting and grinding process. If you like, you can freely stroll around the plantation, observe civets dozing off, their paws clutching red coffee beans, and even learn about the drying process of civet droppings to collect the beans. A unique feature, like most coffee farms in Da Lat, is that the beans are naturally sun-dried, resulting in a fragrant and rich-flavored coffee. Enjoying a rich, iced brown coffee right in the middle of the highlands – why not?

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

Northernmost Cafe -Lolo People's Coffee

As the only cafe located in the Lo Lo Chai village of Ha Giang, as its name suggests, the Northernmost Cafe is situated in the far north of Vietnam, approximately 1.4km from the Lung Cu flagpole and less than 1km from the border marker with Yunnan province, China.

Following the dirt road up to the highest point on the map of Vietnam, passing through the small wooden gate leading to the Northernmost Cafe, this is perhaps the only place in Vietnam where you can enjoy a cup of coffee when the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, or even colder in winter. Located on the Dong Van Stone Plateau, at the foot of Long Son Mountain, the Northernmost Cafe is a familiar stop for those who love adventurous travel.

This was originally a traditional Lolo house built of clay, with a red kitchen, smoked meat, children running and playing in the yard, a small cat nestled in the corner… The Northernmost Cafe is small, and doesn't offer a wide variety of choices, mostly just coffee, green tea, and corn liquor. But treating yourself to a cup of coffee in the far north of the country, or sipping a glass of corn liquor fermented from spring water at the mountain's source, is an unparalleled and delightful experience.

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

Hue Café Roastery -Impressive atmosphere of a traditional Hue-style coffee shop.

Located on one of the busiest streets in ancient Hue, opposite a tranquil river, Hue Café Rostery is nestled on the second floor of an old Hue-style house. The small path leading up to the café is subtly scented with the ancient fragrance of incense, mirroring the very antique charm of the building itself.

Hue Café Rostery's interior exudes the charm of old Hue, with its antique wooden tables and chairs and artistically patterned iron windows, considered a benchmark of traditional architecture.

What truly captivates visitors is the special coffee, ground entirely by hand to create a unique, traditional flavor unlike anywhere else. Many who come and taste it still praise it as "premium coffee with a rich, traditional flavor."

Sitting on the balcony of Hue Café Rostery at sunset, watching the stream of people, occasionally hearing the calls of street vendors, you will feel as if you are reliving familiar emotions, a Hue that is so peaceful and profound.

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

Café 79 -There's a tranquil corner of Da Nang.

Amidst the ever-changing landscape of Da Nang, there are still places that retain their inherent simplicity, like Café 79, which has existed for nearly 30 years. Located on one of the busiest streets in Da Nang, the café always remains peaceful, unaffected by the hustle and bustle of the city.

Café 79 impresses with its bougainvillea vines covering the walkway, dotted with tiny blossoms, and its rustic sign, painted a long time ago, still intact. The small house is designed in French architecture with low, nostalgic yellow walls and yellow doors that remain closed, letting only a few rays of sunlight through.

Guests can choose to sit outdoors or indoors, on small tables and chairs, chatting with friends or simply watching the street. Against a backdrop of soft music, the sounds of stirring sugar in an early morning coffee, the gentle chatter of people, or the honking of cars outside fill the air.

In the morning, come here and feel the fresh air of this beautiful seaside city, and treat yourself to a signature hot milk coffee to feel all your worries melt away and disappear into thin air.

• Cafe 79
• 107 Hoang Dieu Street, Da Nang City

Reaching Out Tea House -The beauty of silence

Located in an old house in Hoi An, Reaching Out tea house embodies the inherent rustic and nostalgic charm. With the spirit of "The Beauty of Silence," upon entering, you will be surprised by the unusually tranquil atmosphere.

The staff at Reaching Out are all hearing-impaired, so communication here is conducted in a unique way. Each table has a small wooden tray containing a stack of paper, seven small wooden pieces with common service keywords, and two pencils. Customers order by writing down their requests on the paper, or if they need more drinks or want to pay, they simply place the piece of wood with the request on the table, and a staff member will come over and bring what they asked for.

Reaching Out Tea House boasts an indoor space with rustic wooden tables and chairs, and two large windows near the entrance that offer prime views of the charming old town and the vibrant bougainvillea blossoms. Alternatively, you can choose to sit in the picturesque backyard garden, filled with greenery and bathed in sunlight. What could be more refined than enjoying a cup of herbal tea while immersing yourself in nature?

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

U Café -Vietnamese-Japanese Eco-House

Located away from the old town, Cafe U, owned by Ms. Usuda Reiko (former Secretary-General of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association of Kawasaki City, Japan), is known to many tourists as the "green house." The building's architecture is constructed primarily from brick, wood, and bamboo. The interior design also follows modern green architecture trends, is environmentally friendly, and distinctly Japanese. This is complemented by fusion cuisine and the traditional Japanese custom of bowing to guests upon entry.

The unique 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 drainage system combined with regular water quality tests, ensuring high standards of hygiene and safety.

Café U has been voted one of the most beautiful places to watch the sunset in Hoi An, thanks to the peaceful beauty of the Hoai River in front of it. It has its own unique beauty at any time of day. You can enjoy tranquility by relaxing on the wicker chairs by the cool lotus pond, reading a book, and experiencing Hoi An in your own special way.

• U CAFE
• 120 Huyen Tran Cong Chua Street, Thanh Nam Ward, Hoi An

Dragonfly Coffee -Coffee on the hill

Dragonfly Cafe is considered the "Peak of Duong Dong" due to its prime location offering panoramic views of the town center. The cafe impresses visitors with its spacious, green surroundings and beautiful views.

The drinks here are diverse, with separate menus for daytime and evening, averaging from 35,000 to 40,000 VND. From the cafe, you can enjoy panoramic views of the sea, sky, river, and mountains of Phu Quoc. The cafe is located on a hill, and the sign from the road is quite small, making it a bit difficult to find. Therefore, if you're coming from the town center, when you reach the Sao Mai Hotel, turn onto the red dirt road and go straight up to reach the cafe.

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

Article by: Cac Truc, Que Lan, Trung An

Photo: Kira Creative & Nha Coi and team of authors

The Thanh