New York Times recommends HCMC's finest cafes

Vietnam, a key player in the global coffee industry, ranks second among coffee exporter with an annual revenue of $3 billion. The U.S. newspaper labeled Vietnam as "the java giant of Southeast Asia."

For those craving authenticity in Vietnam, The New York Times recommends seven cafes in Ho Chi Minh City: Café Cheo Leo, Lacaph, 96B, The Workshop, Little Hanoi Egg Coffee, Bel, and Ca Phe Vot.

For added richness, customers can request a dab of French butter to their drinks at Cheo Leo. Photo courtesy of Cheo Leo Cafe

Located at 109/36 Nguyen Thien Thuat Street, District 3, Cheo Leo is one of Saigon's oldest coffee shops. Established in the late 1930s, it offers a blend of robusta, arabica and culi (also called peaberry) beans, brewed over a charcoal fire and mixed with condensed milk.

Lacaph, with branches at 151 Dong Khoi Street and 220A Nguyen Cong Tru Street, both in District 1, serves a variety of coffee blends, including lemonade with coffee-blossom honey and house coconut coffee. The café's exhibition space showcases coffee history and offers themed classes, providing insight into Vietnam's coffee culture.

A group of tourists partake in a coffee workshop at 96B. Photo courtesy of 96B Experiment

96B, located at 96B Phan Ngu Street, District 1, offers workshops on bean roasting and latte art. Alongside hand-brewed Vietnamese coffees with detailed flavor descriptions, the shop also serves experimental drinks.

The Workshop, situated at 27 Ngo Duc Ke Street, District 1, provides various coffee beans and preparation methods, including high-tech options like the siphon, which brews coffee using vapor pressure and gravity.

Little Hanoi Egg Coffee has three branches in Saigon, all in District 1, at 119/5 Yersin Street, 212 Le Lai Street, and 169L Ky Con Street. They specialize in serving the classic Hanoi-style egg coffee, made with whipped egg yolk, condensed milk, sugar, and vanilla flavoring.

Situated at 40/8 Pham Viet Chanh Street, Binh Thanh District, Bel offers a minimalist, gallery-like atmosphere where patrons enjoy espresso drinks, juice blends, and house-roasted beans to go.

Ca Phe Vot, nicknamed "racket coffee," is a quaint café operating round the clock at 330/2 Phan Dinh Phung Street in Phu Nhuan District. Their method of brewing robusta coffee involves placing ground coffee into nets and pouring hot water onto it, a practice maintained since the 1960s. The café stays busy throughout the day, serving over 500 cups daily.

 

 

New York Times recommends HCMC's finest cafes

Racket coffee. It’s not rocket science.