Basic HTML Version
timeout
33
beverage is ordered, especially in the
South. A cold green tea chaser is the
accepted way to rinse any lingering
bitterness from your tongue. If you’re
ready to embark on your own coffee
tour of Saigon, grab a map and prepare
to be impressed.
Streetside coffee
Just outside the Caravelle Hotel’s en-
trance on Dong Khoi are the chic and
contemporary spaces of L’usine, but like
many places in Saigon, you won’t find
it directly on the main street. To find
L’usine, one must enter through the art
arcade at 151 Dong Khoi and turn right at
the parking lot before seeing any signage
for the cafe. L’usine is a perfect example
of how the Saigon cafe has evolved to
suit its youthful, creative crowd.
To see how it’s managed to pre-
serve its French colonial past, walk a
few blocks down Dong Khoi, turn right
and cross Nguyen Hue to find Kita
Coffee. Located in an old French villa,
Kita’s second floor terrace retains its
beautiful tiled floors and wrought iron
railings. Customers have a pleasant,
breezy perch overlooking the Saigon
River and one of the city’s most impor-
tant boulevards.
From Kita Coffee, Pasteur street
is just a block away, and it’s here that
you will find La Fenetre Soleil, another
French-inspired corner cafe that is also
a favorite choice for cozy after-dinner
drinks. You will, of course, have to
locate the blink-and-you-miss-it en-
trance and ascend an ancient stairway
before you can set eyes on this charm-
ing, airy space.
Down the street from La Fene-
tre Soleil are the wide pavements sur-
rounding the park and the Notre Dame
Cathedral. Aside from the lawn chair
setups along the Bach Dang pier and
the Saigon River, this is perhaps the
best place in town to pull up a plastic
stool and just enjoy the view.
Ready to go local? Head to District
3, where Cafe 42 has long occupied a
prime spot on the Turtle Circle rounda-
bout. If you’re feeling wired already,
relax with a pot of fragrant Vietnamese
tea. Near the Turtle Circle you’ll also
spot Cafe Napoli on Pham Ngoc Thach.
An endlessly popular hangout, Napoli
has comfy indoor and outdoor seating
and sports a baffling mish-mash of de-
cor that somehow enhances the easy-
going ambience. When this all gets a
bit too much, retreat to Hideaway Cafe
further down Pham Ngoc Thach. This
lovingly preserved villa has been con-
verted into a calming cafe-restaurant
catering to locals and expats alike.
Whatever you’re looking for in a
cafe, it’s likely you’ll find it in Saigon.
This city turns cafes upside down (liter-
ally - check out Up Cafe in District 3),
makes fairy tale scenes a reality (Prin-
cess and the Pea in District 1) and builds
space for friendship and fun around the
remains of its conflict-filled past (Air-
plane Cafe in Tan Binh).
With its thriving coffee production,
multi-cultural influences and pool of
creative entrepreneurs, Vietnam holds
the recipe to one of the world’s most
fascinating coffee cultures.