Coffee and the Hanoians

TheHanoians drink a lot of the dark, caffeinated beverage and prefersipping their stronger blends outside in front of a small shop withsome sweet milk and a spoonful of sugar. Every morning, on hot days ofsummer and cold and dull days of winter, you can easily see some herewith a cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

Street Coffee…

Soakingup the rhythms of the street and embracing Hanoi from all of its sides,from old to new ones, and from traditional to modern & quirky ones,you will tenderly recognize that, nothing can be better refresh usafter hardworking hours than a cup of coffee on a street near SwordLake (Hoan Kiem Lake).

Baskingwith sunshine in the afternoon when there’s less noise fromautomobiles, Hanoi ends a day and opens a new paradise for cultureexperiences. Taking over a legacy from bygone years with theinvolvement of an irresistible French factor, the Vietnamese haveembraced café culture in a great way. There are so many famous coffeeshops in Hanoi, like Nang café (6 Hang Bac), Nhan (39D1 Hang Hanh),Quat (Quan Thanh), Quynh (Bat Dan) to Giang (Hang Gai and Lam (60, 91Nguyen Huu Huan)… Chairs are small, literally child-sized, and aresometimes made of blue plastic or painted wood. The tables are coveredwith glasses of ca phe den (black coffee) or ca phe sua da (iced coffee), which come with their own picturesque drip top. Not only just for connoisseurs,  these places are idea for having gossip, meeting old friends, talking to pass  time of day, stealing precious moments for romantics …

Now, let’s follow a coffee connoisseur…

A good example of the authentic Hanoi cafés is Hang Hanh, an atmospheric slender street veering off the city’s central Hoan Kiem Lake.In the afternoon, one may find himself inexplicably drawn to its’wall-to-wall cafés which unfold below the shady boughs of leafy trees.Here, the annoying young and cool Vietnamese often sit and watch theworld in front of their eyes. In late afternoon, with the last rays ofsunshine, the place starts to buzz. At weekends, it is positivelyheaving with dating couples or gangs of youths desiring to be couples.

If this sounds too frenetic, a more subdued place like Giang Café can be chosen! Though situated in a busy tourist shopping street, the tiny confined Giang Café attracts the serious permanent coffee lovers and soccer addicts.  

Cyclo cafe in Hanoi

Yet, if you ask me about my favorite one, I will not hesitate to answer that it is Quynh Café.Down in a quiet side street, this unassuming cafes’ entrance is markedby a simple red lantern and ornate ironwork doors. Stepping inside, younot only see the bamboo furniture on tiled floor but also the tinyplants adorn wooden shuttered windows. Looking on damp-streaked walls,you may surprise with wooden arrows and trumpets, farming implementsand ancient hunting pistols. Breathing the cool air from the antiquatedtable-fan, wallowing in soft French background music, you will desireto stay longer...

Coffee drinking from another approach

Theresurgence of tourism to these fragrant shores has led to theresurrection of the wonderful old ambience of former colonial times inmany Hanoi cafés. Delightful cafés are now housed in elegantFrench-style villas with exquisite silk prints, meticulously polishedwooden floors and pot-planted courtyards or serve delicious food allday and evening. Street cafés like the La Terrasse du Metropole on NgoQuyen and Le Phung Hieu or Highlands Café, 84 Nguyen Du are the typicalexamples!

Hanoi’s coffee culture calls on coffee addicts from every corner of the globe!