ca fe ca fe pho co ca fe trung coffee culture hang gai hanoi ice tea phin Sen ca fe tra da trung nguyen weasel

Coffee culture is huge here in Vietnam. In the mornings, old men gather to chat over coffee and cigarettes. In the afternoons, office workers squat on tiny sidewalk stools for their afternoon pick-me-up. In the evenings, many cafes function as bars, blasting loud music or offering karaoke. Unlike back home, this is neither a quick energy boosting pit stop nor a place to stare into a laptop. People (mostly men) come here to chat and linger for hours.


How it’s brewed
Traditional Vietnamese coffee is brewed in something called a phin, a small drip filter that sits on top of a coffee mug. Finely ground, dark roasted coffee beans from the central highlands of Vietnam are tamped down and hot water is poured into the chamber, slowing dripping a thick, strong brew into the mug (this can take up to 10 minutes!). Like elsewhere in Southeast Asia, it’s often mixed with sweetened condensed milk out of the can. Since it’s hot and sticky day and night many places in the country, it’s often brewed over ice.


How to Order

My Vietnamese is limited to Hello, Thank You, and coffee orders:

Ca Phe Nong: Hot black coffee (usually with sugar)

Ca Phe Sua Nong: Hot coffee with sweetened condensed milk

Ca Phe Da: Iced black coffee (my go-to)

Ca Phe Sua Da: Iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk (Skyler’s go-to)

What to Expect

Vietnamese coffee is served everywhere from hip, western-style cafes with comfy couches and free wi-fi to sidewalk stands where you sit on tiny stools made for 5 year olds on the side of the road (the latter being our favorite). Even bicycling out in the countryside, a house on every block has a kid selling refreshing iced coffees and tra da (iced unsweetened green tea)
Speaking of tra da, most places serve complimentary glasses to wash down all that strong coffee. We love it – we’re addicted and plan to keep a pitcher in our fridge when we get home. We almost always got it at the traditional places full of locals, but sometimes had to ask for it. Tra da is also normally available at restaurants and street stalls for just a few thousand dong, far less expensive than beer or water!


A basic coffee cost us anywhere from 6,000 VND ($.29 USD) out in the country to 30,000 VND ($1.43 USD) in fancy shops. Typically, we were paying 10-15,000 VND per cup (a few thousand extra with milk).
Quality varies widely. The best cups are chocolatey, velvety smooth, and buttery (in fact, the beans are traditionally roasted in clarified butter!). But Vietnam is also the number one exporter of Robusta beans, the cheap crap that makes up your morning cup of Folgers or instant coffee. A slightly pricey but reliably good chain we found in both Saigon and Hanoi is Trung Nguyen. Many places claim to serve their beans (but probably don’t), so seek out their cafes.


Fun Variations to Seek Out

We also found a few unique preparations we haven’t seen elsewhere…

Ca Phe Trung (Egg Coffee)Ca Phe Trung (literally egg coffee) is made by whipping a raw egg with sweetened fresh milk, then dripping coffee over the frothy mixture, which sinks to the bottom underneath the foam. This tastes like eggnog (why haven’t I thought of adding coffee to egg nog before?). On a cold winter’s night, a shot of bourbon wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. If you’re feeling extra naughty, go for the Ca Phe Trung Cacao, which is the same thing, mixed with chocolate!

Ca Phe Trung seems to be unique to Hanoi. We found it at Cafe Pho Co (11 Hang Gai, 35000 VND per cup), where you go through the back of a silk shop, through an alleyway, and up a spiral staircase onto a rooftop with a stunning view of Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi’s old quarter. For a cheaper but equally delicious version, we found it at Sen Cafe (58 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, 25000 VND per cup), where we squatted on plastic sidewalk stools watching life go by while the friendly motorbike valet practiced his English on us.  Sen Cafe also has killer homemade frozen yogurt. Try the avocado flavor!


Ca Phe Sua Chua (Yogurt Coffee)

Pictured above is Ca Phe Sua Chua Cacao Da (Iced Chocolate Yogurt coffee) also at Cafe Pho Co. Vietnamese coffee is dripped over yogurt and mixed with Milo powder (similar to Nesquik) for a sweet and sour concoction that tastes like melted coffee flavored frozen yogurt.
Weasel Coffee
Weasel Coffee is for sale at markets from north to south. Most of it is fake. If you’ve never heard of Weasel Coffee, it’s brewed from beans harvested from animal droppings. And it’s the most expensive coffee in the world. To quote Dave Barry, I’m not making this up. I tried a cup at Huong Mai in Hanoi. It was good, the best cup of coffee I had in Vietnam. But at $75 US/kilo for the real stuff (the beans above are probably fake), I’m not toting any home.




When the coffee is so cheap and so good, it’s easy to knock back a few too many!



Source: 180 degree west

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Banh beo Banh can ca fe Cong cruise fathom hoi an my quang old street river siesta street food thit nuong vendors

Foreword
Before we begin our InstaGuide to Vietnam street food, let's start with a cruise down Hoi An's river.


Step 1: Forget the Guidebooks
Do not be fooled by English menus in pretty restaurants, the best food in Vietnam is found on the streets. Follow your instincts: your eyes, your nose, your palate. Look for the little red plastic stools in Hanoi's old quarter, they almost always lead to fantastic discoveries and perhaps the best street food in the world.

Step 2: Use Your Nose
Find someone grilling or steaming away and decide what smells best. This thit nuong at the gates of Hoi An's old town hits the spot. Do-it-yourself juicy grilled pork skewers wrapped in rice paper with a mountain of herbs.

Step 3: Eat
In Hoi An, leave the main streets of the old town and head to the Tan An market. We found a lady sizzling up one of our favorite finds, bánh cãn. Popular in the southern region, these particular rice flour fritters have quail eggs dropped into the batter and are topped with a young papaya salad, herbs, pork sausage, and the mandatory nuoc cham sauce. Add a touch of chili and devour.

Step 4: Eat More
One of Vietnam's most famous culinary exports is pho, but have you tried a mi quang? Much loved in the central southern region, these noodles are chewier with only a ladle of strong broth added. It can be rich with pork, chicken, and shrimp, but the best part is the crispy cracker that comes with all the toppings. The best one we found was on the outskirts of Hoi An, so grab a bicycle and explore.

Step 5: Sleep It Off
After all the food hunting and cycling, there is only one thing left to do before repeating the whole process for dinner. Follow this hardworking vendor (in Hanoi's Dong Xuan market) and take an afternoon siesta.

Step 6: Develop a Bánh Addiction
These little steamer rice cakes, bánh beo, are named after their water fern shape. They hail from Hue, but the best ones were made by Hao, a lovely lady in Hoàng Van Thu road in Hoi An's old town. Go for the delicate cakes topped with dried shrimps scallions and mung bean paste. She's there daily, from 2-5 p.m.

Step 7: Fathom It

Recognize the Fathom logo under these beautiful steamed dumplings? Bánh bao vac, also known as white rose, is a specialty of Hoi An. Supposedly named by the French for their flower petal resemblance, they are translucent, chewy, and stuffed with shrimp

Step 8: Soak It All In
Not only does it taste better on the street, the setting is often unbeatable. Roam the back alleys of Hanoi's old quarter till you spot some gorgeous lamps. Then sit down to grilled pork ribs, roasted quail, and bun (rice vermicelliStep 9: Sweet EndingThe list of food is neverending, but to top it all off make sure you get a sweet, luscious coconut coffee. Head to Cong Caphé on the corner of Nhá Chung in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem district and watch life go by as you sip slowly and sweetly.


Source: Fathomaway

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