Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [273]
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Hanoi and around | Eating |
Cafés and patisseries
Hanoi’s French legacy is particularly apparent in the city’s adoption of café culture. The city boasts hundreds of local cafés, offering minimum comfort but great coffee – usually small, strong shots of the local brew – although the epicentre of Hanoi’s café-bar scene is Bao Khanh/Hang Hanh, a bustling street near Hoan Kiem Lake, where young Vietnamese hang out. In addition, there is an ever-increasing number of sophisticated Western-style cafés, most of which also serve food, and a crop of outlets selling fine pastries, yoghurts and ice cream. Prices vary enormously: a standard ca phé (shot of filtered Vietnamese coffee; add sua for sweetened condensed milk) starts at 6,000đ at the less salubrious streetside shacks, rises to 15,000đ at places with indoor seating and aircon, then hits 30,000đ or more at upmarket establishments. Western-style lattes, cappucinos and the like start at around 35,000đ.
For a more traditional sugar-fix, try chè, halfway between a drink and a dessert; there’s a clutch of outlets on the ground floor of Hom market, and a little place at 24 Ta Hien. For a few thousand dong you’ll get a mug of thick, sweet soup, packed with beans, jelly, coconut and all kinds of seasonal fruits; in winter they also serve it hot, which brings out the sweetness more. Juice bars are also becoming increasingly popular: there are several along To Tich, on the Old Quarter’s southern edge, which whisk up the fruit while you wait. For ice cream, Fanny at 48 Le Thai To serves up a bewildering array of flavours.
Hanoi and around | Eating | Cafés and patisseries |
Cafés
The following are all marked on the Central Hanoi map "Central Hanoi"-355, unless otherwise specified.
Block House 61 To Ngoc Van. See "Hanoi". Near the northern end of West Lake you’ll find this curious military bunker whose dimly-lit innards have been plastered with newspaper pages; most people, however, sip their drinks on a roof affording unbeatable views of the lake.
Café Lam 60 Nguyen Huu Huan. This shabby but atmospheric one-room café made its name as a place for artists and young intellectuals to hang out. A few paid their bills with paintings, some of which still adorn the walls, and there’s a bohemian vibe.
Hanoi Cinémathèque 22a Hai Ba Trung. Duck down the alley of the Artist hotel to find this delightful courtyard café-bar belonging to a cinema club.
Highlands Coffee A Vietnamese Starbucks clone with an ever-increasing number of outlets; the best location is outside the Hanoi Opera House, closely followed by the one outside the Military History Museum (see map "Hanoi").
Hue Café 26 Hang Giay. This tiny store sells strong coffee from the Central Highlands; though quality is high and every cup is freshly ground, prices are very low. Also available is “weasel coffee”, made from beans passed through said mammal’s digestive system and far more delicious than it sounds; 250-gram bags make quite the souvenir for unsuspecting friends.
Kinh Do Café 252 Hang Bong. “Café 252” became famous after Cathérine Deneuve complimented the patron on his yoghurts, which still merit praise, as do the home-baked pastries. The decor’s changed little over the years, though they now offer a wider range of foods, including well-prepared Vietnamese dishes, making it popular with locals, tourists and Francophile movie buffs.
Love Chocolate 26 To Ngoc Van. See map "Hanoi". Located some distance from the centre near the northern side of West Lake, but it’s well worth the hike to this faux English living room; think mint paint, pot plants and flowery