Back in Vietnam after almost two weeks in Cambodia, and the first thing I want is a cup in my hand and a chair in the shade. So here it is: a week in coffee, one cup at a time.

Cà Phê Trứng 3T — 10 Sương Nguyệt Ánh
I had been wanting to try this place for months, and I finally walked in. Pleasantly surprised is putting it mildly, because the coffee turned out to be buy one, get one free! Any coffee on the menu. I tried a salted egg coffee for the first time and then a cà phê sữa đá to follow, and they bring you a small teapot of trà đá on the side too. 60K VND, about $2.28, for all of that.

Cà Rê Café — 35 Nguyễn Văn Tráng
My favourite mint green building. I had a salted creamy coffee here for 55K VND, around $2.09. All of these cafés and shops are tucked into old apartments, which is exactly why they have such eclectic, lived-in vibes.

Highlands Coffee — Coconut Americano (Americano Nước Dừa)
I will be honest about this one. It tasted like a strong black coffee with a drop of coconut water stirred in. Not the specialty coconut coffee with milk and sugar I had in my head. Fine, but not the thing. And my health is better for it. 😂

Trung Nguyên E-Coffee — Bùi Thị Xuân
The best salted coffee I have had in Saigon, full stop. 35K VND, about $1.33. Modern, open air, free wifi, the kind of place that looks like the coffee should cost a fortune. It doesn’t.

Sipfé — Peanut Butter Coffee!
A flashback to the day before I left for Cambodia. I was wandering the streets and passed a café with Peanut Butter Coffee right there on the menu. “Note to self.” So, I came back to give it a proper try, 85K, and it was so good!

Highlands Coffee — Phạm Ngũ Lão
35K. Not a destination so much as a survival decision. It has been too hot for the street stands lately, and the need to duck into an air-conditioned café gets a little overwhelming.

Tào Florist (Tào Café)
Cà phê sữa đá for 30K. Very small and somehow spacious at the same time, with low tables and chairs spilling inside and out. The owner was attentive and kind, which is half of why I would go back.

The husband-and-wife stand — a hẻm off Lê Thị Riêng – 17K, about 65 cents, for a cà phê sữa đá takeaway, run by a man and his wife in an alley off Lê Thị Riêng. The cheapest one around, and I love how they make it. Condensed milk at the bottom of the cup, half a shot of espresso, stirred, then ice, then the other half of the espresso poured over the top. That first sip lands hard! And I love that. 😊

Wanting a cool place to sit and get out of the heat, I headed out thinking I was hunting for a new café. At the end of Bùi Viện I saw Phúc Long, went inside, and then stopped short at 35K for a cà phê sữa đá when I know it is better on the street and 20K. A café in this city is only worth it to me if I am there for a specialty coffee or a matcha. Otherwise, stay on the streets and support the locals. And I still get to sit in the shade and read my book for as long as I want.

June 2026