The cafe culture in Vietnam is on another level. If you are planning a trip to Vietnam anytime soon, I put together a list of some of my favorite spots in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh. If I'm being completely honest, almost every coffee shop I went to was pretty good and the aesthetics are top notch. If you're looking for a cute cafe to chill and relax, you can't go wrong with any of them. Aside from that, I compiled a list of some of the places I went to where I enjoyed the overall vibes and drinks! For those of you who have traveled to Vietnam and have other places to recommend, please leave them in the comments!
If you're wondering where I discovered these places, it was a combination of just walking around the area and going into one that looked the most interesting and using an app called Day Trip which is an app that helps you discover new places and local gems in your area, and you can view other users curated trips and places they recommend. You can also create a list of your own and share with other users as well. I used this app to help me find coffee shops in Ho Chi Minh that other users curated and put together in a list. This app is only available on Android, but was a really helpful when I was planning my trip to Vietnam just to see what other people recommend that I may not have discovered as easily through Google. I also used it to plan my Korea trip as well. If you haven't seem my guide for Korea, check it out here. :)
Da Nang
Our first stop in Vietnam was Da Nang which is in the north. Da Nang feels a bit more laid back and chill compared to Ho Chi Ming. Definitely a lot less drivers on the roads and more quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh. We stayed at Chi House hotel which was close to My Khe beach, so it was a nice area to walk around.
Cửa Ngõ Café
📍02 Trần Bạch Đằng, Phước Mỹ, Sơn Trà
This was the fist cafe I went to during my trip, and I was quite surprised at how good both the coffee and the fruit tea was. We ordered the passion fruit guava tea and the egg cream coffee. If you are in Vietnam, you must try the egg coffee! I do have to note that if you don't typically drink strong coffee, you might want to take your time drinking Vietnamese coffee because they are strong. I am not usually a heavy coffee drinker, so having coffee for the first time in Vietnam made me feel really caffeinated and my body was shaking after drinking it too fast. The fruit tea was also very good and refreshing. It wasn't too sweet and the fruits were fresh. The cafe was super cute inside and had a back area which looked really nice for photos!
IKIGAI . garden . cafe
📍60 Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Hải Châu
In terms of aesthetics, this cafe was hands down my favorite. I loved the rustic and old school charm of the space. It was a nice mixture of modern and old elements throughout the entire cafe which was really interesting to see. They also provide outdoor and indoor seating which was nice and the space was pretty big, so it's a great spot to accomodate larger groups. I ordered the coconut coffee which was really good. I have to say, the coconut here is really good, I always go for their coconut coffees because it has a sweeter taste and I feel it's a less stronger than the egg coffee.
Wonderlust - Coffee & Souvenir
📍96 Trần Phú, Hải Châu
What's really cool about this coffee shop is that they have souvenir shops inside, so aside from sitting a drinking your coffee, you can also walk around and shop for gifts. They have some super cute stationary items and coffee beans. This space is also a nice space to sit and do some work or spend your days chatting with your friends with some good coffee. We ordered the Vietnamese coffee and the coconut pandan.
Ho Chi Minh
Our last stop was in Ho Chi Minh which is located in the south or Vietnam. The vibes here are definitely more busy than Da Nang. There were scooters and cars everywhere, and a lot more people walking around on the streets. If you enjoy shopping, the Ho Chi Minh is definitely for you. There were so many cute clothing stores and each shop was designed so nicely on the inside. It may not look it on the outside, but once you step inside, it's a completely different atmosphere. We went shopping and drinking coffee everyday and because everything was so cheap, we splurged.
If you go to Ho Chi Minh, you have to visit the famous cafe apartment. The building comes to life at night and is definitely worth checking out. We didn't get to try all the cafes in there, but the ones we went to were really nice. I would recommend looking ahead of time to check which cafes you want to go to because the space is a bit cramped inside when you walk up the stairs, and there are about 7 floors, so to save yourself from getting tired and going back and forth, it's a good idea to research which cafe you want to try beforehand. I recommend checking out this blog post if you want a map/layout of the apartment.
DOSH
📍42 Nguyen Hue 3rd Floor, District 1
I love the bright colors and overall space of this cafe. I didn't order any drinks here because I wanted to save that for the other spots I wanted to try. This cafe mainly specializes in donuts, so I ordered their Earl Grey flavored donut. The presentation was nice and I enjoyed the aesthetics of this cafe. There weren't too many people when I went, so it was nice and quiet. I also really liked the neon signs they had up, it gave it a nice eccentric and retro vibe. Also perfect for photos!
Po Cafe
📍42 Nguyen Hue 8th Floor, District 1
Another great spot to checkout if you love the retro vibe is Po Cafe. We ordered the drip coffee which takes a few minutes, but it gives you time to wander around the cafe and appreciate the views. This is located near the top floor, so if you don't know which one to try, I would recommend going here. It's a bit of a walk up the stairs, but it'll be worth it. As soon as you enter the cafe, you will feel like you have traveled back in time.
Holy Beans
📍254 Lý Tự Trọng, Bến Nghé, Quận 1
This one isn't located in the apartment cafe building. We found this as we were walking around the area near our hotel. The space was quiet and it has two floors. There is an elevator that you can take up to the second floor and the space is pretty nice. Since there was no one during that time, we had the entire space to ourselves and it was a nice area to take photos. This would also be a great spot if you wanted to do some work or study.
Dalaland Coffee
📍24/4/1 Đ. Trần Ngọc Diện, Thảo Điền, Thủ Đức
This cafe has a mixture of indoor and outdoor seating. The space is pretty big and they have a lot of cute decorations which makes for perfect photo ops. They have a small koi pond in the center which looks really nice. We wanted a break from vietnamese coffee, so we decided to order fruit teas here. I don't quite remember what I ordered here, but I believe it was a lemongrass fruit tea. The drinks were pretty good a refreshing for the hot weather.
ThiBa Coffee
📍Hẻm 68 - 70 Sương Nguyệt Anh, Phường Phạm Ngũ Lão, Quận 1
This place had one of the best coconut matcha's I've ever had. I still think about it to this and wish I got it more than once while I was in Ho Chi Minh. The drink was the perfect consistency, it was creamy and not too sweet and blended well with the matcha. Once I took a sip, I couldn't put it down, it was that good! If you are having a matcha craving and like coconut, this cafe is a must try!
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