Toy Street Coffee

Amongst the coloured clutter of children's play things in the old quarter street known as Toy Street, there is a coffee den. Awkwardly positioned, slightly camouflaged and really tiny, a seat in this establishment comes at a premium. In fact, it's best to carefully plan one's assault on it.

Persistent by nature, I've been known to circle this cafe like a shark, waiting for someone to vacate their stool and extract their motorbike to create space for me and mine. As the place is located in a one way street, this circling involves doing curcuits of the block burning litres of fuel. It's really best to park elsewhere and walk but even then there is no guarantee of a place to park one's body. The sure-fire strategy is to hit the place between 11am and 1pm, when the locals are feeding their rice holes and then sleeping it off. I must say though that I have noticed an increasing number of Vietnamese foregoing their afternoon siesta in favour of the caffeine alternative.

The coffee here is a sweet, rich but subtle blend served in classy glassware, delicately ridged and a good fit in my hand. Even though the girls who make the coffee are mere teens, they have been very well-trained to produce consistent coffee every time, which is one of my imperatives in a cafe. In all of my regular haunts, I know the cup I'm going to get. When I'm nursing it, tinkling with the ice and anticipating the liquid on my palate, I know what it's going to taste like. It's a comforting thought. In fact, venturing to new cafes can be traumatic, risky business.

As I sip my coffee, the traffic whizzes by, a passing parade of sweating and lost tourists, too. Across the street, toy negotiations are undertaken and cheap Chinese-manufactured playthings are clutched tightly by kids on the back of motorbikes, ready to be assembled, broken, discarded and their small parts swallowed all over Hanoi.

Cafe Huong
37 Luong Van Can
Hanoi

Comments

[Viet]

if you have time, write about xo^i (sticky rice); (a theme I presume with your blog :) ); probably, there's ain't much xoi in the north; it's one of favorite breakfasts in the south; there're variety of xoi (xoi ngo.t, xoi ma(ng. , xoi vo`, xoi ddau xanh, xoi nep than, ... :)

[FRESH LOCAL AND BEST]

I love iced Vietnamese coffee!

[EJ]

Love your blog. Your posts bring a splash of fun and mouth-watering deliciousness to my grey cubicle. Keep it up!

[Thang Ngo]

Great photo!

Fyi, a new book is coming out about travels in Vietnam, Allen & Unwin Aust, called Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam, www.destination-saigon.com

[Buy Prozac Online]

Cool and I love the shot of the drinks. Good job. Very entertaining post.

[Account Deleted]

Seems very nice. I should give it a try tomorrow. Thanks.

[Account Deleted]

I went here this morning. Unable to speak Vietnamese, I asked for "iced coffee with milk" but the lady keeps saying "no no". I couldn't get my iced coffe :(

[Sticky]

Niko - that's disappointing and surprising. They normally deal with foreigners every day????

Viet - I have blogged about xoi before and have one post waiting in the wings, too.

Thanks all - by the way I'm in Oz at the moment...on the way to Tassie, tonight! Will try to post a bit soon.

[juegos de estrategia]

nice social info, thanks for sharing it
greetings

[Leslie]

Haven't been in Hanoi for a yr and half, but still long for the coffee. Especially the jet lagged 4 am variety....

[simply]

How is the price?

[online pharmacy]

Thanks for the info.. I will try it when I visit Vietnam next week..

[Victoria Hassett]

Thank you for sharing your journey & exploration of Hanoi with us. A wonderfully insightful blog. Keep up the good work!
Victoria Hassett, Jom Makan

[bards]

any recommendations for a good vietnamese cafe in the ba dinh district? and how do i say iced coffee with milk in vietnamese? i passed by a local cafe this morning and tried to order one but i just got a blank stare. help!

[the lacquer spoon]

Greetings from Tokyo! I've been to Ho Chi Minh, but never tried Hanoi though that's one of cities I love to visit. Anyway, looking forward to your lively news posted soon :)

[Sticky]

Thanks all for continued comments on this post!

Bards - I like these two places: http://stickyrice.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/coffee_under_th.html
and
http://stickyrice.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/12/cafe-quat.html

To order, just say "cafe nau (as in no)da"

[psp zubehör]

I have had toy street coffee a lot of time. It has a very good taste. I never forget to miss it on my Vietnam business trips. Just got to say "cafe nau da" and you get to taste one of the best coffees across the globe.

[Cheap Digital Scales]

I have never had this, but you make it seem delightful. I love having a regular coffee spot that always tastes the same-- there is definitely comfort in that. Kudos.
-Sylvia

[Invertir Dinero]

Great to see a collection of blog posts that includes thoughtful and perceptive commentary. Keep up the great work!!!

[Lots in costa rica]

Hello!
I want to congratulate to them by its site of the Web of the excellent looks like entertained and very good to me it elaborated.

[Com]

Have you ever tried Dinh coffee? The coffee here is good as well.

[Digital Scales]

The coffee here is a sweet, rich but subtle blend served in classy glassware, delicately ridged and a good fit in my hand.
love them.