It is in this rue Galande, better known for its cinema and its not very fresh tourist cantoches (apart from Chanceux, ok) that the Ha Noi 1988 family, founded by Nguyen Quang Huy, established its third address: a Vietnamese café ô how welcome. Dressed all in pink, this flowery and dolled-up shop inspired by the tailor shops on the streets of Hanoi in the 80s extends in length, offering a few stools. Here, we taste the coffee specialties of Viet Nam, where chilling in front of a coffee is a sacred institution. In the cups? A blend of robusta and arabica from the country – the second largest coffee producer in the world – which flows lasciviously into its characteristic golden filter, the “phin”, a gleaming utensil inspired by the coffee maker imported by the French.
In addition to the famous cà phè sua da, iced with condensed milk, there is a creamy cà phè sua chua, a cold tangy mixture of coffee and yogurt, a delectable twist on a colonial product imported from France a hundred years ago. The icing on the little black: in this pocket café, you can eat all day long. For example with a soft banh bao thit, brioche stuffed with ground pork and fragrant mushrooms, a bo bun overflowing with fresh herbs, or a crispy brioche bun with green tea crumb named after a bearded tenor: the paparotti, a little buttery delight as desired. Welcome to Vietnamese yum!
At Time Out, all establishments are tested anonymously by our journalists, paying the bill each time, like any customer!
