Hanoi Old Quarter is home to some of the best cafes and coffee shops in the city. This article will provide you with a list of the top 10 must-visit cafes in the Old Quarter. From cozy, traditional Vietnamese coffee houses to modern, chic places, these cafes offer a variety of drinks and snacks, providing the perfect break from sightseeing or shopping. Whether you're looking for a place to relax or just need a caffeine fix, these cafes will have something to satisfy.
The top oldest and most well-known coffee shops in Hanoi that you should not miss
When visiting Hanoi, tourists can choose from a variety of traditional coffee options such as filter coffee, iced coffee with condensed milk, or special egg coffee. Nowadays, there are numerous unique coffee shops giving a fresh air to the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter.
With the goal of preserving the essence of coffee, these coffee shops bring Hanoians with exceptionally fresh and distinct flavor experiences.
Sipping a cup of coffee in the Old Quarter of Hanoi is an intriguing experience that you should not miss. Before you get started, check out Asia Tours list of the Top Best Coffee Shops in the city.
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Nhan Cafe
Nhan Cafe originally opened in Hanoi in 1946 and has remained popular among Hanoians to this day. Nowadays, Nhan Cafe is no longer just a coffee shop; it has evolved into a coffee production firm that supplies coffee to restaurants and supermarkets.
Nhi Cafe
Nhi Cafe, like Nhan Cafe, has been in business for over 50 years. Nhi Cafe, a modest business on Hang Ca Street, was once one of the famed “quartet” coffee shops, which were “Nhan – Nhi – Di – Giang.”
This coffee shop has no signboard and appears to have made no effort to “update” the establishment, thus everything, such as many cups, spoons, or wooden chairs, is quite simple and tinted with time. It’s also difficult to believe that Nhi was once one of Hanoi’s busiest coffee shops.
The coffee at Nhi is unique in that it is held in a ceramic pot, measured with a small cup, topped with sugar or milk, then whipped with a whisk before being added some ice.
Giang Cafe
Giang Cafe – the birthplace of Vietnamese egg coffee, was opened by Nguyen Van Giang in 1946, when he worked as a bartender in the 5-star Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. This popular egg coffee is a smart innovation based on the cappuccino recipe. It is also believed that egg coffee is one of the must-try drinks for foreign tourists visiting Hanoi.
The ingredients for egg coffee are an egg yolk, Vietnamese coffee powder, sweetened condensed milk, butter, and cheese. The coffee will be brewed in a small bowl after being filtered through a “phin” – a metal filter – and blended with beaten egg yolk and other ingredients. To keep the egg coffee cup warm, it is frequently placed in hot water.
Lam Cafe
Lam Cafe is one of Hanoi’s oldest coffee cafes. It is also known as a picture cafe or a place to admire paintings depicting the people and streets of Hanoi.
This shop is a small shop in the middle of the city that attracts tourists with its fairly distinctive coffee flavor. It has a unique coffee flavor with a slight burnt aroma, at just the right and sufficient level to captivate the hearts of many people. That roasting recipe has been passed down through generations for the past 70 years, making it difficult to forget the coffee taste in Lam cafe.
Dinh Cafe
Dinh Cafe is located on Dinh Tien Hoang Street on the second floor of an ancient French house. To get to the cafe, you have to walk via a narrow pathway and up an old stairwell.
While being opened much later than Giang Cafe, the egg coffee served here is becoming increasingly popular among customers due to its rich flavor. When you visit Dinh Cafe, you may not only sample delicious egg coffee but also gaze out the balcony at the Hanoi Old Quarter street.
Nang Tuong Cafe
Nang Tuong Cafe is another one of Hanoi’s oldest coffee shops, having been open for more than 60 years. When you hear the name Nang Coffee, you immediately think of a strong coffee cup that can wake up anyone who drinks it.
The first Nang cafe can be found at the start of Hang Bac Street. Unlike other coffee shops at the time, Nang Cafe used aluminum filters that were bigger than teapots to hold ready-to-drink coffee.
The current Nang coffee shops maintain the original flavor of the past, with the strong taste of that cup of coffee making people “addicted” from the start. There are more Nang cafes that are larger and more beautiful now, but Nang Cafe on Hang Bac Street is still the most popular.