Saigon coffee guide
There's a café on almost every street in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese coffee is brewed strong from robusta beans and usually served with condensed milk, ice or both. Know the menu and ordering gets much easier.
The drinks
- Cà phê sữa đá: strong coffee, condensed milk, ice. The classic.
- Cà phê đen đá: iced black coffee, no milk. Very bitter.
- Bạc xỉu: mostly milk with a little coffee, closer to a latte. Start here if strong coffee isn't your thing.
- Cà phê trứng: Hanoi-style egg coffee topped with whipped egg yolk.
- Cà phê muối: Hue-style salt coffee with a salty cream top.
- Cà phê cốt dừa: coffee poured over coconut slush. Good on a hot afternoon.
Where to try them
These picks come from Saveur's August 2026 guide to Saigon coffee:
- Bạc xỉu: Lacàph Coffee Bar, 151 Đồng Khởi (former District 1)
- Salt coffee: Hue Cafe Roastery, 67B Xuân Thủy, Thảo Điền
- Old-style sock-filter coffee: Cà Phê Vợt, 330/2 Phan Đình Phùng, Phú Nhuận
- Coconut coffee: Cộng Cà Phê, many branches
- Vietnamese pour-over: Sipply Coffee, 200 Lê Thánh Tôn (former District 1)
- The everyday iced coffee: Highlands Coffee, a chain you'll see everywhere
The Café Apartment (42 Nguyễn Huệ)
An old apartment block on the Nguyen Hue walking street, with cafés and small shops on every floor up to the ninth. At night, the lit-up balconies stacked above the street are the photo.
- Entrance: to the left of the Fahasa bookstore on the ground floor
- Lift: 3,000 VND per person, and slow. Some cafés deduct it if you show the ticket.
- Stairs: the central staircase is open to everyone
- Many bars only open in the evening. Give it about two hours.
Good to know
- Local cafés have small, low chairs. Sitting on a plastic stool on the pavement is very much the Saigon way.
- Outside the chains, many places are cash only.
- Vietnamese coffee is stronger than you expect. If you don't drink much coffee, try bạc xỉu first.
Sources: Saveur (Aug 31, 2026), Vietnam Coracle (updated Oct 2024)