One of the true pleasures of living in Saigon is escaping from the scorching heat inside of a coffee shop and spending the hours lounging around sipping on café sua da (Vietnamese ice coffee) while watching the different clientele proceed through their day. These coffee shops are staples of Vietnamese culture, true stomping grounds for the proverbial hunter and the hunted, and that is what makes them so much fun. There are thousands of coffee shops concentrated in such a compact area that it’s hard to figure out which cafes have the best show. Therefore we’d like to present to you our Top 5 choices.
1: Café Terrace (The Zoo)
Situated in Saigon Center at the heart of district 1, this is probably the coffee shop with the best-looking talent. The crème de la crème of hunting grounds in Saigon, Terrace Café; it’s similar to the best safaris of the Serengeti with great scenery and great opportunities to track down and stalk that giant beast you’ve been yearning for, whether it’s a majestic giraffe or slow-footed hippopotamus. Be warned, though, jackals, hyenas, and packs of dogs may be hunting you at the same time. The breath-taking species of women here will awe you and might mesmerize you to give up your wallet and all personal belongings you may have. In terms of rack scale don’t be surprised if it measures out to about 6 liters of silicon/saline. If you’re lucky enough to obtain a prime hunting perch during lunch hours, you’ll find yourself gawking at some of the A-list beauties that Vietnam has to offer. This place is the top of the chain for great looking and deceivingly classy girls, but don’t be fooled because they’re still all pros. Since it’s located in one of the premier shopping centers, you’ll also have a view of the shoppers that stroll up the escalators.
But Terrace actually offers a nice setting to relax if you’re not interested in just people watching. The music isn’t too obnoxious and the seating is quite comfortable. Additionally the menu is expansive and actually offers some delicious meals. Some choice items in my opinion that I rely on are the chicken rice, pizza, and flan dessert. The prices are reasonable so if you decide to bring your future ex-girlfriend it won’t break the bank. I recommend coming on the weekend so you can observe the zoo when all the animals are awake.
Setting: 5 (out of 5) Crowd: 5 Food: 4
2. Windows 4 Cafe
The old timer of the list, this is the #1 coffee spot if Lonely Planet made a Saigon guide specifically for Viet-Kieus, pretty much John’s sanctum, which he vehemently calls “The Office.” Situated in a prime spot overlooking the park and cathedral, this is the site the Terrace crowd used to roam 5 years ago. This place was the temple that started the revolution of gawking at girls in coffee shops for Vietnam, analogous to what McDonald’s did for the hamburger. The indigenous species of gazelles are slim and firm, with a bad case of elephantitis of the rack, they’ve been migrating for kilometers on end, and have decided to graze on the plentiful pasture of Viet-Kieus that have made a rest stop at Windows 4. Now though, the mass is 80% males and 20% attention grabbing professionals. Though, the female count is low, the average silicon/saline count here would probably be at an even 10 liters. The quality of women is definitely trashier at Windows than Terrace, so if that’s your forte by all means. These girls are most definitely more weathered but can still be considered good-looking professionals of the city. It definitely requires a mandatory visit if you’re in town just because of its sheer audacity.
The coffee shop is enormous, with layers upon layers of floors on the inside, walls covered with plasmas, euro-techno music blasting. Look to replace whispered conversations with basic sign language, and if you really want to steal the dialogue away just flash your wad of 500K wrapped in a rubber band. If any conversation is needed, you’ll probably need to scream, other than that this is the place where everyone just sits quietly and stares. You’re basically required to pass a catwalk runway when you enter the place so make sure your Ed Hardy shirt and True Religion bootleg jeans are pressed and clean. The food is basically adequate Vietnamese-style food. Mentionables, other than the coconuts, and by that I mean tits, the Bo Kho(Braised Beef Stew) and Banh Mi Op La(Bread with sausage and eggs) are our current favorites.
Setting: 5 Crowd: 4 Food: 3
3. NYDC/Coffee Bean
We lumped these two coffee shops together because they are neighbors and share the same viewing area. Each, though, has its unique qualities that make each special in its own right. The best time to go for either one is from 5pm until evening.
Anyone with a hankering for American chain coffee will love Coffee Bean and its large coffee selection. Its food selection, though, is quite lacking unless you like cold sandwiches and day old pastries. The clientele skewers towards the expat and working crowd, but if you sit yourself on the patio, you’ll have a great view of the busy turnabout as well as the crowd from NYDC.
If you’re tired of prime meat and want veal or lamb, NYDC will be the perfect place for you, as you will find many of Saigon hotgirls that frequent the cafe. The age range of the customers here are a lot younger than the ones that patronize the other cafes on our list. Most will be of age, but you should at least ask if you’re not sure. Surely, from the previous posts that you've read, be forewarned just because they look young doesn’t mean they aren’t at pro status level. Rack count isn’t especially high, but the pretty faces will make up for that. The food is predominantly pretty good Western food, and it offers large selection of tasty shakes and desserts. Once again this place won’t break the bank, but for the better value come during happy hour times to capitalize on free dessert and soda with your entrée purchase.
Coffee Bean: Setting: 5 Show: 4 Food: 3
4. L’usine
If you’re not really interested in how the locals mate, you should enjoy a lively lunch at this boutique/café/art exhibit. The pack consists of mostly Vietnamese expat hipsters along with the tourist crowd, so if Vietnamese sounds like chicken squawk to you, then you should hide out at L’usine where it’s like the UN here. The food’s decent but a bit pricey for what it is. Banh mi sandwiches are above average but the cost definitely does not justify, but in all reality the ingredients are better quality. This place will score you some points it you take your local prospect here for lunch, she will be awed that a studio space can look so good compared to the shack in district 11 that she calls home. The environment is chill enough to chat with your friends or get some needed work done (i.e. facebook, gmail chat, aim), although your ass may start hurting from the cushion-less seats.
Setting: 4 Crowd: 3 Food: 3
5. Cafe Central at Sunwah Tower
Situated in the middle of downtown this coffee spot is located at the ground level of the Sunwah Tower, conveniently close to John’s favorite club 030/X Club. Because much of the seating is outdoors many local ballers frequent this place with their very expensive vehicles hoping to show off their latest toy and girl pickup. A bit similar to Windows 4, this place used to be the hip spot, but now it has receded to something much tamer. There’s still a gathering that comes after sunset, but it tilts towards the older crowd, so this is a prime spot for cougar hunting. Occasionally you will see older celebrities, and more than often this place is a transition spot for some pros that are taking their vacationing boyfriends to either O30/X Club or Oscar. Dishes here are of the Vietnamese and continental varieties, entrees that I find tasty are the Pho and BLT sandwich. French fries here are very good too. The price is reasonable as that there are no options for lobster at this establishment
Setting: 4 Crowd: 2 Food: 3
Special Mention: Sinh To on Nguyen Trai
Although not really a coffee shop, the place we visit the most is Sinh To(Vietnamese fruit smoothies) across from Zen Plaza on Nguyen Trai. It’s the most popular late night watering hole for all the exotic breeds where one can go to get a satisfying fruit smoothie. People range from party people, office people, big racks, little racks, cute, and country side people. Overall, a very eclectic place where Saigon-ites of all social-economic status congregate for the deliciously fresh and tasty smoothies. This place is a great affordable place to take your local prospect, also a magnificent bird-watching spot. The vantage point isn’t the best as that you’re sitting outside on very low plastic chairs. So the best seating position is to sit outwards near the front of the street so that you can see patrons walking up waiting to be seated.
Although it is very affordable, it can add up very fast if your date decides to bring 10 of her friends and they all get fruit platters. This is also a great launch pad for other locations as that it is a very well known spot in the city. One downside to this spot is if you’re currently working on your future ex-girlfriend chances are that she will know someone that knows her current boyfriend in the states: so beware. You can choose from the many different types of street food that pass by such as dried squid and duck embryo. You can come around 8 at night and be the last ones to leave at 4 in the morning.
Setting: 4 Crowd: 5 Food: 4
Si & John
No comments:
Post a Comment