Ho Chi Minh food guide5 places

Coffee and something sweet

From coffee strained through cloth for ninety years, to cacao roasted in-house

If Hanoi has egg coffee, this city has cà phê vợt. It is the method Chinese-Vietnamese families used before paper filters arrived: ground coffee packed into a long-handled cloth bag, dunked and steeped in boiling water, held in a dented aluminium pot and poured out by the glass. Shops that opened in 1938 and 1950 still brew exactly this way, and a glass costs 13,000–16,000₫, about 16 to 20 baht.

At the other end is the Saigon of now. Vietnam's first bean-to-bar chocolate workshop is here, roasting cacao from several Mekong Delta provinces separately by origin and making the bars on site. The country's first-generation specialty coffee roastery is still upstairs in an old District 1 building.

For dessert, go to Chợ Lớn. Chinese chè is less sweet than the Vietnamese kind and comes in far more varieties — one District 5 shop lays out forty of them on a single counter and takes your order by pointing: mung bean, black sesame, egg, durian, lotus seed. A bowl runs 15,000–33,000₫, roughly 19 to 41 baht. The specialty cafe and the chocolate workshop in District 1 both have air conditioning and wi-fi, which makes them the right places to sit out the two-o'clock heat (1 THB ≈ 800₫, Aug 2026).

In this guideCà phê vợtBean-to-bar chocolateChợ Lớn chèSpecialty roasteriesCà phê sữa đá

Food map

Coffee and something sweet

1Cà Phê Cheo LeoCoffee and something sweet

Strained through cloth since 1938 — closed on the 1st and the 15th

Cà Phê Cheo Leo

Approximate locations — see each card for the exact address

01Coffee and something sweet

Cà Phê Cheo Leo

Strained through cloth since 1938 — closed on the 1st and the 15th

A man from Huế opened this in a District 3 alley in 1938, and the same family still makes coffee the same way. The name means something like 'perched alone up high' — when it opened there was nothing around it. The grounds are steeped in a cloth bag (vợt), then held in a blackened aluminium pot kept over a small charcoal brazier and poured out by the glass; ninety years of doing it this way to keep the coffee hot. Cà phê đen is 13,000₫ and bạc xỉu — light coffee under a lot of condensed milk — is 8,000–10,000₫. They open at half past five in the morning, shut at noon, reopen at one, and close for the day at quarter to seven. They also close on the 1st and the 15th of every month, which catches people out.

Long-runningLocal favouriteDaytime onlyCash only

What to order

Cà phê đenBlack coffee13,000₫≈ ฿17
Bạc xỉuBạc xỉu — light coffee, heavy condensed milk10,000₫≈ ฿13

Hours: 05:30–12:00, 13:00–18:45 · closed on the 1st and 15th of each month
Price: 8,000–15,000₫

109/36 Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, Phường 2, Quận 3

Before you goClosed on the 1st and the 15th of every month (moved to the following Monday if that falls on a weekend), and closed again between noon and one. Taking a seat without ordering costs 20,000₫ a head, and they would rather you did not sit for hours — a rule that exists because a glass of coffee is so cheap. The entrance is inside an alley and hard to pin on a map, so go into lane 109 off Nguyễn Thiện Thuật and ask. Cash only.

#cheoleo #caphevot #district3 #since1938 #sockcoffee #oldsaigon

02Coffee and something sweet

Chè Hà Ký

Forty Chinese sweet soups laid out on one counter — you order by pointing

A Cantonese Chinese man named Hà started this from a pushcart in 1985 and his son now runs it on the same recipes. Chè is the Vietnamese word for a sweet soup or pudding, and these are the Chinese kind, which are less sweet than the Vietnamese ones — mung bean, black sesame, ginkgo, lotus seed, egg, durian, and bánh flan too, around forty of them across the counter. You do not need to read a menu; stand at the counter and point. You also choose warm or over ice on the spot. If it is your first time, black sesame (chè mè đen) and egg (chè hột gà) are the two to have — you will not easily find either elsewhere in this city. A bowl is 15,000–33,000₫, and they run until half past ten at night.

Long-runningLocal favouriteVegetarian optionsCash only

What to order

Chè mè đenBlack sesame chè
Chè đậu xanhMung bean chè
Chè hột gàEgg chè

Hours: 10:00–22:30
Price: 15,000–33,000₫

138 Châu Văn Liêm, Phường 11, Quận 5

Before you goOrder by pointing at the counter — the lack of an English menu is not a problem here. The special ingredients like durian and lotus seed cost a little more, 25,000–40,000₫. If you want to try several, order two or three bowls and share. It fits neatly at the end of a Chợ Lớn evening after Bình Tây market, Thiên Hậu temple and the satay noodles. Cash only. We could not confirm prices for individual bowls; only the overall 15,000–33,000₫ range is confirmed.

#chehaky #cholon #district5 #chinesedessert #che #chinatown

03Coffee and something sweet

Maison Marou Saigon

Mekong Delta cacao roasted by origin and turned into bars on the premises

A bean-to-bar workshop and cafe making chocolate from Vietnamese cacao. Beans from several Mekong Delta provinces are roasted separately rather than blended, which is why bars from the same maker taste noticeably different by origin — Bến Tre runs acidic, Tiền Giang goes nutty. A glass wall at the back of the room opens onto the workshop, so you can watch the chocolate being made. Drinking chocolate is 90,000–100,000₫, a latte 75,000₫, desserts 115,000–150,000₫, and 8% VAT is added to everything. The address on Calmette in District 1 is still current as of August 2026.

Vegetarian optionsEnglish menuAir-conditionedFamily friendly

What to order

Chocolat chaudDrinking chocolate8% VAT on top90,000₫≈ ฿115
Cà phê latteLatte75,000₫≈ ฿96

Hours: Mon–Thu 09:00–22:00 · Fri–Sun 09:00–22:30
Price: 60,000–150,000₫

167-169 Calmette, Nguyễn Thái Bình, Quận 1

Before you go8% VAT goes on everything, so the bill lands higher than the menu board. If you are buying gifts, pick two or three bars from different origins — the same cocoa percentage tastes different between them. We could not confirm the price of an individual bar. It is air-conditioned and roomy, which makes it a good place to sit out the afternoon heat, and it is walkable from Bến Thành market.

#maisonmarou #beantobar #vietnamesechocolate #district1 #chocolatecafe #calmette

04Coffee and something sweet

The Workshop Coffee

Up one flight in an old building — where Vietnamese specialty coffee started here

On Ngô Đức Kế in District 1, go up one flight in an old building and a whole floor with a very high ceiling opens out as a cafe. It started when specialty coffee was first arriving in Vietnam, and most of this city's roasteries are said to trace back to it one way or another. Instead of the dark, sweet robusta most people picture as Vietnamese coffee, they brew single-origin arabica through a V60 or a Chemex — a cup of Da Lat or Cầu Đất beans is a fair shock if you thought you knew this country's coffee. Prices run 20,000–80,000₫. A row of tall windows takes the afternoon light.

Local favouriteEnglish menuAir-conditioned

What to order

V60 Pour OverV60 pour-over
Cold BrewCold brew
Salted Ice CoffeeSalted ice coffee

Hours: 07:00–22:00
Price: 20,000–80,000₫

27 Ngô Đức Kế, Bến Nghé, Quận 1 (2F)

Before you goThe opening hours differ between sources, so check before you go if you are heading there very early or late. The ground-floor sign is small and easy to walk past — look for the stairs at number 27. If the strong sweet Vietnamese style has worn you out, order a pour-over here; if you still prefer it the local way, they make cà phê sữa đá too. It is a laptop crowd, so it stays quiet. We could not confirm prices per drink; only the overall 20,000–80,000₫ range is confirmed.

#theworkshopcoffee #specialtycoffee #district1 #pourover #saigoncafe #roastery

05Coffee and something sweet

Cà Phê Vợt

Open around the clock since 1950 — the cloth-filter shop that never shuts

It began as a pushcart in 1950 and now sits inside an alley in Phú Nhuận. What marks it out is that it does not close — apart from a short pause at midnight on Lunar New Year, they brew around the clock. The method is the same as the vợt shops in Chợ Lớn: grounds packed into a cloth bag and steeped in boiling water, then held hot in an aluminium kettle and poured by the glass. A glass is 14,000–16,000₫, about 18 to 20 baht. At some point on a trip there is a night when you want coffee at three in the morning, and in this city this is effectively where you go.

Long-runningLocal favouriteOpen late

What to order

Cà phê đenBlack coffeeBlack or with condensed milk, 14,000–16,000₫ a glass14,000₫≈ ฿18

Hours: 24h
Price: 14,000–16,000₫

330/2 Phan Đình Phùng, Quận Phú Nhuận

Before you goIt is inside a hẻm and invisible from the main road — go into lane 330 off Phan Đình Phùng. Open all night, but the busiest stretch is five to seven in the morning, when the neighbourhood stops in before work. Seating is low plastic stools only, so it is not a place to settle in for hours. Fifteen minutes by Grab from District 1.

#caphevot #phunhuan #24hourcafe #sockcoffee #saigoncoffee #oldschool

Illustrative image of the style and atmosphere — not a photo of the venue itself · As of Aug 2026

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