If you like your cafe sua da served up with a dash of colonial-era grandeur, AQ Coffee is the perfect place. A restored villa complete with high ceilings and requisite patterned tiles offers a charming alternative to Saigon’s newer mega-cafes with their floor-to-ceiling glass and vinyl lounge chairs.
Outside is a cool, curved bamboo structure emitting a cooling mist, while indoors and upstairs is the best place to relax and escape the relentless traffic noise. My only gripe? The olive coloured interior is a little grim – a coat of bright white paint would much better suit the surrounds!
Go for: a strong, smooth and sweet cafe sua da (iced coffee with milk) served with a cute ice box and tongs
Not for: sandwiches, brownies, that kind of thing – this is a young, trendy local haunt with a Vietnamese food menu to match
AQ Coffee, 32 Pham Ngoc Thach, District 3, Saigon
I heard there’s a quirky place in Dist 1 that combined haute coulture with fine dining. What’s that all about??? FB Villa is the name, I think.
I love the bamboo structure. 🙂
Thanks for these fun posts about places you like to go in Saigon. We recently moved here from Seattle and are so thankful for any tips.