Icky-shticky, drip drop drabby, rainy weather seems to be all the rage in Hanoi these days. I always have a good giggle when Hanoian natives / transplants I speak to flash a knowing smile when I bemoan in conversations that there had been precisely one good day of sunshine in the seven weeks leading up to today – they know which blessed day I am referring to. Not since my boarding school days in England have I abhorred the colour grey and rain with such intensity. But somehow I persevere in Hanoi; it might just be an indication that something is working out for me here.
Weather aside, I have come to uncover and embrace some of the hidden charms in this informal and slightly-rough-around-the-edges capital of Vietnam. Behind the city’s downtrodden veil that is the aging stock of buildings is an abundance of art galleries, straw-mat-on-the-floor and hole-in-the-wall type establishments serving mouth-watering nibble-fare and delicious Vietnamese coffee variants such as ca phe sua chua and ca phe trung for the price of pennies.
Don’t know what I am talking about? Well, you will have to come experience it for yourself, especially if you are one thirsty for the perfect cuppa. There are coffee shops for everyone in this urban wonder: the bohemians, the caffeine addicts looking for a quick fix, the expats, the hipsters, the old-school, the outcast, the tourists, the yuppies… Somehow, inhabitants of the city can always muster the time and peace of mind to lounge for ca phe in improbable spaces surrounded by bustling chaos, be it by the roadside, in an alley, or in the attic of a seemingly dilapidated building.
“Coffee, sir?” “Yes. Hallelujah.”
Overlooking Central Park? No, it is a cafe built on a Hanoian rooftop, likely to be an illegal building extension.
I’m told that Vietnamese coffee is mostly robusta variety, and therefore high-caffeine and low taste – not, in other words, good. I’d be intrigued to try some, though. It’s often more about the experience as a whole than it is the drink itself, of course.
They serve dark roast and little else. The kicker is that they use a variety of ingredients as sweeteners, ranging from condensed milk and yoghurt to egg-white foam; all of which makes the coffee quite tasty. Coffee here is, perhaps, more akin to desserts elsewhere. The cafe culture here is distinct in that you can find sippers congregating in spaces of all types — very much omnipresent in the urban scene.