L'usine (Ho Chi Minh)

So, Ho Chi Minh has basically become synonymous with cafes for me. Since I decided to just chill while there, I ended up doing nothing but going to dinner and cafes. On my final night, my friend's girlfriend invited me to her house for a wonderful home-cooked meal. But of course, we stopped by a cafe for coffee and desert first. My final cafe of the trip was L'usine.

So, according to the little handout thing that I found in the store, L'usine is not only a cafe, but also a fashion boutique and art gallery. And the building itself dates back to the 1800s (though I doubt it's the original building...). The building has been used as a ballroom, a hotel, apartment building, government offices, and a garment factory. It's a pretty cool and contemporary place now, I will give them credit for that. And there is definitely a feel of "boutique" to the store, especially due to the quite high prices.

But anyway, back to the cafe bit. It was really cozy, but not in that small cute kind of way. It feels like a bunch of university students should be in there studying. It looked like the majority of the people in there were, I'm guessing, expats. The place was open with several communal tables, which I'm sure gave it that "we should be studying" feel. The vases of flowers added to that as well. My friends and I actually had to move our flowers over so that we could see each other and have a conversation.

As for the food and drinks, I think we all ordered cappuccinos. The food was, and I can't express how happy this made me, CUPCAKES! I love cupcakes! There's something about them that just make me so happy. And Japan doesn't believe in them or something. So I haven't had a cupcake since my last day at work in the US. That was nearly four years ago. I had a cupcake! My friends both got red velvet cupcakes. I had to ask what cupcakes were available, and as the waitress was citing the varieties available, I tried to make a decision. Then she said the magic words "Lemon Drop". I love lemon sweets so the decision became really easy really fast.

It was definitely a decision well made. The cappuccino was really good. But the cupcake is the thing that I remember most fondly. It was beautiful to look at and smile-inducing to eat. Now, the cupcake may not have actually been that good. It might have been that I hadn't had one in about four years. But I'm pretty sure that if I lived near this cafe, I'd be all sorts of knowledgeable from studying all the time, but I'd also be all sorts of chunky from eating cupcakes all the time too. Luckily for my waistline, I live in Japan.

Order: Cappuccino and Lemon Drop Cupcake (60,000 and 55,000VND respectively)
Review: Why isn't this in Tokyo? I wish I had easy access to this place...

Website: http://lusinespace.com/
Location: District 1, HCMC

Phuc Minh Coffee (Ho Chi Minh)

So, as I mentioned in the previous blog, I went a cafe the first night I arrived in Vietnam but I didn't really pay attention to it. So on the second full day while my friend was at work, I walked back over there. I stayed for about 4 hours or so. I actually ended up going again the next day too. And were I to have stayed longer, I would have gone again, I'm sure.

The cafe itself is not particularly cozy but it is comfortable. It's quite open and bright. The temperature is nice and the music was quite amusing. They played a lot of older pop from the 90s and early 2000s. But every once in a while they'd play something completely random like Hikaru Utada's "First Love". On top of all that, the staff was quite nice and always smiling.

So in visiting there twice and for such extended periods of time, I had ordered quite a bit. Three Vietnamese White Coffees (2 hot and 1 iced), a watermelon juice, a club sandwich, and fries. Everything was quite good, especially the drinks. However, I drank two coffees on the first day and had some problems later. Vietnamese coffee is quite strong and with the added sugar, I had a small case of the jitters. I then crashed a bit later. Hence the juice the next day.

So, this is probably not a cafe that I would go out of my way for. But I definitely definitely appreciated it being so close. If I lived in the area, I would be a regular for sure.

Order: 3 Vietnamese White Coffees, Watermelon Juice, Club Sandwich, and Fries (I forget the prices, but probably average)
Review: I'm so happy it was there for me!

Website: http://www.phucminhcoffee.com/
Location: District 7, HCMC

Sozo (Ho Chi Minh)

So, after visiting Cambodia, I went over to Vietnam to visit an old friend. He had to work during the day and he said in the evening there was nothing much more to do than eat dinner and drink coffee. So every day that I was there, there was a cafe visit. The first night we went to a place near his flat. But I was so excited to see him after two years that I didn't pay attention to it then.

The second night we went to a rather interesting cafe in a different district. According to my friend, someone started this initiative where they take in street kids and train them to work in the cafe so that they can make some sort of living instead of just being street kids. And now when he says "kids", he doesn't mean little ones or anything, they're teens or young adults.

We ended up getting coffee and a cake, even though it was before dinner. I know, what rebels. My friend went with carrot cake and I, after some deliberation, went with passion fruit cheesecake. Vietnam coffee for me. Cappuccino for him.

So, I discovered that I love Vietnam coffee but I'm also glad that it's not really available so often on menus in Japan because I would probably end up with diabetes before my next birthday. It's so sweet and delicious, but also quite strong. Perfect! And the passion fruit cheesecake? Basically it was edible happiness. I had a bite of the cheesecake and it was good but I will say that I made the better choice out of the two desserts.

As for the cafe, it was really cozy and cafe like. There were two floors, and since the second floor was air conditioned, we went with that floor. They had three big comfy looking chairs that were all occupied so we sat at a table. In the corner, they also had a bookshelf full of books that you could buy or exchange for. Basically, everything a cafe should be and have.

So we only went there once, but went I visit Ho Chi Minh again, I will definitely revisit Sozo. After all, they're "restoring hope, changing lives".

Order: Vietnamese White Coffee (50,000VND) and Passion Fruit Cheesecake (60,000VND)
Review: Great place with a great cause

Website: http://web.mac.com/sozoasia/Site/Home.html
Location: 176 Bui Vien, District 1, Ho Chi Minh