The 10 best coffee houses in Hanoi

Telegraph

21 hours ago

From narrow alleyway haunts to clandestine design spaces, Hanoi's coffee houses offer extraordinary variety. Punchy Robusta beans power iced Vietnamese coffee (espresso is usually made with Arabica), often sweetened with condensed milk, yoghurt, coconut or egg yolk. This creates a dark, syrupy brew that lands somewhere between dark chocolate and melted coffee ice cream. As Hanoi has become increasingly cosmopolitan, so too has the city's café culture, promising that an artisanal latte is never more than a few streets away.
Coffee shops open early and close late, and many double as smoothie bars, tea houses, art galleries and music venues. The vibe is generally unhurried, the seating is usually diminutive, and the drinks are reliably affordable – rarely more than a pound or two. Here are the best places to sample the local brew, including cosy coffee shops for quiet reflection and a couple of bakeries for sweet treats.
All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best coffee houses in Hanoi. Find out more below, or for more Hanoi inspiration, see our guides to the region's best hotels, restaurants, bars and things to do.
In this guide:
Best for the local brew
Bancong
This former Art Deco townhouse is now a gigantic café restaurant spread over several floors. The balconies are the café's standout feature ('bancong' is balcony in Vietnamese), as they offer elevated views over one of the Old Quarter's busiest crossroads. You'll find a range of coffees on the menu, but it's hard to pass up the coconut coffee, made with condensed milk, coconut milk, dried coconut and crushed ice, making it more like a dessert.
Café Nuoi
This tiny one-room corner café is about as classic as it gets, with cream walls, wooden stools and a retro sign that has probably been around for decades. The menu is startlingly large for such a miniscule coffee shop: in addition to classic Vietnamese coffee, they also serve tea and hot chocolate, as well as smoothies and juices made with fresh tropical fruit. When it gets too busy inside, the family that runs the place lines the outside walls with little plastic chairs.
Address: 32 Luong Van Can, Hoan Kiem
Loading T
This early 20th century building once belonged to a wealthy merchant, but was appropriated by the government in the 1950s and split into more than a dozen family dwellings. The façade, though faded, still has the grand imperial staircase and olive-green shutters that would have been the envy of neighbours 100 years ago. Lead barista and co-owner Hoang Tuan Son brews several of Hanoi's speciality coffees, but it's his egg coffee that earned the café its fame.
Café Duy Tri
This might just be the best traditional Vietnamese coffee in the city, and the house – a spindly, multi-floor structure that hasn't changed in decades – will leave a strong impression. They specialise in an aromatic traditional Vietnamese drip coffee with condensed milk, but you might want to opt for their homemade yoghurt instead. Pair this one-of-a-kind coffee shop with fresh rice dumplings from Banh Cuon Nong Ho Tay, which is just across the road.
Address: 43 Yen Phu, Tay Ho
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Best quiet, cosy cafés
Blackbird (5 Chan Cam)
Opposite Loading T, Blackbird excels at espresso-based coffees, but there's also French press, pour over and cold brew scribbled on the blackboard menu. The streetside seating offers views of the magnificent townhouse opposite, home to Loading T, while the intimate interior is a cosy place to warm up during Hanoi's chilly winter months. Keep your eyes peeled for the several other Blackbirds dotted around the Old Quarter.
Phin Bar by refined
This coffee shop sits just steps away from the Temple of Literature, so you can pop in for a quick pick-me-up before or after exploring the iconic Hanoi sight. Refined, the parent café, specialises in premium grade Robusta beans selected from boutique farms. This is where you can see the true potential of traditional Vietnamese coffee. While Phin Bar offers some welcome calm, grab the outside table if you can – it affords views of the temple.
Website: refined.vn
Toka Coffee Stand
Toka is one of a handful of cafés tucked down a quiet street that is quickly becoming one of Hanoi's hippest, understated enclaves. Seating wraps around a gorgeously weatherworn colonial-era townhouse while the smiley young baristas conjure up photogenic cappuccinos inside – a skill not lost on the ever-present gaggle of selfie takers. Toka only has a handful of tables, so if it's too busy then continue down the street for a broader selection of equally alluring coffee shops.
Memoire 15
Attached to the rooftop of a narrow tube house, Memoire 15 serves its carefully crafted coffees with sunset views over the Old Quarter. Parasitic architecture – when new extensions are attached to old structures – are integral to Hanoi's aesthetic, but Memoire 15 has literally taken the concept to a whole new level. If you're already overly caffeinated, try their salted apricot juice, a traditional Hanoi favourite.
Best for sweet treats
BAKED and Friends
If you find yourself in West Lake looking for something sweet, tuck into one of the cookies or cupcakes at BAKED. Singaporean baker Sheereen Amran usually has one or two fusion specials on the go, like baklava cheesecake and banana Biscoff cupcakes. The café itself is a friendly neighbourhood spot tucked away on a side street set back from the lake and overlooking a scruffy pond.
Gau Coffee & Bakery
Gau serves French pastries and other baked goodies alongside its western and Vietnamese coffees. The café opens at 7am, so if you're up early to explore the lake at dawn, you might want to retire here for coffee and cake afterwards. The classic croissant rivals a Parisian boulangerie, but the almond croissant is just as tempting. A broad pavement section outside means you can watch the world go by while munching on breakfast.
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How we choose
Every café and coffee house in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood roasteries to high street favourites – to best suit every type of traveller's taste – and consider the food, drinks, service, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
Joshua Zukas
I've spent two decades digging deep into Vietnam, with over ten years rooted in Hanoi. When I'm not unearthing new neighbourhoods in this ever-evolving city, I'm probably exploring backroads in Vietnam's farthest-flung corners.