Hanoi-style alley coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City attracts hundreds of customers every day

Invite each other to check-in at " Hanoi's small alley" in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City

One morning, Vu Phuong Uyen (born 2008, HCMC) woke up early, rode her motorbike more than 17km to find the "Lac" coffee shop located in an alley in Xuan Hoa ward (formerly District 3, HCMC).

Uyen said, what surprised her was that the shop was not in a house but in a small alley. In the middle of that narrow alley, people placed small plastic chairs, added cabinets stained with time, placed piggy banks, children's toys, old photos... creating a warm space.

Coffee shop in a small alley in Ho Chi Minh City evokes memories of old Hanoi ( Video : Cam Tien).

“The shop is decorated to evoke images of old Vietnam, and plays nostalgic music, making it even more pleasant. In many corners, my favorite is the collection shelf with many items that are hard to find now,” Uyen shared.

That day, Uyen ordered a cup of fresh longan tea, priced at 30,000 VND. “The flavor is quite light and pleasant. With this price in Ho Chi Minh City, I think it is reasonable,” she commented.

Thuy Tran (born 2005) said: "I especially like the handwritten menu, it makes me feel like I've gone back in time," Tran shared.

She ordered fresh milk coffee and commented that the dish was not too sweet, suitable for her taste, and affordable. “My first impression was the old-fashioned atmosphere, very familiar. In the future, I think I will come back often. This could become a familiar meeting place for me and my friends,” Tran added.

Many customers coming to the restaurant say that, amidst the hustle and bustle of modern life, this place makes them feel like they are lost in an old house and can slow down, just like the name of the restaurant "Lac".

Special menu

The highlight of the shop is not only the decoration but also the diverse menu. The shop serves familiar drinks such as coffee, soy milk, black sesame milk... but also has matcha latte, a trendy drink, showing the fusion between tradition and modernity.

In addition, the restaurant also serves some snacks such as rice cakes, bread dipped in milk, vegetarian pate bread, fried bread...

At the restaurant, Dan Tri reporter ordered a glass of pickled apricots, along with a loaf of bread dipped in milk. The glass of apricot juice has a familiar, simple flavor like that of street vendors, not fussy but easy to drink.

The bread is small but dense inside. Every time a customer orders, the owner puts it back in the oven, making the crust crispy and the inside soft and hot. When tearing the bread and dipping it in condensed milk, the sweet and fatty taste blends with the aroma of the bread, creating a familiar feeling.

What is special is that all the food and drinks in the restaurant are served in old-fashioned glass cups and ceramic plates. These seemingly simple items match the overall style of the restaurant, evoking a nostalgic feeling.

The menu is just a handwritten notebook, changed seasonally, with one page intentionally torn out in the hope that customers will focus on the "coconut milk coffee" - the drink that the owners and their husbands are most fond of.

At the shop, all the work from mixing drinks, serving to cleaning is done by Ms. Phuong. Despite her petite figure, she works quickly, so customers don’t have to wait too long.

The flow of customers coming and going is steady throughout the day, especially around 9 o'clock, the plastic chairs lining the small alley are all full, creating a bustling scene.

In particular, the owner also dedicated the rooftop to decorating with lots of green spaces so that guests can sip coffee, watch the plants, and breathe some rare fresh air in the middle of the city.

The owner started his business at the age of 45 with 18 million VND.

The owner of the shop is Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Phuong (43 years old), who spent many years being a housewife, but after the shock of bankruptcy. When she opened the shop, her capital was only 18 million VND.

“I wanted to open a small shop near my child’s school so that it would be convenient for me to take care of him and have a place for him to invite his friends to gather. Even during this difficult time, I received a lot of love. Some people gave me money in advance and asked me to deduct it gradually when they visited the shop, some made banana ice cream for me to sell, and some donated items to decorate the shop,” she shared.

Each item in the shop has a story attached to it. For example, the wooden cabinet that an 80-year-old woman has been selling coffee for many years has now become the “soul” of the shop, placed at the beginning of the alley. An old table was donated by a group of young people who are regular customers from the suburbs.

For this woman over 40 years old, this coffee shop is not only a startup project, but also a way for her to accompany her children, to relive her childhood memories and to give innocence to the younger generation.

“I did not intend to decorate this place in the old Hanoi style, but only wanted to recreate the characteristics of old Vietnam in my childhood memories, when I sat behind my grandfather to drink coffee and eat bread dipped in milk,” Ms. Phuong shared.

Perhaps because she spent 3 years studying Vietnamese Culture in Hanoi, she unconsciously brought a part of the capital's memories into the space of the shop, so many visitors commented that the shop "has Hanoi style".