Places

If there’s one cafe that makes you feel that creating something of your own is possible, this is the spot.

Most places are one or the other. They're venues for relaxed, lazy nights or places where you can get loud and rowdy. Not many places have both but if you're looking for a place in Saigon that does, it's Bông Kia Sên.

90k Cocktails is the type of place that sounds too good to be true. But if you ever let your curiosity get the better of you what you might find is a place that exceeds all your expectations, a place that reminds you why you love being in Saigon.

You just never know what you’re gonna find in Saigon. The city has its own tempo. The city is its own nexus. Any time you leave home, you never know who or what you’re going to discover. Most recently it was meeting Hieu at Tempo Nexus at the corner Pasteur and Lê Lợi Street.

What's the mark of a great restaurant? Is it an innovative menu pushing the boundaries of our conception of food? Is it a team of chefs and front of house staff at the top of their game? Or is it something more abstract? That comforting, unexplainable sense that you're not dining out but you're dining with loved ones at home. Visiting An's one rainy evening in September, I believe I found the answer.

Cơm tấm never gets old. To date, I’ve probably had close to several hundred plates of this Saigonese speciality and yet I still can’t go a week without another. So what makes A XỈU, a cơm tấm joint in District 1, special?

If you’re curious to find out where music meets your story, then wander over to 15.22 Cafe and you’ll see the exact phrase painted on its window. I stopped by one afternoon to check out the place and see what kind of mood I’d sink into. I discovered there was a whole lot more to be found.

With around fifty different beers to choose from, the gimmick is simple: grab your beer from the fridge, open it yourself, drink it, and watch motorbikes fly down Hoàng Sa. “Homestyle drinking”, says Thao, “the feeling of ‘Lala’; of dreaming and floating.”

Asking why you should eat ramen in a country that has phở, bún bò Huế, and bánh canh cua is understandable. Perhaps Aoya can give you an answer.

The world outside has been in constant motion but everything between the old, discoloured walls of the cafe with no name has stayed the same since the day its doors first opened.

I'd never been to a live fight until Gods of Martial Arts' event on September 6th. Little did I know how much of a show I was in for.

When you walk onto CieL’s property — leaving the street area, traveling up the driveway, walking along the path, past the front door with the red Michelin sign on it, there on your right hand side, you’ll see something unexpected — graffiti.

Enjoy this moment and the living’s easy.

Who knew why it always happened like this. Friday. My day off. I headed to Workshop Coffee with the intention of getting some writing done but of course, a pretty girl was sitting at one of the tables.

It’s funny how some things work out. You can go to the same cafe every morning, day after day, and then—bam!—the owners recommend an album that captures the beauty, the sadness, the depth of autumn.

In the lush Đà Lạt hillsides you may find yourself wandering around in the cool, early morning in desperate need of a pick me up. One of the seemingly peculiar solutions to that is to grab a crisp, refreshing cup of weasel coffee.

Date night? There's no better place for a table for two.

From the moment you sit down, your taste buds are salivating, your stomach is grumbling, and you know you’re in for a show tonight.

What makes a building feel like home? What makes a space feel great? What makes a cafe feel worthy of visiting? It’s all in the subtle, almost invisible details. The ones you don’t see right at first.

Everyone talks about Taco Tuesday but why not enjoy an evening of Mexican goodness when you know you won't have to work the next day? That's why for me, nothing really beats MixTape's $1 tacos on Friday.

Bookstores are otherworldly, possessing a deep, spiritual quality that as a kid I could never understand nor put my finger on. Now that I’m older and I’m trying to make a living writing, the ethereal essence of a bookstore continues to hold me in a transfixed wonder.

It’s the perfect trap. The perfect room to get cozy, get caffeinated, and get lost in thought.

Then that magical thing happens. At some point while admiring nature’s simplicity, you’ll realise you’ll have stopped thinking about all the things that were bothering you before. It all melted away.

Union Jack’s has been a mainstay in Saigon since opening in 2017. Priding themselves on being the quintessential British Fish & Chips restaurant in the heart of Saigon, they’ve upheld that reputation with love from locals and expats alike.

Like most weekends, when we arrived Rafters was already in full swing. People upstairs. People downstairs. Drinks flowing. Conversations overflowing. Newcomers popping in. Day-oners stopping by. But last Saturday was different.

Above Cafe Nuta’s red door are four red letters: L-I-V-E. As if to say, the cafe itself is live on the air and for those about to enter: please do so quietly.

It started with a harmless Google search.

Whenever I’m desperate for a dip in a pool, whenever I need to slow down a little, escape the grinding machinery of Saigon and spend several hours sinking into a peace and quiet like no other, I know where I’m going.

I never used to care much for cafes. Why pay for a coffee when I can have one at home? A Priori, to some extent, changed this.

When I speak about my barbershop, I’m not talking about the shop itself. I’m referring to my barber, a Vietnamese guy in his late-twenties called Phát .

It was quiet, and the quiet felt good. The quietness slowed things down. So slow, in fact, I could finally hear.

A wino's wonderland, when you wander into Mowe you can't help but wonder whether you're still in Saigon

Some places have their pulse on the city: Neo's one of them

Not sure what to do? Here's a trifecta of activities for an evening well spent in Saigon