A weird combination came out of its shell as an alternative due to the lack of milk and became iconic. If you ever wonder why Starbucks failed in Vietnam, the secret inside a 70-year-old Hanoi coffee will tell you.
I. Brief information
Location: 39 Nguyen Huu Huan, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.
Founded: 1946
Opening hours: 7:00 – 22:30
Average price: 25.000 – 50.000 VND
II. History of the 70-year-old coffee
Giang cafe with its long story stood out as a Hanoi specialty. It was named after the founder of the coffee shop – Mr. Nguyen Van Giang. The traditional coffee came up with many different kinds of taste but the egg coffee (or “ca phe trung” in Vietnamese) is the star. Egg coffee at Giang cafe is told to be the finest of its kind and a must when you visit Hanoi.
In the past, Mr. Giang was working as a bartender at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel. Due to the shortage of needed ingredients in the 1930s, the egg coffee was an improvisation from cappuccino’s recipe. Mr. Giang has come up with the idea of using the egg to replace the pricey fresh milk at that time and that’s how the iconic drink was born. In 1946, Mr. Giang decided to quit his job at the hotel to launch his own brand which grew as a family business since then.
III. The recipe and serving
As 70 years go by in Hanoi history and Giang cafe itself was relocated twice but the taste is almost unchanged from its original recipe.
The drink can be served hot or cold, but the first one is highly recommended and more popular than all the other offers on the menu. The coffee is roasted, ground and carefully filtered before being brewed in a small cup. What makes the Vietnamese egg coffee Vietnam is the drip filter. The liquid then will be mixed with whipped and foamy egg yolk and other ingredients. Once the former step is done, the beverage will come up with a small spoon and be served in a bowl of hot water to retain the necessary heat. The size of the cup is intended to fit your hand. The texture is rich and bold so it is more suitable to sit and chat with friends while slowly stirring the cup, just like the slogan “Hà Nội không vội được đâu!”.
IV. The unique taste
The golden brown top layer of the drink – the thoroughly-whisked egg is surprisingly thick, soft and creamy. You can see the strong coffee at the bottom of the cup. The cold version is loaded with ice and it tastes more like a dessert than a regular milk coffee. It is different from all the bland, skinny latte and overheated coffee beans of the other international coffee brand. At first, one might doubt its taste but just one sip and it will blow your mind away. No one can imagine the weird combination of egg and coffee would form this perfection.
V. A culture, an icon
Although Giang cafe is quite humble in a small lane at the city’s old quarter, it’s always crowded with both the locals and the foreigners at different ages. The coffee shop is a vintage and cozy place colored with a thousand years of civilization of Hanoi.
Nowadays, coffee became a culture, an important part of the Vietnamese people’s life. They say, if you’ve never tried an egg coffee, you’ve never been to Hanoi.
Egg coffee is served everywhere with basic ingredients such as egg yolk, condensed milk, butter, Vietnamese coffee powder, and a little cheese. However, the secret lies in the techniques of the bartender that made Giang coffee the best destination for this kind of drink. Other coffee shops tried to initiate the drink but none of those can beat the delightful authentic version.
Mr. Nguyen Tri Hoa – son of Mr. Giang affirmed that the key is nothing but the quality. The process is not as easy as it sounds. The fresh chicken eggs are selectively prepared to avoid the fishiness. The coffee powder must be the pure premium one for the striking scent. The recipe might simple but it requires sophistication and skill. The measure of a fixed proportion of each ingredient is necessary to harmonize the bittersweetness.
The well-known egg coffee has been on CNN and The Guardian for its unique taste as one of the most stunning specialties of Hanoi. It was also selected to serve over 3,000 cups during the US – DPRK summit 2019 in Vietnam.
VI. Some tips
Since Mr. Giang’s son took on his father’s career, many different tastes were introduced such as egg chocolate, egg matcha, egg rum or even egg beer in addition to the original one. It offers you more options when you crave for something new.
The coffee shop is quite small so you must pay attention to the sign hanging above the alley. Once you saw the sign, you will meet the famous Giang cafe at the end of the lane.
You can book a taxi or drive yourself here. You have to park your vehicles at the opposite of Giang cafe, which is 10 meters away. It costs 10.000 VND per time.
The best time of the day to have for a cup of coffee is in the morning, right after your breakfast. Furthermore, you should avoid coming at the peak time for your favorite seats.
Still, it’s always a good time for a coffee. The store offers the visitors a warm-hearted atmosphere to talk, a place to drink and a coffee to remember. Whether it is a rainy summer day or a cold winter night, you could easily treat yourself with a proper drink at Giang cafe.
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Phone: (+84) 4 3927 4120
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