SAIGON, VIETNAM: The Hidden Egg Coffee Shop

I realized I should have written about this earlier. I only remembered when my friend messaged me to let me know that she was in Saigon and that she was staying at the hostel my friend and I stayed at. I suddenly just remembered this egg coffee shop, and totally recommended for her to go try it out.

My friend and I stayed at the red light district of Saigon, also known as Bui Vien Street. There's always a lot of people here, especially at night for the bars and clubs, so always be alert for pickpockets if ever you find yourself here! But anyway, I got to know about this place purely by chance. It was because I booked the wrong location for the Grab bike person to drop me off at. He dropped me off at the right street yes, but at the wrong place. He couldn't converse much in English, but it was totally fine for me to walk; after all I didn't have the chance yet to explore the street since we landed. So then I walked a bit to find my hostel, then this alleyway caught my eye. 

It was very inauspicious and narrow, yet the yellow walls and Christmas lights were inviting (at least to me!). It was night time when I saw it, and upon closer inspection saw that it was already closed for the day. I told my friend about it, that if we could perhaps wake up a bit earlier the next day, we could have egg coffee together. Thankfully she agreed!

And so we woke up before 7AM and walked to this alley. We were there right on time, since the shop owners were just about to open the cafe.

The whole geography of Vietnam as painted on the yellow wall greeted us.

There wasn't anyone here yet; we were basically their first customers!! We placed our orders from downstairs; two cups of egg coffee to start our day, please! We then proceeded to going upstairs. We saw this upon going up the first flight. It feels much like your grandma's house because it was definitely cozy and homey. It's simply charming to find yourself in such a place.

It was indeed fitting for this cafe to be called Little Ha Noi because the spaces were small, even the furniture. 

Caution your head!!! I had to agree; the ceiling was quite low, so if you're not fully aware, you can totally hit your head. I liked the effort in how they placed their warning by the steps with the laughing emoticon. This is a three-story cafe, and each floor greets with you with the same kind of vibe.

Now that I think about it; I admire how they're able to serve the egg coffee while having to climb these small steep stairs.

Fairy lights, plates and old photographs hanging on the wall, this place is the epitome of quaint.

Egg coffee came to be during the time when the North and South Vietnam were divided. Milk coffee was available for the Saigonese since they had milk supplied from the Americans, however Hanoians were not given that same privilege, so they used egg instead of milk.

Egg coffee is made out of egg yolk mixed with sugar, then mixed with black coffee.

They also had cookies for free. They weren't bad at all! I'd say the taste was similar to Eggnog. These were made out of the extra egg whites from the egg coffee they made. It was my first time drinking egg coffee, and it was delicious. It was frothy and filling, and my heart didn't palpitate so much after. It was a great way to start our day.

After finishing our egg coffee, we went out and joined our tour group for the Cu Chi tunnels experience, where we met up with a new friend we made from our Mekong Delta Tour. It was funny that we were in the same tour group twice; it's destiny.

Saigon definitely taught me to be brave and enter these narrow alleys and seemingly abandoned buildings, because they turned out to be the most memorable experience I had while there. I liked the peeling yellow walls, old furniture, and just the overall vibe of such places. It's no longer a secret because I've shared them with you, dear reader!! ; - )
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