Your First Saigon Coffee: What to Order and Where to Go. | Saigon Travel Guide

Cheo Leo, Phen’s Coffee, Katinat and Cộng Cà Phê are Carmen’s personal recommendations. The suggested drinks and route pairings below are editorial suggestions, rather than claims about Carmen’s usual order.

First, decide what you want from the cup

Your first Saigon coffee does not need to be the strongest one on the menu. It might be sweet and icy, black and slow, or mostly an excuse to sit somewhere interesting. Choose the drink, then the kind of morning you want around it.

Cà phê đen is black coffee; add đá for iced or nóng for hot. Cà phê sữa đá brings coffee, sweetened condensed milk and ice together. Bạc xỉu is usually milkier and sweeter, with a smaller coffee presence; recipes vary between cafés. A phin is the small metal filter used to brew coffee, rather than a separate flavour.

A few words that make ordering easier

Try “ít ngọt” for less sweet, “ít đá” for less ice, or ask for less coffee if you prefer a gentler drink. Sweetness cannot always be adjusted when a base is premixed, so ask before the cup is made. A small-looking coffee can still taste very strong.

Coconut coffee is a creamy, often dessert-like option. Coconut does not automatically mean dairy-free: condensed milk or other dairy may also be used. Ask about ingredients if that matters to you. The menu at your chosen branch is the best guide to what is available that day.

Cheo Leo: a morning in Bàn Cờ

Find Cheo Leo Cafe at 109/36 Nguyễn Thiện Thuật. Carmen recommends it, and its long-established cloth-filter coffee tradition makes an interesting contrast with the individual metal phin. If you enjoy a straightforward coffee, ask about black coffee or coffee with condensed milk, hot or iced.

Make this a neighbourhood morning: start with Bún bò Huế Song Anh at 28A Bàn Cờ, then allow 10–15 minutes to walk over, locate the alley and settle in. Leave 30–45 minutes for your coffee. Check the businesses’ current updates before an especially early start, and bring cash as a useful backup.

Katinat: a pause in the central city

Katinat is a Carmen recommendation for a different café mood: a contemporary coffee-and-tea stop that fits easily between city sights. The brand lists its representative store at 91 Đồng Khởi, a useful central option near the Opera House area. Allow about 15–20 minutes to walk here from the Central Post Office, with time for crossings.

Browse the branch menu rather than chasing a drink you saw in an old photograph. Coffee drinkers and friends who prefer tea can each choose something they like. Give yourselves a seat and a proper break before continuing towards Nguyễn Huệ.

Cộng Cà Phê: choose a branch that fits your day

Carmen also recommends Cộng. Its official Ho Chi Minh City directory includes Lý Tự Trọng and Chợ Lớn locations, so choose the branch that suits where you already are. The map link below uses Lý Tự Trọng for a central visit; check the current branch listing and opening information before setting off.

If you want a sweeter coffee, ask whether coconut coffee is available and how it is made at that branch. You can also keep the order simple. This is an alternative to your central Katinat stop, not a reason to have two coffees back to back.

Phen’s Coffee: make it a separate outing

Phen’s Coffee is at 142 Nguyễn Văn Công, in the Gò Vấp area. Carmen recommends it, and its appeal includes watching aircraft near Tân Sơn Nhất. It sits outside the central café loop. From central District 1, allow roughly 35–60 minutes by car each way, potentially longer in traffic.

Come because the setting interests you, with time to sit and enjoy whatever you order. Aircraft sightings depend on operations and weather; there is no promised timetable or perfect photo. If you are fitting this around a flight, leave your airport check-in buffer intact. A café visit should never become a dash to the terminal.

One good café is enough for a morning

For a first visit, choose Cheo Leo with breakfast in Bàn Cờ, or one central branch of Katinat or Cộng alongside your sightseeing. Save Phen’s for a separate half-day with travel time included. All journey times here are planning estimates, not live directions.

The cover photograph shows Saigon phin coffee as a city scene, not these four venues. Addresses and public business information were checked online on the date shown below; hours, seats and menus can change. What sounds more like your morning: an alley café, a central people-watching stop or coffee near the planes? Tell Carmen and she can build a relaxed route around it.

KEEP YOUR BEARINGS

The places in this guide.

The map highlights the first place listed. Open any stop below for its own location and directions.

Loads Google Maps when you choose. Directions below work without loading the map.

Venue links open Google Maps. Check the selected place and route before travelling.