Paris: Le Café de Flore (Saint Germain)

  

Azi am avut o întâlnire de lucru în buricul târgului, la una dintre cele mai șic cafenele din Paris, Café de Flore, cu o tânără doamnă corporatistă, căreia am să îi spun Mitzi din motive obiective - pentru că aproape așa o cheamă.

Catinat Cafe

Catinat Cafe is the place that sheltered us for an hour before a boat trip to Vung Tau, away from the madding crowd of cyclo drivers that hunt tourists in the shipyard area. It is located at the Northern end of Dong Khoi, just across the street from Majestic Hotel.



It's nice and comfy, but not one of the nicest in town. And definitely not well stocked. We had to browse the menu three times, as what we wanted was not available. Moreover, as a customer, mastering body-language is always a plus - the waiters do not speak any word of English, even if you would expect that in such a touristy area.

In spite of all these shortcomings, we had a nice time. The fresh juices and coffee are nice, the decor is pretty cheerful and the wi-fi connection works well.  All in all, a good place to stop by or to wait for the hydrofoil to Vung Tau.

Bobby Brewers Cafe

At the time we were living in the tourist district, looking for a long-term rental in Saigon, it happened that we popped in at Bobby Brewers at 45 Bui Vien St. - a place about which I had read many good reviews, pompously advertised by Word HCMC.

Bobby Brewers @ 45 Bui VienSt.

Maybe I had high expectations about this place - but it just didn't impress me at all. It's a common coffee place (not at all special, as advertised), laid out on 3 floors and heavily populated by expats.  The third floor at the location on Bui Vien is a movie lounge, where they showcase various recent international productions. Maybe it's a good thing, I don't know - I prefer to watch a DVD at home or in a much larger, or at least not-so-claustrophobic place, even if it's free. Though I think it can be cool for a tourist to have dinner in front of a movie home theater at the end of their first crazy day in Saigon.

The waiters - top notch! I could not drink the iced coffee I ordered, so I asked for a fresh pineapple juice - "No ice, please!" Of course I got an iced one - maybe because I had previously asked for an iced drink, and any other thing I could have said was pointless. Then asked for green tea and got black. International menu - fast-food, not so cheap for a place that looks like an airport eatery. But their smoothies and frappuccinos, and juices compensate for that.

I should not have been that mean - I think I will go there again, maybe to one of the locations in District 3, either to make sure my first impression was right or to do penance.

Bobby Brewers - www.bobbybrewers.com

45 Bui Vien Street, Q1; 86 Pham Ngoc Thach, Q3; 306/8 Ng. Thi Minh Khai. Q3; 400B Le Van Sy Street, Q3

Highlands Cafe

There is no better coffee for me in Saigon than the Ca Phe Sua Da @ Highlands Cafe. There is no other more comfortable cafe in town than the one at Pasteur and Nguyen Du. Yes, I know, it's (still) the Starbucks of Ho Chi Minh City ( yet the real one will hit the town soon), but it's comfortable, it's air conditioned, it's perfect for grading papers (:D), they serve the most gorgeous iced coffee with condensed milk ever, tasty soups and sandwiches, amazing fresh juices, they have free wi-fi... What else?! Just can't wait to go there again soon.

Highlands Cafe @ Pasteur and Nguyen Du

However, I can't say the same about their location at Pham Ngu Lao and De Tham St. - not so clean, sometimes crowded, a classic of the meeting points in town for realtors and people looking for housing, not very quiet. But all the others are still there.

Coconut juice & fabulous ca phe sua da

Seafood soup - a bit too mushy for my taste, but good.