TacoCat's TrEats #53: Going back to Wartime for a Coffee ☕

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Cover image source: wanderingwheatleys

Hey Steemit!

Oh man, real slim pickings for contests today, so I literally didn't have a choice since this was the only contest still open.

I think I'll have to go back to my new schedule again, so after Sunday's Art Attack, the schedule will go back to being:
Mondays: Travel
Wednesdays: Tasteem
Fridays: OST
Sat/Sun: Art

Just a quick update, since there are no choices for tasteem contests on Fridays apparently. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

But anyway, this contest gives me the prime opportunity to share one last coffee place! I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but when we went to Vietnam, we partook in the huge coffee culture there! Our friend graciously offered to take us on a coffee tour and he took us to come cool spots!

One of which was at a fancy "hipster" cafe called L'Usine, which I wrote about a couple months ago.

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Source: cntraveller

Another was a super traditional place called Cà Phê Vợt, where we got to experience what it was like drinking coffee in 1950s; sitting on plastic chairs and all.

Source: thoibaotoday

And the last place our friend brought us to was kinda a mix of both hipster and traditional, I would say. This cafe is called Cộng Cà Phê (Cong Cafe), and is one of the most interesting cafes I've ever seen.

Source: vietnam tours from india

The theme of Cộng Cà Phê is very intriguing. Its interior features retro décor, including lighting, wall color and background music. The café revisits the mood of the 80s in Vietnam, allowing customers a unique journey back in time.

Source: The New Hanoian

The ambiance of Cộng Cà Phê is like an homage to the Việt Cộng (aka the National Liberation Front; a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army) during the Vietnam-American War. The baristas and servers wear green army-esque uniforms and they have a small gift shop area with war-themed memorabilia.

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Source: Vietnam Insider

Cộng Cà Phê opened its first store in 2007 in Hanoi, and since then, the franchise has expanded to more than 50 stores in Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam. I read that in 2018, they even opened their first overseas branch in the Yeonnam-dong neighborhood in Seoul!

The coffee shops are generally in older, multi-story buildings with antique tables and lots of old books. Every floor is also intricately designed, so it's ripe for instagrammers.

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Source:AN Tours

Invariably located in buzzy Hanoi neighbourhoods, Cộng Cà Phê stores, with their friendly and relaxed vibe, attract a hip young local crowd and appreciative foreign visitors.

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Source: VnExpress Interntional

Famous locally for their coconut coffee, and coffee with coconut frozen yoghurt, Cộng Cà Phê also serves a wide selection of snacks, beers, cocktails and other refreshing seasonal fruit beverages.

Source: wanderingwheatleys

When we went there, we ordered the basic ice coffee just so we could compare to the other ice coffee we had from Cà Phê Vợt.

I think it was more flavourful than the previous ice coffee we had, but it might've been less strong in terms of caffeine, which was good for us since it was in the evening already.

The really cool thing about this cafe (other than the interesting decor) is the souvenirs you can get! We checked out the gift shop and they had mugs, shirts, notebooks and more.

Source: Trip101

Our friend graciously bought us a couple of "passports" to commemorate our visit to Cộng Cà Phê!

Sorry the quality is so bad; this was captured from Sean's instastory >.<

We didn't try any of the fancy coconut coffees unfortunately (since they were pretty expensive and we were kinda full anyway), but if you're in the mood for artisanal coffees in a cozy & retro place, definitely check out Cộng Cà Phê!