Brett Davis - AsiaLIFE Magazine

Himiko Visual Café
HCM City
Hideouts
Himiko Visual Café
Cooku Nest Café
L’appartement
Beth Young searches high and
low—in Saigon’s many hems and
alleyways, up above the streetscape
and in the least obvious places—to
find the city’s best kept secrets: its
tucked away cafés, restaurants and
bars. Photos by Fred Wissink.
HCM City is a labyrinth of backstreets
and crumbling terrace
houses with winding staircases.
Sometimes tucked away in
these unlikely spaces are craftily
refurbished bars, restaurants
and cafes; hidden gems that are
designed to be stumbled across.
They’re not see and be seen
joints; rather they provide visitors
with a respite from HCM
City’s frenetic pace, somewhere
to sit quietly and soak in the
often eclectic and ambient surroundings.
Hideaway Café
41/1 Pham Ngoc Thach, D3
Tel: 3822 4222
www.hideawaycafe-saigon.com
Hideaway Café is a sprawling
French colonial villa, hidden
down an alley off Pham Ngoc
Thach and shaded underneath
the umbrella of a huge, knotted
tree. Hideaway isn’t a newbie,
but it’s one of the best, a plaudit
that the mixed foreign and
Vietnamese crowd will attest
to. The café is so big, and has
enough sections that privacy
isn’t an issue. The main structure
has dining areas downstairs
and upstairs, both decked out
with comfortable lounges.
There’s also a balcony positioned
beneath the tree’s leafy
canopy. Another room above
the kitchen has a lofty feel. With
wooden floors and beige canvas
cushions on low-lying lounges
and classic board games like
Scrabble, Articulate, Monopoly
and Cluedo, it’s extremely
conducive to relaxation. Teamed
with the rustic finishes and
worn furniture, Hideaway has a
casual air. It’s the type of place
you can put your feet up on the
couch without fear of reproach.
The menu is great, too, and the
English breakfast (80,000 VND)
is a winner.
Cooku Nest Café
13 Tu Xuong, D3
Tel: 2241 2043
Not so much tucked away as
camouflaged, the Cooku Nest
Café, is a blink and you’ll miss
it sort of place. Constructed
entirely from wood panels
inside and out, the cuckoo clock
that presides over the front
door and the cut out timber
bird motif positioned outside
are the café’s calling cards.
A relaxed space with an attic
upstairs, it’s a cool hangout for
arty, young Vietnamese, who
sip at tra da and ca phe sua da
for hours on end. A ladder-like
staircase (shoes are politely left
at the bottom) delivers patrons
to the loft, where seating is at
ground level on comfortable
paisley-patterned cushions. By
day, pleasant, elevator-worthy
songs play, but at night, the nest
is transformed with live music
(mostly the jazzy strains of
saxophone, guitar, violin, cello
and mandolin). The entertainment
is cheap, too. Instead of
paying at the door, the ticket
price is tacked at the end of your
bill. An iced coffee is 30,000
VND usually, but 50,000 VND if
accompanied by a band.
Casbah Lounge
59 Nguyen Du, D1
Tel: 8382 4130
Casbah is a Mediterraneanthemed
lounge positioned
midway along a tiny hem suitable
only for single-file traffic.
Though it’s located right in the
heart of the city, Casbah feels
worlds away, especially on the
rooftop terrace: a luxurious
space complete with private
curtain-enclosed day lounges,
rattan chairs and a view of the
street below. Downstairs, the
vibe is Arabian nights. Royal
blue and turquoise green accents
pop against the dappled
beige walls and the sweet scent
of shisha fills the air. Though
the stained glass windows allow
some light in, it’s quite dark
inside—a perfect lunchtime
respite from the bright Saigon
sun. Casbah hosts belly dancing
classes every Thursday to
Sunday from 8.30 pm, as well.
No payment is required; simply
purchase a glass of wine or a
cocktail from their wide selection.
Himiko Visual Café
324bis Dien Bien Phu, D10
www.himikocafe.com
Himiko Visual Café is all about
aesthetics. Located in a wide
alley off busy Dien Bien Phu, the
entrance is unassuming. As soon
as you enter though and are
greeted by three life-size naked
statues, it becomes apparent
you’ve found the right place.
The staircase is dingy, but the
space it leads to is downright
eclectic. Filled with art created
by owner Nguyen Kim Hoang,
including busts and paintings
displayed in shadow boxes,
it’s a feast for the eyes. And
that’s exactly Hoang’s goal. In
Japanese Himiko means “the
child found fire,” and the café’s
primary purpose is to give
young artists a playground
to nurture their own creative
spark. For patrons interested
in grabbing a bite to eat there’s
a limited menu of Vietnamese
cuisine, namely banh mi op la
(bread with eggs) for 29,000
VND and noodle soup with
rare beef (31,000 VND). Drinks
are plentiful and include coffee,
smoothies, juices and cocktails.
Hoang appears to have a fondness
for rum, too, for the spirit
can be added to anything from
ca phe da (32,000 VND) to lemon
juice (32,000 VND).
L’appartement
Level 1, 95 Pasteur, D1
Tel: 7300 8077
L’appartement is tough to find.
Take a wrong turn in the courtyard
where it’s located and you
can easily find yourself climbing
a winding staircase all the way
into someone’s very Vietnamese
abode (at least I did). For those
adept at following signage
though, hunting down this
Parisian-style cake parlour and
café shouldn’t be too difficult.
Just across the hall from Yoga
Living, L’appartement (known
simply as the Cake Studio)
is a welcoming space with a
large open dining room, bright
‘breakfast’ type nook with bay
windows and a colourful lounge
area that houses a massive red
sofa. The menu isn’t anything
to write home about, but all the
usual suspects are there: coffee,
juices and some Vietnamese
specialities. Desserts are made
fresh daily and the cake of the
day goes for 45,000 VND.
Things
Level 1, 14 Ton That Dam, D1
Tel: 0904 141 714
Things Café is as gorgeous as it
is unexpected. Located on the
first level of a ramshackle and
massive Vietnamese apartment
building, a stroll past the
labyrinth of homes is required
to reach the respite of Things.
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