Brett Davis - AsiaLIFE Magazine

Laura’s Secret Room
L’appartement
VND). Shisha in all flavours is
on offer, too (188,000 VND).
Laura’s Secret Room
11 Dong Du, D1
Tel: 3509 9018
The vivacious Laura is a young
Vietnamese woman with bouffant
curls and tattoos and her
bar has the same extravagant
flair: think Marie Antoinette;
feather boas, fake turf-covered
walls and electric-blue flashing
fairy lights. It’s quite a
hike to her Secret Room (past
a fairly underwhelming and
smoke-filled lounge) but it’s
well worth the exercise. For on
the fifth floor is an ultra-pink
terrace that affords a birds eye
view of the city below. It’s a
tiny space, but thankfully few
people take advantage of it,
and as a result it’s generally
very quiet. Somehow, Laura
manages to fit a live Filipino
band up there on Thursday
nights from 9 pm and bellydancing
performances are
coming soon. It may be located
sky high but that doesn’t mean
the prices are. A Corona goes
for 30,000 VND: very reasonable
indeed.
Princess and the Pea
63/85 Pasteur, D1
Tel: 0936 353 179 or 0983 455
549
I love Princess and the Pea.
Themed around the story and
tucked away down a shoulderwidth
hem off Pasteur, and up
a winding set of stairs, it truly
has a fairytale quality. Illustrations
from children’s books
like Alice in Wonderland line
the aubergine-hued walls,
alongside unique wooden cut
outs shaped like lamps and
topped with fabric shades. A
bedroom nook to the café’s
rear houses the princesses’
bed, too—11 mattresses that
are piled atop each other on a
heavy timber base. The sleeping
quarter also has a mirrored
vanity table (which young
Vietnamese girls use as a photography
prop) and an adjoining
library filled with books.
Seating is on the floor on
purple cushions alongside cute
coffee tables set with black
and white shots in the centre.
The food menu is limited but
drinks are plentiful. The apple
and lemon juice (39,000 VND)
is sweet and refreshing.
Laura’s Secret Room
Princess and the Pea
Princess and the Pea
In contrast to the dingy surrounds
the café is bright and
breezy thanks to hardworking
ceiling fans and generous use
of lemon yellow paint. What
makes it even more special is
owner Thuy Minh’s request
to her friends to donate their
old things. As such, the space
is adorned with an eclectic
mash of decorations: a rusted
old typewriter, a four-poster
bed and a black and white
photograph of Charlie Chaplin,
among others. There is a
set lunch menu for each day
of the week—bun cha and bun
thit nuong on Monday (55,000
VND), bun bo and goi cuon on
Tuesday (55,000 VND), beef on
Wednesday (75,000 VND), salad
on Thursday (65,000 VND) and
a rice dish on Friday (70,000
VND). Breakfast including
bacon, ham, pate, butter, bread
and coffee is available for 85,000
VND, too. What’s best about
Things? It’s not overdone. It’s
just perfect.
Acoustic
6E1 Ngo Thoi Nhiem, D3
Tel: 3930 2239
www.acoustic.com.vn
Walk into Acoustic of an afternoon
and you could very well
find yourself listening to pop
star and 2007 Vietnam Idol finalist
Thao Trang jamming with
her band like I did. A favourite
haunt for Vietnamese music lovers
and singers alike, Acoustic’s
location at the end of an alley
off Ngo Thoi Nhiem doesn’t
deter revellers from coming
out in droves and it’s easy to
understand why. It’s cosy and
intimate with plenty of comfortable
seating right in front of the
stage. A palette of warm beiges
comprises the colour scheme,
which is complemented with
black details. As well, live bands
perform each night, singing
both Vietnamese and English
numbers. Acoustic has another
location, too: The Factory, at 102
Mac Thi Buoi in District 1.
Warda
71/7 Mac Thi Buoi, D1
Tel: 3823 3822
Out of sight at the back of an
alley off bustling Mac Thi Buoi
is Warda, a Lebanese lounge,
bar and restaurant. Downstairs
the space is separated into
two sections across the hem: a
Bedouin tent filled with padded
bench seats and obligatory
Middle Eastern-style throw
cushions on one side and the
bar and restaurant on the other.
Upstairs, the beaded curtain
room is perfect for a private
dinner party. The menu is a high
point, especially the choice of
hot mezzas: couscous battered
eggplant fingers with chilli
and tahini sauce (65,000 VND)
and Egyptian havashi—grilled
pita bread with sautéed spiced
minced lamb (88,000 VND). For
the indecisive a hot mezza platter
(188,000 VND) is the way to
go. The spread includes kebeh
(burgur coated minced lamb,
onion and pinenuts), tomato
calamari, sambousek (ovenbaked
filo pastry filled with
goats cheese and spinach), and
grilled spicy chicken plus flat
bread, tahini and hummus. For
dessert, I can personally recommend
the hot chocolate and fig
pudding: a melt-in-your-mouth
delight that erupts with gooey
goodness once pierced (85,000
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