Cà Phê Giảng

Why it matters

Egg coffee is generally attributed to Nguyễn Văn Giảng, a bartender at what is now the Sofitel Legend Metropole, who is said to have whipped egg yolk in place of fresh milk when milk was scarce in 1940s Hanoi. He left the hotel and opened his own café in 1946, and this is the café that carries his name.

The account is well established in family and press sources but rests on little contemporary documentation. The egg coffee recipe explains how we phrase it.

Finding it

The address is 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, in the Old Quarter. We have not been. Coffeehan’s write-up, listed in the sources, describes a narrow passage in from the street, a few seats on the ground floor and more tables upstairs, spread over small rooms with low tables and stools.

What to order

The egg coffee is what the café is known for, hot or iced. Hot egg coffee in Hanoi is traditionally served with the glass standing in a bowl of hot water, because the drink cools fast; the recipe page covers why that matters.

The menu also has cà phê sữa đá and cà phê đen.