Hoi An: Hoi An Roastery

While strolling through Hoi An, we came across the Hoi An Roastery – an espresso & coffee house that sits at one of the corners in the heart of the old city.

It is in a beautiful building, on two levels and you can choose to sit either next to the windows on high chairs (great for people watching) or on small tables inside the cafe (great for watching the baristas at work).

It is a cute little place – but of course, very touristy. It could easily be a coffee shop in Hong Kong, with its cute little pastries on display next to the bar, a range of different coffee beans and preparations to choose from, and the staff that speaks English easily.

Hoi An Roastery serves typical Vietnamese coffee, and we tried an iced black Vietnamese coffee, a hot Cafe Latte and a hot Cappuccino. The coffee was very good and rich in flavour (but then, where in Vietnam did we ever drink bad coffee? Except for the yucky instant stuff the country has amazing coffee everywhere!) but of course pricey. At 49,000 vietnamese dong for a latte, we could have easily had a banh mi baguette on the street and a noodle soup to go with it. No wonder it was all tourists at this place..

But then, the coffee was good, the service was quick and there is even free Wi-Fi. I would just advise not to order the cheesecake – it was just too sweet and rich, with crystallised sugar pieces dotted through the cheese. It was not well mixed and not well baked. So we should have just skipped it!

Hoi An Roastery buys the coffee beans straight from the farmers, so it is focused on fair trade – and therefore, plus its convenient location at 135 Tran Phu Street, I can recommend it – if you are willing to spend that much on a coffee in Hoi An!