The original Vietnamese egg coffee by Cafe Giang

The original Vietnamese egg coffee by Cafe Giang

Old Quarter, Hanoi

Egg with Vietnamese coffee (left) and Egg with chocolate (right)

This is a hidden gem in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. It's worth your effort to seek out this coffee shop, as this is the place where egg coffee was born!

Egg coffee which was invented by Mr. Nguyen Giang in 1946, when he was working as a bartender at a five-star hotel. The inspiration to create this recipe came from a time when Vietnam had a shortage of milk. Instead, he use whipped egg yolk as a substitute, and it quickly became a Hanoi specialty. You can find really great egg coffee throughout Hanoi, but if you want the original, you have to visit Cafe Giang.

 Egg with Vietnamese coffee 

We ordered two different drinks to try: egg with coffee and egg with chocolate. The egg drinks were served in layers with a few cubes of ice. You have to stir and mix it up until the ice has melted and has chilled your drink. Then, enjoy your smooth delicious egg coffee or egg chocolate. The creamy and buttery taste of this egg coffee reminds me of a milkshake or melting ice cream. There is no smell or taste of egg at all! Even if the words "egg coffee" sound strange to you, you shouldn't pass it up! You'll never know that there is an egg in your cup.

Wide varieties of menu by Cafe Giang 

Cafe Giang has a wide variety of menu items that you can choose to order. There are other drinks that I am really interested in trying next time, like egg with cinnamon, egg with matcha, and egg with beer or rum (???). It's a nice cafe that conserves the old-fashioned feel of a local Vietnamese coffee shop with tiny stools and plain decor. The cafe doesn't need to be fancy when it is so famous for its drinks.

They have 2 floors. It was pretty crowded when we visited. After all, it's so popular! I'm so grateful that he found a way to replace milk with yolk - Vietnam got a new specialty for all of us to try!

Location https://goo.gl/maps/Fe3BavyrsMD2

Cafe Giang can be a little hard to find if you don't know where to look. It's tucked away in a tiny alley between two tall tube houses. Just enter the alley and keep walking. You'll walk right into the first floor of the cafe.

The entrance of Cafe Giang