Dung Miên Garden Cafe’
7 Phan Văn Trị Street
Gò Vấp District
*****
There are Saigon cafes .. and then there are Saigon cafes!
As a nearly lifelong resident of Berkeley, California, I love really strong coffee. Good ole Peet’s!
As a lifelong resident of Berkeley, California, now living for many years in Saigon, I love really strong cà phê sữa đá. Good ole Trung Nguyen #8!
As a lifelong resident of Berkeley, California, now living for many years in Saigon, who is enjoying a leisurely early retirement, I love cà phê sữa đá consumed in a quiet, picturesque, fountained, gardened Saigon cafe (lots of twinkle lights also help.)
Love the twinkle lights!
That’s where Dung Miên Garden Cafe’ comes in. It fits the bill perfectly.
Well, except for it’s remote location, and the low flying aircraft overhead. But that’s okay, nothing’s perfect!. It’s really not so difficult to get here from Saigon’s tourist center. And the low-flying airplanes landing at neighboring Tân Sơn Nhất airport (you can almost reach up and touch them) are kind of fun to watch go by. And, the good coffee, lush surroundings, floating garden decks, and hanging tree-houses make it a cool place to enjoy one’s cup of java.
Now, usually I enjoy my daily Vietnamese cafe outing at a small cafe in Bac Hai’s Cafe District, or satisfy my longing for a good western cappuccino at one of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s several Saigon locations.
Hai & Rick at Du Miên Garden Cafe’
But my friend Rick (also a California-resident-living-in-Saigon-now-retired type person) recently lured Hai and I out to Gò Vấp District to check out his favorite Saigon coffee shop, Dung Miên Garden Cafe’.
Actually, his Saigon coffee shop is more like a Saigon coffee compound or Saigon coffee resort. Very impressive, very lovely … in a Saigon-kind-of-way. So, that’s why you can find Rick here most days of the week … most hours of the day.
We began our Gò Vấp outing first with lunch at Bún Mắm Cô Ba (an amazing meal, a “must eat here” place).
Danh & Kien – our Easy English School friends
Our good friend Danh (founder of the Easy English School in Saigon) and his friend, Kien, joined us. Then, off on our motorbikes for a quick run to Dung Miên Garden Cafe’.
How colorful, how festive, how Saigon – a lovely garden cafe! And not a tourist to be found.
A bit off the beaten Saigon cafe track, at least for tourists and ex pats, but absolutely worth the venture to get here if you care to pass away the leisure retirement hours, sipping on a cà phê sữa đá.
Life is good. Thanks Rick.
Du Miên Garden Cafe
7 Phan Văn Trị Street
Gò Vấp District
389-45555
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