Café Giang is the birthplace of the decadent Vietnamese egg coffee. From 1946, for more than 75 years, they are serving one of Hanoi’s most special treats.
The Origin
Mr. Nguyen Van Giang invented egg coffee or ca phe trung in 1946. At that time, he worked as a bartender at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, one of the most famous five-star hotels in Vietnam’s capital city. Due to the shortage of milk, Mr. Giang tried adding the whisked chicken egg, condensed milk in the coffee to create his signature drink.
As you may guess, the drink became such a big hit Mr. Giang decided to open his own coffee shop – Café Giang, named after himself. The first location of Café Giang is not where it is today. Mr. Giang started selling egg coffee at a small stall, then moved to 90 Cau Go, Hanoi.
Around 1989, Mr. Giang passed away. His children have continued his legacy until today, opened a few coffee shops around Hanoi. The most visited one is Café Giang at 39 Nguyen Huu Huan street.
Once you come to the above address, you will walk pass a small lane connected to the two floors open space inside. Sit down at tiny stalls among locals, enjoy a cup of Vietnamese egg coffee is an experience you do not want to miss.
How Vietnamese egg coffee is made
In the old-time, coffee shops used tiny whisk powered by a small fan to whisk egg yolk. Each whisk is placed inside a tall cup, whisking up egg yolk nicely and steadily. You can still spot this scene at a few local small coffee shop.
Today, at Café Giang, they use a stand mixer to whisk a large amount of egg yolk mixture. It makes sense since they serve hundred cups of egg coffees and other egg-based drinks every day.
The recipe for a cup of Vietnamese egg coffee more or less consists of chicken egg yolk, condensed milk, and brewed coffee. The egg yolk mixture is whisked separately until creamy before adding to the strong Vietnamese black coffee.
No one (except the owners :D) know precisely how famous coffee shop, like Café Giang make their signature egg coffee. But it is not hard to do so you can try to make egg coffee at home one day.
Menu and Price – Café Giang
Most famous menu item at Cafe Giang is Vietnamese egg coffee. You can order them hot or cold. I prefer to drink my egg coffee hot to enjoy its richness and creaminess entirely. Each egg coffee is placed inside a cup of hot water to maintain the drink’s temperature.
The second most ordered item here is cacao trung – whisked egg with cocoa powder. It is not my favorite but a good choice for non-coffee drinkers.
Other interesting drinks are dau xanh trung – egg mung bean, rum trung – egg with rum, or bia trung – egg with beer.
Apart from the infamous egg coffee and a whole list of drinks with egg, Café Giang also serves tea, yogurt, and fruit-based juice. You can even go for a cup of Hanoi beer at this coffee shop. But most people come here for the signature egg coffee.
Below is the menu photo that I took at Café Giang on my visit in 2019. Price for most menu items are from 25.000 VND to 50.000 VND. It costs you 25, 000 VND (around 1 dollar and 10 cents) for a cup of delicious Vietnamese egg coffee.
1 USD ~ 23,015 VND
Café Giang is the birthplace of Vietnamese egg coffee. But it is not the only place that serves this decadent caffeinated treat. In Hanoi’s old quarters, at least three other coffee shops are famous among locals for this drink. They are Ca Phe Dinh, Ca Phe Tho, Ca Phe Pho Co 11 Hang Gai. You can check them out and compare them on your future trip to Hanoi.
Address
Café Giang
Address: 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Lý Thái Tổ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Opening hours: 7am – 10pm Daily
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