Café Giang - Origin of Egg Coffee (Love the Egg Beer) in Vietnam

Vietnam's national dishes are renowned; pho, banh mi etc. How about national beverage? It would definitely be Vietnamese coffee but right here in Hanoi, there's an interesting variant that originated from the capital city; egg coffee!

And today, I am going to bring you to the cafe owned and operated by the second generation of the man who created this egg coffee back in 1946, back when the country was facing a milk shortage. p.s. I was expecting a somewhat grand entrance for Giang Cafe and almost missed the small entrance! 

Devoid of queues and down a long, narrow passage that was dimly lighted, I was wondering if I had gone to an imitation store. But Google Map, with over 10,000 reviewers for Giang Cafe, pointed to the correct spot. 

Hm..... just a few tables on site and they were not even filled! The risk of coming to an imitation store had heightened; did the GRAB driver purposely bring us here? Can't be since I input the address myself. Noticing a sign that there's more space upstairs, we decided to proceed upwards.

The chatters from customers reached us as we stepped up, allaying our fear that we had come to the wrong store. And the second floor appeared a lot brighter, unlike the gloom on the ground floor. 

There were a lot more seating area too. Those with long legs and/or brought a lot of shopping bags etc should consider finding corner seating as the chairs here were the squat-kind that require us to spread our legs further apart. 

I was hoping for this balcony seating to take time-lapsed videos but luck wasn't on my side. Oh well, I am not anal about such things; if have, good. If don't have, too bad. Life goes on. 

Was handed this and not knowing what the word means. Guess it means menu as the back of it was the list of items available. Do note that the only food listed were sunflower seeds and beef jerky. 

Egg Beer - by right, I should have egg coffee but my inaugural experience at Little Hanoi Egg Coffee in Ho Chi Minh City wasn't fantastic and I noted from reviewers on Google that Café Giang had another interesting beverage, which was egg beer! 

Everything was transparent; a mug of half filled whisked egg cream mixed in with secret ingredients, and a can of Sapporo Bluecap premium beer! Mug was too small as the bubbly beer resulted in a chemical reaction that warranted housekeeping cleanup! 

Frothy with layers, it's a necessity to stir before taking a sip.

Verdict - I absolutely love this! The sweetened egg cream was a perfect compliment to the beer; the beer didn't taste as bitter, the texture was creamy and there wasn't a tinge of cloying egginess. To me, this would be the best representation of the Harry Potter's butter beer; albeit without the butter.

Seeing how this auntie was savoring her egg coffee, I was tempted to get a cup but the egg beer was extremely filling and Alex wasn't keen on getting any egg beverage. p.s. he had normal Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk.

I thought this would be it; my visit to Café Giang would conclude and I wouldn't be back again until the next round, when I would, hopefully, bring my family for a tour in Hanoi.

Returning to Café Giang in mere two days' time, on our second last day in Hanoi! Reason being both the Greatest Kon and Lock didn't visit with us and I shared with them how good the egg beer was! Since we had time on day six, Alex and I revisited! 

A lot less crowded on Tuesday afternoon.

Ordering a variety of drinks, including egg beer! To be honest, day six was pretty warm and we had walked quite a bit under the hot sun that day! I think egg beer is best had when weather is cooler as it didn't feel as refreshing on day six. 

Egg Coffee - I decided to check out this original version since fate had brought me here again. I took a sip of the egg cream first; sweet, custardy with a strong egg taste. Time to give it a stir.

The egginess was less pronounced and strangely, if I didn't know before, I would have assumed this was a thicker version of our usual coffee with milk. A good cup of coffee although again, I would have gone with the cheaper Vietnamese coffee. Nevertheless, still worth a visit if it's your first time to Hanoi! 

Remember to take this token to make payment at the counter on ground floor. 

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Address

39 P. Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Lý Thái Tổ, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Website

https://cafegiang.vn/

Menu

As above.

Additional Information

There's a branch outside of Vietnam and it's not in any of Southeast Asia countries! For those going to Yokohama in Japan, you can scan the QR code as above. :) 

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam