HO CHI MINH CITY | Trung Nguyen is the largest and domestic coffee brand in Vietnam, and if you’ve seen Vietnamese coffee outside of Vietnam, there’s a good chance the beans come from Trung Nguyen. The company runs several cafes across Vietnam, and in recent years have revamped their cafes as Trung Nguyen Legend.
All of the Trung Nguyen Legend cafes are designed with a similar ethos, with appealing use of wood, and natural materials balanced with sleek metal finished. It’s designed to make the spaces feel a bit more luxurious than the usual cafe you find in Vietnam, and works well. The branding of the coffee, the packaging, and the menus all reflect the more luxurious focus of the Legend cafes.
Sure there is cheaper Vietnamese coffee to be had elsewhere in town, but the quality here is always top notch, and you are guaranteed that the coffee you are enjoying has been sustainably sourced. Oh and there’s air conditioning, which is often exactly what you need after walking around for a while in the humidity. Whether paying a bit extra is worth it comes down to personal preference.
A variety of coffee blends are offered, with our favourite changing depending on how you want to enjoy your coffee. If you want it black, to get the full flavour of the coffee, we recommend the “Creative 4”, a blend lend of culi (single, unsplit, peaberry) beans of Arabica, Robusta, Chari and Catimor. It’s a strong, complex coffee with an intense, aromatic flavour. If you want it the classic Vietnamese style, sweetened with condensed milk, then go for the cheaper “Creative Two”, which combines the boldness of Robusta beans with milder, more fragrant Arabica beans. For us, it’s black coffee all the way at Trung Nguyen – we’re willing to pay extra because of the taste, which you lose to a certain extent once you add condensed milk.
As well as coffee, the cafes offer a full menu of things like of sandwiches, banh mi, pastries and the like to satisfy those who are hungry. There are also coffee based desserts, and more elaborate drink concoctions too, but we think keeping it simple is best.
As well as having coffee at the cafe, you can also buy whole or pre ground beans to take home with you, along with some Vietnamese coffee brewing equipment. It makes a great gift for any coffee lovers and friends back home. The address below is for one of our favourite Trung Nguyen Legends cafes, but a quick Google search will reveal that there’s bound to be one close to where you are at any given time.
Trung Nguyen Legend
219 Lý Tự Trọng
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam
Telephone: +842 838 258 847
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Mon – Sun: 7:00am to 11:00pm