Do Hanoians really drink that much coffee? How can there be so many cafes in a single city? It is mind boggling to consider the sheer volume of café business that this city supports, and yes, they do drink a hell of a lot of coffee…but there’s more to it than that.

Coffee production and consumption is one of the many French influences on the country, giving it a long, sustained presence. Yet, many Hanoians clearly remember the days when coffee was an immense luxury, the sort of thing smuggled and hidden away for fear of alerting neighbors or authorities of an unaccounted for wealth or access to goods. Vietnam’s economic rebirth saw a cloaked desire and fascination unleashed on the city, resulting in a social space of unique importance.

Cafes are not simply where locals go to have a cup and read the paper (though there’s plenty of that as well), they are one of the primary congregating points in the Hanoian’s social landscape. Given the local coffee production, coffee was probably one of the first leisure items that could be widely afforded once times started to turn for the better. Cafes became the place where Hanoians could enjoy and display their new found means. Being a particularly chatty people, it was also the place where neighborhood gossip could be exchanged, deals discussed, and relationships cemented. In many ways, the café could represent what we are used to accomplishing at the local pub or neighborhood bar. Coffee was as good as an excuse as any to sit for a spell and let it all out.

The Hanoian café scene continues to serve much the same function, even taking that basic premise and elaborating on it in ways that we might not associate with coffee shop atmosphere in our home countries. In the last few years, a large number of heavily invested cafes have opened. They’re often huge, elaborately outfitted affairs full of neon, sound systems, plush seating, and even stages for live music. Relatively affluent Vietnamese flock to these spots in the evening with groups of friends and colleagues to take in what has all the aesthetic trappings of a bar or club…minus the mingling (the Vietnamese, like many Asian cultures, are hesitant to mix freely with strangers when out with friends). This sort of café’s role as a stand-in for what we often look for in a bar is important in light of the fact that few Vietnamese women drink regularly in public. There are wonderful exceptions to this rule, but there is still a sentiment that it is a bit unseemly for a lady to be out on the town getting her drink on. These cafes serve as a hip intermediary where men can order beer and whiskey while the women sip their teas and juice…all while a team of dancers go through their choreographed routine to a live flamenco band. It will be interesting to see how this changes as women feel more and more comfortable drinking along side their male companions.

The vast majority of Hanoi’s cafes, however, are still the small, neighborhood variety. As the standard of living has increased, the overall level of furnishings have followed suit. Even the most modest of operations often have a stylish touch not encountered a short time ago. Even so, most Hanoians return to their local favorite more for the relationships made there and less for the environs. To compete for the patronage of new, up-and-coming café goers, some of the smaller cafes have oriented themselves around specific themes. Cars, motorbikes, film…like a small bar at home trying to carve out a niche in a crowded market, they hope to draw based on the likelihood of meeting kindred spirits within.

On the fringe of all this are some of the truly old school coffee shops…places that have been around for decades and resisted the changing times. They’re Spartan in appearance, snapshots of a bygone time, and frequented by an odd mix of pensioners and university students. Each group seems to stake out its own time of the day to take advantage of the miniscule prices on their limited budgets. Someday, the astronomical sums they can get for their land will be too much to resist, and they will disappear. Until then, they are well worth seeking out.

The next time you see c-a-f-e emblazoned across the front of another storefront, remember the full range of experiences it suggests. It’s not only about the coffee, but a thick, rich cup of Vietnamese-style joe is as good a reason as any to step in and find out what it is about.

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