Aug
30
We’re espresso people: we like our coffee short, black, strong, and hot, Italian-style. Yet in Saigon we found ourselves stopping often for tall, sweet, cold glasses of traditional Vietnamese iced coffee, called cà phê đá or ‘coffee ice’, or cà phê sữa đá when it’s with milk. Made from Vietnamese-grown dark roast coffee beans, the …
Aug
28
Interestingly, the subject that seems to most inspire Saigon’s contemporary designers is the past – the tumultuous historic events of the 1960s and 1970s, along with Vietnam’s traditional culture, heritage, arts, and crafts. The story of Vietnamese-Australian designer, artist and entrepreneur Mai Lam is similar to others we met in Saigon: after losing a brother …
Aug
27
It seems Saigon has undergone a style revolution of sorts in recent years, so much so, that for Asian-based travellers who think nothing of hopping on an Air Asia flight for a weekend break (or visa run), the city’s beautiful shops, along with its stylish restaurants and bars, are proving as alluring as the historical …
Aug
25
Perhaps for the same nostalgic reasons that Mumbai’s locals prefer to call their city Bombay, Ho Chi Minh City, as it was renamed in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, is, we quickly discovered, still fondly referred to as Saigon by the locals. We don’t care what it’s called – we loved it. Although I’m not …
Aug
24
Aside from martinis before dinner we are wine drinkers. We will always order a bottle of wine with dinner or glasses of matching wines if it’s a degustation menu. Except when we’re in Asia. Because nobody makes cocktails like Asians bartenders and Bangkok’s bartenders make the most delicious cocktails of all, using quintessentially local ingredients like …
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