Vietnamese breakfasts have a strong French influence, often greeting the morning with croissants and French-roast coffee!

Up north in Hanoi we would head out to the Paris Deli, Boulangerie et Café at 13 Pho Nha Tho. This café could have been anywhere in Paris, unfortunately including some character smoking those really foul-smelling French cigarettes.

Apart from that, perfect: Petit Pan au Chocolat and Café au Lait, the ‘lait‘ in this case being sweetened condensed milk.

Down south, in steamy Saigon, we headed to the ABC Bakery for one of their four-layer iced coffees and their huge selections of French pastries. My pastry was so flaky I almost choked on the flakes. The iced coffees cost 40,000 dong each, the price of four beers during happy hour, and well worth it. ABC Bakery is the reason I’m leaving Vietnam with a serious coffee habit! (223 – 225 Pham Ngu Lao | District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

The 4-layer iced coffee at the ABC Bakery in Saigon; in the foreground mixed; in the background the four layers shining through.

Alternative breakfasts when in Vietnam:

The Breakfast Baguette
Vietnamese-style Breakfasts