VietNamNet Bridge – Old-style coffee houses are becoming favorite places for many people in HCMC. There, guests can find items, drinks and snacks of the 1980s.

An old-style teapot at Hoi Xua coffee house.

Hoi Xua café at 52 Vo Thi Sau Street in District 1 provides a peaceful countryside space of the old days. Vintage toys, tables, chairs, tea pots, black-and-white TV sets, and cassette players are among the items on display at the coffee shop.

Those items were collected in rural areas of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang by Mai Hoang Yen and her brother Mai Hoang Duc, the two owners of the café.

Hoi Xua serves products made from homegrown ingredients. In the menu are organic drinks such as pumpkin milk and lemon juice with lemongrass.

Lao Hac Café at 212/158/54 Nguyen Van Nguyen Street and Café 81 at 81 Nguyen Van Nguyen Street are products of two men, Tran Dong and Nguyen Van Huu.

The two close collegemates shared the idea that their coffee houses should be decorated with second-hand items and those no longer in use, such as motorcycles, tables, chairs and light bulbs.

Black-and-white TV sets at Hoi Xua.       A girl is seen at a stall of Hoi Xua selling snacks which were popular in the past.       A corner of Lao Hac Café – Photos: An Nguyen

SGT