As I have moved from the South to the North as a freelancer, I’ve visited tremendous coffee shops and noted the most suitable cafés that facilitate a good day of work. Today it’s about Hanoi, the beautiful and busy capital city of our country. Like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi is growing with surprising speed as more and more foreigners come to Hanoi to work. I would like to share my favorite coffee shops for freelancers and office workers.
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Hoa 10 Gio Floral & Book Café
My first observation of this café was the peaceful ground floor full of flowers, from fresh to dried ones, they cover the walls and make for a refreshing workspace. There are flowers in different kinds of pots on the floor and one room has an entire wall of shelves dedicating to these comforting plant friends. The coffee shop is on the first floor of a flower shop if you haven’t guessed. Once you enter this café, you will be calmed by a silent and classic environment. The natural decoration, pottery, old-fashioned television, and colorful pictures definitely stimulate your creativity and productivity.
And I can’t forget to mention the plethora of books, it’s stocked with legendary manga books like Doraemon, Dragon Ball, and Detective Conan. Hoa 10 Gio Café has many kinds of tables and chairs, choose the hard or soft chairs. You can choose single or group tables as well. Everyone coming to this café converses softly so it maintains a comfortable silence. I came here on a rainy day in Hanoi and sat at the window, watching the rain outside. There’s nothing more inspiring than working on a project as you hear the clouds watering their plants!
Address: 26 Hang Voi street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Great
AC: Yes
Food: The shop offers sweet cakes like tiramisu, green tea cake, milk cake, and yogurt cake.
Price: 15,000 – 50,000 VND
Gardenista
You read it right! This café is a garden, we aren’t leaving the plant life yet. You will spot small green trees in every corner of Gardenista, there are even more plants on the tables and hung from glass jars around the space. Yes, Gardenista is a greenhouse with extensive windows to let in the natural light. This is a great space to grow as the plants do and get some work done.
The furniture and ornaments are mostly made of recycled items, even the chairs. You can sit and work as long as you want in the comfortable armchairs and fun pillows. The tables are distanced from one another, so you can create your private small space to dive into your sea of ideas. When your eyes are tired of looking at the laptop screen, just stand up and look outside, let the natural green of the trees and sunlight alleviate your eyes.
There are three Gardenista Cafés in Hanoi:
- YLang – Gardenista is located at 2 Le Thach street, Hoan Kiem district. Apart from great drinks like coffee, soda, and smoothies, you can order tasty dishes for lunch and dinner like salad, soup, chicken, beef, spaghetti, and pizza.
- The Firefly – Gardenista is located at number 6, Alley 298 Tay Son street, Dong Da district. You can also eat at this shop with many kinds of rice, spaghetti, and snacks.
- The Farmer – Gardenista is located at B40 Nguyen Thi Dinh street, Cau Giay district. This Gardenista doesn’t serve main dishes but it does have small cakes for your afternoon.
Wi-Fi speed: Strong
AC: Definitely
Price: 35,000 – 200,000 VND
RAND Moroc & Coffee
This café is hard to find, but it’s all the more reason to visit. RAND is located on the first floor of an old house at 2B, Tran Thanh Tong street. The shop sign is small and hung high in the air. The ground floor is home to a grocery store and bird’s nest store. When you find them, look for a small hidden door leading to a staircase to RAND.
This is a peaceful coffee shop on a peaceful street. RAND hardly plays music, you will just hear soft rhythms. Instead, you can listen to the sounds of birds, whispers, turning book pages, and coffee machines. RAND is a perfect place for those people who love to work and create ideas in silence. The retro design replete with the old-style wood furniture and dark green cushions also give you inspiration. Come to RAND and realize your ideas.
Note: all the drinks at RAND (except for tea and coffee) contain turmeric! If you don’t like the taste and the smell of this ingredient, you just need to tell the staff not to put it in your drink.
Address: First floor, 2B Tran Thanh Tong street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Good
AC: Yes
Food: They serve some breads and tiramisu.
Price: 15,000 – 40,000 VND
Xofa Café
This cafe is open 24/7 so you can come and work at this shop anytime you are motivated. Xofa brings you a spacious and tranquil place to work and think. The owner decorated Xofa simply with many green trees and old-style furniture, bringing you back to the Hanoi of the 20th century. As its name suggests, the Xofa’s interior has many comfortable sofas. You will also find soft pillows so that you can take a nap whenever you feel a little drowsy and need a power nap.
Apart from the cozy inside, the outside space of Xofa lets you harmonize with nature. If you refresh your mind and creativity, your productivity will increase. Target customers of Xofa are expats and freelancers, so you can meet your fellow countrymen and enlarge your network.
Xofa has exclusive chefs, they are strictly recruited and trained, so the menu is diverse and excellent.
Address: 14 Tong Duy Tan street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Excellent
AC: Yes
Food: Xofa offers many yummy dishes of both Vietnamese and Western cuisine.
Price: 35,000 – 200,000 VND
Nha Khong Cua Café
This coffee shop is on the sixth, seventh, and the top floor of an eight-floor building. Though this building hides in a small alley, it’s not too difficult to find. The first five floors belong to a game center, so don’t worry if you see many computers. The three floors of Nha Khong Cua offer an open but quiet, warm space, which is very suitable for those people who prefer silent places for creative flow.
The sixth and seventh floors are nothing other than windows. The sunlight combined with the bright colors of the decoration create a luminous space perfect for studying and working. Tables and chairs are also distanced appropriately from one another, so you can have your private space. When you’re tired, go up to the rooftop and take a deep breath!
Address: No. 1, 60/381 Nguyen Khang street, Cau Giay district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Great
AC: Yes
Food: They only serve sandwiches.
Price: 40,000 – 60,000 VND
Tang Tret Cosmo Café
Tang Tret Cosmo is another silent coffee shop on another silent street. To reach Tang Tret Cosmo, you have to go deep into a small alley, but if you have the address, you’ll be fine. What impresses me when you enter the shop is the extremely quiet environment and the artistic paintings on the walls.
Everyone talks quietly in Cosmo, so you can enjoy the silence to work and brainstorm. Besides the good atmosphere that lets you drown in your ideas, Cosmo also brings you good drinks and cakes. I recommend the egg coffee (ca phe trung), a lightly sweet and not-too-fatty coffee invented by the Vietnamese.
Address: 10 Khuc Hao street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Good
AC: Yes
Food: They offer cheesecakes, tiramisus, and bread.
Price: 30,000 – 100,000 VND
To Chim Xanh (Bluebird’s Nest) Café
The quiet space surrounded by lots of books in To Chim Xanh is a perfect place to work for many hours. You can choose to sit on the floor with low tables or on chairs with corresponding tables. To Chim Xanh has only two floors, in which the ground floor is closed and the top floor is an open space. From the top floor, you can observe the old condominiums of Hanoi, taking you back to the old and subtle city that contrasts with the bustling center it is today.
You will probably meet some cute cats in this café, feel free to play with them! If you fall in love with one, you can even ask the owner if can adopt them! You may encounter a group of students celebrating cool projects or presentations because To Chim Xanh supports workshop groups with a projector.
Address: 13/19 Dang Dung street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Fine
AC: Yes
Food: They serve some Vietnamese and Western main dishes during lunch and also cakes.
Price: 25,000 – 50,000 VND
Cong Café
Although Cong Café doesn’t serve very special coffee, many people still choose it due to its unrivaled decoration and cool environment to work in. The name Cong was inspired by the first word of our national official name – Cong hoa xa hoi chu nghia Viet Nam (The Socialist Republic of Vietnam), in which cong hoa means republic. You will see many nostalgic items from the past: old tables, patterned chairs, cassettes, old telephones, and an atmosphere that places you in the past. Even the staff wears old-fashioned clothes when serving.
This space definitely brings you a lot of inspiration and ideas. On the wall, you’ll see many pieces of wood with funny quotes and poems. Also, Cong Café has collected many old books published decades ago.
Note: You should notice when Cong Café holds small music concerts because at those times, the shop is very noisy and crowded. If you want to enjoy music, Cong is also a great place, but the price of drinks may be doubled during music time.
Address: Visit this website to find the nearest Cong café. They run many shops in Hanoi.
Wi-Fi speed: Good
Food: They have bread, instant noodles, dried beef, sunflower seed, and flavored kernels.
Price: 30,000 – 70,000 VND
The Coffee House
Recently, The Coffee House can be considered the most famous coffee shop brand in Vietnam. It has opened more than 100 shops all over the country. You can find up to 10 branches in Hanoi. The design of The Coffee House is catered to customers who want to find a place to concentrate on their work.
Suitable chairs and tables, modern architecture, and the yellow lights make The Coffee House an ideal destination for freelancers and office workers. However, this brand is not for people who prefer silent spaces, but for those who enjoy the sound of a coffee shop and a working environment. The best part is, the drinks at The Coffee House are really delicious and interesting! I recommend the macchiatos.
Address: Visit this website to find the nearest Coffee House.
Wi-Fi speed: Fine
AC: In my experience (as an Asian living in a hot climate), ACs in The Coffee House run with the highest power and it’ll be cold two hours later!
Food: Breads and tiramisus offered.
Price: 30,000 – 60,000 VND
Helio Book Café
Helio Book Café is located right in the Hanoi library on Ba Trieu street. Therefore, you do not need to worry about the atmosphere, it’s the perfect place to read and work! The roof is made of glass, which always guarantees natural light inside. You can also borrow books by contacting the librarians.
Most of the chairs are soft armchairs so that you can sit for hours reading and working. In fact, Helio is a strong brand of book café with 10 branches. However, only the shop in Hanoi library is quiet and creates a good working environment, the others are too noisy and crowded.
Address: 47 Ba Trieu street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi city.
Wi-Fi speed: Good
AC: Yes
Food: They have some good dishes for lunch such as rice with side dishes, pho (Vietnamese rice noodles with beef soup), pizza, and omelet.
Price: 40,000 – 80,000 VND
Work Café (aka Nest By AIA Café)
This coffee shop design is inspired by the movie Inception. Wondering how? There is a long bookshelf stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Nest By AIA has a large space and it’s equally large windows bring in a lot of sunlight. They provide suitable chairs and tables for studying and working. There are also places to sit on the floor or soft armchairs to relax in.
The atmosphere here is very silent and peaceful. Everyone focuses on their own work, so be aware if you walk in with a noisy group. The coffee shop is covered in windows, so you can look down to the busy Hanoi from the fourth floor.
Address: Fourth floor, Tower B, Vincom Mall, 191 Ba Trieu street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi city
Wi-Fi speed: Great
AC: Sure
Food: They serve many kinds of cupcakes and tiramisus.
Price: 50,000 – 100,000 VND
This article contains my best-recommended coffee shops for work and creative endeavors in the bustling city of Hanoi. I hope you can find your favorite place to work in this great city.
Drop by our 4U Trip to get more information about traveling and living in Vietnam. Here are some recommended articles for you:
Top Cities for Digital Nomads in Vietnam
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