The places in Ho Chi Minh City the guidebooks miss.
The places in Ho Chi Minh City the guidebooks miss. locals-only counters, after-hours rooms and the spots tourists walk past.
Why locals love it: A 1960s residential block on the walking street now stacked with 40-odd independent cafes, tea rooms and hidden bars across nine floors, easy to walk past at ground level.
Tip: Pay a small fee for the lift or climb the stairs floor by floor; each landing hides a different cafe.
Why locals love it: A tiny rooftop drink-and-movie spot down a Da Kao alley where regulars watch old films projected onto the neighbour's wall, known mostly through the Saigoneer hem-gems crowd.
Tip: It is deep down a residential hem; go up to the rooftop and settle in for the film and a drink.
Why locals love it: One of Saigon's oldest cafes, open since the late 1930s and still brewing robusta over charcoal in cloth filters, tucked down an alley off Nguyen Thien Thuat that tourists miss.
Tip: Order the charcoal-brewed ca phe sua da and sit on a low stool; this is a coffee ritual, not a laptop cafe.