Hanoi’s famous egg coffee, with a difference

Although a few friends had recommended having a drink at the Metropole, our tour guide, Duc, suggested some other places to enjoy the sunset. Duc said the Metropole was a little expensive, so he pointed us in the direction of a few bars around a square in the middle of town. We started off at the Coffee Club, which was pretty average. It kinda felt like the place locals might go for a “Western Experience”.

We ended up San’s Restaurant & Rooftop Garden. The views were breathtaking, and the drinks were excellent. The first round of drinks arrived promptly, but the second round took a painfully long time. We were about to leave when the bar manager explained that the person serving drinks was a trainee. Groan.

After drinks, we headed back to our accommodation, and that’s when I started feeling unwell. While my friends went out for a meal, I went into my room, fell sound asleep for a couple of hours, and then woke up feeling okay. I even managed to publish a couple of blog posts.

Since I missed dinner, I woke up feeling hungry, and my first thought was to have breakfast at the the Chalcedony Hotel. It’s one of those all-you-can-eat buffets which really fills you up for the day.

After breakfast, we set out in search of a legendary Hanoi delicacy: egg coffee.

First created in Hanoi in 1946, egg coffee is the brainchild of Nguyen Van Giang. In response to the pressures of a milk shortage caused by the French War (also known as the First Indochina War), Giang whisked in egg as a much-needed substitute while bartending at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/vietnamese-egg-coffee#:~:text=First%20created%20in%20Hanoi%20in,the%20Sofitel%20Legend%20Metropole%20Hotel.

Both Ross and Andrea agreed the coffee was terrific. I was, however, a little more adventurous. #yolo

I’m not sure if it’s the drinks we had last night, the coffee I had this morning, or maybe it’s just the heat, but I’ve been feeling a bit unwell today.

I was already starting to feel a little sick by the time our morning tour began.

Visting a Taoist temple in Hanoi

We were near the end of a walking tour around Hanoi when I suddenly felt the urgent need to return to the hotel. Our guide arranged a taxi, and my friends came along. I thought I might collapse.

Initially, I thought I might be well enough to join the tour group for lunch, but once I stepped outside again, I quickly realized it was better to stay in the comfort of the lobby, armed with a couple of small bottles of Pepsi. Maybe it was the heat, or perhaps my sugar levels were low. I might need to get myself checked for mature onset diabetes when I return to Sydney. In the end, we’ve concluded it’s the lack of salts, since I’ve also had those characteristic leg cramps.

With only an hour left before checkout, I went straight to my room, took a half-hour nap, and then woke up to take a shower.

While everyone else went out for lunch and planned to try the egg coffee, I stayed in the foyer, waiting for our bus to the airport for the next part of our tour.