L'usine - The Coolest Cafe in Saigon

L'usine, for me, is the coolest cafe in Saigon. The place has character, food is good, and so is the service.

I've brought many of our guests here. Like me, they loved the place. I concede it could be quite noisy (poor acoustics) and the service slower when full, but that's the case in most eating places.

We checked out its second branch at 70B Le Loi St., which opened last October.  At the ground floor is the lifestyle shop.  

We lingered a bit to check the merchandise.

The kids love the cool gadgets like lomo cameras. My first time to see Marou dark chocolates made from 100% Vietnamese coco (80% cocoa). Luxe Cochine stuff - votive candles and skin care products;  there are three fabulous fragrances, White Jasmine & Gardenia, Water Hyacinth & Lime Blossom, and Vietnamese Rose & Delentii.  I can't resist getting a few drops of lotion from the tester.

But I digress.

Up a flight of wooden stairs is the cafe on the first floor.

The interiors is as cool as the one in Dong Khoi. It also felt more spacious, though I'd think the area in front of the counter would be cramped when full.

Again, I loved the touch of colourful fresh flowers on the table.

Acoustics was bad, with all-concrete walls  (as with most cafes in Saigon). The service is more efficient (not too many customers perhaps?).

 The western menu is written on the board.

At the counter are the luscious cupcakes.

Also the magazines. 

Red-win beef pot pie

The food was quite good.

We had roast beef sandwich and red wine beef pot pie; both came with a small portion of salad.

Roast beef sandwich

The mango smoothie and the carrot juice had the right level of sweetness. My coconut juice was served in a glass with the coconut meat - I prefer it that way, more convenient.

A meal would typically cost VND 150-200k (US$7.50-10) per person. Not cheap in Vietnam, but then again, this is an uppity-lifestyle cafe.  Quality food and a cosy ambience do add to the bill.

I like it as much as the first one in Dong Khoi. Still a great place for a meal and to hang out.

Below are a couple more pictures of the ground floor shop.
 

Saigon Eats : The Elbow Room

Saturday afternoons are my me-time. Reading a book, taking a nap, getting a massage, or catching up with friends.  I had a great time today with my friend R.  the trust and openness we have towards each other makes our conversations truly enjoyable.  There's confidence  that what's been shared between us remained between us.

Since I could not say anything about what we talked about, I'm wiring about the cafe instead.

The Elbow Room is a delightful little place along Pasteur St.  I liked the ambience, it was quiet and relaxing (except for when a young Japanese boy who threw a tantrum and started screaming and kicking).  The deco was simple but charming. The service was almost flawless,  the servers were attentive but not intrusive.

From what I had, I'd day say the food is nothing to rave about. Not bad but nothing very noteworthy either. I chose the Elbow Room smoothie, it was not smooth at all, it had loads of icicles; the coffee was good and the vanilla syrup made it taste a bit more special;  R swears by the spicy shrimp pasta though. 

To be fair, I havent tasted must of the food in the menu.  I plan to come back with the kids for brunch;  the Chef's Specials and the all-day breakfast seemed interesting.

 

Cambodia : Eats in Siem Reap

Khmer food is similar to Thai and Vietnamese food.  Noodle soup for breakfast,  main dishes with coconut milk like fish amok (a very popular dish), soups made flavorful with lemongrass, ginger and other spices, pork-chicken-beef-seafood bbq. $5-$6 per meal per person is a workable budget (typical meal, not fine dining :)

I'd like to share some of our food experiences in Siem Reap.   

Besides Touich (which I've written about), we liked Blue Pumpkin Cafe. An all-white environment, with white sofas fluffed with big pillows. We had snacks while I read a travel guide book and M & H checked the photos they've taken. We went there twice and tried the fresh spring rolls, sandwiches, mini pizza and ham-n-cheese quiche. Pretty good. The ice cream was, to me, pricey at $1.50 per scoop. Of course, the ambiance is part of the price.

The open-air dining area near Pub Street (across Red Piano) is not to be missed. Only for dinner, I think it only comes alive at night. The stalls were offering mostly Khmer food and yummy bbqs. We tried beef, pork ribs, chicken, calamari, which were served with some greens and your choice of sauce. (M was looking for crocodile meat, there was none. One stall had dried snake meat, M said it would be tough & chewy). $25 for 4 adult eaters and 2 young kids is quite reasonable; admittedly, we were all not that hungry when we ate there.

Khmer Kitchen is also a good place to eat. We went there with friends, the place was packed with tourists. We had the Khmer sour soup (shrimp and fish),  deep fried pork ribs and chicken with ginger. Service was slow, but the food was good (though the chicken with ginger have very few pieces of chicken). Most dishes were priced at $3 each. Our bill, together with mango shakes for the kids and a beer for M, was $35.  Reasonable.

Viroth's and Green Star were in our list,  but did not have the opportunity to go there.

When going on holiday, I think it's worthwhile to do some homework on good places to eat. In Siem Reap, make sure the tuktuk driver is very clear on where you want to go. Many tuktuk drivers (and guides) would recommend restaurants to tourists (maybe its similar to the practice in other countries where they get some commissions for bringing in customers). No problem with us as long as we give our consent.  (We had a not-so-good experience for lunch on our first day. We told the tuktuk driver where to take us, but he brought us somewhere else. We just let it go;  if we insisted on moving to another place, we may not catch the 1:30pm shuttle to the Silk Farm. The place's name is Orchidee Restaurant, if I recall correctly. The prices were on the high side given the quality of the food...We paid the the same amount for our dinner in Touich! Well, charge it to experience.).

L'usine

I need a quiet, kind-of-private place to unwind (me-time), where M and I can have a date, or to have bonding time with my kids.  My friend G introduced me to L'usine.  Bless him.

I super-love the place. It's really cool. It's part cafe, part boutique. Love the cupcakes, too.

The boutique at the back is a lifestyle concept store.  Clothes, shoes, belts, accessories are nicely displayed. They got Moleskine notebooks, Aiaiai (the Danish brand) headphones, lomography cameras, some Vietnamese knick-knacks.  

Cupcakes are VND 50k apiece,
a cup of coffee or tea from 45-65k 

They've put on Christmas decor early!

Brownies - my favorite

I've gone there a number of times,  typically on a Saturday afternoon. I have a sweet tooth,  and always orders hot chocolate and brownies (I love brownies!) or a chocolate cupcake (S'more or choco coco).  Comfort food in a comfort place.