Okkio Caffe

Okkio Caffe is a specialty coffee café on Le Loi Street, near Ben Thanh Market. The Rusty Compass guide to the city's cafés praises its well-designed space, its large colonial-era windows, its good coffee and its friendly staff, and notes that getting there involves climbing a tricky staircase. The brand also has other cafés, including one on Xuan Thuy Street in Thao Dien, where Vietnam Airlines' guide picks out an espresso tonic with a citrus twist.

The appeal of the Le Loi café is the combination of a central location and a calm, considered interior. The Rusty Compass guide recommends it as a good place to work. The food menu is small, so think of it as a place for coffee and a snack rather than a full meal.

It suits solo travellers, remote workers and anyone wanting a quiet break between the sights of District 1. Because of the stairs, it is not a good choice for visitors with limited mobility or for families with pushchairs.

Okkio has more than one café in the city, but the Le Loi branch is the one most convenient for visitors staying in District 1, and the one the Rusty Compass guide singles out. It offers a chance to see the inside of a colonial-era building while enjoying a good coffee. Allow 45 minutes to an hour, longer if you are working, and order something cold if you have arrived on foot in the heat, since the climb up the stairs can be warm work.

A few practical points apply to most independent cafés in the city. Opening hours are not always published and can change, so check the café's social media before making a special trip. Payment by card or QR code is increasingly common, but carrying some small notes in Vietnamese dong is sensible. Air conditioning, Wi-Fi and seating vary from place to place, and the quietest times are usually mid-morning and mid-afternoon on weekdays, outside the lunch hour and the after-work rush.

Being close to Ben Thanh Market, the café is easy to combine with a morning at the market or at nearby Independence Palace.