This small café Quán Cà Phê Ngôi Nhà Số 7 (which means House No. 7) is not easy to find. I actually only found out when pointed out by a local. It is located at the end of a small alley, passing the soup place, heading into a small yard and then follow the path until you reach a white wooden door. Yes – it is really that hidden – and there is no sign anywhere indicating that there is a cafe here.
The gate has been replaced by a soup place
The White Door to paradise
The door itself is already an indication what you can expect inside – a beautiful little gem you would not expect to find in such location. The cafe consist of two floors – ground and first floor. The ground floor has a a few wooden tables with cushioned benches spread around a little stage that is used for live music (more about that below). It looks a bit rustic – but in a lovely way. It is actually very comfortable to sit down here. Via a little staircase you reach the first floor that is more like a balcony looking down towards the stage. I have not been up there – slightly concerned I would break the floor there (it is a man-made wooden floor). But the decoration of that floor is lovely. On one side they added a little window with flowers below. It adds greatly to the other decorations of photos on the wall or little electric lights inside the wooden tables. Overall the places has a very welcoming and warm feel to it. It is very hard not to like it.
Juice and smoothies
Winter decoration
The lovely interior of the cafe
They serve a variety of drinks here, including the usual choice of coffee, fruit juices and smoothies. In addition they have a selection of interesting mocktails and cocktails. Though I am not sure they serve alcoholic drinks during the day. They also serve fruit platters here with a normal selection of different fruits.
I can imagine this is a very relaxing place during the day to escape the hustle of Saigon just to enjoy the peace here and maybe do some work
At night though there is something far more interesting happening – live music. Unlike the nearby Acoustic bar, where you have bands covering popular international music, here you find guys playing guitar, violin and drums and a number of different singers performing mainly Vietnamese songs. I have been here quite a few times, and I enjoyed the music here every single times. It is a great way to spend the evening with acoustic music.
Live acoustic music
The music is amazing here
One thing I actually like is that they do not serve smoothies or cocktails during live music to avoid any noise from the kitchen. As they do not use loud speakers (what a welcome change in Vietnam) this is a great idea.
Prices here are pretty much standard, I know cheaper places. But for the location and setting it is perfectly reasonable. Please note that they charge 50.000 VND pp for the live music – it will be added to the bill. Again, for 1.5 hours of live music this is really good value for money.
Overall this is one of my favourite places in Saigon. The decoration, the atmosphere, the friendly staff and the great music makes it a special location. This is one little gem really worth it to be explored.
