On our first full day in Hanoi we headed to The Hanoi Social Club for lunch. The Hanoi Social Club is a cool multi-level café in a 1920s French colonial villa. Located in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, the vibe of the café has been inspired by Melbourne’s famous café scene. The menu, the music and décor are all reminiscent of a chilled-out laneway café with the scent of coffee wafting through the air.
The menu is as extensive as it is delicious. There are no Vietnamese options, the cuisine is positioned as ‘soul food’ and includes an impressive array of vegan and vegetarian dishes. Between the five of us we ordered polenta chips and guacamole (which we started eating before shooting), burgers and hand cut chips, roti wraps, tofu chips, fresh juices and coffees.
What I love about The Hanoi Social Club is that their staff are from KOTO – a hospitality school for disadvantaged youth that puts kids through a two-year program to provided with internationally recognised chef qualifications. If you want to know more about the awesome work that KOTO do, check out episode two from our Topdeck web series, where we have dinner at the KOTO Hanoi restaurant.
Photography by myself and Emanuel Wetterqvist (photos featuring me). We were in Hanoi filming an exciting web series for Topdeck Travel. Watch it here.
TIL Tip:
The Hanoi Social Club also has live music on Tuesdays featuring visiting musicians at ‘Tiny Music Club’ with local acts on Thursdays.
Location:
6 Hoi Vu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
T: (04) 3938 2117
Opening hours:
Monday to Sunday.
8am to 11pm.
