A new Vietnamese cafe touting egg cream coffees and banh mi has landed in downtown San Francisco. Say hello to Cà Phê Việt, located on New Montgomery and Minna streets. Founding partners Kiet Truong and John Tran are the duo behind the cafe, and they bring with them the caffeine kick of Robusta bean-laden drinks from Vietnam.
The South Bay already has a bustling Vietnamese cafe scene, with businesses like Lacàphê, Da Vien Coffee, and 7 Leaves Cafe, serving what Truong calls “dessert-style coffee.” In contrast, San Francisco’s Vietnamese coffee scene is decidedly quieter, save for specialty pop-ups like Nâu Coffee and the occasional restaurant offering. “There are small places that you find do really good banh mi, and they have really good Vietnamese coffee,” Truong says, “but a lot of them haven’t really — except for the South Bay — done egg coffee,” he notes, pointing to the almost custard-y beverage developed in Hanoi.
The Robusta beans come courtesy of Mr. Viet, a Vietnamese brand sourcing coffee from the Central Highlands and parts of the north, roasting beans in Nha Trang. After sampling coffee on a trip to Vietnam, Mr. Viet was the brand Tran liked most. “This is one of the Robusta beans that we really like because it has a nice, strong bitterness that pairs well with the sweetness of these condensed milks and style of egg coffee,” Truong says.
Along with egg coffee, the shop also offers salted cream and black sesame cream iced coffee with coffee grass jelly, and pourovers utilizing either 100-percent Robusta beans or a 70-percent Arabica and 30-percent Robusta blend. The cafe additionally serves two fruit beverages, an iced dragon fruit drink made with dragon fruit pulp and topped with cream foam and a guava version.
For food, the cafe offers a selection of four banh mi: a cold cut combo with pate, barbecue chicken, grilled pork, and a vegan option. Truong’s experience opening restaurants like Berkeley’s Unicorn, Green Papaya, and others came in handy, as he’s working with some former chefs to make the sandwich components, such as the meat. After trying different bread vendors, Truong decided to source from long-running Oakland spot, Bui Phong Bakery, which is making custom-sized baguettes for Cà Phê Việt.
The cafe is currently open, but there’s more in store for the shop. They’re adding a soft-serve ice cream machine in the next three months, with flavors like vanilla, guava nectar, and, yes, durian. “When we bring in [the durian flavor], it’s going to be something that’s an experience,” Truong says. “It’s an acquired taste. So for those who like something like that, they would seek us out.” Already, a second Cà Phê Việt is being built out, this one in Union Square at 418 Sutter Street. Truong says they hope to open that location in June.
Cà Phê Việt (121 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco) is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.