You have to try it.
It’s has Vietnamese spelling all over it.
Relics of Colonial France adopted as national past time.
I have seen coffee stand pop up in most unlikely places: Palawan, Bataan, Cote d’Ivoire, Virginia, Lousiana and of course, California.
The ice are crushed. And somehow the condensed milk and dark coffee created that unique blend. Starbuck’s and McDonald Iced Coffee Milk don’t come close. Perhaps because they aren’t dark and sweet enough.
High-end chain such as Gloria Jeans, Highland and Trung Nguyen here in VN added another dimension: dripped coffee on condensed milk, then you can pour over the ice (and while at it, pour your heart into it).
Vietnamese from all walks of life have at least a glass before work. Many after showing up at work, then a second round with co-workers.
People here work on Saturday mornings, so lunch breaks during weekdays could be flexible. Siesta is not uncommon while shades are rare. Tropical sun! torturous sun!!
A cyclo guy invited me on for ride around the block. I offered polite excuse.
In Little Saigon Orange County, these tricycles are already museum pieces
which get displayed in restaurant lobbies (Moi nguoi len xe, ve mien qua khu – Hop in for a ride to the past) . So were the horse carriages years ago which used to carry rich men’s caskets. Funeral processions used to be , well, quite dramatic. Now, they have a band of brothers (gay) singing all sorts of pop songs to “entertain” guests. Try to figure that out!
I have ordered my iced coffee milk countless of times. It will be in my top five to reminisce Vietnam. At night, people pop open beer can (ken), and the breeze carries these outdoor conversations late into the night. A lot of young people. Very few sleep a straight 8 hours. You gotta to be in a hurry here. On twitter time. Everyone texts.
And you can install internet and phone connection for free (promotion).
A/C franchise of Pho, Rice and Crepe now catered to the working crowd.
Simple menu, predictable service, and clean bathroom (McDonald U).
Ray Crock would be proud to see his influence extended this far, geographically and culturally. Not bad for a mild-shake machine salesman to die a millionaire just by helping restaurants figure out how to make faster shakes.
Here, I found the dripping coffee on condensed milk too slow, slow even to the eager waitress who came and checked on it every two minutes. Told you we are living on twitter time. Soon, we will not even use up the alloted 140 characters, or the full load of boiled water. Just stir and mix it with ice.
I will always miss iced coffee milk in Saigon, this time, without the shaded trees. My view this time was electrical wiring nesting at street corner poles.
Luckily, the coffee tastes better, and people can’t lit up inside A/C stores.
Thang Nguyen 555 