13 Best Work-Friendly Cafés & Coffee Shops in Tay Ho

1. Eastern & Oriental Tea House & Coffee Parlour

Best for: lakeside balcony views, and munching on tasty cakes

I used to work here A LOT.

With four floors, rustic knockabout furniture, unusual architecture, ancient tables, and lots of balconies (both big and small), this place feels more like an antique store than a cafe.

Inside, you’ll find many people with laptops (mostly Vietnamese; some foreigners), excellent tea and coffee, and some of the best cakes you’ve ever eaten. Head to the drool-inducing cake cabinet, and you get dozens of options.

If you can get a balcony view, get a balcony view. All the balconies look onto the massive lake that dominates the neighborhood—so they’re a super-scenic place to sit.

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All in all, this is one of my favorite cafes in Hanoi.

Pro Tip: Make sure you go to the address below. There are two Eastern & Orientals in Tay Ho, and this one is the much better of the two.

• Address: 46 P. Quảng An, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 7:30am until 10pm, 7 days a week

2. La Studio

Best for: munching on vegan food that doesn’t taste remotely vegan

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Situated inside an old home, La Studio is a narrow, tall ancient building with two floors, super-friendly staff, and the best vegan food I’ve ever eaten (I’m not vegan, but I love La Studio’s stuff).

On their handwritten menu, they have cakes, sandwiches, smoothie bowls, and salads. I recommend the mushroom medley sandwich, the herbie sandwich, and the choco banana smoothie bowl.

They play sad hipster guitar music (like Lana Del Rey and Sufjan Stevens), and it’s located down a small residential alley… where you’ll find little on-street fruit and vegetable markets in the mornings.

There’s not a huge amount of space here—so if you’re gonna work in La Studio (which the staff are totally fine with), do it either before or after lunch.

• Address: 44 Ng.31 Đ. Xuân Diệu, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 8:30am until 4pm, 6 days a week. Closed on Tuesdays

3. Sweet As Coffee Roasters

Best for: Tay Ho’s best western-style coffee

Admittedly, Sweet As Coffee Roasters isn’t the best place for working comfortably for many hours.

You see: like lots of the hip minimalistic all-white-aesthetic cafes that are now pretty popular in Southeast Asia, this place looks more like a stripped-back modern art gallery than a coffee shop.

All the tables and chairs are on the outer edges of the cafe, and they’re all low-level and hard. That said, the coffee is excellent, the jazzy music is nice, you can choose between many types of beans, and the place is never very busy.

… so for productive working for an hour or two with some outrageously good coffee, this is one of my favorite spots.

• Address: 37 Ng. 52 Đ. Tô Ngọc Vân, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 8am until 10pm, 7 days a week

4. Milk and Honey

Best for: big window views, playing board games on a break, and top-class sandwiches

What first brought me to Milk and Honey was its big, open, perfect-for-people-watching window, with its countertop seats….

… but what kept me going back was the tasty sandwiches. Highlights include the Cubano, the bruschetta-inspired sandwich, and a croque madame.

Other perks include playable board games (like Uno, Monopoly Deal, and Catan), good coffee, and a nice location right on the lake. Oh, and because they have some big spacious tables, it’s a good choice for working with a big group.

Note: There are two Milk and Honeys in Tay Ho. This is the best of them—especially for working.

• Address: 34 Đ. Tây Hồ, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 7am until 10pm, 7 days a week

5. Caffe Doppio

Best for: decaf coffee, and people-watching on a busy corner

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I mainly like this place cos they do decaf…

… and in Vietnam, where the coffee is stronger than a buffalo’s back, that can be very useful.

Yep, you can get tastier coffee in many other cafes, but at least this one won’t give you a late-afternoon anxiety attack (or stop you from sleeping).

Caffe Doppio is a pretty small place, but it’s rarely busy. They have a small amount of outside seating for casual work, with tables inside for when you need to concentrate.

Note: These guys don’t have a toilet. If you want one, you need to walk 30 seconds to another cafe, who are fine with you using their toilet.

• Address: 94 Đ. Tô Ngọc Vân, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 6:30am until 5:30pm, 7 days a week

6. Oriberry Coffee (on Quang An)

Best for: excellent chain coffee in a popular-with-locals spacious place

I love Oriberry.

My favorite-for-working Vietnamese chain, this branch of Oriberry overlooks the lake, the coffee is very affordable (and a little weaker than most Vietnamese coffees), and the food is okay (they do sandwiches, pasta, and cakes).

But what I like most about this place is: most standard-style Vietnamese cafes have tiny low-level tables and chairs. But here, the tables and chairs are comfy enough and big enough for work. So, you can get productive here while feeling like you’re in a ‘real’ Vietnamese cafe (even though it’s a chain).

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Note: There are MANY Oriberries in Tay Ho. They’re all okay for work—but of them all, this is the best option.

• Address: 28 P. Quảng An, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội, Vietnam
• Website
• Opening hours: 7am until 10pm, 7 days a week

7. One Day at a Time – Tô Ngọc Vân

Best for: drinking tea, meeting a friendly dog, sitting in a garden, and finding a pocket of peace right in the heart of Tay Ho

Many Vietnamese cafes have an intentional looks-like-it’s-fallen-into-disrepair sorta vibe. Much like the vibe of the entire UNESCO-listed city of Hoi An.

In them, you’ll find peeling walls, old furniture, out-of-tune musical instruments, ancient tiles, and lots of retro fixtures and fittings.

Of them all, One Day at A Time is my favorite. With its retro vibe and retro music, it’s like a cute little time capsule—but one where you can be quiet and productive.

Other perks include tasty pasta, one of the best red velvet cakes you’ve ever eaten, nice hibiscus tea, a friendly dog, and a tucked-away location on a small-but-central alley. This part of Tay Ho is pretty busy—but in One Day at a Time, it doesn’t feel that way.

And at the back, they have a sheltered, pretty garden, full of flowers, trees, and potted plants. Because it’s shaded, it’s also a good place to work.

• Address: Số 36A, ngõ 67/phố Đ. Tô Ngọc Vân, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 8am until 11pm, 7 days a week

8. Ta Cà Phê 2

Best for: outrageously good and outrageously strong Vietnamese coffee

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In Vietnam, you can get western-style coffee, and Vietnamese coffee…

… and Vietnamese coffee is very different to western-style stuff.

Obviously, you can get Vietnamese coffee all over Hanoi—and lots of the best stuff is found in the tucked-away little-plastic-tables-and-little-plastic-chairs places. But you can’t work at those cafes (well, unless you wanna bend yourself into the shape of a pretzel).

So, if you want excellent traditional-style Vietnamese coffee, from a menu that explains exactly what you’re getting, AND in a place where you can comfortably work, you want to head to Ta Cà Phê 2.

Here, along with equally-tasty western coffees, you can get black Vietnamese coffee, Vietnamese coffee with milk, the famous egg coffee, a super-milky coffee called ‘Bac Xiu,’ and many more. And you can also choose your beans.

The cafe itself is sparse, minimalistic, and very aesthetic, with lots of local artwork. They have indoor and outdoor seating. You’ll probably fall in love with the place, like everyone else does.

Note: Be careful here. Vietnamese robusta coffee beans are SUPER strong, so don’t have more than 2. And even 2 might blow your head off.

• Address: 41 Phố Đường Hoa, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 7:30am until 6pm, 7 days a week

9. Capella Coffee Roaster Hanoi

Best for: excellent espresso-based western-style coffee, comfy seats, and a quiet atmosphere

Capella Coffee Roaster is super popular with remote workers, both local and Vietnamese.

They have a fancy espresso machine that my friends (who know more about coffee than I do) seem to be impressed by, along with roasted-on-site single-origin beans, and excellent western-style coffee.

The tables and chairs are the right height and the right comfort for work, and the staff are friendly and speak excellent English. The bright-white, stark, and minimalistic decor makes this place feel more like an office than a cafe—not great for enjoying cozy ambience, but very good for getting some work done.

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• Address: Alley 12 P. Đặng Thai Mai, St, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 7am until 7pm, 7 days a week

10. MEER Coffee

Best for: big lake views, some quiet working, and feeling like you’ve stumbled into a lofty office

Personally, I’m not a big fan of MEER Coffee…

… but I know many people who are.

To me, this place is a bit sterile, a bit clean, a bit quiet, a bit office-like; sorta more like a coworking space than a cafe.

That said, it has many perks:

The coffee is incredible, it’s nice and quiet for working, they have 4 floors, lots of natural light, and the top-floor terrace serves up the best views from everywhere on this list. Menu highlights include the iced Americano, the salted coffee (a central-Vietnamese drink you don’t usually find in northern Vietnam), and the orange cold brew.

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• Address: 66A Ng. 52 Đ. Tô Ngọc Vân, Nhật Tân, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 6:30am until 10pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; 6:30am until 11pm on Thursdays; 7am until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 7am until 10pm on Sundays

11. Tranquil Books Coffee

Best for: getting cozy and comfy, reading a book on your break, and taking a slight Tay Ho detour

Admittedly, Tranquil Books Coffee sits juuust south of Tay Ho, in the little district of Truc Bach (which lies between Tay Ho and the Old Quarter).

But, it’s worth the tiny detour:

Imagine a cozy, wood-filled, friendly cafe that seems like it was built with laptop-working specifically in mind. Congratulations, you’re now imagining Tranquil Books Coffee.

Every table has power outlets, many locals come here to work, and many others come to read.

While most ‘ideal for working’ cafes are a bit sterile and plain, this place is more like someone’s retro home. With bookshelves, kooky art, lots of lamps, and big windows, it’s a really cute and inspiring place to spend time—and because it’s tucked away and hard to find, it feels like a little secret.

On top of that, you get great croissants and brownies, tasty waffles, matcha teas, homemade kombucha, a piano, a narrow balcony overlooking the street, and staff who clearly care about coffee.

• Address: 18B Nguyễn Biểu, Quán Thánh, Ba Đình, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 8am until 10pm, 7 days a week

12. PingPong Café & Décor

Best for: unusual drinks overlooking the lake

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PingPong Café has two floors and sits right beside a quiet part of Tay Ho Lake.

The second floor, which has better views, is also better for working—and it’s home to a long balcony-style table overlooking the lake.

Inside, PingPong Café is really colorful and welcoming… with loads of bright colors, comfy furniture, and strange vases.

The croissants, brownies, and paninis are tasty, the smoothie bowls are healthy, and they do a wide range of unusual drinks—like matcha blended with fruit, a cold blended-cookie drink, coffee made with sugar cane, and a banana latte.

• Address: 148 P. Từ Hoa, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website
• Opening hours: 8:10am until 10:30pm, 7 days a week

13. Sun Coffee Âu Cơ

Best for: real Vietnamese non-chain vibes—while still getting some work done

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Most authentic Vietnamese cafes are great for people-watching. And reading a book. And meeting locals. And feeling like you’re really ‘in’ Vietnam.

… but because they usually have tiny plastic chairs and tables, and because they’re very noisy and often in the middle of the street, they’re not great for working.

But Sun Coffee Âu Cơ is pretty good for getting productive. It’s not perfect, but if you want a good authentic old-school Vietnamese cafe to work from, this is the best you’ll get. And, unlike Oriberry, it’s not a chain.

Oh, and as a nice bonus: it’s away from the main part of Tay Ho, tucked away among some quiet maze-like side streets. So getting here is a mini adventure, and you won’t find many other foreigners.

• Address: 67 Ng. 55 P. Tứ Liên, Tứ Liên, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội
• Website: N/A (that’s the type of place it is!)
• Opening hours: 7am until 11pm, 7 days a week