Hanoi House Cafe

What to order: Coffee with sweetened condensed milk As the name suggests, the Hanoi House Cafe is in a traditional Vietnamese house. Getting there involves walking through a small alley and up a wonky staircase. It feels like you’re going to accidentally wander into someone’s private home. Once in the correct (coffee) house, grab a seat on the balcony and watch the world go by. The coffee is damn near perfect, and adding sweetened condensed milk is the way to go in Vietnam. Everything in this cafe is a photographer’s paradise, from the tile floor, the exposed ceiling, the plants, the windows, and the way the light enters the cafe. In your search for the best coffee, travel to the site of the first-ever coffee house in Europe: Belgrade. Stemming from the Ottoman period, the first kafana (coffee house) in Europe cropped up in Dorcol, a neighborhood in Belgrade. Of course this sixteenth-century kafana served Turkish coffee in its rich, finely-ground, and unfiltered glory. Given the intensity of this new caffeinated drink, patrons spent a good chunk of their days slowly sipping, socializing and conducting business. It was such an important backbone in the city’s culture that the first electric street light in the city was installed directly outside of the first kafana. Today, that iconic coffee culture found in Europe is perfectly represented in Belgrade (but at a fraction of the price). It’s everything we love about coffee in Europe: the inviting outdoor patios on pedestrian-only streets, the giant umbrellas, the option to share a bottle of wine and then move on to espresso (ice cream optional). So, let Belgrade wow you with these coffee options: