The yellow room on the second floor

Down the 119/5 Yersin alley — so narrow you'd almost walk past — then up the stairs to the second floor. The door opens onto a miniature Hanoi: yellow-painted walls, low wooden stools, wartime black-and-white photos and pottery on the walls, a quiet reading corner at the back.

The egg coffee here is praised as "properly northern": silky whipped egg cream, just sweet enough, no eggy smell — served hot in a warm-water bowl, or iced. And don't miss the little sugar cookies baked from leftover egg whites served alongside — a touch only Little HaNoi has.

Down a Yersin alley you'd almost walk past, up the stairs: yellow walls, low stools, the egg coffee travellers write home about.