A café of old Saigon
Saigon Retro Cafe — Floor 1, 55 Tran Quoc Toan, Ward 8, District 3. The owner’s real antiques, a hand-painted wall of old ads, Trinh Cong Son crackling from a cassette deck.
"Genuinely old" — things the owner kept at home for years before opening.
Saigon Retro sits on the first floor, up the alley beside VinMart/Circle K at 55 Tran Quoc Toan. Inside: green walls, red breeze blocks, zigzag charred wood, black industrial pendants — and a guitar on the wall.
The centerpiece is the hand-painted wall of old advertisements — old-style lettering, the "Lave Laree" poster — and even the menu is designed in the old style. The balcony corner carries the "Saigon RETRO" LED sign.
The soundtrack is Trinh Cong Son, Ngo Thuy Mien, Ngoc Lan love songs, even cai luong — crackling from an old cassette deck. Across the street, a packed beer joint — one reviewer called it "two sides of Saigon life".
Six things only Saigon Retro has
- A typewriter, cassette tapes, vinyl, old radios — the owner’s genuinely old collection, kept for years.
- The hand-painted wall of old ads — old-style lettering, the "Lave Laree" poster.
- The hot tea + pig-ear biscuit ritual — free with every drink.
- Trinh Cong Son, Ngo Thuy Mien, Ngoc Lan, cai luong — crackling from an old cassette deck.
- The street-watching balcony — across from a packed beer joint, "two sides of Saigon life".
- An old-style menu, plus office lunch 11:00–13:30 (braised pork with eggs, taro soup).
Who Saigon Retro is for
Typewriters, vinyl, old radios — real antiques, not wholesale décor.
The hand-painted ad wall, the vinyl wall — every corner photographs.
Endless hot tea, crackling Trinh Cong Son — sit all afternoon.
A small café (~40 seats, full at 3–4 groups) — not for big groups.
Parking is a bit far, 5–10k fee — come by bike or Grab.