The Café With a Turntable and Two French Bulldogs (I'm Obsessed)

by Chaewon Jung · June 30, 2026

Café Slow. 27/63A Huỳnh Tịnh Của, District 3, at the end of a quiet hẻm. Opened in July 2020 (pandemic baby!) and now has THREE locations including one in Hội An. And guys. GUYS. There's a TURNTABLE. With a "play next" shelf. You pick the record!! Beatles to Édith Piaf to Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, 18 reviewer mentions of the vinyl, I played Leonard Cohen and felt extremely sophisticated.

But wait, it gets better. TWO FRENCH BULLDOGS named Cookie and Đậu Đen (black sesame!!) wander around being adorable. The Saigoneer called them "the salt and pepper that bind everything together" and honestly? Accurate. One of them sat near my table and I forgot about my coffee for ten minutes.

The space: you walk through a gate onto red herringbone brick, past tree-stump stools under a bodhi tree, and the warm glass front glows through the leaves. Inside it's a Vietnamese tube house — narrow and deep — with a communal table, Edison bulbs, a REAL PIANO, a long mirror, brick pillars. Upstairs there's a mezzanine with sofas and poufs and floor-to-ceiling glass looking over the courtyard. Paperbacks Saigon has bookshelves here too so you can browse AND buy.

The founders: Quỳnh trained for years at Kafeville in Hanoi (coffee brain), Phương is a theater-production person and lifelong classical pianist (atmosphere brain). Together they built this. The coffee is a Colombian-Brazilian arabica blend roasted with a Taiwanese roaster. The most-mentioned drink in reviews is the MATCHA LATTE and I can confirm — it's the standout, creamy and vivid green and perfect.

Their philosophy is "do fewer things, but perfectly" and you can taste it. Simple menu, quality ingredients, nothing overcomplicated.

Hours: 7:00–19:00 daily. It's a DAYTIME place — come for the morning light in the courtyard, stay for the vinyl, leave before dinner. Work-friendly upstairs, laptop people everywhere, calm and hushed.

I came for the dogs. I'm going back for the matcha and the turntable. 10/10, no notes, bring me back immediately.