Cafe: Bonheur

Bonheur is a new cafe that was recently opened by one of my coworkers.  The cafe is cute and cozy, and the WiFi seems consistent.  There is also a good Thai restaurant next door.

Bonheur has some common Vietnamese tea, coffee, and snacks.  However, its top feature is a better selection of flower teas than most cafes have.  I like a combination of rose with butterfly pea flowers.

The orange-peach-lemongrass tea is also a nice option here.

Rose + Butterfly Pea Flowers

Bonheur is, conveniently, adjacent to Vi Thai.

Tea: Tea Land

Tea Land is a small new tea shop located in central Thu Dau Mot.  They have good variety, mid-range quality, below-average prices and a pretty good location.

The most noteworthy selling point is their fruit teas.  Tea Land charges below average prices for fruit teas, but they give out quite a bit of real fruit (and the teas taste great).  I've ordered teas here that are half the price of RoyalTea (across the road) with twice as much fruit.

They have a stamp card system, they deliver, and they usually have a "buy 5 get 1" program.

This has become a popular place for big orders from my coworkers, mainly for themselves but also as a gift for class parties.

The house special fruit tea--kumquat, lime, orange, strawberry.

They have a cute little seating area.

Menu

Location

Services: Hoang Trang haircuts

This is an update for a previous entry about haircuts.  The woman here is very friendly and she can do a great job without a lot of instructions, the latter being important because she doesn't speak English.

Furthermore, she uses clean blades for shaving, which is certainly not assumed in Vietnam.

The side road with her new location is on the highway, across from a large school.  The business itself is on the south side of the side road.  GPS data: Here.

She opens around 9:00 AM.

Google definitely doesn't know this place (although Maps.ME does).

Shopping: Thuy Van Fabric Shop

Fabric shops are extremely common in Vietnam.  Parts of Ho Chi Minh City are famous for their fabric shops, but good fabrics are available in Thu Dau Mot as well.

I had trouble finding a good local shop until my tailor recommended "Cửa Hàng Vải Thúy Vân" (Thuy Van Fabric Store), centrally located near the big cathedral.  There's a good selection for both men and women, and the staff are much more knowledgeable than average.

Thuy Van is one block west of CMT8, two blocks south of the Yersin roundabout.

Restaurant: Gia Đình Đậu (Bean Family)

Bean Family is a new vegetarian restaurant with a very interesting menu.  They have a number of dishes with fresh vegetables (unlike some restaurants that are nearly all fake meats).  The food is good and the menu is quite diverse.

They have a number of traditional and modern desserts in a variety of flavors, many of which use soy milk instead of cow's milk (uncommon for Vietnam).  As with the food menu, the quality is high.  I love their blended ice drinks, and the black sesame dessert (che me den) is a rare treat!

Bean family is located in the southeast part of the city.  It's a bit out of the way unless you live at the new Tiamo apartments (in which case it would be extremely convenient), but they got themselves registered with Google, so you can map it.

It's worth the drive.

Here is their website: http://beanfamily.vn/

The ambiance is nice.

Business card.

A feast!

It's a bit out of the way, but not too hard to find.

Tea: M!x Tea & Some More

M!x is a nice new tea shop with a lot of fresh fruit.  (The "more" is simple sandwiches and dessert toast.)  They have some basic green, dark, and oolong milk teas, but they don't have many add-ins like other tea shops.  (They don't have pudding, jelly, yogurt balls, etc.)

The focus here is on fresh fruit.  They have a variety of fruit blends to put in their tea, all blended from fresh fruit when you order.  The tea seems to be good quality, some of the fruit blends are quite good, and their upstairs area is a very pleasant space for work or relaxation.

They have a frequent customer bonus program, too.

M!x is on Thich Quang Duc ("snack street") and Google Maps does have the correct location.

Fresh fruit.

 

Nice seating.

Easy to find.

Street Food: Takoyaki

Takoyaki is a Japanese treat with octopus and vegetables fried in rice flour and topped with sauces.  Many Japanese and Korean restaurants serve it, and it is also a common street food.

I don't have much to say about takoyaki, but I recommend it if you haven't tried it.  Just be careful--the inside stays hot for a while, it's easy to burn your tongue.

The map shows the three carts that I visit.  They open in the late afternoon.

It usually has mayo too, but I don't like mayo.