Coffee at Starbucks in Saigon sucks and expensive!

The coffee bean and tea leaf chain here is also a ripoff, and without air conditioning.  A coffee was 70,000.  That's a huge price.  I usually pay between 7,000 and 25,000 dong.

I am looking for good western coffee not the Vietnamese coffee, like Seattle's Best coffee ... oh, I missed the aroma. Anybody knows a place I can buy one besides Starbucks

NashCat wrote:

I am looking for good western coffee not the Vietnamese coffee, like Seattle's Best coffee ... oh, I missed the aroma. Anybody knows a place I can buy one besides Starbucks

Good luck with that. You're in one of the top coffee-producing countries of the world. It's not likely they would ever import North American (actually Columbian) coffee into here for your enjoyment - except at a high price. You'd better get used to the Vietnamese coffee. I did. I'm a high consumer of coffee, and I now actually like the Vietnamese coffee better than Columbian. If you've got your own hot coffee maker at home, you can buy Trung Nguyen or similar brand at the store and brew it yourself. It's quite good, in my opinion.

" I usually pay between 7,000 and 25,000 dong."

Why would you compare the street coffee from a seller that doesn't pay any charge to a chain company with strategic locations all around the city & employees ?

If you travel a bit, coffee are never the same all over the world. Neither the food from the same chain back home, neither the clothes etc ...
Get over it.
And Starbucks have always been expensive.

Personnaly, i am ok with Starbucks, coffee and Leaf, Highlands Coffee and I come from a coffee country.

Good luck finding the perfect " cheap AND taste-like-back-home coffee "

Hi,

You can try Urban Station coffee, Italian style max vnd30,000. I am preparing to open a coffee shop in two months. I will invite you to try and comment  free of charge in one week right after opening.

Cheers,
Kathy

Indeed. Don't ever go back!!!

NashCat wrote:

Coffee and cappucino at Starbucks not the same as in Canada or States. Prices are expensive. What do they put in it, nuoc mam??

You can check for Trung Nguyên coffee and Highland Coffee

I pretty sure i don't like the Starbucks coffee!
But i don't sure about Nước Mắm - it's same dangerous when you do this with coffee

I liked Caffe Fresco on Le Loi. I also frequented the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Le Thanh Ton and Thai Van Lung... it has 2 floors and plenty of A/C.

the corner at vincom shopping center has really good coffee

I should add... I think Starbucks anywhere sucks and is expensive. Local coffee shops are always better. If I spend that much, I want it to be with Intelligentsia coffee. Otherwise, if I can find cafe sua da anywhere (here in the US), I'll be happy.

Starbucks, another shi**y American franchise system with crap products.

I used to drink at Stella caffe in Bui Vien street, coffee suited me, but we all have different tastes. Highlands is a ripoff, costs nearly the same as in Australia.

Vietnam has a culture of deep appreciation for anything NOT made in Vietnam, no matter how bad it may be.  Starbucks, with its crap product will make a killing there.

Yes, sad but true.KFC is a good example, they are everywhere and make a killing selling greasy chicken.

Best coffee right on the street for 10000 dong.  I enjoy Vietnamese coffee to all others... Why live where you do not like the food or local drinks?  Then again I am always making sure my supply of 30 year old single malt does not run out.

I just think that depends on your tasty
With me, CIAO coffee at Nguyen Hue is ok.

I find that its hard to penetrate into Vietnamese market when home grown coffee is popular. But its a effort well done for Starbucks.

Coffee at Starbucks is ok, not too bad. But you should try Trung Nguyen coffee, it's great. It's famous in Viet nam.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
We cannot find out same taste of any kinds of food made by same brand in different countries. KFC chicken is famous all over the world, but it's very different taste in various countries even if the same formula. When drinking Heineken, my husband comments: "Heineken in India and Vietnam different tastes". Also he found a funny answer: " This is made of Saigon water"!
Anyways, he is enjoying almost every food of Vietnam.

Beer will taste different due to the water,we have the same thing in Australia, different taste from brewery to brewery.

Hi guys,
Of course, Each country have their own taste for every food and drink, so don't have to compare. But the taste in Viet Nam is ok, not too bad.

Starbucks coffee anywhere is not as good as any local shop you can find. What they do well are the coffee "cocktails" that hide the burnt essence of their beans. If I have a choice, I will always go with what is NOT Starbucks... but I also have own a Gold Starbucks card for buying so many Iced Caramel Macchiatos and Passion Iced Tea, Sweetened.

NashCat wrote:

Coffee and cappucino at Starbucks not the same as in Canada or States. Prices are expensive. What do they put in it, nuoc mam??

Actually I read an article about how Starbucks changed the coffee taste when they entered each country's market. Every country has different taste, that's one of the key elements of their success. The fact is that we locals think the prices are quite high and the taste is not very good, compare to other brands like Trung Nguyen, Highlands or Coffee beans.

But you're now in Vietnam, why don't you try Vietnamese coffee brand names? I think the traditional Vietnamese coffee will be better than Starbucks. I suggest Trung Nguyen, just go and enjoy the 'real Vietnamese coffee taste', many foreigners like it.

Or else try this one. It can be easily done at home. You can find all the stuffs in supermarket. It's worth trying! 

youtube.com/watch?v=10IqxId2VSQ
How to make Vietnamese coffee

try the local coffee which is cheaper, thicker in texture and more aromatic . Starbuck is a "designer" coffee and it tastes like drain water ! People go to starbuck for the ambience which is available in other not so expensive joints like Highland coffee and Trung Nguyen coffee. You should head there.

Tom

I think drinks at Starbucks are fine, except their price. Starbucks coffee is just like KFC's chicken, Pizza Hut's pizzas or Subway's sandwiches: cheap for everyone in the US or UK, but 3 times expensive for an average person in Vietnam. 

I'll never know if these brands are going to be successful in Vietnam, but they are going survive here for long.

Avoid tax dodging corporate chains whenever possible, promote local produce.


starbucks high cost is only to cover the ridiculous packaging........

Well, if you travel to a well-known coffee exporter country then you should try their coffee.

I like Starbucks in USA because it's roasted, most bean coffee is only half roasted and tasted like lawn clippings and shoe polish. 

But the best coffee in Seattle came from a place on Capitol Hill whose name escapes me, very artistic pouring too, also properly roasted.

Trung Nguyên is ehhhh, at least it's coffee, not corn. 

I haven't had Starbucks in Saigon yet because last time I was up there they were still allowing openly holstered guns in their USA stores and I am anti Second Amendment.  They've since rescinded that, so next time I go to Saigon I'm going.

I use to frequent Starbucks in America all the time but now I avoid them ever since they took a stand against the US Constitution.

Parmyd wrote:

I use to frequent Starbucks in America all the time but now I avoid them ever since they took a stand against the US Constitution.

Customers didn't like having loud, boorish, and visibly unstable men of unsettling demeanor carrying guns in the store.  It was bad for business.

ChrisFox wrote:

Customers didn't like having loud, boorish, and visibly unstable men of unsettling demeanor carrying guns in the store.  It was bad for business.

More dignity and civility I see. Just so you know, you can still carry guns into Starbucks. And it was the unstable anti-Constitution people that were confronting customers and causing problems.

Well we both make purchasing decisions based on our respective political views,  isn't that winderful?

But to ask customers not to visibly pack heat in a nation where gun massacres are now semiweekly is hardly shredding the capital-C Constitution, now is it.  Rescinding that policy got them my business back.

lol for nuoc-mam

I love megabucks coffee houses because that's what I'm supposed to like. Check my bookface page for my instantgram updates of my frappmocha decafe goat's milk Jamaican sugared beverage.

I've had Blue Mountain in Jamaica.  It was really good.  I still prefer Ethiopian or Kenyan from Starbucks.  I always have visitors bring my some and guests say, every time, it's the best coffee they have ever had.

charmavietnam wrote:

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
We cannot find out same taste of any kinds of food made by same brand in different countries. KFC chicken is famous all over the world, but it's very different taste in various countries even if the same formula. When drinking Heineken, my husband comments: "Heineken in India and Vietnam different tastes". Also he found a funny answer: " This is made of Saigon water"!
Anyways, he is enjoying almost every food of Vietnam.

You know what? You are right! I was wondering why I didn't get a good ole buzz when I drank the  Heineken in Vietnam.

Parmyd wrote:

I use to frequent Starbucks in America all the time but now I avoid them ever since they took a stand against the US Constitution.

My husband and I don't drink Starbucks anywhere, period. I usually just make coffee at home with the brands he brings back from his trips. When we are done with our old coffee cans we take them to the range and shoot the hell out of them because we are second amendment loving conservatives!

MIA2013 wrote:

Parmyd wrote:

I use to frequent Starbucks in America all the time but now I avoid them ever since they took a stand against the US Constitution.

My husband and I don't drink Starbucks anywhere, period. I usually just make coffee at home with the brands he brings back from his trips. When we are done with our old coffee cans we take them to the range and shoot the hell out of them because we are second amendment loving conservatives!

Starbucks = 5 bucks ($5usd), that's what we always called them. I prefer the coffee here, I pay 7000 to 10000 dong.

I am a second amendment loving conservative too (really a liberal that loves the 2nd amendment who thinks Lan is hot).

Don't mix leisure and politics......

Tom Lee wrote:

Don't mix leisure and politics......

Why not? The House and Senate does it all the time while drinking coffee out of those little cups...