Khánh's Café

It's needless to say that Hoàn Kiếm District remains a hot spot for dining, especially cafes. Due to the area's characteristics (investment location, customer base, etc.), almost every cafe needs to innovate to stay as attractive as possible.

On a beautiful sunny afternoon, pay a visit to Khánh's Café, located right by Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Will this new name make a lasting impression? Let's find out in TopListCafe's review!

Location

Although not spacious, Café de Khánh's chosen location is prime: nestled at 16 Báo Khánh (Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi), just about 50m away from Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

However, it's slightly regrettable that the front of the cafe doesn't directly face the lake for a better view.

Historically, Báo Khánh has always been a beautiful street favored by many renowned dining brands as their business location. The street is wide and well-connected, leading straight to the shores of Hoàn Kiếm Lake and several other bustling streets, making it very convenient to navigate.

A Note on Parking at Café de Khánh: Parking is quite spacious, but... you must park across the street on the sidewalk because parking in front of the cafe is not allowed. The default parking fee is 10,000đ (before 6 p.m.), so be prepared to avoid any confusion.

Ambience

Overall Impression

Cozy and intimate, those are the first two words that pop into my mind when stepping into Café de Khánh.

The name of the cafe is also an impressive factor. Whether the owner shares the same name or simply wants to evoke memories of Báo Khánh street, it's a creative idea that makes the cafe's name stand out and easier to remember.

The operational space of the cafe is quite small, with only one floor divided into 2 sections inside the house, almost without windows as it is sandwiched between other buildings. Nevertheless, the interior is airy, without a sense of confinement.

From the entrance, you can see directly into the barista area.

Decor & Interior

The very name Café de Khánh speaks to the design theme of the place, all inspired by France. Decorative accessories such as cabinets, tables, paintings... all resonate with the artistic style of the 20th century.

The wall surface is intentionally finished with rough brick forms, giving it a slightly aged look to evoke a nostalgic feel, yet still coated with a clean primer so there's no trace of dust. Additionally, the cabinets, seating (both chairs and sofas), and ceiling are all coordinated in shades of red or patterns of the same tone, blending harmoniously with the predominant warm yellow tone of the cafe.

If you're intrigued by cafes with similar European-style red-tone seating, try visiting DOME Kafe in Cầu Giấy!

Other decorative highlights such as hanging lights and paintings on the wall also distinctly accentuate the French essence of Cafe de Khánh. One painting bears the names of 3 famous French artists - Derain, Balthus, and Giacometti - so I assume the other works also have a similar origin to match the cafe's style.

Inside Space of Cafe de Khánh.

Service Quality

Beverages

Khánh's menu isn't overly diverse, focusing on traditional coffee, tea, and a few other specialty drinks. One unique aspect here is that the coffee drinks are named after the cafe - for instance, I ordered a 'Khánh Cute' which is basically a milk coffee.

The coffee flavor is decent and the presentation is quite smooth, overall there's nothing to complain about. Prices here mostly range from 40,000đ to 50,000đ. Borrowing a silver coffee picture from Khánh's fanpage because I forgot to take a photo of the drink that day:

Music & Wi-Fi

Khánh's playlist at the time of my visit was a bit... chaotic, lacking a distinct characteristic in terms of genre or song selection.

The Wi-Fi connection is quite patchy and unstable despite there being few customers at the cafe and few people continuously using their phones. It's unclear whether there was a temporary network issue that day or not, as the signal was full but browsing Facebook and listening to music would sometimes freeze.

Hope next time the cafe will be better prepared, even something as simple as a playlist of classical instrumental music would be a great fit for the atmosphere, and double-check the Wi-Fi quality.

Service

The cafe is small so there are 2 staff members handling everything, from taking orders to making drinks. Overall, they all seem relaxed and cheerful, actively advising customers on drinks or popping out to chat with neighboring shops, but it doesn't seem to affect their work.

So now there's another memorable cafe to add to your list whenever you're around Hoàn Kiếm Lake. If you have some free time, take a stroll around the pedestrian streets and then turn into Café de Khánh just 50m from the lake shore. Apart from the downside of it being a bit small and possibly crowded, everything else is okay!

Posted by: Hiệp Võ

Keywords: Café de Khánh