[LEFT] Trung Nguyen Coffee – Authentic Vietnamese Food in Singapore #7
[RIGHT] The cafe was empty on a Saturday evening.

I wanted to order my favourite Legendee coffee but it costs more than $12 which i’m not ready to pay :P. I took the cashier’s suggestion and ordered a traditional Vietnamese coffee – Creative 4: Creation ($6).

[LEFT] Traditional Vietnamese Drip Coffee – Strong and aromatic.  It took awhile for the hot water to drip through the filter.  Trung Nygyen is probably not the right place if you just want a quick fix of caffaine.
[RIGHT] LIKE the cute coffeebean prints on the saucer.

Trung Nguyen provides a pleasant ambience to chill out with its spacious sofa seats (and not fight the weekend crowds in Starbucks) but I wonder how the cafe survives in the competitive F&B world given that it is always quite empty.

[LEFT] G7 Express Cafe – Authentic Vietnamese Food in Singapore #8
[RIGHT] Ice Vietnamese Coffee – You can choose between mild or strong coffee. The former contains 70% less caffeine.

G7 Express Cafe is owned by the Trung Nguyen group. G7 offers an instant coffee option (vs. the traditional drip coffee) and a wide variety of banh mi (Vietnamese baguette). I read in 8 Days that the name originated from Trung Nguyen’s desire to enable Vietnam to reach first world nation status and join the G7 nations by popularising its coffee worldwide.

[LEFT] Grilled Chicken Banh Mi – The baguette was nicely toasted.
[RIGHT] Generous serving of grilled chicken, pickled carrots, chilli, cucumber & parsley.

Do note that both Trung Nguyen and G7 also sell their products in-store at reasonable prices (i.e. $5 for the coffee filer and $4.80 for the instant coffee).

[LEFT] Baguette – Authentic Vietnamese Food in Singapore #9
[RIGHT] Signature Saigon Baguette
Both images from Baguette’s website

Baguette is one of the first few cafes to offer banh mi in Singapore. They have a few branches in Singapore now. I like the 3 inches banh mi option which make a great snack! I recall they serve a good curry rice dish too.

Both Vietnamese sandwich shops offer a value worth promotion (Do you smell a potential price war?)–

[LEFT] Baguette – Get a baguette of the day + soft drink @ $4.50. Daily promotion.
[RIGHT] G7 Express Cafe – Any baguette choice (except beef) + coffee @ 4.80. Daily promotion

The consumers are eventually the real winners. 🙂

BANH MI (Vietnamese Baguette) – Bought from a street vendor in Saigon.

Overall, the above 3 cafes offer Singaporeans a good alternative to the likes of Starbucks & Subway etc. However, I’m not sure whether the banh mi in Singapore would be considered as “authentic” by a Vietnamese. I tried banh mi in Saigon several times and found it to be radically different from the ones we have in Singapore. The bread is less crusty and the cold cuts have a strong (Read: weird) taste. I definitely prefer the “localized” banh mi we have in Singapore.

This market was previously dominated by Baguette but the influx of new players like G7 and Sandwich Saigon seem to indicate that there is huge untapped potential here.

Is Banh Mi the next big thing in Singapore? 🙂

Trung Nguyen Coffee
Tel:+65 6837 3314
Opening Hours: 9am – 11pm
Add: 177 River Valley Road, #02-34/36 Liang Court Shopping Centre, Singapore

G7 Express Cafe
Tel: +65 6636 4318
Opening Hours: 10am – 9.30pm
Add: 5 Changi Business Park Central 1, #B1-51 Changi City Point, Singapore

Baguette 
Tel: Multiple locations. Please check website.
Opening Hours: Multiple locations. Please check website.
Add: Multiple locations. Please check website.

Read Saigon Sandwich – Authentic Vietnamese Food in Singapore #10
Read Caphe East Vietnamese Cuisine – Authentic Vietnamese Food in Singapore #6 (Includes: Exclusive interview with Owner)
Read Casual Vietnamese Eateries – Authentic Vietnamese Food in Singapore #3, #4 and #5
Read A Stroll along Joo Chiat Road – The Little Vietnam in Singapore
Read Le Viet Café and Restaurant – Authentic Vietnamese food in Singapore #2
Read Long Phung Vietnamese Restaurant – A little piece of Saigon in Singapore