Recommended for expats: Bus, container coffee shops in Hanoi, HCM

For the past one year, netizens and youngsters in Hanoi have been flocking to Bus Café at a supermarket parking lot on Nguyen Trai Street in Thanh Xuan District.

The shop receives around 200 clients a day, which are mostly school and university students and office workers.

Nguyen Quang Tien, the owner, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he opened such a coffee shop as he was inspired by the night clubs housed in buses in Tokyo, where he studied for five years.

After six months of renovation, Tien and other members of his group turned an average 45-seat bus into a unique rendezvous last year, according to local newswire Zing.

The shop, which cost around VND1 billion (US$46,603) to build, houses a uniquely-decorated 25m² space.

All of the bus seats have been replaced with tastefully-designed wooden furniture.

The shop boasts book shelves and gorgeous decorative items and offers students, who are regular bus commuters, novelty yet familiarity when they relish drinks on such a bus.

Similarly, young people in Ho Chi Minh City have been drawn to Container Café, located in the Trung Son residential area in the outlying district of Binh Chanh.

The shop, which overlooks Ong Lon Canal, a tributary of the Saigon River, is made up of two containers and embellished with tires and tanks crafted into stylized objects.

Nguyen Truong Giang, the shop owner, began building it in late 2012 and opened the venue some four months later.

He made many holes on the sides of the containers, installed glass panels, and embellished them with ornamental plants, wooden items, and time-honored collectibles.

Customers are pictured at Container Café, located in the Trung Son residential area in the outlying district of Binh Chanh in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The place is typically frequented by groups of youngsters and members of expedition clubs, particularly on weekends.

Minh Huy, a 26-year-old office worker, told Tuoi Tre that he and his friends find the shop appealing for its breezy environs, melodic music, and reasonable drink prices.