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Essence Cafe

22 Ta Hien Street | Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam
84-4-39352485
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Ranked #1 of 562 restaurants in Hanoi
Price range: €4 - €16
Cuisines: Diner, Dessert, Vietnamese, International
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Restaurant details
Good for: Cheap Eats
Dining options: Breakfast/Brunch, After-hours
Description: Located on the ground floor of the Essence Hanoi hotel, the artfully designed Essence Cafe restaurant offers you various tasty authentic Vietnamese dishes and standard Western menu for lunch and dinner. Accomplished with an extensive menu of beverages including fresh fruit shakes, coffees and wines, the restaurant ensures you a wholesome meal with great food, excellent service in the right ambiance and fine spirits, all at a price guaranteed most reasonable in town. Wifi-internet & iMac is available, free of charge.
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305 reviews from our community

89% Recommend
    213
    60
    24
    6
    2
Rating summary
    Food
    Service
    Value
    Atmosphere
Date Rating
London, United Kingdom
Contributor
11 reviews 11 reviews
5 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 21 May 2013 NEW

This Cafe is within the Elegance Essence hotel - so don't be put off if it doesn't look like a cafe from outside! We had tried to get a table at the Gourmet Corner Restaurant (which is in the Elegance Diamond Hotel), but it was fully booked, so they arranged a table for us at the Essence Cafe and transferred... More

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See 2 more reviews by MissLotte_83 for Hanoi
Perth, Australia
Contributor
14 reviews 14 reviews
4 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 8 cities Reviews in 8 cities
8 helpful votes 8 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 20 May 2013 NEW

Finally.... Un-westernised Vietnamese. Fragrant and flavours of Vietnam. The service was Perfect, right from greeting to hailing me a taxi for my trip back. Beautiful staff, beautiful food... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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See 5 more reviews by Itsmanda S for Hanoi
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 20 May 2013 NEW via mobile

Saw the other reviews on TA and gave it a go! It was lovely, very nice attentive service and atmosphere. The food portions are large and we majorly over ordered but was lucky enough to cancel two dishes before they were cooked. Overall a great first meal in Hanoi.

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Singapore, Singapore
Senior Contributor
25 reviews 25 reviews
11 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 9 cities Reviews in 9 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 May 2013 NEW via mobile

My fellow reviewers on Tripadvisor rarely let me down but, on this occasion, the raves for this restaurant were well off the mark. I'm always reluctant to write a bad review for a restaurant and the staff here certainly tried hard. In fact, they proudly announced that they had a new French Chef and handed us a Western menu to... More

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See 2 more reviews by SingaporeMichael for Hanoi
Sydney
Senior Contributor
39 reviews 39 reviews
11 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 21 cities Reviews in 21 cities
12 helpful votes 12 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 May 2013 NEW

Great menu options and presentation for breakfast and dinner. The homemade yogurt was the highlight of the breakfast, whilst the fish in clay pot (which includes some pork) was sensational for dinner.

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See 4 more reviews by Tiger05 for Hanoi
Brasilia, DF
Senior Reviewer
9 reviews 9 reviews
Reviews in 7 cities Reviews in 7 cities
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 16 May 2013 via mobile

The restaurant is located in the heart of old quartier, a few metres of the nightlife street. It is perfect to have dinner there and then go out and have a fresh bier. The food is vietnamiese genuine and the service couldn't be better!

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Sydney, Australia
Senior Reviewer
10 reviews 10 reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 16 May 2013

So we didnt initially intend on going to this restaurant we were walking down the street when it started pouring! We ducked under the cover of the hotel where the lovely doorman said for us to come and stand inside out the rain. Now were 4 backpackers and even though we had made an effort that night we still did... More

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sydney
Contributor
15 reviews 15 reviews
Reviews in 9 cities Reviews in 9 cities
7 helpful votes 7 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 15 May 2013

We had dinner here 2 nights in a row as the food was so good, dearer than street cafes, the food and cocktails were fabulous and you were demonstrated how to eat the dishes correctly

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See 4 more reviews by Anneanne for Hanoi
Ottawa, Canada
Top Contributor
75 reviews 75 reviews
43 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 37 cities Reviews in 37 cities
23 helpful votes 23 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 15 May 2013

Recommended by our guide for dinner within walking distance of our hotel, this restaurant was not easy to find, but worth it! It turned out to be an intimate hotel dining room, with both a Vietnamese and Western menu. All four of us chose the latter. The bill for two of us, with wine, dessert and coffee came to $US42,... More

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See 5 more reviews by Billitchyfeet for Hanoi
Vancouver, Canada
2 reviews
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 14 May 2013

Good food, great staff, very affordable. We are vegetarian and they had a number of options for us to choose from. the decor is very nice and it is air conditioned if you need a break from the heat.

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