Support

Questions & Answers

Whether you’re passionate about coffee, a cafe owner, barista or coffee roaster, you may have questions about Cafe Scene.

How can our cafe be reviewed?

We’re always excited to hear about new coffee experiences to cover in Cafe Scene, and our coffee loving audience is always seeking new places to enjoy great coffee.

At present we’re focusing on the following areas: Hồ Chí Minh, Hà Nội, Đà Lạt, Cần Thơ and Vũng Tàu. However, we’ll happily receive all cafe review requests, as the area of coverage is expected to expand over time.

Independent Cafes
(1 to 3 locations)

Cafe Scene strongly believes in supporting independent cafes.

Submit a free “Independent Cafe Request” and we’ll evaluate it for going into our queue of future cafes to review. When being reviewed, Cafe Scene will visit your cafe to gather details, sample the coffee and take photography (and in some cases videos). The visit is typically not scheduled or announced, to best capture the typical experience of the cafe.

Cost: All we ask is for a complimentary coffee and pastry item (where available), that’s it!

Get started, Contact Us

Chain or Franchise Cafes
(4 or more locations)

Increase your brand exposure and awareness with passionate coffee consumers and coffee industry insiders with Cafe Scene. It’s a quality publication that serves as an ideal platform to showcase your brand, its retail units and beverage offerings. Advertising, retail location coverage, spotlight article opportunities are available.

Cost: Variable depending on specifics of coverage and features, let’s grab coffees and chat about it.

Inquire for details, Contact Us

How can our roasted coffee beans be reviewed?

We’re delighted to discover new coffee bean offerings from both local and international roasters to include in our coffee bean reviews. You’re encouraged to request a review of your coffee.

Roasted Coffee Whole Beans
(Small Batch, Indie and Micro Roasters)

Without the skilled coffee roasting artisans, where would we be?

Our coffee reviews are for roasted whole bean offerings only. As coffee tasting can be highly subjective, reviews are striactly objective, based on the roaster’s supplied specifications and profile information. Exceptions to this are “Editor’s Notes” and being awarded the Cafe Scene Selection designation.

Cost: We’d love a standard retail sized bag (200g-250g) of your whole bean coffee, that’s it!

Once you’ve submitted a “Coffee Bean Review Request”, instructions will be provided for sending a sample retail pack of your coffee for evaluation and photography.

Get started, Contact Us

Retail Ground Coffee, Ready to Drink Coffee
(High-Volume Producers)

Get exposure to your convenience and readily available beverage products through marketing and exposure opportunities with Cafe Scene. While these products cannot be included in our coffee bean reviews, we offer attractive fixed or PPC advertising campaigns.

Cost: Based on product category, volume and specifics of campaign.

Inquire for details, Contact Us

How can baristas be in a Spotlight interview?

We welcome baristas of all levels to submit their interest to be considered for an upcoming Barista Spotlight interview. We ask that you’ve been working as a barista for a minimum of 6 months with making coffee being your primary occupation.

Please submit your interest, Contact Us

What does the Cafe Scene Selection designation mean?

A limited handful of cafes and coffee beans that represent a truly exceptional coffee experience are bestowed with the Cafe Scene Selection designation. Such cafes and coffee beans demonstrate outstanding passion and craftsmanship. The selections are based on the editor’s choosing and are considered the top tier offering of their respective markets.

Why do cafe reviews focus on Lattes?

It may be apparent to you that a majority of cafe reviews feature lattes (or cappuccinos) as the primary ‘coffee shot’ for cafes.

The appearance of a latte can often serve s a good comparable benchmark of the quality, skill and effort that went into its preparation. This can be more challenging to discern with other beverages with less visible traits for comparison.

The colour and texture of the crema and foam; complexity, creativity and accuracy of the latte art; quality of the mug, plate, spoon and sweetener; inclusion of biscuit and serving tray. Combined, these factors give an impression as to the level of detail and care placed into preparation.

While such photos ultimately don’t speak to the tastiness of the coffee, they do lend to setting certain expectations in combination with any written coffee tasting notes.

What if I’ve found an incorrect Vietnamese translation?

We graciously rely on volunteer translation from English to Vietnamese, and their efforts give our content a much accessibility. If you’ve spotted a translation that could use some polishing up, or you wish to volunteer to help translate Cafe Scene content, please contact us. Thank you.

Features Legend

All our cafe reviews display feature tags that indicate a variety of factors and characteristics of the cafe and its offerings.

Beverages


Espresso

Espresso based coffee varieties served such as cappuccino, latte, mocha, etc

Ca Phe
Vietnamese style cà phê đen (black coffee) or cà phê sữa (milk coffee) served hot or iced served

Cold Brew
Coffee brewed with an extended steeping process at low temperatures typically served chilled or iced.

Egg Coffee
A typically sweet, thick and rich robusta bean based coffee prepared using egg and condensed milk.

Latte Art
Specialises in crafting detailed artwork in the foam or crema atop of their milk based espresso drinks. Ranging from a simple heart or leaf shape to complex and intricate artwork.

Specialty Coffee
Offers a variety of specialty coffee styles and brewing methods such as pour overs (such as V60, Chemex and Kalita Wave), French Press, Aeropress and others.

Roaster
Establishment roasts and serves their own unique coffee beans.

Eating


Food

Serves a menu of food items that range from simple fast dining items to a full featured restaurant menu with breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

Dessert
Offers a limited or extensive selection of items that compliment coffee such as cakes, cupcakes, donuts, pastries, macaroons, pies, etc.

Considerations


Indoor

The cafe has a contained indoor seating area typically with air conditioning

Outdoor
Has an outdoor seating or patio area typically with fans or shaded areas and sometimes water mist.

Laptop
Ideal environment for those wanting to use their laptop or tablet due to its well suited seating, tables, wifi availability and level of noise.

Hidden
The cafe location may require extra effort to find or get to, tips on how to locate the venue are provided with such listings.

Live
Offers live music and performances such as acoustic night or topical events on a regular basis. May also include a stage or section specifically for performing.

Water
Located along or near a river, canal, lake, pond or ocean.

Nice View
Scenic or high vantage point view is visible from the cafe.

Indie
An independently owned cafe that is usually a single unique location or a small handful of locations.

Chain
A cafe chain or franchise that consists of at least 4 locations within a city or across the nation.

Open All Day
The cafe is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Photography
Ideal for selfies and photography with friends, a very photogenic venue or location.

Child Friendly
Venue is family oriented, with children being catered to with facilities such as a playground, sand box, toys or other considerations.

Pricing


Low Price

Represents great value for money and is lower than average average coffee prices.
Typically less than 40,000VND for Latte.

Mid Price
Coffee pricing is considered typical market rate and reasonable value for money based on the quality.
Typically less than 70,000VND for Latte.

High Price
Anywhere from expensive to eye watering prices, may also add taxes and service fees on base prices.
Typically 70,000-120,000VND and above for Latte.

Style


Modern

Often described by minimalism, simplicity and a decidedly clean and orderly look.

Vintage
Decor and furnishings often resemble or invoke a feeling of past eras in time.

Traditional
A cafe that represents a traditional more original style cafe for the city.

Cute
Features a variety of design factors that give it a cute, girlie, fun or youthful appearance and style.

Themed
May use a particular theme throughout the cafe’s decor or architecture such as a particular time era or country based theme.

Unique
A non-conventional cafe experience that is distinct and one-of-a-kind; substantially different that other offerings.

Vibe


Tranquil

Peaceful and serene environment that offers a relaxing and quiet getaway spot.

Bustling
Is often busy with many patrons, above average volume music, a lot of moving about, frequently people are coming and going.

Trendy
Trendy crowd that are dressed accordingly, the ‘it’ place to be, popular place to be seen.

Casual
A no-fuss venue thats easy to hang out in, isn’t demanding and very comfortable