NHAU NHAU is quite possibly the perfect inner city location for a sneaky rendezvous over drinks, which is exactly what you want for date night.
It’s hidden away on the second floor of a building in the middle of a wet market just a stroll from Nguyen Hue Street in Saigon’s District 1.
There’s no way of telling NHAU NHAU is here, unless you’ve done your research.
The bar seats a cozy eight people while there’s enough space for perhaps 20 guests in total, making it cozy but still intimate enough.
The decor is inspired by 1960s Saigon, the so-called golden era of Vietnamese rock and roll.
On one wall there are framed retro album covers of some of the top artists of the time, while classic Vietnamese tracks play from the speakers.
The mottled-green handmade wall tiles look great under lighting and they go well with the custom-made wooden bar, stools and tables.
But the real clincher for this as our choice of bar for couples is the creative, not to mention playful, drinks list.
There are drinks like the coconut worm shot made with white rum, coconut cream and an actual crispy, caramelised coconut worm that comes skewered on a small stick of bamboo resting across the glass.
Then there’s the cigar and whiskey cocktail served in a glass skull bottle sealed with a cork that allows the cigar smoke to infuse into the whiskey before drinking.
While the cotton candy Old Fashioned requires you to pour this classic drink out of a small flask over a white, fluffy pillow of cotton candy. This drink has the ability to tease the child out of the crankiest of old fogeys.
But perhaps one of the more stomach-churning tipples is the quail balut shot (pictured below).
However adventurous you are with your food and drink selections, NHAU NHAU has you covered.
It’s all hands on here, which is great fun and, in a sense, helps sets things up for some more playfulness somewhere else a little later on, at home perhaps.
Words by The Bureau. Follow The Bureau on Instagram at @thebureauasia
Photos by Mike Palumbo. Follow Mike on Instagram at @mikepalumbo_
NHAU NHAU is at 89 Ton That Dam Street, District 1, HCMC.
[Google_Maps_WD id=58 map=56]For more about NHAU NHAU, go to https://www.facebook.com/letsnhaunhau/
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