I rarely drink coffee, but today I felt like having some. After an hour and a half I still couldn't find good value. Suggestions for the following...

1. CHEAPEST *good* cup of real coffee (filter, espresso, American style, whatever)
2. Best QUALITY coffee served at any price under $2.50
3. Wherever coffee is ground SAME DAY and ideally is roasted on premises too.
4. Hottest waitresses in a coffee shop so you don't care if it's ten-year old Nescafe

The options I had today were all fancy air-con high-status 'be seen' and 'get away from the plebes' sort of places - $2.50 at True, or coffee that tastes like garbage peelings made into a powder, at a Cambodian hole in the wall - a friend suggests that almost free low-grade coffee has been replaced by a coffee substitute made from soy), or a *powder* (sacrilege!) at KFC for 0.50. The fast food joint beside Lucky Supermarket in Sorya was the best so far.

To keep my tastes in context, while others might like the mood and connoisseur grades of coffee at Starbucks (well, they used to offer choices of Kenya, Ethiopia etc - but I think they dropped that in the 1990s) I disliked their labour policy of hiring only homos

I am a Tim Horton's (Canada) kind of guy - a fresh pot of black coffee made every 20 minutes, at 0.75 a mug (and a real ceramic mug). Free refills at Denny's. I also am a fan of Nebraska diners with formicite table tops and hang outs for lesbian truck drivers. And fresh drip coffee in Saigon cafes.

So, where to get s pretense-free cup of coffee that tastes good and is ground fresh - for under $1.50? Otherwise, I'll go back to green tea.

hot vietnamese coffee with milk is your best option in PP, price 0.50$ usually in every low cost viet cafe in downtown but make sure they're Viet and not khmer.

the upscale shops selling coffee for 2.50$ a cup are just a "format" with all the bells and whistles but with little substance and mediocre coffee, at best.
people don't go there for the coffe.

Brown

frank lee bent wrote:Brown

Brown at $2.40 for a hot latte is hard to beat when coupled with their 'buy 10 get a large one free' cards. Not my favourite blend but it is quite good and the best value espresso I've had here. There are dozens of other places around that make espressos for less dough but use UHT milk or really crap coffee, so no cigar.

Also, there are a few places around that purport to use Illy or Lavazza usually a lot more expensive and subject to the skill of the maker. Riverside Bistro use Lavazza and generally provide a decent coffee but last time I went they had priced themselves out of the market and can only be regarded as a tourist trap.

Joker Poker wrote: but last time I went they had priced themselves out of the market and can only be regarded as a tourist trap.

indeed, and not just for the coffee.

Best tasting coffee I had during my hunt this week was from a cart on the east side of Phsar Tuol Tom Pong. Appears to have multiple carts

Pluses

- price: 0.75
- clean: ice scoop, hygienic ice?
- straw presented in cup w/ part of sheath (as cover)
- delicious real coffee

Minuses

- no ice means half full

Georgina wrote:Best tasting coffee I had during my hunt this week was from a cart on the east side of Phsar Tuol Tom Pong. Appears to have multiple carts

Pluses

- price: 0.75
- clean: ice scoop, hygienic ice?
- straw presented in cup w/ part of sheath (as cover)
- delicious real coffee

Minuses

- no ice means half full

yes, they sell this coffee in any viet cafe' along with a tea pot, 2-3000 riels.

Those mobile carts roost directly behind us and we watch their nightly routine (it's better than Fox) - can state with confidence that their hygiene is right up there. The carts are washed daily and the service gear is washed in soapy tap water and air dried. Good to see, actually. I wouldn't hesitate to drink coffee from this lot.