Highlands Coffee @ Ho Chi Minh

Highlands is the Starbucks and Coffeebean in Ho Chi Minh, ubiquitous and possibly one of the coffee joints that the Vietnamese hold closely dear. Located at every turn, Highlands Coffee fast became my choice of resting the feet or watching dirt clouds chase after the scooters.



Cosy interior of their cafes. I patronised quite a few and most adopt the same cosy approach across all. While one particular one near Ben Thanh market had 2 storeys, the others spotted were mostly one storey.

 

Banana Cake (32,000 VND)
Moist Banana cake with a dash of rum

I suppose the whole idea behind this was rum soaked raisins in rum and raisin but rum soaked bananas did not taste like it for sure! Their bananas are barely sweet, in fact the cake was moderately sweet. I like how their cakes are warmed up before serving.



Carrot Cake (32,000 VND)
Nutmeg, Fresh walnuts


Like the banana cake, this was moderately sweet, fluffy and wholesome...quite unlike the usual rich carrot cakes peppered with cinnamon, this was the tip of the carrot cake iceberg. If anything, the frosting was too sweet.



Passionfruit Cheesecake

It must have been the episode of MasterChef's US Edition that involved passionfruit that ignited the interest in the acquired fruit. Faintly flavoured with passionfruit, the cheesecake was really decent..after a subpar one at ABC's. Moist and melt in your mouth...loved it!



Iced Milk

Ask me not why I'd even bother ordering one and it was classified under "Iced Coffee". Iced skimmed milk with a side of syrup.



Loved the crunchy cookie!




Iced Coffee with Condensed Milk (Hot)



Iced Coffee with Condensed Milk (Cold)

Absolutely hilarious experience with both. The companion wanted "less milk" which was interpretated as "fresh milk" but we waved it off for fear of any more misconception. The cold was served half filled, same with the hot! Best part of it came when the half puny cup had condenzed milk at the bottom...tooth achingly sweet but the fragrance was divine.

Service seems to be its greatest shortfall...perhaps its due to the communication barrier.

Highlands Coffee