The story
During the First Indochina War fresh milk was scarce in Hanoi. In 1946, as the story is usually told, Nguyen Van Giang, a bartender at the city's Metropole hotel, whisked egg yolks with sugar to stand in for milk, creating a sweet, custardy foam to spoon over strong Vietnamese coffee. The drink proved popular enough that he left the hotel and opened his own place, Café Giang, which his family still runs. Over the years the recipe gained condensed milk, the whisking moved to electric mixers, and egg coffee spread from Hanoi's old quarter to cafés across Vietnam and abroad.
Also known as cà phê trứng, ca phe trung, Vietnamese egg coffee.
On the Meridish menu
Egg coffee (cà phê trứng) was the aperitif course on menu No. 9 on October 9, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Strong coffee under a cloud of egg yolk whipped with condensed milk. A hotel bartender invented it in 1946, when fresh milk was scarce, then opened his own café.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
