We toyed with the idea of keeping at least one branch open but reckoned it was a better bet all round to give staff the day off and let them have a couple of days of lie-ins.  They’ll be back slept-up and smiling on Wednesday.

We will, of course, be open as usual this Saturday and Sunday – both branches.

Have a great holiday.

There’s an air of excitement on Word day, the monthly date when the expat mag hits the capital’s cafes.

Last month our initial five per outlet didn’t last the day and the good people at The Word sent us over another few for Au Trieu and Nghi Tam.  When they went too we managed to snaffle a few more.

This month, the first five have gone and there’s none more to be had (though I’ll let you know how future snaffling attempts go). However, as ever, you can find it online here. Having a quick shufty through the pages I was delighted to see the locator map above that we nicked (with permission) to include here.  You can see The Cart Nghi Tam (number 1) in its location between the Sheraton and the Intercontinental.  Love it.

Thanks to The Word. We love your work. Now, when can we get it on Kindle?

The bad news is that we’ll have to make a further price rise this year, the good news is that it’ll be an under-inflation rise of 5,000 VND for sandwiches.  However there’ll also be a 5,000 increase in coffee and juice prices.  The good news being that we’re going to ditch the plan to charge for our posher take-away cups.  This way it’ll be a flat price for all – drink in or take out.

The only other price rise will be our meat and potato pies – largely as a result of customers wanting more meat – you spoke, we listened.  So it’ll now cost 65,000 VND (also up 5,000 VND).  The steak and ale pie and the chicken and mushroom pies will remain at their current prices of 80,000 VND and 70,000 VND respectively.

However, we’re going to spend the next week altering menus and ensuring all our communications are uniform so we’re putting off putting up prices until April 9th so you’ve got a week to scoff sarnies and sink coffees at 2011 prices.

Everything else, that includes cakes, pasties and tea will stay at current prices.

Downstairs at The Cart Au Trieu has been given a minor makeover in line with the the newer branch at Nghi Tam.  A counter and high stools have replaced the old chairs.  A better height to eat at we reckon, easier to keep it clean and, if you can bag one of the two stools at the front, there’s conical-hattastic people watching over the busy, but mercifully quiet little alley.

By the way, one online reviewer declared us closed recently when he couldn’t find our Au Trieu outlet.  The trick is – it’s round the back of Au Trieu.  More explanation here.

Don’t forget we still have the cosy room upstairs too with seating for small groups.

Ah that lovely taste of Punto Italia espresso…but you do need a decent takeaway cup if you want to take it home, to work, etc.

(And yes, I know this has been an ongoing theme)

So, as mentioned before we have the KeepCup (see below right) (as featured in The Word magazine) – we bought a case of them back after Christmas and we’ve around 20 left, so if you want one – be quick. They go for 280,000 VND each and they’re particularly marvellous.

As of tomorrow lunchtime (NEW!), for takeaway, we have ripple cups with lids (above right).  They’ll keep the coffee warm and you won’t burn your hands taking one home to your caffiene-needing other half. But they come at a price – we’re having to add 5,000 VND for takeaway to cover the cost of the cups.  We hope you understand.

‘Course you can always just have your coffee in.  Read a magazine, listen to the music, use the WIFI, take time out.  As ever we’re always happy to see you. You know we love you all, right?

Both Carts will close from Saturday 21st of January before reopening on Monday 30th of January.

We hope that you will all enjoy a wonderful Tet holiday and we look forwarding to serving you all in the Year of the Dragon.

We’re all delighted but with the whole family attending as well as a number of Cart employees we are having to limit service for Saturday.  That means that the central Au Trieu branch will be closed and the Nghi Tam (Westlake) branch will be open but will not be able to offer delivery.

We apologise for this – but it’s not often your little sister gets married.  We hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for your understanding.

Loan

KeepCups the eco-cup for the low carbon, high caffeine generation are now available via both Cart outlets.

The Australians among you may already know about the KeepCup. It’s an Australian (Melbourne) invention that has crept across the world fired by great press and social media-boosted word of mouth. Now available via Amazon they’re being spotted in the world’s major capitals and now we’ve brought them to Hanoi.

We’re delighted that they’re environmentally friendly, we’re just as delighted that they’ll survive a motorbike trip without spilling. See the pic right and below – it’s as if they were designed for the Hanoi coffee lover. Key is pluggable sip hole. Sip holes are good for walkers but not for riders.

You can buy them for 280,000 VND each at both The Cart Au Trieu and The Cart Nghi Tam. We can also deliver with lunch orders if you’d like.

Some more KeepCup facts here.

For the record we’re also about to start using “ripple” cups for takeaway coffee. They’re a little more robust that what we currently offer. They won’t save the world and we’re also having to charge an additional 5,000 per cup to cover their cost. Financially and environmentally we think the KeepCup is a better bet.

Thanks to regular customer Leanne for pointing us in the direction of the KeepCup. We love them.  Check out this movie as to why they are truly designtastic.

Secondly, we’ve been trying to work out how best to juggle resources over the festive season.  The new Nghi Tam Cart is settling in nicely as are the new staff but boss lady Loan will be away for nearly three weeks and there are only so many experienced staff to cover both outlets.

The solution?  Reduced hours but our busiest hours will still be covered.

Starting tomorrow (December 16th) we will only be opening 8am to 4pm at both outlets.

Normal opening hours will resume January 3rd. 

We will also be closed December 25th and January 1st.

There may also be some disruption to delivery from the Nghi Tam branch but we’re hopeful that we can cover this from Au Trieu – on calling, staff can advise and we’ll do our best to get your delivery to you as usual.

Thanks for your patience.

Please be gentle with the staff but if you’ve any problems then let us know and we’ll do what we can to put things right on our return.  In the meantime we’ll leave you in the ever capable hands of Thuy and Trang.