Hua Hin — Good Coffee, Sea Views,
and a Café in the Vines

Hua Hin has more shops that take their beans seriously every year. These places do single-origin hand drips one cup at a time, choosing northern-Thai beans or imported ones like Ethiopian, aiming for a clean, fruity cup where you taste the difference in the bean hot or cold. The two coffee lovers mention most are Gallery Drip Coffee Hua Hin, around Soi 51, and Black Monster, a two-storey shop with power points and Wi-Fi that's good for working. It suits you if you want a good cup and to talk beans with the barista.

This is the café people come to Hua Hin for — places by the beach with seats angled out to the Gulf of Thailand. The Khao Takiab area to the south is where they cluster thickest, because the beach is quieter and the water clearer than in town. Some have an air-conditioned glass room with a panoramic sea view; others put you right on the sand. The drinks to order are iced coffee, cold drinks to beat the heat, and photogenic desserts. To be straight, the coffee ranges from fine to good and the prices run higher than in town, but people come here for the view and the sea breeze.

The thing Hua Hin has that other beach towns rarely do — a café and restaurant in the middle of the Monsoon Valley vineyard (Hua Hin Hills), about 45 minutes inland in the hills. At The Sala you sit looking over rows of vines stretching out to green slopes; you can order coffee, a wine tasting or lunch, and there are afternoon jeep tours of the vineyard. The best time is the cool season, when the air is pleasant and the vines are at their fullest. To be straight, it's a way out and there's no public transport — you need to drive, rent a scooter or join a tour — but the setting is completely different from a town café.

Because Hua Hin has a large foreign resident community, it has European-style brunch bakeries scattered through town, turning out croissants, fresh bread, cakes and hearty breakfasts alongside coffee. The one people mention is Ob-oon Boulangerie, French-owned, doing bakery and coffee to a European standard in a bright, leafy space. It's the kind of place for a late-morning brunch with a big cup of coffee, usually air-conditioned and cool — good for getting out of the midday heat before you head back to the beach in the evening.

If you want Hua Hin's older style of coffee, head to the Plearn Wan retro village on Phetkasem Road near the town centre — a two-storey wooden complex recreating a 1950s Thai village. Inside, a stall brews traditional Thai sock coffee, hot and poured over condensed milk for a strong, sweet cup, served with freshly made mini coconut pancakes or coconut ice cream. Entry is free and you can wander and photograph the whole village, with vintage shops to browse. It's a good stop to rest your legs over a coffee while you look around — a completely different mood from a specialty café.

If you want a quick cup before a full day out, the easy-to-find chains are the answer. Café Amazon is on every corner, including in petrol stations, cheap and steady. Starbucks and the cafés in the Market Village and BluPort malls are easy to find with air-conditioned seating. They're good for a morning coffee before the beach or a mid-day top-up in the heat — some branches open early, around 6:30am, for the morning beach walkers. The price is predictable with no surprises, handy when you're in a hurry.

The cup that suits Hua Hin best — an iced coffee with milk, or an iced black, sipped by the beach as the sea breeze comes in. Hua Hin is hot and humid for most of the year, so cold drinks outsell hot ones, and the beach cafés around Khao Takiab make a good iced coffee served in a tall glass. Some have an orange coffee or a coconut coffee to try too. Order an iced coffee, find a seat looking at the sea, and let time slow down — it's the best way to do a Hua Hin café.

For serious coffee lovers, the specialty shops in town like Gallery Drip Coffee do hand drips one cup at a time, with a choice of single-origin Thai and imported beans. Take it hot to get the full aroma, or cold on a hot day; either way it's a cleaner cup than ordinary coffee, with fruit or floral notes depending on the bean. Order a drip and you can talk beans with the barista — it's the experience that says Hua Hin isn't only beach coffee, it has shops serious about quality too.

At The Sala café and wine bar in the Monsoon Valley vineyard you can order a tasting set, starting at around ฿240 for three glasses — whites, reds and a rosé made from grapes grown in the Hua Hin hills, with some sets served alongside tapas. Sipping a wine looking over the rows of vines and the hills is an experience you won't find at another seaside town. If you don't drink alcohol you can order a coffee or grape juice instead. The cool season is the most pleasant time to sit. Allow travel time, as it's up in the hills, away from town.

Because Hua Hin has a large foreign resident community, the brunch bakeries bake well — buttery croissants crisp outside and soft within, fresh bread, cakes, and hearty egg-and-bread breakfasts. A place like Ob-oon Boulangerie, French-owned, does it to a good standard. It's the kind of thing to order with a big cup of coffee in the late morning, sitting in a cool air-conditioned room out of the midday sun, before you head out to swim or sightsee in the evening — a late breakfast that fits the slow pace of a beach town.