Cham, the cafe run by couple Tony Nguyen and Christa Chan-Nguyen, has been named T2 Tea Cafe of the Year at this year’s The Age Good Food Guide Awards.
The serene venue combines Vietnamese and Australian breakfast traditions, with Christa overseeing front-of-house while also drawing on her training as a chef. Tony, who has worked at Aru, Supernormal and Firebird, leads a menu shaped by memories of his upbringing.
Its calm atmosphere is reinforced by widely spaced tables, white-washed walls and an indigo-dyed fabric installation that moves like rolling waves when caught by a breeze. Furniture, lamps and ceramics sourced from Vietnam reflect both centuries-old craft techniques and contemporary design.
Vietnamese flavours at Cham
One of the cafe’s substantial breakfast offerings is banh mi chao, or “bread with pan”: pork meatballs made in-house, chicken liver pâté and an egg served in a skillet of bubbling, tangy tomato sauce, with a crusty baguette for soaking it up.
At lunchtime, broken rice is mixed with chicken fat and topped with slices of confit duck. The chicken pho is simmered for about 13 hours, producing a particularly rich broth.
Drinks are given the same attention, including iced jasmine matcha, jasmine tea with pineapple foam and Vietnamese coffee made with beans from specialist Vietnamese roaster Every Half.
With its blend of precision, warmth and Vietnamese-Australian influence, Cham was recognised as an example of the direction of Melbourne’s cafe culture.
