Ranked in the first place for restaurants/cafeterias in Hoi An on TripAdvisor, Reaching Out - an old Vietnamese tea room, deserves a must-visit place in the Hoi An for any visitor. This is definitely not a scenic attraction, but merely a small tea room, hidden in the old aroma of Hoi An street. A tea house situated in the heart of Hoi An's old quarter. A "silent" tea house serving delicious teas, coffees, juices, and homemade biscuits. But the noteworthy thing is, all the staff in this tea house are deaf people.
The atmosphere of this old restored house is decorated with care and thoroughness. All products are made only from local ingredients.
These sweets are served by deaf people with whom communication will not be a problem thanks to an ingenious system. Customers will feel comfortable communicating with the host and staff. For once during the trip, you will not meet the barrier of the Vietnamese language. Communication will take on a whole new dimension.
You are curious to know: How to communicate with the staff? Simply put, everything at Reaching Out is simple, and the way to communicate with the employees is the simplest. It is on each table at Reaching Out that there is a small tray, which contains a stack of paper and six small wooden pieces with note paper attached. You can order by writing what you want on the paper, or when you need more water, need to ask something or want to pay, you just need to put a piece of wood with those requirements on the table, the staff will go through and bring you what you need.
But what is impressive is that the staff at Reaching Out do not say a single sentence but it was enough to make the visitors feel their warmth. Enthusiastic, cheerful, attentive and caring to customers are the compliments that foreign visitors give to the special staff here. Here, you not only immerse yourself in the tranquility of the rustic, nostalgic space but also learn to appreciate the word "integration", the true meaning of the tea house's name.
In terms of space, Reaching Out makes it count thanks to the beautiful, neat and pure Vietnamese layout. Referring to the tea room, people usually think of the beautiful little tea shops, sweet smells of baked goods and the vintage cup of English style. But Reaching Out is different, it is a real Vietnamese tea room, a tea room that when sits there, you will feel like sitting on a boat flowing downstream to the past, with chinaware, porcelain bowls, celadon pottery, blue and white ceramics or silver plates, copper plates.
At Reaching Out, you will not see familiar teas like Earl Gray or Marsala Chai. You can only enjoy Vietnamese tea. That's right, because, in a beautiful and pure Vietnamese space like this, there is nothing more harmonious than a glass of fragrant tea from the Vietnamese countryside.