A little butter on bread. The first sip of coffee. A croissant that leaves a few flakes on your plate. A French breakfast finds its pleasure in small things, and at Au Patio Thảo Điền, we’re happy to give them a little time.

Start with a basket, choose your coffee and settle in. We’ll bring the familiar favourites—and, here and there, a small temptation to bend the rules.

Begin with the bread basket

Our bread and croissant basket brings together a buttery croissant, sourdough bread, butter and strawberry jam. Simple things, with plenty to enjoy: a piece of crust, a soft centre, the first tartine spread just the way you like it.

A tartine, in this breakfast sense, is a slice of bread with something good on top. Butter first, then jam, perhaps. Make one, take a sip of coffee, and leave the next slice for a little later.

A plain croissant is the classic choice. Pull it apart and enjoy those buttery layers on their own, or keep a little jam close by. There’s no hurry to turn breakfast into anything more complicated.

Un café, s’il vous plaît

In a French café, ordering “un café” will usually bring you an espresso: short, black and full of flavour. It’s a lovely companion to a croissant, with another bite waiting between sips.

At Au Patio, you can keep that small-cup ritual with an espresso, choose an Americano for a longer black coffee, or go for a latte if you like your coffee with milk. A cappuccino has its place too. The best order is the one you’re looking forward to drinking.

Bring a glass of fresh juice to the table—orange, apple, pineapple, watermelon or carrot—and keep water alongside. Still La Vie or sparkling Perrier: another small choice that makes the table your own.

Eggs à la coque, with something to dip

If breakfast calls for an egg, try it à la coque: softly boiled, with a yolk made for dipping.

Open the top, take a mouillette—a narrow finger of bread—and dip it into the warm yolk. It’s a small breakfast ritual with plenty of charm, whether you grew up with it or are discovering it for the first time.

Ask for your eggs soft-boiled with mouillettes, and let the bread basket do a little more work.

Our little entorse à la règle

We know: the plain croissant has a very good case for being left exactly as it is.

But we couldn’t resist.

Our salmon croissant fills those buttery layers with house-made gravlax salmon, vegan ricotta, creamy avocado and fresh arugula. A little richness, a little freshness, and a very good reason to pick up your knife and fork.

Call it our small entorse à la règle—a bend in the rules. We’re rather fond of this one.

When breakfast becomes a little more gourmand

A fruit salad brings a fresh note to the table, with banana, apple, mango and dragon fruit. And if you’re in the mood for something sweeter, there’s French toast—pain perdu—with vanilla ice cream and warm pan-fried apples with cinnamon.

That’s the point at which a simple breakfast can happily become a longer brunch.

On a morning with something to celebrate, why not add a mimosa? Orange is a familiar starting point, but you can also choose watermelon, pineapple or apple. A little sparkle, a different juice, and another reason to stay for the conversation.

A French morning, here in the neighbourhood

With Saint Ange and La Petite École nearby on Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, French-speaking family life is part of the neighbourhood around us. After the school drop-off, a coffee and tartine at Au Patio can make a lovely pause before the rest of the day begins.

And when the whole family has time to sit down together, there’s room for everyone’s idea of a good morning. Our breakfast guide has more ideas for the table.

You don’t need to be French to enjoy the ritual. Choose from the current menu, find a seat at Au Patio Thảo Điền, and begin with the first sip.

Un café, a croissant, and a little joie de vivre.