IV. What to drink?
1. Anh Kafe (5 Nguyen Hue St., Hue city)
Located in the central route of gentle, serene city of Hue is Anh Kafe, with a modern, young and fresh European style. The coffee shop has a well-arranged seating, airy space by taking full advantage of natural light with glass installed throughout the entire place. That is also a chance for you to watch the flow of people on the underneath road from above.
Anh Kafe also scores points with young people by its unique coffee cup design.
Anh Kafe also scored points with young people by its coffee cups. Sounds weird, right? But most of the guests are fascinated by different, unique and pretty cups with which they can freely take check-in selfies. The drinks here are also rated to be delicious, aromatic and flavorful, especially by the Macchiato fans who are quite in love with this item at the shop.
If you crave for something new and fresh on your journey to explore Hue, do not forget to note the address of Anh Kafe. The price of drinks here is also quite cheap, ranging from 15,000-35,000 VND/drink only!
2. 1976 Coffee (12 Hai Trieu St., Hue city)
As a total contrast with the youthful, modern style of Anh Kafe, 1976 Coffee brings you the gentle touches of childhood memories, the scent of old books, and many other exciting experiences. As vintage as the name 1976, the space is filled with the old items from tables, chairs, slogans and a giant bookshelf.
Back to the past with the “legendary” snacks and old utensils.
Stepping into the shop, you will immediately feel the aroma of peace in the coffee; surrounded by the gentle melodies. At that moment you will no longer yearn for the busy life out there, and slowly let yourself enjoy in the serenity of this space. 1976 brings you the nostalgia from the old worn-out books, the familiar mandarin square capturing drawings on the tables or the simple yet impressive hand-written menu. The menu of the coffee shop is also very diverse, especially with the appearance of the old time snacks such as children's noodle pockets, vitamin C candies... The drinks are tasty, and of course the price is also very pleasant from 10,000 – 35,000 VND depending on the item.
Thanks to detailed and careful decoration, 1976 is also a "familiar" place whenever young people want to take old time themed pictures. It is possible to say that in 1976, you can create the most "legendary" photos in any corner. So do not miss this shop on your trip!
3. Lim (25 Nguyen The Minh Khai St., Hue city)
If you want to find a little gentle piece of green in Hue, don’t forget "Lim" - a beautiful shop located on the second floor at 25, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St., Hue city. Stepping into the small space of Lim, you will feel absolutely comfortable with the clear, light white tone design, next to the small green pots adding more vitality to this place.
Corners for the “poser” girls. (Photo: Lim Fanpage)
With a small space creating a sense of warmth, Lim is definitely an interesting destination for personal talks with your best friends, or even not bad for dating. Not to mention the white-focused design of the shop with beautiful corners, do not forget to take photos because this space is really beautiful!
Beautiful space and fine drinks are for only 15,000 – 25,000 VND. The shop offers mainly juices from organic fruits and some milk tea, contained in lovely glass bottles. Isn’t it fun bringing home the bottles for decoration after finishing your drink?
4. The Ware – house (Branch 1: 01 Trần Thúc Nhẫn, Huế city; Branch 2: 16/41 Nguyễn Thái Học, Huế city)
If you want neither coffee nor milk tea, and if you want a change with the cool taste of bingsu with all kinds of fruits, remember to visit the Ware-house. The shop has two branches located on easy-to-find streets in Hue, so even during the busiest hours, you can still find a seat at one of the branches to enjoy.
The Ware-house chooses a rather old and ancient style. The atmosphere is cozy, warm and quiet compared to other coffee shops. If you come in the evening, you can enjoy the shining meticulously-cared lights which bring a mystical style to all of your pictures.
A cozy, warm and quiet ambience in the coffee shop
The signature dish of the shop is bingsu with a lot of strange but also very interesting tastes. There are also other drinks such as milk tea in “cute” paper cups for your check-in selfie pleasure. The price here is also very reasonable, from 25,000 VND only!
5. T Tox Tearoom & Pastry (87 Le Huan St., Hue city)
Fancy sitting back and sipping a cup of aromatic tea with some sweets in a sad rainy afternoon in this dreamy city, isn’t that just perfect? Then remember the name T Tox Tearoom for a coming date with Hue!
This cozy little teahouse gives you a comfortable space to relax, chatting with your friends, reading or listening to music, and dreaming away into your own world. With quite light but impressive design, T Tox is also equipped with props for you to “perform” like the ukelele or old books.
This cozy little teahouse gives you a comfortable space to relax
T Tox has a wide variety of teas ranging from cool milk tea to “posh” hot tea sets but still not over 50,000 VND. For a decent experience with the teas, do not forget to add a piece of sweet pastries to balance. Cookies, panna cotta or cheese cake, tiramisu ... are ready to wait for you!
V. What to eat?
1. Bun bo Hue
Surely the very first dish to think of in Hue is bun bo. Visiting Hue without having a taste of Hue's original bun bo is really a shortcoming! Bun bo Hue needs only a short description "divine deliciousness". If you are a person who likes spicy food, then this is the "paradise" as the soup is prepared to taste, spicy and full of fragrance. Bun bo of "Hue standard" is characterized by the smell of fish sauce, lemongrass and especially often accompanied by crab balls.
Visiting Hue without having a taste of Hue's original bun bo is really a shortcoming!
The price of each bowl of bun bo is very “agreeable”, only from 20,000 – 30,000 VND but 25,000 VND is already enough to fill your stomach. Here are some famous destinations for you to enjoy this dish: O Cuong (06 Tran Thuc Nhan St.), Ba Tuyet (47 Nguyen Cong Tru St.), Doi Cung (29 Doi Cung St.), Nguyen Du bun, Loan (Xuan 68 St.) ...
2. Banh canh
In addition to bun bo, another dish that also “rules the roost” in Hue is banh canh (thick Vietnamese noodle soup). Banh canh is also everywhere in Hue, the best type of banh canh would be the snake-head and Nam Pho style which is considered specialties of this city.
Especially, a bowl of banh canh is only from 10,000 – 20,000 VND, cheap but high-quality, so why not give it a try? Take note of some of these destinations to visit: Hao Hao (206 Nguyen Tat Thanh St), O Cuc (57 Dinh Cong Trang), ...
All kinds of banh canh with cheap price for you to choose.
Speaking of Nam Pho style, its banh canh is more "attractive" by the eye catching orange soup, a bowl full of crab, shrimp, bacon, and aromatic broth to taste. Another big plus is that a large bowl is only 10,000 – 12,000 VND so you can also comfortably enjoy it without worrying about price. Here are some addresses for you: Ho Dac Di banh canh (Ho Dac Di St., An Cuu), Thuy (16 Pham Hong Thai St.), and some street vendors...
3. Mussel Rice
If you have tried the two delicious dishes above, then try another dish that is also a speciality of Hue: mussel rice. Anyone who has been here should at least try this dish once because of its special taste. A bowl of rice filled with mussel, mixed with fresh green vegetables, served with a cup of mussel soup which is very rich and tasty.
Mussel rice contains all kinds of flavors: sour, spicy, salty, sweet...
Moreover, the restaurants that sell mussel rice also have delicious ecstasy mussel noodles! At only 10,000 VND/bowl, this is a great dish for breakfast, and two bowls are enough to fill your stomach completely. If you want to have a taste of the “real” mussel rice of Hue, be sure to stop by Nho (28 Pham Hong Thai St.), Na rice mussel (37 Mac Dinh Chi St., Phu Cat ward).
4. Combo of Hue cakes
To complete your culinary journey in Hue, do not forget to try the combo of delicious cakes! With 4 traditional types of cakes: banh beo (bloating fern-shaped cake), banh loc (tapioca starch with shrimp), banh nam (Steamed rice pancake with shrimp), ram it (glutinous rice cake), each type of cake brings an unforgettable and unique flavor.
Usually 4 cakes can be found in the same restaurant so you can easily enjoy them at a reasonable price so you do not need to worry. Soft, white banh beo is served with prawn cakes, dried ground prawns, pork skin accompanied by dipping sauce. You should order trays; each tray has about 20 tiny dishes, each of which costs from 1,000 – 2,000 VND.
What a pity to visit Hue without eating banh beo, banh nam, banh loc.
If there’s not enough prawn in banh beo to your liking, then you should immediately order banh bot loc. This tapioca dumpling has a soft layer of clear, elastic, smooth dough, covering a whole prawn inside, topped with delicious dipping sauce.
Banh nam and ram it are not as well known among young people. However, it is a pity if you don’t get a chance to give these two a try. Banh nam is wrapped in fragrant leaves, smooth dough and tasty fillings. Banh ram it is quite different with its crispiness topping yet soft and sticky dough, combined with so delicious fillings that you simply can’t help but reach for another. These cakes are also only from 10,000 – 20,000 VND per serving.
Here are some destinations for this 4-cake combo: Ba Do (08 Nguyen Binh Khiem St., Phu Cat Ward), Trung Bo (16 To Hien Thanh St.), 109 (109 Le Huan St.) ...
Source: http://afamily.vn