At the mouth of Alley 29 on Hùng Vương Street, near the southern end of Trường Tiền Bridge, the Chè Hẻm stall lines up a dozen or so large pots, each steaming or chilled: lotus seed sweet soup, mung bean paste, purple sticky rice sweet soup, corn sweet soup, all releasing their own aroma. Hue's chè is made with far more care than in other Vietnamese cities - a single stall often offers twenty or thirty options, and customers can mix several into one bowl, layering hot and cold, soft and crunchy. It's the sweetest calling card this city has to offer.
One Alley, Holding Up an Entire City's Sweet Soup Culture
Mainstream Vietnamese travel outlets like Vietravel and VinWonders, along with Hue's official city website (hue.gov.vn), have all published features on Hue's chè culture, and Chè Hẻm ('alley chè') on Hùng Vương Street is a widely recognized cluster of representative shops among local and travel bloggers alike. Online claims of '30-plus' or even '36 kinds of royal chè' vary slightly from source to source, generally falling somewhere between 30 and 40-plus. In the interest of honesty, this should be marked as an approximate range rather than a precisely documented historical figure.
Royal-Style and Folk-Style - Two Parallel Threads
Hue's chè actually splits into two parallel threads: one is 'royal-style,' emphasizing ingredients like lotus seeds and longan along with refined presentation; the other is 'folk-style,' such as chè bắp (corn sweet soup) that originated on the sandy shores of Cồn Hến - simple in method but rich in flavor. These two threads coexist and shouldn't be reduced to a single origin. What makes Hue's chè so rich is precisely that it holds both royal refinement and folk simplicity at once.
How to Order in the Alley
- Chè Hẻm often has twenty or thirty options at a single stall - if unsure, ask the owner for a recommended combination.
- 'Thirty or forty kinds' is an approximate range rather than an exact figure - lists naturally vary between shops.
- To order in Vietnamese, try 'Cho tôi chè thập cẩm' (mixed sweet soup, several kinds in one bowl).
Royal and Folk Are Not the Same Story
- Lotus seed and longan-based sweet soups emphasize presentation and ingredients - representing the royal-style thread.
- Chè bắp (corn sweet soup) originated on the sandy shores of Cồn Hến, a genuine representative of the folk-style thread.
- Only by holding both threads together do you get the full picture of Hue's chè culture - no need to favor only the royal narrative.
In one bowl of mixed chè, royal refinement and folk simplicity melt together in the same spoonful of syrup, with neither one overshadowing the other.