For many years, tourists have seen Hue imperial city be a land of ancient palaces and unique architectural styles. However, the ancient land is well-known for its sophisticated and various cuisine with many simply-processed but aromatic and attractive dishes. You will see Hue cuisine’s aromatic flavor through elegant palace cuisine of fermented peacock roll and simple Hue street foods. Thereby, if you have a chance to visit this ancient capital, take your time to enjoy excellent Hue street foods. This article will give you some information on the top 10 Hue street foods that might be helpful for your trip. 

“Bánh bèo” - Bloating fern-shaped cake 

The cake is one of Hue street foods that are quite familiar to local people. Each area in Vietnam has different ways to process this kind of cake. Especially “bánh bèo” in Hue is simply processed: rice flour soaked into the water and then steamed; after rice flour is well done, they add a mixture of finely minced shrimp, scallion, greaves, and a little vegetable oil. The pure white fern-shaped cake and yellow of other ingredients and its aromatic flavor look attractive. The fantastic thing here is an excellent sauce that is a bit fatty, sweet, and spicy. 

Banh Beo

Visiting the imperial city, you can enjoy the street food in many places, from food stalls in the street to restaurants at a reasonable price. Here is some information:

• Quan 109 Le Huan at No. 109 Le Huan Street, Hue. 
• Banh beo Thach Han at No. 48 Thach Han, Hue.  

“Cơm hến” - Mussel Rice 

Mussel rice has appeared in the daily life of locals for a long time. In ancient times, the dish was taken to serve the King of Trieu Thi as a specialty of Con Hen. That flavor made him very content, so it became one of the court meals. Mussel rice is a dish of Hue street food that harmoniously combines court cuisine and locals’ cuisine. The combination helps to create a special and unique flavor for mussel rice amongst other street foods. The ingredients used to make the dish are pretty simple, but its taste is hard to explain in words. You can feel the strong flavor of a little ginger, the spicy chili and the sweetness of mussel meat, etc.  

Hue Mussel Rice

Coming to Hue, you’ll have a chance to savor the authentic flavor of mussel rice - one of Hue street foods. You can taste mussel rice in many places along Hue city, but here are some suggestions for your trip: 

• Com Hen Ba Cam at No. 2 Truong Dinh, Hue. 
• Bun & Com Hen Ti Hon at No. 3 Han Mac Tu, Vi Da, Hue
• Quan 26 at No. 26 Truong Dinh, Hue. 

“Bánh ép” - Pressed Cake 

“Bánh ép” is a kind of Hue street food with a pretty strange name to tourists in general. So what is the pressed cake? How special is it? With its familiar but a bit strange flavor, the pressed cake makes you never forget if you try once. The special Hue street food has many ways to process depending on the creative ability of the cake-makers.

The main ingredients are from the finest flour, pork, egg, spring onion, etc. They put the finest flour into the cast-iron frame in the slow-burning charcoal. Depending on the different appetites of guests, the cake-maker presses the cake softly or brittly for tasting. You can use this street food with papaya salted or cucumber. That makes the difference here is the sauce and the way they press the cake. Each cake-maker has their recipe to make a delicious sauce. The very spice of chili stimulates the taste buds of all foodies. 

Hue pressed cake

Indeed, the pressed cake is one of the Hue’street foods that you have to try once during your trip here. Here we suggest you some addresses for tasting the cake below: 

• Banh ep chi Xi at 22/103 Nhat Le, Hue. 
• Banh ep Gia Di at No. 101 Ba Trieu, Hue. 

“Bánh bột lọc gói xứ Huế” - Hue rice dumpling cake 

Among many Hue street foods, rice dumpling cake is considered a kind of rustic and authentic Hue. This cake has been famous in north-central Vietnam, but Hue people have unique and particular processes that can be hard to differentiate from others. The cake has a gentle flavor of the finest flour, the sweetness of shrimp and pork, and other spices’ richness. You can eat a lot without being tired due to its gentle and soft flavor. Also, you can feel the aromatic smell of banana leaves when eating the cake. 

With its simple ingredients but charming flavor, Hue rice dumpling cake is indeed one of the best Hue street foods. So the Hue rice dumpling cake has become nostalgic for Hue people living far from the imperial city. Here are some suggestions in which you can try to taste this cake: 

• Quan Ba Do at No. 8 Nguyen Binh Khiem, Phu Cat, Hue 
• Quan Hang Me at No. 12 Vo Thi Sau, Hue. 

Hue sweet soup 

Sweet soup has been typical in many areas of our country, but the most delicious sweet soups are in Hue. Traveling to Hue city, you can easily see lots of sweet soup stalls or vendors selling it along the street. So the sweet soup here is a kind of Hue street food for tourists to enjoy with many tastes. There are many tastes for you to choose from, such as lotus sweet soup, mixed sweet soup, sweet corn soup, etc. 

The remarkable thing here has been created from the gentle flavor, beautiful colors, and Hue people’s exquisite talents. In the summer, you can taste Hue sweet soup with ice; however, enjoy hot sweet soup in winter. Whether in summer or winter, this Hue sweet soup will satisfy all tastes. Here are some places for you to enjoy this Hue street food: 

• Che Hem at No.1/29 Hung Vuong, Phu Hoi, Hue 
• Che Cung Dinh at No. 31 Nguyen Hue, Vinh Ninh, Hue 
• Che Sao at No. 60 Phan Chu Trinh, Hue. 

Nem Lui Hue 

As the top 10 Hue street foods, Nem Lui Hue is grilled ground pork covered in a lemongrass skewer. This Hue dish here is a food package. It goes with fresh vegetables, some Vietnamese herbs, and rice paper wrapping all of these things. That makes it like a spring roll, and then nem lui Hue is dipped into a special sauce for tasting. 

Nem Lui Hue

With all foodies, nem lui is a favorite street food that they can eat anytime during the day. The aromatic flavor comes from grilled pork combined with rich spices and a unique taste of sugarcane or lemongrass. The outstanding feature of nem lui Hue is the clammy broth. Additionally, its presentation on the plate looks beautiful due to the yellow color of nem, green vegetables, brown broth, and red chili. Here are some addresses that you can enjoy an excellent dish of nem lui Hue during the trip here. 

• Quan Tai Phu at No. 2,4 Dien Bien Phu, Hue 
• Quan nem lui Ba Ty at No. 81 Dao Duy Tu, Hue 
• Quan nem lui Ong Me Gia at the crossroad of Huynh Thuc Khang and Mai Thuc Loan, Hue city. 

“Bánh Lọc Chiên” - Fried rice dumpling cake 

Fried rice dumpling cake is a variant of the rice dumpling cake. After adding shrimp into the cake and being shaped, the cake-maker will fry the rice dumpling cake into sizzling oil. You’ll see many pieces of opaque white, crispy and greasy dumpling cakes on the plate for tasting. Usually, it is served with a bowl of chili sauce or chili fish-sauce. With its crisp and fatty flavor, the fried rice dumpling cake is indeed one of the must-try Hue street foods. Here is a food stall that serves the best cake in Hue: 

• Banh Loc Chien Thach Han at Thach Han, Thuan Hoa, Hue. 

“Bánh canh Nam Phổ” - Nam Pho thick noodles 

Nam Pho thick noodles

“Banh canh Nam Pho” has been a pride of Hue people at many ages. A bowl of thick noodles with shrimp’s sweetness and a spicy taste of other seasonings makes those living far from ancient Hue always never forget. You can easily distinguish this Hue street food from others in Vietnam by the consistency and dark red of broth. All ingredients blend to create an excellent and eye-catching bowl of noodles. They usually sell Nam Pho noodles in the afternoon, so make sure you choose the right time to enjoy it. Here are our suggested addressed that you can taste this Hue street food: 

• No. 16 Pham Hong Thai, Hue. 
• Nam Thuong, Phu Thuong ward, Phu Vang, Hue. 
• Ho Dac Di, An Cuu ward, Hue. 
• Banh canh Nam Pho at No. 37 Pham Hong Thai, Hue. 

“Bún hến Vĩ Dạ” - Vi Da mussel noodles 

Con Hen, Vi Da village is considered the original land of Hue mussel rice. Besides famous mussel rice, Vi Da mussel noodles satisfy all taste buds. There are many ingredients in a bowl of noodles, such as fresh herbs, tofu, bean sprouts, sweet and sour fish sauce, etc. In particular, they have to use herbs and pemmican from Hue, which makes an authentic Vi Da mussel noodle. When tasting this exceptional street food, you can add chili and mussel broth and then mix everything. Mussel noodle is one kind of Hue street food you should try during your journey with its unique flavor. Here is one of the food stalls serving the mussel noodle broth’s highly recommended by locals and tourists. 

• Bun Hen Vi Da at Han Mac Tu Street, Hue. 

“Bún mắm nêm” - Anchovy Sauce with rice vermicelli and roasted pork

“Bún mắm nêm” is a kind of street food that is a mix of rice noodles and roasted pork. What makes it so unique compared to other dishes is from anchovy sauce instead of noodles or roasted pork. Indeed anchovy sauce here is extremely delicious and made from unique family secrets, so you’ll never forget that taste if you try once. They usually eat with fresh herbs, bean sprouts, pork, and anchovy sauce to mix as savoring this Hue street food. “Bún mắm nêm” is one dish that’s quite simple and rustic but brings unforgettable taste satisfying all foodies. So when visiting the imperial city, this is exceptional Hue street food that you can’t miss. Here are some food stalls that are highly recommended by locals: 

• Bun Mam Nem Me Theo at No. 64 Ba Trieu Street, Phu Hoi, Hue
• Bun Mam Nem O Be at No. 14 Nguyen Hue, Hue. 

With the diverse and sophisticated cuisines, Hue imperial city is worth exploring during your trip here. Maybe it takes you a whole day to enjoy the full list of Hue street foods. If you have a chance to travel, don’t hesitate to visit Hue’s landscapes and historic landmarks, especially savor the street food here.