01 · Local cuisine
Flavours of the land
Cuisine
1
Hue City
Hue beef noodle soup
Born in the 16th century in Vân Cù village, Hue beef noodle soup is the soul of the ancient capital — fragrant with lemongrass, deep with fermented shrimp paste, and fiery with chili. In July 2025, it was officially recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
2
Hue City
Steamed rice-flour cup cakes
Bánh bèo chén is Hue's quintessential welcoming snack, embodying the city's refined "eat by fragrance" philosophy. Silky steamed rice-flour cakes topped with shrimp floss, crispy pork cracklings, and fried shallots, dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce — each tiny cup a miniature masterpiece.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
3
Hue City
Steamed banana-leaf rice parcels
Bánh nậm showcases Hue's mastery of rice flour — a silky-thin wrapper enclosing fragrant shrimp and pork filling, steamed inside banana leaves. This elegant snack once graced Nguyen royal banquets.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
4
Hue City
Clam rice
Cơm hến was born from Hue's zero-waste philosophy — overnight cold rice mixed with stir-fried clams from the Huong River's Hen Islet, topped with fresh herbs, pork cracklings, roasted peanuts, and fermented shrimp paste. Emperor Thanh Thai once had Hen Islet clams served at court.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
5
Hue City
Hue crispy pancake
Smaller but thicker and crispier than its southern cousin bánh xèo, bánh khoái is pan-fried individually in cast-iron moulds. Its soul lies in the secret nước lèo dipping sauce — a thick blend of liver, pork, sesame, and peanuts — a guarded family recipe.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
6
Hue City
Hue sweet soups
Hue boasts 36 royal varieties and hundreds of folk sweet soups — from lotus-seed chè made with emperor-grade seeds from Tinh Tam Lake, to the unique tapioca-and-roasted-pork dessert, to young-corn chè from Hen Islet. Hue's cuisine ranked 28th globally on Taste Atlas's best food cities list in 2023.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
7
Hue City
Hue Sesame Candy (Me Xuong)
Me xuong is Hue's most distinctive confectionery — an ivory-white candy bar made from sugar, molasses, glutinous rice flour, and toasted white sesame, with a texture that is simultaneously crisp and airy, dissolving on the tongue without sticking to teeth. The mandatory souvenir of every Hue visitor, produced by family workshops using Nguyen-era recipes.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
8
Hue City
Hue Eel Congee
Hue eel congee is a deceptively simple but refined breakfast dish — fresh field eel cleaned, stir-fried golden with lemongrass and chili, then placed over a thick, ginger-fragrant white congee. The eel's natural sweetness fuses with the warmth of lemongrass and ginger in a comforting bowl that is a Hue morning staple, especially on cool days.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
9
Hue City
Hue Snakehead Fish Thick Noodle Soup
Banh canh ca loc is the second most beloved breakfast noodle after bun bo Hue — thick, fresh-made rice or tapioca noodles in a crystal-clear broth simmered from field snakehead fish and bones, topped with golden-fried fish slices, fried shallots, and pepper. Stalls open at 6am and routinely sell out before 9am.
Cuisine→
Cuisine
10
Hue City
Hue Fermented Shrimp
Hue fermented shrimp is the ancient capital's finest feat of fermentation — fresh river shrimp marinated with toasted rice powder (thinh), garlic, chili, sugar, and salt in sealed ceramic jars for 5 to 7 days until pleasantly sour, naturally sweet, and a vivid pink-red. Eaten alongside blanched pork belly, baguette, or steamed rice — the unique sweet-sour balance makes it Hue's most irreplicable and unforgettable speciality.
Cuisine→
02 · Top places
Places to visit
UNESCO World Heritage 1993 — 143 years as capital of 13 Nguyen emperors
Hue Imperial Citadel
Hue's oldest pagoda — the 7-story Phuoc Duyen tower reflected in the Perfume River
Thien Mu Pagoda
Place
Hue City
Khai Dinh Mausoleum
Khai Dinh Mausoleum is the most architecturally eclectic of the Nguyen tombs — blending Buddhist, Gothic, Roman, and Hindu motifs in reinforced concrete imported from France. Built between 1920 and 1931.
Place→
Place
Hue City
Perfume River
The Huong River — named for the fragrant herb growing along its banks — is Hue's living soul, a historic witness from the Cham era through the Nguyen dynasty. Literary giant Hoang Phu Ngoc Tuong called it "the river of poems and wars."
Place→
Place
Hue City
Tu Duc Mausoleum
Tu Duc Mausoleum is considered the most beautiful of the Nguyen royal tombs, personally designed by Emperor Tu Duc — a poet and scholar — and completed in 1867. The 12-hectare complex contains more than 50 structures surrounding Luu Khiem Lake blanketed in lotus flowers, set within an ancient pine forest. It served as the emperor's personal retreat during his lifetime and his burial place after death, creating a poetic serenity unlike any other Vietnamese royal monument.
Place→
Place
Hue City
Dong Ba Market
Dong Ba Market, established in 1899 under Emperor Thanh Thai, is Hue's largest and most vibrant market, situated on the northern bank of the Huong River next to Truong Tien Bridge. For over 130 years it has been the city's central hub for local specialities — sesame candy, fermented shrimp, Hue cakes, conical hats — as well as the daily gathering place for breakfast, trade, and community life, reflecting the genuine pulse of the ancient capital.
Place→
03 · Festivals
Cultural rhythms
1
April 18 · Lunar
Hue Nam Palace Festival (Mother Goddess Festival)
On Ngoc Tran Mountain rising from the Huong River, at a shrine venerating a goddess born from the blood-mingling of Viet and Cham civilisations, thousands of ceremonial boats twice each year transform the Huong into a sacred corridor of light.
2
April 25
Hue Festival (International Arts Festival)
When hundreds of artists from five continents converge on an imperial city that has known centuries of war and silence, the Hue Festival transforms the moss-covered walls of the Forbidden Purple City into the most alive stage in Southeast Asia.
✦ Trending
3
April 27
Nam Giao Esplanade Ritual (Royal Heaven-Worship Ceremony)
When hundreds of figures in Nguyen imperial court dress perform ceremonies on a three-tier altar symbolising Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, one cannot help wondering: do the sounds of nhã nhạc rising now reach the same sky that Nguyen emperors looked up to two hundred years ago?
Know something we're missing?
Every contribution is cross-checked by our editors against at least 2 independent sources before publishing.
Submit a suggestion →