HUE, Vietnam — Vietnamese chefs and management at La Residence Hotel and Spa have connected the dots on a new food trail through the city’s finest noodle shops, nhà hàng and quán as an entrée to an authentic appreciation of Vietnamese cuisine in the one-time imperial capital of Vietnam.
The Hue Food Trail is the first systematic effort to formally usher guests into little-known but highly regarded kitchens across Hue, if not anywhere in Vietnam.
The hotel is introducing the gastronomic adventure as part of its Hue Food Trail package, including a three-night stay at the hotel and stops at carefully selected food stalls and noodle shops around the city where local chefs prepare:
• bún bò Huế (Hue style noodle soup)
• bánh cuốn thịt nướng (fresh spring rolls)
• bánh bèo (steamed rice cake)
• cá kho tộ (stewed fish)
• bún hến (clam noodles)
In all, the Hue Food Trail takes in eight different dining opportunities independent of the hotel. At the same time, the hotel supplements these off-site excursions with on-site introductions to traditional Hue cakes, cocktails stirred up with local ingredients and the coup de grâce, an imperial dinner inspired by the banquets prepared for the Nguyen emperors of Vietnam.
“The foods we survey on this tour are as essential as the daily fare eaten by cyclo drivers and farmers and as extravagant as the multi-course feasts prepared for the emperors of imperial Vietnam,” said Phan Trong Minh, general manager of La Residence. “Indeed, it was the demand by the emperors for dishes of great imagination and stunning presentation that inspired generations of creative, culinary industry in Hue. Vietnamese cuisine wouldn’t be what it is today if not for the Nguyens.”
The hotel’s food package also includes a cyclo excursion to the city’s famous Dong Ba market, and visits to a traditional Hue garden house, the city’s illustrious Thien Mu pagoda, the mausoleum of Emperor Tu Duc and traditional Vietnamese spa at Le Spa.
The package is priced at US $499 per person based on double occupancy. The Hue Food Trail package is available from March 20 to Dec. 20. For reservation and information, please contact the reservations department at resa@la-residence-hue.com
