Chè Hẻm

Chè Hẻm is one of those iconic places that has become part of Hue's local food culture. I first visited this little dessert shop when I was a child, and this was my second time coming back after many years. Walking into the café brought back a lot of memories. The atmosphere has remained almost unchanged—simple, traditional, and tucked away in a small alley, just as I remembered. It still has that nostalgic charm that makes it feel like a place where time has slowed down. This time, however, I felt that the sweet soups didn't taste quite as special as they did in my childhood. That said, I also think it might simply be because my own taste has changed over the years. I don't enjoy very sweet desserts as much as I used to, so it's hard to know whether the recipes have changed or if it's just my palate that's different now. Even so, I still believe that trying chè Huế is an essential part of experiencing the city's culinary culture. Hue is famous for its incredible variety of traditional sweet soups, with flavors and ingredients you won't easily find elsewhere in Vietnam. Whether you like mung bean, lotus seed, taro, black sesame, or mixed sweet soups, there's something for everyone to explore. If you're visiting Hue for the first time, I would definitely recommend stopping by Chè Hẻm or trying traditional Hue sweet soups at least once. Beyond the taste, it's a chance to experience a small piece of the city's heritage and a dessert that has been loved by generations of locals. Sometimes, the memories a place brings back are just as meaningful as the food itself

I tried one of Huế’s local specialties, chè bột lọc heo quay, which features roast pork dumplings served in a sweet ginger soup. The dish comes with three pieces, each filled with flavorful pork and wrapped in a pleasantly chewy dumpling skin. The soup is quite sweet, with a subtle hint of warmth from the ginger. It’s definitely something worth trying when you visit. Another highlight is the pricing—every dessert here costs only 16,000 VND, making it an incredibly affordable treat.

Really like the purple sweet potato (khoai tía) here but the chewy balls with pork that’s a specialty of Huế (bánh bột lọc heo quay) was personally too sweet for my liking and had too much filling inside. It’s also not crispy like it should be.

If you have not tried pork fillings inside a cup of dessert. Please order the Bot Loc Heo Quay. If you want to avoid meat in your dessert but have the best of all mixed, go for the Thấp Cam. Has beans and tapioca the sweet stuff!

Nice chè. I and my boyfriend ordered 6 different kinds of chè and they were all great. Service was quick though the space was super cramped. Less than a buck for a cup. It’s mostly local customers so they don’t have an English menu (you can just Google/AI to check out what they are)