It was in June, 2015 that Slow Travel Hue team had the honor to welcome a fam trip group from reputable Tour Operators in Switzerland, Kuoni.ch and asia35.ch and Singapore Airlines. Twelve experienced travelers mostly are Travel specialists, Product Managers, were invited on an evening as locals, joining our Evening Foodie and Cyclo Tour. Not like other street food tours, the concept of our foodie tour is to make a nice evening (around 3 hours) with a local who takes guests to discover the local life through Hue popular cuisine, the culinary capital of Vietnam. Vietnamese kitchen knows 1800 dishes, of which 1300 are from Hue. Most dishes have a royal history, just like everything in Hue is related to the former kings of Vietnam.
Discover the local life through Hue popular cuisine
At 18:00, the group was picked up by friendly cyclo drivers. They took a group photo in front of hotel MGallery La Residence. They were ready to go with a new state of mind “take it easy and make it funny”.
The group had an exciting welcome drink and some tasty finger food, while having some fun practicing some survival Vietnamese. They immersed into Hue typical Buddhist culture via the variety of creative vegetarian dishes.
Cross the river to explore the quieter and inner soul of Hue ancient citadel. Take a short walk before stopping by an insider’s shop for traditional Hue pancakes with pork and shrimps. Each guests enthusiastically learnt to use their hands to make fresh spring rolls with rice paper, fresh herbs and lettuce, fresh fig and lemon grass pork skewer. The dessert was a great delight. And for those lucky enough to taste the roasted pork dumpling in syrup, they praised it “a great combination of salty, fatty, sweety”.
When returning to the hotel, everybody was so satisfied because they learned more about the local life. And for Andreas particularly, he wanted to know how hard and fun it was to be a cyclo driver himself. He asked the driver persistently to let him experience a short ride.
The group gave positive as well as constructive comments for the tour to be better. And we believe that this is a great option for anyone searching to discover Hue’s lifestyle through its cuisine and night life. Easy ride, easy night!
What have clients told about Hue local food experience
It’s a funny and interesting tour. The guide was perfect and it’s a good way with this tour to enjoy the city. (Ms. Therese)
Highlights were the cyclos, the men were very friendly (Ms.Chiara)
It’s very very interesting and I liked the tour very much. Nothing negative!!! (Ms.Céline)
A perfect trip to see the local life in a nice atmosphere. You get very close to the city, people – Perfect ! (Ms.Karin)
Very funny and relaxing tour. Food was a little too much. (Ms.Rosmarie)
Very good, dessert was the highlight. (Ms.Andrea)
Everything was excellent. Thank you very much. (Mr.Pasquale)
Very friendly and attentive cyclo drivers. Good selection of stops/ food. Interesting stories about food culture. (Mr. Gabriele, product manager)
