Huế to go for a sweet treat

Huế is loc­ated on the bank of the pic­tur­esque Sông Hương (Per­fume River). Once the cap­it­al of imper­i­al Viet­nam, the city shines with the glor­ies of the past. 

The town’s rich her­it­age includes charm­ing pago­das, palaces, and the tombs of Emper­ors who once ruled over the city. There are sev­en mauso­leums dot­ted all over the city. 

I have vis­ited the city more than once. I like its some­what quaint beauty and rel­at­ively slow pace. To me, Huế’s quirks seems to be unaf­fected by the passing of time. 

The inside track

Soph­ie Hart­man is a team mem­ber at the Asso­ci­ation of South­east Asi­an Social Enter­prises for Train­ing in Hos­pit­al­ity & Cater­ing (ASSET‑H&C), a net­work of voca­tion­al train­ing centres that pro­mote the inclu­sion of vul­ner­able people in South­east Asia.

On my last vis­it, I decided to explore fur­ther afield to some of the less vis­ited places around Huế, not­ably the tomb of Gia Long some 20 kilo­metres south of the city. When I returned in the after­noon, I knew where I had to go to recov­er from a long day of adven­tures and to sat­is­fy my sweet tooth. 

Here I share with you my reg­u­lar after­noon cof­fee and cake spot in Huế, a cute little place called La Boulan­ger­ie Française (which hap­pens to be an ASSET‑H&C member).

Just off the main road, La Boulan­ger­ie Française is the ideal ven­ue for a slow break­fast or a tea break before resum­ing your explor­a­tion. It fea­tures an ador­able small ter­race on the upper floor and is def­in­itely the kind of quiet place where you can enjoy a nice book while sip­ping your Viet­namese cof­fee. Or you could stay in the air-con­di­tion­ing to escape the heat of mid-after­noon, just as I did on that sunny day.

In addi­tion to the ubi­quit­ous loc­al-style cof­fee, the menu includes a range of hot and cold cof­fee and tea bever­ages, fresh fruit juices, and a vari­ety of sand­wiches, cakes, and sweet snacks à la française.

I ordered a pas­sion fruit juice to quench my thirst. And I suc­cumbed to the tempta­tion of a pine­apple cake, which was moist and fluffy. The fresh fla­vours and light tex­tures were per­fect for a hot afternoon.

All of this was pre­pared by tal­en­ted young Viet­namese people. In fact, the bakery and café oper­ate as a train­ing school for dis­ad­vant­aged youth who aspire to become bakers or chefs. Every year, 10 young people join the school on a 20-month train­ing pro­gram to build bright­er futures for them­selves and their fam­il­ies. The pho­to­graph at the top of this post is of one class of 10 with their instructor.

The school’s French touch dates back to its very incep­tion in 1999 when, at the invit­a­tion of a loc­al organ­isa­tion work­ing with street kids, two French stu­dents con­duc­ted a feas­ib­il­ity study for the launch of a voca­tion­al train­ing pro­gram in baking. 

Com­pared to their South­east Asi­an neigh­bours, Viet­namese people really have a thing for bread. One of the most icon­ic street-food dishes in Viet­nam is Bánh Mì, a baguette filled with a com­bin­a­tion of meat and vegetables. 

A loc­al love for bread com­bined with grow­ing tour­ism activ­ity under­pinned the open­ing of the school. Since 1999, more than 100 stu­dents have gradu­ated from La Boulan­ger­ie Française in Huế. 

On the wall facing the bakery counter a map shows where alumni are cur­rently work­ing. It is impress­ive to see how far their train­ing has taken them, both lit­er­ally and fig­ur­at­ively. Some of them are work­ing inter­na­tion­ally, includ­ing in New Zea­l­and and Tanzania!

Think­ing about their excit­ing jour­neys made me real­ise that it was high time for me to hit the road again and resume my adven­tures around their ancient city of Huế.

Where is this?

La Boulan­ger­ie Française
46 Nguy­en Tri Phuong, Hué, Viet­nam
Tel: + 84 543 837 437 | E‑mail: volontaire.boulangerie@gmail.com

Where next?