A small ice cream shop in Hanoi draws hordes of locals and visitors every day in summer and winter. Some come for the delicious ice dream but others enjoy the “post-war” shopping experience.
For 50 years, Trang Tien Ice Cream Shop has been serving icy treats to notoriously hard-to-please Hanoians.
The shop is known for its “standing ice cream” for people have grown used to eating their treats while standing.
When Trang Tien first opened in 1958, there were only two flavors of “ice cream on a stick” available, current shop owner Nguyen Van Hai told Tuoi Tre newspaper.
After the war ended in 1975, Hai introduced more flavors, including chocolate, green bean, green rice and started selling ice cream cones and ice-cream served in cups as well as popsicle ice-creams.
On hot summer days, Hai said his shop can sell 10,000 to 20,000 popsicle ice creams a day.
A quick peek inside the shop illustrates its popularity. Each day there is a crowd of people at the refrigerators choosing their purchases. But regular shoppers know they have to place their orders quickly with the waiting staff, who can be grumpy with slow orderers.
Once an order is successfully placed, customers usually rush outside to enjoy their ice cream in front of the shop.
Hai said there were chairs outside his shop but customers seemed to prefer eating their ice cream while standing and chatting with their friends.
Despite the shop’s many refrigerators, the shop is often hot – even in winter - because of the crush of people inside.
Trang Tien ice cream mania has been attributed to the shop’s unforgettable flavors and long history.
In spite of the invasion of many foreign ice-cream brands, Hanoians remain loyal to “quality” ice cream.
Trang Tien only uses natural ingredients to make a “fresh-tasting” product.
The shop’s green rice ice cream combines the light fragrant of green rice mixing with the rich taste of coconut milk.
What sets Trang Tien ice cream apart from other brands is its soft and chewy texture, with tiny grains of green beans or green rice sprinkled through the ice cream.
Despite complaints about the shop’s hygiene, service standards and pick-pockets who take advantage of the crowded environment, people keep returning to the shop to recapture a part of their childhood when ice cream was a luxury.
Buying ice cream at the shop has become a tradition for generations of Hanoians, who say the shop reminds them of the post-war period when shopping was hard work, requiring hours of waiting.
Ho Chi Minh City residents can now enjoy the much-talked-about treats from Hanoi at the Hanoi Supermarket at 189 Cong Quynh Street. Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, District 1 and Tien Hue Shop at 1/1 Dien Bien Phu Street, Da Kao Ward District 1 and Dung Huong Shop at 60 M Nguyen Thong Street, Ward 9, District 3.
But people from across Vietnam still flock to the original shop at 35 Trang Tien Street in Hanoi for the special icy taste that has become a symbol of the old capital city.
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