And I can't remember when was my first time to try the famous coconut ice cream or exactly ice cream served inside a coconut called "kem trái dừa" at this super popular spot for many Vietnamese!
I couldn't say the ice cream here, at Bạch Đằng, is the best in town, but by somehow it attracts not only locals but also many foreign tourists. It's surely thanks to the golden location, right in the heart of the city, and also a big curiosity to try not well-known international ice cream brands but popular local one!
How much we, Vietnamese, love to watch people passing by, esp. in one of the best corners in town: Lê Lợi and Pasteur street. This could be also one of the reasons why Bạch Đằng is so popular among the youth.
The popularity of Kem Bạch Đằng in Sài Gòn is probably the same as Kem Tràng Tiền in Hà Nội. These days Kem Tràng Tiền already found home in this southern city, where the demand for ice cream is always 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month and every single 12 months a year!
The popularity of Kem Bạch Đằng in Sài Gòn is probably the same as Kem Tràng Tiền in Hà Nội. These days Kem Tràng Tiền already found home in this southern city, where the demand for ice cream is always 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month and every single 12 months a year!
Bạch Đằng never expanded, after more than 30 years ...they only have 2 stalls opposite to each others on Lê Lợi street! They have a new building which looks like more an office rather than an ice cream place! I have a friend, a family friend, whose father used to know the owner. He said the owner has died few years ago from the cancer and a whole family already migrated to Canada. People seems gone but the brand, the stories never!
What I like the most in kem trái dừa here ?
First thing is their toppings - some fruits and esp. some "mứt" (fruits stirred in sugar) : sweet yellow shredded strange thing - is it coconut ? Quite good! Then few of mứt chùm ruột (Malay gooseberry!) which used to be a favorite sweet for many kids in the past, when 5 or 6 gooseberries stirred in sugar have been holding on a bamboo stick as skewers!
Next one is the coconut itself. Every time I order, every time I got a coconut with thin as silk meat inside, easy to eat it with just a small spoon, it means only young coconuts!
30 years to build up the brand, Bạch Đằng could be one of few "luxury" places in the past right after 1975...remained until now. Kem Bạch Đằng is not only an ice cream, it's like a part of our life in a historic period in 80s. It was a meeting place for different generations. Nowadays many big trendy ice cream brands opened around in the city, but Kem Bạch Đằng seems never lose its emotional links for many of us!
Kem Bạch đằng : fruit ice cream, freshly made everyday!
26 - 28 Lê Lợi, district 1, HCMC, tel: 3829 2707
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