If you’ve ever strolled down towards the Opera House from Hoan Kiem lake, or more likely, cruised past on a motorbike, you will have no doubt seen an ever-present mob just before Ngo Quyen street outside Kem Trang Tien (Trang Tien Ice Cream).
The traffic often has to swerve around this heaving crowd, which at times spills off the pavement halfway across the street. A girlfriend perches herself on a motorbike as her dutiful boyfriend hustles his way through the crowd, arms and ice creams triumphantly held aloft. Whole families will sit on stately motorbikes chatting happily while slurping up the ice cream which melts rapidly in the oppressive Hanoi heat. The junction can come to a standstill on a hot summer’s day, when up to a hundred people might be found outside.
So what’s the big fuss?
“Trang Tien Ice Cream has held a special place in Hanoi for such a long time. People grew up with it,” says Minh Thu, a 16 year old student in Tran Phu school. “Plus, it tastes good, the price is cheap, which is why I can’t resist it whenever I pass by!”
If you’ve never stepped inside, it’s worth it, just to get a sense of how popular it is. Westerners might be used to a frenzied pub, where you can’t get the attention of the barman, but who would expect that it can be equally manic in an ice cream parlour?
Inside its hot, despite the number of fridges! The floor is sticky and a tad slippery while the staff’s heads are down and frowning. Their average working day starts at 8am and finishes at 10pm. There’s no chit chat with customers. So you better be snappy with your order.
An announcement is made for customers reminding them to care of their possessions. Pickpockets love a bustling crowd. There are security guards, though their job description is more about keeping the punters moving.
There are no tables or chairs in the parlour. Some customers might slip away to the steps of the Opera House, others to Hoan Kiem lake, but most just sit outside on their motorbike-cum-bench.
Right next to the ice cream parlour is a recently opened BBQ restaurant, a KFC-esque fast food joint, which next to the throng outside Trang Tien Ice Cream seems permanently deserted. In the nearby area, there are dozens upon dozens of cafés but nowhere has the constant flow of customers like Kem Trang Tien despite being able to offer air conditioning and comfy chairs.
In Hoan Kiem district, you can find rival ice cream parlours: Fanny’s from France on Le Thai To, Mondo Gelato from Italy on Ba Trieu, New Zealand Ice Cream on Ly Thuong Kiet. In general service and quality in these parlours is considered better than Trang Tien. Elsewhere, customers are also spoilt for choice in terms of flavours, though obviously for all this you have to shell out a few more dong.
“I like Fanny’s a lot. Fanny’s offers a wide choice of flavours including ginger, dark chocolate, coconut, mint, strawberry, apricot and lime, but the price is a problem for a student like me. A single scoop costs VND10,000 to VND15,000 and a variety of sundaes cost VND30,000 to 50,000,” says Minh Thu. “That’s why I end up at Kem Trang Tien.”
So Trang Tien Ice Cream is the no frills, low cost alternative. The Tiger Air of the ice cream world, where the rule of thumb is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
According to Kem Trang Tien’s director Nguyen Van Hai, there are about 10,000-20,000 popsicles and vanilla scoops sold each day – that’s a large fluctuation, but either way it’s an amount any other ice cream parlour in town would envy.
Businesses often survive through changing with the times, re-branding or diversification but Hai admits frankly that Kem Trang Tien has no future plan to expand their market or open another branch in the city or change its products.
“Wandering around the lake, enjoying Trang Tien ice cream and then dropping in to a bookstore on Nguyen Xi street. This has become a well-established routine for many Hanoians,” says Hoang Dong, a former member of staff of Kem Trang Tien. “If there was another Kem Trang Tien somewhere else, I don’t think it would attract as many customers.”
Quintessentially Vietnamese flavours such as com (young rice), dau xanh (green bean), and cacao are made into popsicles daily and sell for VND3,000 or VND3,500. Both dau xanh and com contain chunks of their respective ingredients, creating surprisingly unique textures and distinct flavours. They’re also less sugary and so appeal to adults who have lost their sweet tooth. Oc que is another local favourite. Ostensibly a big scoop of vanilla in a cone it has hints of cinnamon and coconut and sets you back a mere VND4,000.
For the record Kem Trang Tien was born in 1958. People often say that it is a rare vestige of the subsidised times. There are other survivors from the same generation. Thuy Ta Ice Cream on Hoan Kiem lake or Bodega but their popularity has waned in recent years.
Of course, non-Hanoians don’t necessarily look through rose-tinted glasses.
“I can’t understand why some Hanoians love Kem Trang Tien so much. The taste and the price are okay I guess, but I can’t bear the service or the cold manner of the staff,” says Huynh, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City. “Sometimes, they even shout at the customers! You don’t see that in Saigon.”
Hanoians don’t analyse it too much. Most agree that going to Kem Trang Tien is not only just about ice cream, but that it’s a near traditional experience. It is seen as part of Hanoi’s culture. The fight to get served is part of the fun or at least taken for granted.
“The attitude of the salesgirls is fairly typical. I don’t feel uncomfortable there. Plus you have to remember how hard they are working in the middle of summer,” says Nguyen Thi Bong.