HANOI'S SWEETS AND SMOOTHIES !

While it can’t be said that the Vietnamese have a sweet tooth, you can find a fair share of sweet and intriguing concoctions to savor in Hanoi. 
Chè

Chè is a goopy, sticky, and sloppy sweet treat.  It can be served warm or over ice.  You could just have chè đậu xanh (green bean chè) or some other star ingredient, but more often than not, chè is enjoyed thập cẩm, or mixed and piled high with ingredients of your choosing.  These could include vegetable goodness such as stewed bean, corn, lotus seeds or taro, or all shapes and neon colored jellies and tapioca balls.  Scoop some of these over crushed ice, and then drizzle with sweetened condensed milk or coconut cream.  For added texture, add a sprinkle of shredded or roasted coconut.
Where to find it?
Across the street from Bún Bò Nam Bộ is Thạch Chè Lộc Tài, 76 Hàng Điếu, dishing out a fine spread of chè ingredients.  Chè Thập Cẩm Cũ, at 72G Trần Hưng Đạo Street is another small outlet for this sweet treat.  The food stalls at most local markets will generally have a place offering up chè. 

With Chinese roots, bánh trôi tàu is a sweet glutinous rice ball, are about the size of a small tangerine, stuffed with either shredded coconut, green bean paste, or black sesame paste, served up in a sugary syrup.  Enjoy a bowl with lục tào xá, a green bean porridge with lotus seeds and punched up with citrus-y dried kwit peel, or chí mà phù, a thick black sesame porridge. Also look for a smaller variety of bánh trôi sold at most local markets.  These are smaller than the bánh trôi tàu, more like small ping pong ball sized glutinous rice balls stuffed with a tiny crunchy cube of brown honey-sugar and topped with sesame seeds.  Served by the plate full for about 2,000 dong. Where to find it? The most famous bánh trôi stop is 30 Hàng Giầy  – just at the elbow of the street below it hits Hàng Buồm.  This unassuming little shop front has large wooden doors—on which the hours of operation, 3:30-11pm, are scrawled in chalk—open onto a garage space of sorts set with low tables and stools.  It is run by a famous ex-opera star who now also performs in mainstream comedic films.  The price is about 5,000 dong for every dish.

Tào Phớ is a lighter treat than either chè or bánh trôi.  It is a simple dessert or refreshing treat of silky soy bean custard served in fresh soy milk, over ice.  You can get it in a convenient snack-on-the-go bag with a straw out the top.   Where to find it? Head up about 50 yards from to Bún Bò Nam Bộ and Hàng Da Market to 51 Hàng Điếu, at the corner of Hàng Nón.  Tào Phớ is about 2,500 a serving.  This spot is an all around snack shop and also serves up decent sandwiches—bánh mỳ patê for 5,000 dong or bánh mỳ trứng for 4,000 dong.  You can also find a good tào phớ at Quán ăn Ngon.

You can work up quite a thirst hoofing it around Hanoi.  The perfect thirst quencher is a thick and fuity sinh tố or shake. In theory, sinh tốs have milk added, but mostly you get pure fruit puree with a little ice to cool things down and maybe a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk to sweeten things up.  Most stalls and shops offer single flavored shakes but some will offer you an array of combinations or any of your own choosing.  These might include mango (my all time favorite), papaya (Ben’s all time favorite), fresh strawberry, coconut (light and refreshing), or less mainstream choices such as avocado, mung bean, or even durian.  Mía Đá is the classic summertime favorite.  It is fresh pressed sugar cane juice with touch of lime juice, served over ice.  Look for the sugar cane press machines (tin contraption with a big crank on the side, usually accompanied by a tub of dark, blackish purple sugar cane stalks on one side and a pile of flat, white, fibrous sugar cane debris on the other.  Most roadside operations sell a cup or bag for 5,000 dong. Two of the most common anytime drinks in Hanoi are soda chanh and trà đá.  Soda chanh soda water with a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice, usually served with salt (yes, salt or muối) or sugar (đường), and with or without ice (đá).  This tart and fizzy drink goes down well with all Vietnamese foods.  Whereas soda chanh is generally ordered in cafes and restaurants, trà đá, or iced unsweetened Vietnamese tea, is the local drink of choice at most simple street stalls.  If you are worried about the ice, best bring your own bottle of water to wash down your bún chả or ốc.  Where to find it? A great people watching corner, respite from heat (or silk and lacquer shopping) and all around great sinh tố spot is on northwest corner of Hàng Gai and Tô Tịch street, very close to Hoàn Kiếm Lake.  It’s hard to miss the crowd of people sitting on stools out front enjoying their refreshing drinks.  Nor is it hard to miss their assembly line of hundreds of glasses of cut fruit stacked up and ready for the blending. Prices vary depending on the ingredients but generally vary from 10-15,000 dong per glass.   Hanoi even has a chain of Shake shops, with seven locations at last count.  Shake advertises fresh, fast, healthy and sieu sach or “super clean” facilities and drinks.  Two locations you’ll be likely to run across are at 12A Đinh Liệt Street (not far from the ốc place on the same street, so I often grab a cool drink on my over), and 26 Ba Trieu Street. The Highlands Café chain around the city does a magnificent sinh tố.  Their mango smoothie is a thick and chilly pure essence of mango.  In addition to smoothies they also offer fresh squeezed juices and a collection of Torani flavored sodas.