Asian with a twist of French

I haven't done a food post in ages... so I thought I'd show you one of my all-time favourites: Vietnamese cuisine! Ahhhh... when I was pregnant I couldn't get enough of their curries! This is a restaurant I usually go to for dinner but this time it was lunch with a friend.

Jasmine tea... lots of it.

I usually prefer summer rolls but on the lunch menu they were only offering vegetable spring rolls. They were good, too. 

Then the 'usual' chicken curry with rice. Oh, see the carrot in the corner? Do you think that is supposed to be a butterfly? 

Vietnamese coffee. I don't even drink coffee normally so it's a bit strange that I like this: a double espresso with lots of condensed milk. I like to pour it over crushed ice. It's very sweet... this was basically dessert. My friend had never seen this before and she was quite fascinated! 

I need to branch out, though, and order something other than chicken curry next time. What are your favourite Vietnamese dishes?

P.S. When I think of Vietnam, what comes to mind is L'Amant (The Lover) by Marguerite Duras, the story of a young French girl and her Chinese lover... It is one of my favourite books.

Maybe you are familiar with the film...?