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"At a cafe overlooking the Mong Bridge, built by architect Gustave Eiffel during Saigon’s French‑colonial era, I sipped tamarind lemonade while the air was perfumed with cilantro and nước mắm, and watched from fluorescent‑lit open kitchens as women worked flaming skillets of shrimp‑studded bánh xèo that we stuffed into spring rolls piled with Thai basil, lettuce and wasabi leaf." - Chris Schalkx