I totally stumbled onto something special the other weekend. Mắm had been on my list for a while as a new place to try. Their specialty are bowls of bun da (vermicelli rice noodles with an array of sides to dip) and on this particular Saturday, a bowl of noodle soup sounded great.
I walked by early in the morning as they were preparing to open for lunch and made a mental note to return. It was in the space once occupied by Bep Ga, another Vietnamese business that had a bright vibe and a focus on one dish as well (chicken).
When I came back to Mắm minutes after they opened, I discovered a line out the door. It wasn’t too long and the small restaurant still had a few seating options. As I waited I noticed most people were showing the hostess something on their phone. They couldn’t all have reservations on a Saturday at noon, could they?
Well lo and behold, I am very far out of the loop. Instead of their regular menu, they are currently doing weekend pop-ups and reservations fill up quickly on Instagram. We are living in a brave new world, my friends.
Although they were fully booked until later in the day, I convinced the friendly hostess to let me sit outside. Not the most comfortable spot, but I could to check out what this place was all about.
The menu offered on this particular weekend was a plate of Bún Hến. It is different each week, so you never know what you’ll get. Unless of course you check Instagram, (which you really have to in order to make a reservation).
Lucky for me, Bún Hến is a harder-to-find dish in NYC with a focus on surf clams. Count me in.
The bubbling green soup held some springy rice noodles, tons of fresh herbs, and bite sized pieces of clams. Dill and basil were the main flavors but there was a briny peppery quality from the mussel broth and a balance of sweet and salty from the surf clams.
Along with the bowl of noodles, in typical fashion, I was served an array of additional things to throw in the bowl. Freshly fried tofu nuggets were soft and puffy, pickled radishes were tangy and spicy, a Sriracha like hot sauce that was better than Sriracha, and nuoc cham added that sweet funky charm. The other surprise, right alongside the tofu was the clam sausage, a pork based loaf fitted with clams, that made for a very interesting addition to the meal.
This was a dish (and a dining process) that I was not familiar with. I am lucky I stumbled onto Mắm when I did. I felt like I was in the know once again. That feeling will last until the next time I walk by a place and have no idea what’s going on.
| MẮM |
| 70 Forsyth Street (between Hester and Grand Street), Chinatown |
| IG: @mam.nyc |
