At Mắm, everyone squats on a low plastic stool, a foot off the Forsyth Street pavement, or perches on a slim bench inside one of two narrow rooms. At best, you might be cross-legged on a cushion on the raised platform near a window. It's an equalizing experience, and one that keeps the focus squarely on the incredible Vietnamese food in front of you.

Sitting like this, you’re never more than half-an-arm’s length away from big bunches of herbs, layering sweet, bitter, peppery, and citrusy notes into proteins that range from soft and silky poached eggs to bouncy chicken feet. And, above all, little bowls of dipping sauce. Nearly every dish at this restaurant on the edge of Chinatown involves a condiment that ties individual ingredients together in bite after spectacular bite.

photo credit: Emily Schindler

photo credit: Emily Schindler

photo credit: Sonal Shah

photo credit: Sonal Shah

photo credit: Emily Schindler

Those sauces travel a rainbow of flavor: from vinegary nước chấm with slivers of garlic and a tamarind-sour mắm me, to the sweet muối ớt xanh with condensed milk, lime and chili. The best bite here might be a simple square of fried tofu, properly funked up with shrimp paste in the form of violet-brown mắm tôm. The flavors, like the seating, are uncompromising—and both are in demand. (Make a reservation to avoid a short wait.)

photo credit: Emily Schindler

photo credit: Sonal Shah

photo credit: Sonal Shah

photo credit: Sonal Shah

photo credit: Emily Schindler

From a pop-up run by an American/Vietnamese couple in 2020, Mắm has expanded out from its tiny storefront, first with outdoor tables, then to the room next door. They’ve also opened Lai Rai (a collab with Đi Ăn Đi) down the block, where you can get natural wine, Vietnamese snacks, and ice cream.

Each extension feels organic, with menus that change as temperatures rise and fall. In the summer, sit under the shade of an umbrella, and eat a platter with four pork preparations, as well as one with three different mushrooms. In the winter, sit inside, surrounded by mellow hip hop and the bubbling warmth of a hot pot swimming with pork, fatty catfish steaks and green banana. There’s a Mắm for all seasons.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Emily Schindler

Bún Đậu Đặc Biệt

Wrapping and dipping our way through Mắm’s signature platter is one of our favorite summer activities. It comes with a bushel of herbs (including less common ones, like fish mint, shiso, and lemon balm), and pork in several glorious forms: strips of belly, sticky rice sausage, grilled intestines, and our favorite: springy blood sausage. Not to mention the tofu, which is made fresh daily, and expertly fried. Mắm does offer fish sauce or soy instead of the mắm tôm if you’re not into shrimp paste.

photo credit: Sonal Shah

Nấm Cuốn

A summer vegetarian platter that non-vegetarians will appreciate too. Roll up your sleeves and make your own rolls with pungent mustard greens, wrapping three kinds of mushrooms: pickled wood ears, grilled oyster mushrooms, and juicy fried enoki, and dipping them in the creamy fermented tofu sauce. If you’re making a lunch of this, add on a side of fried tofu.

photo credit: Emily Schindler

Ốc Bươu Nhồi Thịt

These apple snails, stuffed with mild, herby pork sausage, are incredibly fun to eat. Pull on the little strip of lemongrass, which makes it easy to extricate the meat.

photo credit: Mắm

Gỏi Ngheu

A very fresh little bite of raw surf clam with pops of texture and flavor from lemongrass, snow fungus and Vietnamese coriander. You can keep your crudo—we’ll have two of these.

Bún Hến

During the cooler months, we’d take this brothy noodle soup—absolutely packed with shore clams—over a chowder anyday. It’s thick with dill, which balances out the all the fishiness, and served with fried tofu and some clam or mussel sausage for a hearty, complete meal.