WHAT TO ORDER AT MAM
EVERYTHING.
At the time of writing, Mam is considered the best Vietnamese joint in NYC, in my humble opinion. Yes, you may have read this statement before when I put together the list for Banh.
Mam took the spot as of it today (*)
Please note that this came with a giant asterisk. Putting Mam at the top of my list is the equivalent of placing a pizzeria on the top list of all Italian restaurants. There is technically nothing wrong with that (one might argue). You just don’t get somewhat more um… variety in the choices.
However, this is one deliberate choice that is worth talking about. So let’s talk about it.
Mam’s main offering is “Bun Dau Mam Tom” (Vermicelli - Fried Tofu - Paste - Tiny Shrimp). Shrimp paste is the catalyst that drives this entire dish.
For reference only. The actual offering is not that… um.. cartoonish.
After being briskly chopstick-whipped, the purple-ish paste is salty, pungent, and interestingly takes a very similar role to fish sauce in many other Viet dishes. The immediate impression is that if fitting fish sauce in your palette (or tolerance) gets you one foot over the door, this fermented paste takes the other foot in and everything else with it. Mam NYC went through the trouble bringing the real deal straight from Vietnam. So they can serve and present it unapologetically as a dipping sauce without masking or overlapping other toppings or condiments. Getting this right is 80% of the dish and Mam has the sure thing.
The other 80% volume of the dish holds less importance in my eyes, in spite of the overloading indulgence. Fried tofu, rice vermicelli, intestines, cha com (rice sausage), blood sausage, and boiled pork belly are up for offer. These components are indulgent in their fattiness (due to the carb and protein choices in question) and in their textures (due to different methods of cooking and prepping; anything from grilling, boiling, stuffed, emulsifying then frying). But the overarching intention is to keep them very tamed in the seasoning department. They are not the star of the show (far from it) but the mere vessels for that shrimp paste to make its way to every taste buds left that you’re willing to surrender after overcoming the pungence.
It is simply a treat and I’ve been missing it for too long.
Having an incredibly unique dish in their repertoire, and looking like a start of something small and focused, Mam’s other offerings are up to par and dare I say, authentic. Fried tofu with fish sauce, Oc (this alone deserves a post of its own), and drinks: they are a truly one-to-one experience that I would expect if I’m back in Vietnam right now.
This commitment to tailoring the experience as authentic as possible breeds through other details during my 2 hours long dining at Mam:
The combinations of staff/waiters/cook/owners. At one point, you can see one wears two, or three hats if not all of them. It’s a true joint.
Plastic chair and plastic stools: same height, same layout, same fucking colors. And you’re on the fucking sidewalk next to the street. And guess what, you’re eating street food!
Or sit on the other side of the road. Fuck yes.
Chopsticks, toothpicks in that plastic container. The only thing that is missing is that wooden 2x2 with a nail stick right up to hold 6 inches of low-grade napkins that smell more and more like 1-ply toilet paper, back in the 90s.
These may seem like the stuff of dreams to someone that got these experiences week in and week out as a kid and in early adulthood. One food joint specializing in serving one thing is how many food joints in Vietnam are operated. The competition over there is just too fierce. However, operating in this method, on this land, is truly unique and pleases the heck out of the selfish little old me. Yet, they pose a challenge (in my humble personal opinion) unique to Mam. Mam’s commitment and strategy to go all-in on authenticity would possibly isolate newcomers or casual diners that occasionally look for new (but vetted) experience or most likely for a bowl of pho at 7 pm on a Tuesday (eh..hem.. breakfast food yall). I was really excited to see a huge wave of support from fellow countrymen (women) at 70 Forsyth as well as on their social media page. Nonetheless, this hypothetically can only get you so far in growth. And shrimp paste is a narrow gate to push through for lots and lots of palettes (I’m really not trying to be all exclusive and stuff here. Let’s be real, that shit is pungent).
But who knows. Maybe:
Mam’s offering will expand beyond Bun Dau Mam Tom; to 5 more, 10 more, and 20 more items on a full-fledged menu. Or 60 (please don’t do this. Please don’t turn into one of those).
Mam’s will stay as a pop-up and they are just testing the water beyond taking orders from Instagram (that’s how I discovered mam.nyc)
Mam will change its strategy and adapt to more casual goers. I mean that’s how a lot of Viet restaurants stay around and hell, become monstrously popular. Hey, they will add pho to the menu so now everyone has something to order in case you don’t want to order anything else cuz eww… shrimp paste.
OR I’m just really full of shit as my speculations have absolutely no legs to stand on. Or frankly, I don’t know what I’m talking about.
But one thing and one thing for sure, Mam is currently the best Viet restaurant that NYC has to offer, even though they don’t have pho. No, fuck that, especially because they don’t have pho.
This one is a start. This one is shining violently bright. This may not last. But this is, undoubtedly, the brightest one of them all.