Mắm.

Mắm

Mắm funks up a plain square of fried tofu with violet-brown mắm tôm, the shrimp paste the room is named for, and Sonal Shah calls it the best bite in the place.1

Why go

Jerald Head and Nhung Dao started this as a pop-up in 2020 and it has grown from one narrow storefront into two rooms and tables on the street.12 The bún đậu đặc biệt is the plate the kitchen is built around: a bushel of herbs, fish mint and shiso and lemon balm among them, and pork in four forms, belly, sticky rice sausage, grilled intestine and blood sausage. You wrap, you dip, you keep going. The sauces are the argument. Shah walked them end to end: vinegary nước chấm cut with garlic, tamarind-sour mắm me, and a sweet muối ớt xanh built on condensed milk, lime and chili.1 Ligaya Mishan put it in the Times' hundred for 2026 and the paper gave it two stars when it last reviewed it in April 2023.3

Order this / avoid

• Order: the pork platter for two. In summer add the nấm cuốn, three kinds of mushroom rolled in mustard greens; in winter take the bún hến, a clam noodle soup thick with dill. Ask for fish sauce or soy if shrimp paste is not your thing.1
• Order: the ốc bươu nhồi thịt, apple snails stuffed with herby pork sausage. Pull the strip of lemongrass and the meat comes out with it.1
• Order: the phở if it is on, which it is not always. Hannah Pham had it with brisket, flank and sirloin, and a side of crisp bánh quẩy to dip. Her tip is a dash of garlic vinegar in the broth.4
• Avoid: planning on wine with dinner. Mắm sits close enough to a church and a school that it cannot sell alcohol, which is why Lai Rai exists a few doors down.2

What locals & experts say

• Sonal Shah, The Infatuation (16 September 2024, 9.4): It's an equalizing experience, and one that keeps the focus squarely on the incredible Vietnamese food in front of you.1
• Ligaya Mishan, The New York Times (11 May 2026): she counts the menu off without flinching, stuffed snails, fertilized quail eggs, grilled intestines, chicken cartilage, frog sausage with the tiny bones crushed in and a basket-tray feast centered on mắm tôm, the funkiest fermented shrimp paste there is.3
• Jerald Head, to Eater, on the licence: Mắm's proximity to a church and a school stops it selling alcohol, But if you walk 20, 30 feet down the block, you walk through this magical portal and you can.2

Good to know

• The seating: a low plastic stool a foot off the Forsyth Street pavement, a bench in one of two narrow rooms, or a cushion on the raised platform by the window.1
• Booking: reserve. Shah says it saves you a short wait.1
• Nearby: Lai Rai, a few doors down, is the same kitchen with a wine licence, natural wine and savory ice cream.2

Verdict

should-visit — The bún đậu đặc biệt is pork in four forms with a bushel of herbs and a bowl of violet-brown mắm tôm to dip it in, and it is built for two people. Sonal Shah scored it 9.4 for The Infatuation in September 2024. You may be eating it on a plastic stool a foot off the pavement, and there is no wine licence.