Mắm sits right where the Lower East Side starts bleeding into Chinatown, on a stretch of Forsyth Street that’s become its own destination. The clientele of Mắm is decidedly more trendy LES (the more cultured, less nepo-baby type) than it is the traditional Chinatown crowd. In a way, it kind of feels like a caricature of itself. The trendy idea of second generation Asian Americans reclaiming their heritage one plastic stool at a time, elevating the street food aesthetic to trendy restaurant prices. But Mắm does deliver on the substance under the style.

The husband-wife team behind it, Jerald Head and Nhung Dao, built the place around mắm itself: the fermented paste and sauce family that anchors so much of Vietnamese cooking, and the thing that ties every dish here together. What started off as a pandemic era pop up has blossomed into a full blown restaurant that spills into the streets and still years later makes it a coveted reservation on any given night.

Their claim to fame was the bún Đậu Đặc biệt. A selection of bites and a pile of herbs atop banana leaves meant to be dipped in funky fermented shrimp paste. Provocative, even for a city with a breadth of a food scene. But what sets Mắm apart is in their restrained seasonal menus: tight, intentional, with regional flair and specials worth coming back for throughout the year. The best way to do it is to fill the table with ăn chơi (their sharable snacks) and then gather enough friends to order multiple larger dishes to share. The prices may be more “top NYC restaurant” than “street food in Vietnam” but the flavors match up and are worth the scene.