We went to Mắm NYC (70 Forsyth St, New York, NY 10002) for lunch. I have never had BDMT on any Vietnamese street before – everything I knew about BDMT is from my mum. Nevertheless, this was undescribably delicious BDMT – đậu phụ rán giòn, lòng nướng giòn rụm, thịt heo thái siêu mỏng nạc mỡ phân tách hợp lí, dồi làm vừa ăn. Also, they made us wait for like a good 20 minutes to be seated, then they offered us a seat on the opposite street. Haha imagine eating in the middle of a walkway – we were truly museum dolls because everybody had to stop and look at us eating with much fascination. Fang Bros on YT also stopped by and did a mini-interview; I will put a link here when the video is released.
Paying-wise @Mắm, they did tips automatically I think. Still, I tipped them a 2-dollar bill on top of that. MP insisted that it meant nothing because its value was only 2 dollars, also Prof. K handed them out in classes like water. But I didn’t care about her comment because I think the sentimental value of the bill surpassed its transactional value and I wanted to compliment the chef for a memorable and delicious lunch (my first time ever handing out a $2 bill as well).
After that, we visited Maman (237 Centre St, New York, NY 10013). Cafe-ing in Maman feels like being Alice in Wonderland. It had that girly, sweet, simple vibe with flowery and beige-toned.
We then spent our afternoon window-shopping. It all started @ Mejuri because MP needed to get new earrings. Then it escalated into all sorts of clothing brands along Broadway street. I knew so many more brands that I can shop for: Pacsun, Brandy Melville, Uno de 50, Peaches and Cream, Krewe. I actually got super cute carpenter pants from Brandy Melville – somehow no sales tax? I also found out that high-end brands usually have their discount section all the way at the back of the store and they are very affordable. For example, LT got her Guess T-shirt on sale for around $30 only.
Dinner @ 99 Favor Taste (285 Grand St, New York, NY 10002) felt like an upscale K-Pot. They had a digital menu and ordering system, but their service was extremely slow. We only ordered 2 times and the second time we had to wait until almost till the end of the meal to get the food. At least our table wasn’t that hungry so it wasn’t too big of an issue.
Also fascinating to know that it was MP’s first time ever making hotpot for herself. And I learned a fun fact that both MP and HL didn’t like crabs, as in whole crabs. HT and DN also educated me that there are soccer matches in Yankee stadium. Weird layout and is too tiny to look nice from the audience seat, but at least you can still see the famous stadium despite off season for baseball.
Grace Street (17 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001) for dessert, again. This time we still had the burnt cheesecake, but we also ordered bingsu. I wasn’t a fan of the cheesecake (while everyone else was and they gave me a whole debate). Aside from that, matcha bingsu and mango bingsu were delicious if you don’t mind some brain freezes.
Self-note: best bus to get home from New York is 119, gate 210. At night, it runs every hour at :45.
Trang "Tee" Nguyen 