Tâm Tâm: Miami’s Best Vietnamese Restaurant
Nestled in a relatively quiet area of downtown Miami, lies a quaint Vietnamese restaurant called Tâm Tâm. I had never knowingly had Vietnamese food, but one look at the menu and I knew it was a place I needed to be. If you could measure a restaurant's worth by entry, the line outside suggests an upcoming acclaimed experience. Modest in size, Tâm Tâm is the definition of a local treasure and the kind of place I prefer to find myself when it comes to food. Given the line outside and the size of the restaurant, you may want to make your reservation a couple weeks in advance.
I hadn’t been to Miami in nearly a decade, so one of the things that surprised me was how friendly people are. The staff at Tâm Tâm was certainly attentive when it came to food service but also paying compliments and making suggestions for things to do around the city. I have to say that the experience made me feel like I was a regular, not someone visiting for the first time, and there’s nothing like feeling seen in a new city.
The first dish I was drawn to was the Tam Tam wings, because I’m almost always going to go for a chicken dish.
Let me tell you, these are not your ordinary wings. If I’m going to have chicken wings, especially dipped in sauce, they must maintain their crispiness—something Tâm Tâm got all the way right.
This fish sauce caramel has the most unique flavor I couldn’t even begin to describe, and the wings were the most exquisite blend of sweet and savory. The crispy garlic added an always welcome dimension of flavor and texture.
While I was eating, someone came in and sat next to me at the bar. He browsed the menu for a couple minutes and then looked over at my plate and asked if the wings were good. I let him know that if I had to rate them, I would give them a ten out of ten. Needless to say, he ordered them, and when I left, he was still going to town. That’s how good they are.
The next menu item that caught my eye was the tamarind glazed pork ribs. The ribs were incredibly tender, and I feel it necessary to say they were falling off the bone, because how else will you know what I mean by tender?
I don’t know that I had ever tasted any kind of dish with tamarind as a main ingredient, but the glaze brought a perfect balance of freshness and sweetness, only complemented by the nuttiness of the crushed peanuts, an ingredient I was pleasantly surprised by. Scallion is a flavor I’ve grown to love, and paired with the pickled cucumber, it gave a refreshing contrast that really provided a well-rounded flavor profile.
As much as I wanted to have room for more, I could not have put another bite into my stomach after these two dishes. What I do know is that I have something to look forward to upon my return to Miami. There were other dishes like the goat curry, lotus root salad, and jungle steak tartare that sound entirely too good not to try.
Tam Tam is one of those rare finds where everything just works—the food, the service, and the atmosphere. It’s the kind of place where, even if I had to wait in line, I would have found the reward well worth it. If you find yourself in Miami, Tam Tam should be at the top of your list of places to eat. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
