I think I could live happily in Vietnam. I have had a number of consultancy assignments there, and I quickly came to appreciate the Vietnamese landscapes, history, and culture. But it took quite some time before I could appreciate Vietnamese food. Partly, this was because, for the most part, I was staying in hotels with, so-called, ‘international’ dishes on their menus.
Also, it took me some time to wean myself off potatoes, having been brought up on a small farm in England, where potatoes were the staple of our meals – whether baked, boiled, or fried. But, gradually, I learnt to enjoy the foods of Vietnam, where the base ingredient is rice or noodles. Vietnamese cuisine is much like Chinese cuisine, but I think it is more subtle.
So, when I heard that there is now a new Vietnamese restaurant in Nairobi, I was keen to try it out. It is called Măm Măm, and it is on the top floor of the Mwanzi Market Mall along Mwanzi Road that connects the Lower Kabete and Peponi Roads. From its balcony, you have a view of the trees of the plot of land lying between those roads.
But the place itself is authentic Vietnamese; with its red table tops and red crates with red cushions. It could well be an eatery in the fast-moving Ho Chi Minh City in the south or the slower-moving Hanoi in the north. Especially when, on the Saturday lunchtime when Lut and I were there, many of the customers were Vietnamese.
Măm Măm’s menu is the most informative and entertaining that I have read. In its introduction, it says that the dishes that are pictured and described ‘reflect the gastronomic experience on the streets of Vietnam’. Its promise is that ’we will become perfect consumers of Vietnamese culture, physically internalizing its principles and values’. It also says ‘food folks in Vietnam eat on small plastic stools on chaotic pavements and, at times, get chased by the police’.
The menu explains that most Vietnamese street foods are ‘whole-meal dishes’ and the most common kind is a bowl of noodles. ‘There are dozens of kinds of noodles,’ the menu goes on, ‘and thousands of variations regarding ingredients and seasoning. Yet, the basic nutritional logic is common – rice noodles for carbs; bones and spices for broth in soupy dishes; meat for protein and fat; leafy greens, herbs, and fish sauce for minerals and vitamins; chilli and lime for flavour.’
The menu is an extensive one – more varied and elaborate than the Nairobi street food I wrote about recently. There are five different spring rolls, four beef noodles dishes, four chicken and pork noodles, four rice dishes, five filled-baguette choices, six vegetarian options, and three desserts. We started with shared Mushroom Spring Rolls – five types of mushrooms, wrapped in rice paper and crispy fried. For the main dish, from the mains, I went for the Braised Pork.
It was served with rice and sour/sweet pickled green mustard. There was a little too much fat on the pork for my liking, but it was so well-cooked and tender. Lut chose the Fried Rice with peas, beetroot, tofu, seitan (wheat protein), and sour-sweet pickled cabbage. For desserts, I indulged in the Vietnamese Panna Cotta Jelly – a panna cotta jelly with lychees and almonds all submerged in a sweet clear soup. Lut had a black Vietnamese coffee, while I finished my cold Tusker lager. Next time, I will try the Coconut Ice-Blended Coffee that a young German we were chatting to said was delicious. It looked so, too.
We met Phuong Phan, the founder of Măm Măm. In her menu, she explains that she chose the name because, for every Vietnamese, childhood memories of love often involve the phrase Măm Măm. It is the sound mothers make to signal feeding time. In her address card, she says that the restaurant ‘is born out of the reconciliation between my deep love for Vietnam and the feeling of not ever belonging’. She has travelled widely, but it is clear that she is committed to making a success of the restaurant here.
As for Vietnamese principles and values, we could see that Măm Măm is a place where people go to sit together, to talk and to share ideas, as well as to eat. Phuong even has plans for a bar above the restaurant. Even in a big city like Nairobi, it is a place that has a community feel about it.
I learnt, in my own travels there, that in Vietnam the group is more important than the individual. Going to Măm Măm is more than having a meal; it is having an enjoyable experience. If you want to go there, the number for reserving a table is 0791 214597. It is open from 10 am to 10 pm, every day of the week. It is not on a chaotic street and it is most unlikely that you will be chased by the police!
