How to Get Into Tâm Tâm

Resy: When do reservations drop?

Harrison Ramhofer: They drop three weeks in advance at noon.

How quickly do reservations usually get booked?

Ramhofer: It depends, but the peak hours book up fast. For some reason, everyone wants to eat between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Those slots typically go within a couple of days. If you want a 5:30 reservation, those usually don’t book up until about a week before.

How many seats do you have at Tâm Tâm?

Ramhofer: We have 38 seats inside and an additional 20 seats outside.

Do you save any seats for walk-ins?

Ramhofer: The outdoor seating is first come, first served. It’s actually really nice outside with the courthouse right there. It’s a cool café-style setting. But the restaurant is so small that even the bar has become reservation-only.

Is there a waiting list for those outdoor seats during peak hours?

Ramhofer: Yes, and the wait can get long if you come at the wrong time. But if you come early, it’s always easier to get an outdoor table.

What’s your busiest day and time?

Ramhofer: Saturdays are our busiest day. People in Miami like to eat late. We tend to stay busy right up until close. Our last seating on weekdays is 10 p.m., and on weekends it’s 10:30 p.m.

What’s the best advice for someone hoping to get a table?

Ramhofer: I would say if you come before 6:30 p.m., you’re probably good most days. Another tip is to keep yourself on our Notify list. Our cancellation policy requires guests to let us know six hours before to avoid a cancellation fee, so usually the morning of the reservation or within six hours before is when most cancellations happen. When I wake up in the morning, I’ll typically see our reservations dip down a little, and those spots get booked up quickly throughout the day.

How do you handle larger groups?

Ramhofer: We’ve stopped taking any reservations over eight guests because we’re such a small restaurant. If you want anything over eight guests, you have to buy out the entire restaurant. The best approach for parties of six to eight people is to email us about a month before. For larger parties, I’ll make exceptions if they reach out with enough lead time before reservations open. Once reservations are live, it becomes much harder to accommodate larger groups.

Can guests request specific tables?

Ramhofer: We have the bar or tables as the two main options. We don’t accommodate requests for window seats or specific areas because of the restaurant’s size. With the demand we have, it’s difficult to move things around for specific table requests.

Tell us about the music at Tâm Tâm.

Ramhofer: The entire playlist is designed by our chef. People always ask who’s doing the playlist, and it’s him. On top of being a great cook, he has great taste in music. The playlist is a mix of funky world music with a lot of groove. We try to include music from various cultures — not just Asian but Latin as well — and we tend to avoid English-language music. I get people asking for the playlist all the time, and guests are always saying they just Shazamed five songs.

And you have a karaoke bathroom?

Ramhofer: Yes, that came out of a joke. There’s this trend where Miami restaurants try to make their bathrooms cool spaces. Someone mentioned a restaurant with a disco ball in their bathroom, and I said, “We should put a karaoke machine in ours,” as a joke. Everyone loved the idea so much that I was tasked with making it happen. My favorite thing is when someone who doesn’t know it’s there uses the restroom and then runs back to their table excited about discovering the karaoke bathroom. We try not to publicize it in photos or interviews because we want it to be a surprise for people.

What are your most popular dishes?

Ramhofer: The most famous dish is definitely our wings. They’ve been on the menu since we were doing this out of our house, and the chef has been perfecting that item for years. They have a following, and sometimes we run out by the end of the night. People come in specifically wanting those wings.

The scallop pomelo goi has also taken off. It’s a scallop crudo dish with pomelo pieces, which is like a large grapefruit but less tart, in a coconut sauce that people just want to drink. The scallops are really great — we get them fresh from Massachusetts every day.

The salt and pepper frog legs have become unexpectedly popular. They come with a citrus dipping sauce and are nice, light, and crispy. People enjoy the adventurousness of trying frog legs.

Any secret menu items?

Ramhofer: We used to do a fried fish alongside our steamed fish. We can still make it if people call ahead of time. The issue now is that we remove the spine from the fish, so it can’t go in the fryer without curling up. We have a regular who always calls before she comes in asking for the fried fish, so I leave one uncut fish for her that we can fry up.

What about your cocktails?

Ramhofer: Our spiked Vietnamese iced coffee has been on the menu since the beginning. We make it with vegan condensed milk, which is nice because traditionally it’s made with regular condensed milk. It’s a perfect ending to a meal.

We’ve also started doing a house vermouth. We take wonderful Spanish vermouth, infuse it with pandan and chrysanthemum, and then coconut fat-wash it. It’s been very popular but intensive to make, so sometimes it’s not available because it goes so quickly. It’s really wonderful — it’s my go-to as well.

A fourth-generation Miamian, Olee Fowler knows every corner of the city. She spent a decade as the editor of Eater Miami, and now as a freelance writer, she captures the stories that make Miami unique. When she’s not exploring Miami’s newest restaurants and bars, you can find her at home with her dogs, Foster and Peanut, or cheering on her beloved Florida Gators. And yes, that’s probably a Coke Zero on her desk.