Mala Hotpot

Great vibes and staff. We stayed for an hour and had an amazing time. It's super easy to control the cook time with adjustable cook tops built into the table. There are plenty of options for vegetables and sauces. Highly recommend.

Went as a treat with my sister based on the previous great reviews. The restaurant was only partially open at lunchtime (half the restaurant was being seated, not sure if the other half opened up later). There are instructions we found in a previous review but essentially, walk in, be seated, and then use your phone the rest of the way. We went with the miso and the chicken mushroom broth. We did combos up front to get a variety of meats and carbs, in our case, udon noodles and rice cakes. The combo comes with an unlimited vegetable bar. From a variety of fresh greens, mushrooms, tofu options, and the classics like bok choy and fish cakes. On the other side of the vegetable bar was also a flavor bar (?) where you could find plenty of sauces and garnishes. Including but not limited to, soy sauce, green onions, minced garlic, hoisin, peanut sauce, sesame oil, red chili flakes, and everything to make the works. And at the end of the day, you'll need it more than you know. We got our broths delivered to the table and were bummed to find they lacked any flavor. To tell you that both broths tasted the same, like incredibly hot water. It was made clearer when the server came to refill your broth and didn't verify the flavor but added to all of them with a kettle of water. We were used to Japanese hot pot and this one (I believe) was Korean, but we were accustomed to broth so good you want to drink it. Seems like this place is going for "broth" to cook your food and a flavor bar to dip it in. The vegetables were super fresh, the noodles and rice cakes were 10/10 and the fried tofu was some of the best I've had. The place is clean, the service is good, and the thought of unlimited vegetables is enticing. I'd return knowing what to expect this time but for anyone who's been to great hot pot, this is not to match.

I absolutely love the atmosphere here! It's clean, bright, and quiet, with comfortable booths that can accommodate up to 4 people at each table. The staff was polite, and answered every question we had. I had researched about this restaurant from the national site (this is a chain, with only 1 restaurant here in Cincinnati), but this restaurant is a little different. For example, the waitress was surprised that I ordered with my cellphone (maybe here they personally take your orders), and there was no "a la carte" option. Your only choice is to pick a "combo" by ordering 1 protein, the soup broth, and 1 "carb," (noodle option) and then help yourself to the vegetable bar. I was disappointed that there weren't more selections at the vegetable bar, and that the only dessert available there was ice cream. There seemed to be more options at the sauces section where we put together our dips (I combined the peanut sauce, a splash of the miso sauce, a splash of soy sauce, the minced garlic and a drop or two of the chili oil. It was perfect!!) In short, there were a lot of moving parts to this, with a lot of dishes to arrange and coordinate. The robot brought our choices out quickly, and it was fun to then push a button and watch it quietly follow the waitress back to the kitchen. With all this efficiency, it did take a while for our broth to boil. But once it did so, we dumped our selections into the broth and chowed down. It was tasty and extremely filling And the waitress was quick to drop by periodically to add liquid to our broth and ask how we were doing. So in general it was an entertaining and interactive experience in a pleasant setting with a limited amount of food options -- but what was there was fresh, filling, and tasty.

This place is absolutely one of my favorite places to go eat. The food is always amazing. I love being able to make my own dipping sauce. So many veggies to pick from and everything is always so fresh. The robot that delivers everything is really cool too. Service is quick and they are very helpful if you have never had hot pot before. It's always clean also. Run! Don't walk to try this place out

Went for dinner and our server was very kind and quick! We got the tomato beef broth and mala spicy broth. I liked the tomato broth! We got them with the lamb and beef flank combos. The beef flanks were really good!! There was a self serve veggie buffet which was really nice. I wasn't sure if there was enough meat but we were very full by the end. The veggie station included fish balls, lobster fish balls, and tofu. It's a very filling meal, especially since the combos also include noodles. For dessert we got the jelly with some of the brown sugar syrup and crushed peanuts (at the sauce bar). I haven't had this dessert in so long, and even though we were so full, it was a very nice and light dessert to finish on - recommend! The restaurant itself is also really nice and the booths feel pretty private.

We came here on a whim when we decided to drive around randomly and eat somewhere we drove past for lunch. We ended up in Springdale and settled on Mala. I love hot pot and my husband had never had it before. We each got different options and split everything so we could try more stuff. He got lamb with udon in the beef tomato broth and I had mala flank steak with rice noodles in the chicken mushroom broth. Broths were both tasty but we both preferred the chicken mushroom. They were heightened by adding raw garlic to the broth. The mala flank steak was also both of our favorites. It was definitely not as spicy as I was led to believe. Next time ill get the mala spicy broth. You can also get unlimited veggies but they will charge you if you have "too many leftovers" so get a small amount and go back for more as needed. They also have free ice cream which I thought made it worthwhile for the price. You get a lot of stuff! We would definitely come back. Also, don't sleep on the spicy bamboo shoots. They are so good!!!

Was super excited to find another hot pot spot that looked promising from all the great reviews and pictures posted on here. I finally got to try it this past weekend and all I can say is it's subpar. It had all the hotpot basics, but nothing else more. Nothing special. I found the food here to be overpriced for what it was especially for the quantity that was served. The broth wasn't that flavorful and the sauce bar was very limited. The menu was lacking -- it didn't have some items that would typically be available at a hotpot joint like some enoki mushrooms or fishball with roe! The veggie combos were odd -- first time seeing potatoes on a hotpot menu. The marinated beef was a bit bland. I did enjoy the sides of bamboo and pulled meat.Service was fine, but we did have to remind them about some missing items we had ordered. A bit disappointed. If you're looking to experience hotpot, I say why not -- give them a try. If you're used to eating hotpot I would say don't expect much from here. I'm still on the lookout for some great hotpot around cincy!

We went in a Sunday afternoon around and for a brief while we're the only ones there. Don't know why, this place is great! Of course you cook on an individual stove right in front of you. All the veggies are buffet and they bring the meat and protein by ROBOT....too cool if you have never seen this (which I never had). I had the Malia spicy broth / soup which was awesome. Protein was the lamb. We will be back, especially in colder weather as this stuff made me sweat!

The food was amazing the service was great. The whole experience was great. I will definitely be returning I wish I would have tried it sooner.

The only hotpot place I could found around Cincy area. You pick up meat, soup base, and carb. Veggies are buffet style. Also some appetizers on sauce bar. You make your own dipping sauce and cook food in the boiled pot. The soup base is too mild for me. The hotpot should be packed with flavorful spices and very tasty. However, I understand we are in Cincinnati not east or west coasts, so it's ok. Overall, good experience.