Mala Restaurant

garlic green beans 4/5 spicy mala bowl beef, crispy fish - 4/5 crispy chicken w/peppers - 3.7/5One of my go-tos for Szechuan food in the area. Nice place for a standard sit-down meal with people. There's seating available for bigger groups as well. Love the spicy mala bowls and the selection of items they have to mix in the bowl. Standard service, never had any negative experiences here.Ordering here is done through a QR code. You'll scan the code on your table and place your order digitally. Servers will deliver your dishes to your table. When you are ready for the check you can select that you are ready to pay through your phone and servers will bring the check to you. Metered street parking available in the area. There's also a municipal lot a block or two down that has free 2 hour parking.

The service in this restaurant has gone downhill. We ordered three dishes. Somehow, for whatever reason, the food came out extremely slow, while the restaurant was only about 1/3 full. The main dish did not come out till we ate the first two dishes, about 35 minutes later. The customers who came in after us all got their food. The waitress seemed not to know what was going on. Annoyed, my wife and I raised our hands to get their attention. I asked with a not-so-nice facial gesture, "Where is our food?" Their response is unapologetic and simply, "Oh, it's been cooked," as if this is nothing and normal. While waiting, they did not come to add water as this restaurant's food is spicy and salty, and most customers consume more than 1 cup of water.I will not go back to this restaurant in the near future.

Ordered this on Uber eats and it took an hour to get to Boston, but worth it! Tomato egg hit home, great comfort dish. Can't go wrong (4/5).Make your own mala pot, and I added pork belly, tripe, tofu puff, seaweed, cauliflower, Napa cabbage, wood ear. The meats (pork belly and tripe) were both ok. Pork belly was dry and tripe was WAY overcooked, very hard to chew. So I wouldn't get those items. But all the vegetables were really good, especially the seaweed, very fresh and perfect texture. Would recommend! I got it non-spicy as I typically prefer milder flavors and it wasn't too oily which I was worried about. Maybe a tad bit saltier than I would prefer but otherwise feels pretty healthy! (3/5)Overall, would order again, just make sure you account for the lengthy delivery into Boston.

We took a chance on this place as it looked the busiest out of the several restaurants nearing it. Folks kept going in and we took a chance. We are so glad we did! Food is superb and pricing is very reasonable. Food: Soup dumplings - these are smaller than traditional XLB's at other places, but they still taste pretty good and have an ok amount of soup inside. Some had more, some had less. These took a long time to come out, it was last. I'd give them a 3/5 rating. Chili cumen beef - Very good, give it a 4/5 rating. There is a good amount of beef with some green peppers. There are a TON of red peppers but I find that its mostly unedible as they are pretty dry and hard to chew. This dish is pretty dry. We got it spicy and it was perfect, and the mala flavor was not overpowering. You can also get this with lamb instead of beef. Shredded pork with dried bean curd - This was also a 4/5 rating. There are generous portions of meat and bean curd (sorta like firmer tofu?), along with some slices of green peppers. Flavor is spot on and this dish is not spicy. BBQ skewers - I thought this would be more popular here, but we were the only table to order these. They came out quick and had great flavor. There was a little crispness to the tentacles. The lamb was very tender and flavorful. The pork belly was just ok. Overall, I'd give skewers a 3/5 rating. This place has a sizeable dining area. I really liked that you order from your phone after scanning the QR code at your table. You can easily add on more items throughout your stay. I only wish they had more pictures for their menu items, as it would really help. Service was very good. Staff was friendly and there was someone going around constantly refilling water. They do tend to speak to you in chinese, but some can speak some english. Prices are very reasonable for the portions and quality of food. I think this definitely adds to the popularity of this place, as I'm also looking forward to a return visit soon. Keep up the great work!Lots of street parking spots around the area, but depending on day and time, could get challenging, be patient!

If you're not used to mala or spicy food, beware!With that said... this is proper mala!A small but mighty eatery in the ever growing Asian restaurant strip around Harvard Ave in Allston. This place is usually packed and needs a wait during the school year when college kids are in, but we were able to get a table for 2 quickly on a Friday afternoon.Service is quick and prompt as there is a lot of foot traffic in the small bustling space. The team there seems really happy and tight knit, at least more so than other places I've been in.The food is nothing short of excellent - their mala is top notch and each dish had very distinct but wonderful taste, the chef knows his craft.We ordered the vegetable dry hot pot, fish fillet in spicy chili, and the double cooked bacon. Hot pot was alright, and served as a good buffer with the other more oily dishes. The bacon was delicious, with a bit of heat for a nice kick. But the star was 100% the fish. Yes it's spicy, but they throw in this whopping thing of garlic right in the middle and the flavor profile will absolutely blow your mind. Get the fish, you will not regret. Get a bowl of rice, you'll need the buffer.tldr; proper mala spot in Allston. Get the fish in chili sauce. That is all

There's something undeniably magnetic about this place that keeps me coming back for more. Their authentic mala food strikes the perfect balance between heat and flavor, making it a truly satisfying experience. Despite the quick service, they're always attentive to your needs. And if you're not comfortable speaking Chinese, no worries - they have convenient QR codes on the tables for easy ordering. The cozy atmosphere and intimate setting create a welcoming and homey vibe that makes you feel right at ease.

My friends from Boston said this is the best Mala Xi'an Guo Restaurant in town. So I definitely had to try it. The restaurant is clean and tidy. You scan the QR code and order from your phone when seated and you can choose whatever you want to add from your phone and send the order. When the food came, I was impressed by the visual of Mala Xian guo. The taste was amazing and it tasted like the ones I had in Asia. Would definitely come again here for Mala.

This restaurants makes amazing Chinese food, but only if you stick to SzeChuan style dishes. We enjoyed the DanDan noodles and crispy chicken a lot, but we could tell the soup dumplings were not authentic. They were a bit sweet?? Service here was alright, they weren't attentive with us and they didn't serve ginger in the vinegar along with the soup dumplings even after Ive asked for it. Nonetheless, I think they make authentic Szechuan style dishes that is worth having!! Food: 8/10 Service: 6/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Value: 7/10

This place is a solid 3.5. We had an early weekday dinner around 5:45 and there was no wait. It was a warm spring day, so the door was open but it was quite stuffy inside the restaurant. You order via the QR code on the table.We tried the large dry pot with meat and veggies, Dan Dan noodles, and wontons in chili oil. The dry pot was decent. Portion size was huge but we found that some of the ingredients were overcooked. The taro and fish filet pieces were super dry. Seems like they deep fried them before stir frying with the mala. You choose up to 6 'veggies' that you want and instead of tofu puffs they gave me wide noodles. Not sure if they just didn't have the tofu puffs or they made a mistake. The Dan Dan noodles had kick and lots of flavor and the wontons in chili oil was on the sweeter side which was a pleasant surprise. Overall, affordable prices for a decent meal. Not sure I would wait in line for this place but would come back to try other dishes. Don't expect any service, just flag down waitstaff if you need anything!

Mala is one of my top 3 favorite restaurants in all of Boston. It's a casual spot and always packed for a reason. I always get the large dry mala pot - choosing double beef and 6 different veggies. The dry mala stir fry sauce is a blend of savory, umami, numbing, and spicy. Cold sesame noodles are refreshing and savory. It has such an addicting flavor that I can't find anywhere else. No matter how full I am, I want another bite of it. This is my favorite noodles handsdown of all time. I always order a box to go and have it for lunch. The Lamb Skewers are tender topped with cumin spice. Order a couple skewers to add into the dry mala pot for more variety!