Mala Town

Huge fan of Mala Town!! I've been dying to try this place since I first heard about them opening in the area. I loved the variety they offered; huge selection of vegetables, proteins, and noodles compared to other malatang places I've visited! I also appreciated how well organized it was inside - it definitely kept the line going.I ordered their beef bone broth, and it was really good! The broth was rich and at a medium spice level, it was pretty solid. My food came out quickly too. Definitely try their fattier beef! All of the other ingredients were pretty standard, but were of good quality overall. The sauce bar was also pretty clean and well organized.Prices are $15.99/lb here, which seemed steep compared to other malatang spots in the bay area. It's a little cramped inside, so keep this in mind if you plan on visiting with a larger group.

This is my second time at Mala Town and I was disappointed in the service. I got the beef bone soup, medium spice, and I waited 25 minutes before asking about it. They said that the soup pot was empty, and they were making another batch. I wish they had told me the status earlier. After finally getting the order, I noticed that the meat was super hard and overcooked. The beef bone soup also felt like the flavor wasn't really there anymore, I could only taste spice.

This Mala Town location is in the Milpitas Square plaza. Although this is a rather busy plaza, there is usually plenty of parking on this side of the plaza. Not that busy here compared to their original Union City location.I was excited to give this location a try, as I have been to their UC location with my friends and we all enjoyed it. I was lowkey raving about it to my mom and convinced her to come here with me, since we were in the area looking for food - unfortunately, it was a total miss. Decent amount of ingredients to pick from, so that was not too bad and we both opted for their Beef Bone Broth, but it was extremely salty.

Do not be like me and come here after a long day of not eating because you'll end up packing down a bowl for 2 meals! But also be like me if you don't mind delicious leftovers.The selection variety for the bowls here are great: they'll have most of the classic hot pot options with some few extra goodies I haven't seen elsewhere where and enjoy such as the fish tofu with cheese and mochi nuggets! With mild spice on the signature beef bone broth I could def feel a little numbing in my mouth but it's so flavorful.Their bottled drink selections were refreshing if you want a fun flavored drink like grape or pomegranate tea. Alternatively, they offer drinks on the side that are free next to the sauce bar.I'm already looking forward to my next time eating here! Definitely come with friends to bet on how much food each person will end up paying for based on the weight of their bowl.

I love malatang! I've tried YGF and Zhangliang before, but have yet to try Malatown. I wanna say this Malatown is first place for broth and ambiance. Zhangliang is first place for ingredients.So....this is the only malatang place I've tried so far with CHICKEN BROTH. OMG!!!!! I am a chicken broth girly above all other types of broths and I was SO HAPPY that they offered that here, whereas the other chains did not offer this. The broth was AMAZING AND HEARTY. (Pro tip: throw in some cilantro and green onions for enhanced flavor). It seriously warmed my soul. I would 1000% come back here just bc they have chicken broth. Their selection of ingredients were also standard and plentiful--they had everything I'd normally want to put into my malatang. Only downside I have is that their meat quality is okay. Their beef tasted very tough and chewy--not tender at all. It was very difficult for me to chew up. It made me want to skip out on even adding meat the next time I come, which kinda sucks.But another plus is that they offer free jasmine tea at the condiment bar!Interior and ambiance here is superior to the other chains. Super clean. More spacious. More aesthetic and modern. Better organization! Doesn't feel like a you're constantly being hip to hip with other people. Even food ware was super cute--came with these bronzed pots!Service was quick and fast. Very organized as well. Stations were clean too.100000% coming back here again~

I've never been a huge hot pot fan but Mala Town lowkey changed my mind about that. I got the mild beef bone broth and it was delicious! I couldn't finish the whole bowl so I took it to-go and the leftovers were just as good the next day. I love their self-serve sauce area and I ended up adding a lot of chili oil to the broth to make it a tad bit spicier. It's pretty cute inside with plenty of tables. I'm definitely coming back!

I wanted to see how this place compared to YGF Malatang, their competitor, so I tried the spicy dry pot at both places! TLDR, I would pick Mala Town over YGF. The ambience at Mala Town is cute and trendy. I love the moss wall and the copper dishware. Even the sauce station looks better organized. Taste wise, I would say the spicy dry pot seasoning is very similar at both spots. I loveee the spicy peanut flavor. I like the toppings at mala town slightly more though (they have mochi fish cakes, cheese fish cakes, and potato noodles hehe which are not at ygf malatang). Service is good but both places are super duper packed. I would get here at opening unless u are patient enough to wait in a long line.

This is currently my favorite place to get malatang. Mala Town offers a wide selection of veggies, noodles, fishballs, protein, etc. There's always someone behind the counter to ensure the ingredients are stocked and stations are well-kept.What's unique about this place is that they serve unlimited tea. I haven't seen this with other malatang places. They also have a good selection of sauces at the sauce bar. I've tried their beef bone broth, sichuan, tomato, sukiyaki, and tom yum (which I don't believe they offer anymore). The tom yum was a bit too sweet and lacked sourness for my liking, but overall all the other soups are tasty. There's also dry pot options available.The only thing I have to say about this place is that it feels overly crowded inside. Like borderline hazardous. The tables are like a foot apart and it felt like I was constantly bumping into other people's chairs.

This place had its dozens of tables filled just half an hour after opening time on a weekend. Mala Town has a build-your-own hotpot concept, where you are able to line up and grab different ingredients ranging from vegetables to meats to fish balls with roe (my personal favorite!) While the meat selection was not as wide as I had hoped, I enjoyed their spicy beef and Australian lamb meat the most. Their selection of other ingredients made up for the lack of meat selection in my opinion. At the end, we were able to choose our broth, and the bowl we had chosen was sent back for the hot pot to be made.My friend and I ended up with the same number of pounds for our bowl (1.27 pounds) and paid around ~$20 each. Next to the golden/green themed chairs and tables, they had a sauce bar where we could bring back our own sauces made in little metal pots.We fully finished our bowls and were satisfied! I would love to take friends here to enjoy this hotpot experience in the future!

Interesting concept of self serve hot pot. Most of the ingredients are standard for any hot pot place. The spice level seems like it's based on the level of Szechuan peppers so if you don't like the citrusy, mouth numbing properties of it, I would choose the mild option. I chose the beef bone broth and it was definitely hearty and flavorful. The self serve sauce was also a nice feature. Soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sa cha, cilantro and green onion was a great dipping sauce for meat slices. Also can't go wrong with the complimentary drinks- jasmine green tea and red date/sour plum juice.