Mala House

Wandered into Mala House during lunch hours for an excellent and affordable meal. I had the twice cooked pork belly with fried rice that came with a couple of mini egg rolls and a bowl of egg drop soup. The food was delicious. The problem I had was that I had to ask multiple times for my water and the soup came out well after the meal and only after asking for it. Probably a new server and they seemed to be having a late lunch rush so I wasn’t upset and still tipped, but I gotta take a star for that. I do think I’ll be back to try the frog legs dry pot and hopefully I can update this to a five star review.

Last night we first time dined in here with two-people combo hot pot , and two other dishes ( Second Cooked Pork belly and fish-flavored pork slices) and it was an amazing experience. Lots of options for dipping sauces. Way plenty amount of excellent food for 3 adults and one toddler (ending up with take home boxes). The beef and lamb slices for the hot pot are quite fresh. All food items are delicately presented and you can enjoy it with your own pace. Enough kid-friendly options for food or drinks or ice creams. Additionally, the service is fast and all staffs are very friendly and patient. The atmosphere is full of great vibes, aroma and laughter. Before the opening for dine in, we tried the Mala Flavored Grilled fish 3 or 4 times, also the Mala Jumbo Shrimp dry pot. Both were delicious and tons of food. For sides dishes, pork nuggets and boiled 5 species peanuts ( if you are not allergic to it) are must-try. As a food lover and Chinese. so happy that Boise has an authentic Chinese Food to offer now, can't wait to take friends and family here more.

Finally got the chance to stop into Mala House today. I have a couple clients who love this little joint. They are fond of the hot pot that they have here. I wasn't is the mood for hot pot so I just checked out their lunch menu. Walking into the joint, it's very colorful and vibrant. I love all the fun decor, light fixtures and fun flags that they have. It's pretty spacious for a smaller venue. The big windows in the front give it so much lighting. I appreciate all the happy money cats everywhere. Adds such a fun vibe to the place. I didn't catch my servers name today but he got me sat. I looked over the lunch menu, asked a couple questions about some possible alterations to my food but it was a no go. I have had twice cooked pork with chicken before at other places but this option wasn't available. So, I opted for chicken and brocolli with steamed rice today. I got served some tomato and egg soup as a starter. It was thick and rich in tomato. It had smaller pieces of egg in it, bigger chunks would have been better. I grew up on tomato and egg soup so it was comforting having a bowl of it. Brought me back to my youth, it was nice. Lunch came out shortly. Woooww, it was a beautiful plate. You get a nice helping of rice. It's amazing how many Chinese joints give such little rice with your meal. Not here! It was a great amount. The brocolli was bigger pieces. It was on the harder side but fresh. I appreciate the amount of sauce that came with my stir fry. Sauce and steamed rice together is the best bite! The chicken wasn't velveted so it was a little dry. The egg rolls were sitting in the sauce so it caused the egg rolls to sog up a bit. The middle of it was also really mushy so it wasn't the best bite. I ate half of one and didn't really care to finish the rest. I can see why my clients really like this place. It's bright, they push out good food and the service was decent. I did notice that there were quite a few staff members but none of them would help the server. He was hustling the front register, phone orders, table orders, sitting customers, bringing food out. I just find it crazy that non of them helped out. I'm happy I got to try the this joint out today. I did enjoy my chicken and brocolli. The prices for lunch aren't bad and the portions are good! I'll have to try their general's chicken the next time I come. You can never go wrong with general's chicken. Hopefully my next visit will be sooner than later.

I’m originally from the Philippines, but have traveled across Asia over the years, including different cities in China, and know a good Chinese spot when I try one. This is easily one of the best that I have been to. I ended up eating here a total of four times during my recent stay in Boise, trying something different each time. Their mala frog legs and fatty beef were amazing, and their spicy boneless fried chicken and pork nuggets had an amazing balance of savory, spicy, and crispiness. The owners and servers are very friendly, the food is authentic, service is always fast, prices are very reasonable, and portion sizes are generous. Already looking forward to my next visit here!

Major letdown. Ordered Broccoli Beef and Sesame Chicken off the dinner (not hot pot) menu. Panda Express would be better. The chicken had a sickly sweet sauce and the broccoli was undercooked.

We had a fantastic dining experience at this Chinese restaurant! The shredded pork in garlic sauce was absolutely amazing—so flavorful and perfectly cooked. My husband was expecting more of a BBQ-style pork but was pleasantly surprised by the tender texture and rich taste of this dish. It’s clear why it’s one of their specialties! Our 5-year-old also gave his stamp of approval—he couldn’t get enough of the dumplings and the chicken egg fried rice. The portions are family style. It's always a win when the whole family leaves happy and full! We’ll definitely be coming back for more. We want to check out their lunch specials sometime during the week!

Honestly perfect experience for eating out with friends. It’s relaxing, and just a nice experience because you never feel rushed to finish the food. Service is good and helpful but not too much. And the food is all good quality, and nothing i had for the beef hotpot i can say was bad. Because of the variety you really get to just try stuff. And i really recommend just trying everything, because nothing is bad at worst you’ll just find a few thing that aren’t for you. On that note broccoli stock is surprisingly good almost corn tasting. Also spam never a thing i care about, but into that spicy hot pot it’s super good. Took me and my friend back because it was top teir. Also side note, get dumplings. But after dipping meat in the spicy pot, then dip in the dimpling sauce for a perfect combo. But to top it all off, the price is really really good. 55 dollars for a two person hotpot, 1 soda, a beer, and friend dumplings. Which filled us up perfectly and even though we were stuffed. It never felt heavy in our systems, just a nice comfortable full of food feeling.

Food here is so good! My go to is the mapo tofu (its actually spicy) and twice cooked pork belly. My partner loves the chili fried boneless chicken. Will be trying the frog legs next time! The dinner meals are large portions great for sharing sized. The staff are very sweet too.

Finally got the chance to stop into Mala House today. I have a couple clients who love this little joint. They are fond of the hot pot that they have here. I wasn't is the mood for hot pot so I just checked out their lunch menu. Walking into the joint, it's very colorful and vibrant. I love all the fun decor, light fixtures and fun flags that they have. It's pretty spacious for a smaller venue. The big windows in the front give it so much lighting. I appreciate all the happy money cats everywhere. Adds such a fun vibe to the place. I didn't catch my servers name today but he got me sat. I looked over the lunch menu, asked a couple questions about some possible alterations to my food but it was a no go. I have had twice cooked pork with chicken before at other places but this option wasn't available. So, I opted for chicken and brocolli with steamed rice today. I got served some tomato and egg soup as a starter. It was thick and rich in tomato. It had smaller pieces of egg in it, bigger chunks would have been better. I grew up on tomato and egg soup so it was comforting having a bowl of it. Brought me back to my youth, it was nice. Lunch came out shortly. Woooww, it was a beautiful plate. You get a nice helping of rice. It's amazing how many Chinese joints give such little rice with your meal. Not here! It was a great amount. The brocolli was bigger pieces. It was on the harder side but fresh. I appreciate the amount of sauce that came with my stir fry. Sauce and steamed rice together is the best bite! The chicken wasn't velveted so it was a little dry. The egg rolls were sitting in the sauce so it caused the egg rolls to sog up a bit. The middle of it was also really mushy so it wasn't the best bite. I ate half of one and didn't really care to finish the rest. I can see why my clients really like this place. It's bright, they push out good food and the service was decent. I did notice that there were quite a few staff members but none of them would help the server. He was hustling the front register, phone orders, table orders, sitting customers, bringing food out. I just find it crazy that non of them helped out. I'm happy I got to try the this joint out today. I did enjoy my chicken and brocolli. The prices for lunch aren't bad and the portions are good! I'll have to try their general's chicken the next time I come. You can never go wrong with general's chicken. Hopefully my next visit will be sooner than later.

First time trying hot pot - glad I went with family who were familiar with the set up. It can be overwhelming not knowing what to do or even what questions to ask. You need to rely on your server to explain everything. Before you start cooking, go get your dipping sauce(s). This confused me even more. There were 6 different 'sauces' and chopped green onions, garlic, cilantro and sesame seeds. If you are not familiar with the different types of sauces - it's a guessing game. Personally, I didn't care for the dipping sauces. Mala uses a hot pot with dividers so you have 3 broths boiling on your table. Chicken, tomato and Mala broths. My FB food group warned that Mala is heavy on the hot spices and the Mala broth was too hot for me. You put the meat(s), and various other items in the broths to cook. We also ordered other dishes, Garlic Fried Eggplant and Twice Cooked Pork - both were delicious. Individual bowls of rice are included in your meal, too. One note, we all thought more vegetables should be included. The only leafy green was bok choy, small bunch of enoki mushrooms and couple slices of lotus root. When I have Chinese or Thai food, I always order hot tea and sip it throughout the meal. I never end a meal feeling overstuffed. It's so good at helping to digest your food. Our server was very helpful even though he was the only server I saw working at the time and bussed tables, too. That kid needs a raise. It never felt like he was rushing us. Seating is booth-style and comfortable for 4 people. Will try them again, but forget the hot pot. There were many other dishes I want to get. In my 5 years here in Meridian/Boise, this is the best Chinese food I've had so far. No photos. I don't like photographing food when I'm with a group of people - sometimes feels rude to do so. It was a double birthday celebration and we were happy we decided on Mala House.

Update! I'm so glad I came back to try the dining experience, not to-go. The food was much better and I thoroughly enjoyed the flavors. We got the following: - chongqing fried chicken - not bad! Could use more chili oil but the fry was good. - stir-fry bok choices - tiny portion but great flavor! - boiled sezchuan fish - not bad! Would get again. - beef noodles - the beef tasted kind of old but the noodles were alright. For being the only formal szechuan restaurant in the city, I give it credit! I'll definitely recommend to try if you like mala flavors.

We went around March and immediately loved the decor. Service was kind and was great at answering our questions on certain dishes of the menu. We absolutely love the crawfish so far. You can tell it's fresh and the sauce is addicting. Hot pot was a fun dish to do with others. You do need to gradually add toppings and seasoning as you eat to create a more umami taste for some of the broth. Overall the two person choice did fill us up. We hope they can change some of the fish balls out since it seems majority is filled up with those. Possibly consider other proteins or toppings. We also felt like the room felt a bit warm due to all the hotpot steam so possibly increasing the AC might help or upgrading to vent fans later on especially for the summer

Excellent authentic Chinese restaurant! The service was prompt and polite. We ordered fried fish, garlic eggplant, pork belly and stir fried noodles. All the dishes were good but Star of the show was the garlic eggplant and the fried fish. Don't miss out on this hidden gem of a restaurant.

My partner and I love spicy food with great flavor, and this is the place for it! As someone who is from California where there is a lot of great Asian food spots, Mala House would blend right in with that high quality food scene. We ordered the spicy mala fried fish, and it was a revelation. The fish was perfectly crispy, and the mala spice provided that incredible numbing, fiery kick we crave, balanced beautifully with savory notes. We also ordered hot pot combo A, which was a fun experience. The broth was rich and deeply flavorful, and the fresh ingredients absorbed all that deliciousness. Every bite was a burst of complex spice and exquisite taste. The combo comes with three broth varieties, szechuan, tomato, and chicken. We ended up ordering two szechuan broths in our combo since we love all things spicy. We also ordered the grilled cumin fish which is only $40 and lasted us many meals. The fish was soft and flavorful, and there's no other place in Boise where you can get that same quantity of high quality fish for that price. If you love authentic Szechuan cuisine and can handle the heat, Mala House is an absolute must-try. We're already planning our next visit!

It's great that Boise has graduated from pseudo-Chinese places like Panda Express and it's more expensive (but not much better) PF Chang's to having real, authentic Chinese. If your idea of Chinese food is chicken nuggets tossed in orange sauce, you'll be surprised at Mala House. Authentic Szechuan food with lots of chili oil and tongue-numbing peppercorns. Went with the family for the first time last night. Did the hot pot, white fish in chili oil, chicken in chilis, cucumber appetizer and a few other things. Everything was great. The cucumbers especially were amazing. The hot pot has three different areas with different soup bases. The fish was appropriately spicy. Service was great, prices are very reasonable, and we brought home three containers of left over soup and ingredients from the hot pot to make noodles at home with. Highly recommend.

THIS is actual, authentic Chinese food! About time Boise got one of these. The food is absolutely the best. Great location, clean place. It seems the "negative" reviews on this listing were just user error (Laura B's was...hilarious lmao) and some of the complaints when they were take-out only during the final phase of construction. If you have not gone here yet, give it a try! The little peace-shaped ice creams were also amazing, grab one as dessert, you won't regret it!

Ordered the fatty beef golden soup...look at how they fill it. Really Mala House? Keep your food and portions consistent.

I tried to eat there only to find out that the first time I went there they weren't even open that day! The second time I went there they were only doing takeout! The 3rd time I went there, I didn't see anything on the menu that I recognized. They told me that I should try a chicken dish. It was so bitter that I couldn't eat it. I thought that it was horrible! I could hardly eat it. I didn't even want to take my leftovers home! So sad!

Finally authentic Szechuan food! Fantastic traditional, Chinese food in Boise! The spicy boiled fish is delicious! So far everything I have tried has been spot on

Some of the most repulsive food I ever tried! My husband thought the food was horrible too. Will never go back here again! I can't remember the last time I had food this bad. When I first got there, we got sat at a table that was really filthy, & I asked the server if she could please wipe down the table, she had such a terrible attitude when I asked her to wipe it down, & she did such a bad job that I told her it still wasn't clean, & she ended up moving us to a different table & I could tell she was very annoyed with me for saying something about the cleanliness.

Delicious food and friendly service. We had the Jumbo shrimp pot with lotus root, cauliflower, and tofu skins. Spicy in the best way possible. Tofu skins shaped like fettuccine was a revelation. Also had excellent beef stir fry and fried rice. Take out was ready right away and still hot AF when we came home :)

Visiting from SoCal and everything was amazing veggies were so fresh and the quality is top notch

This place is sooo good! In all honesty I have yet to find food as good in Boise as I have here. The staff is friendly and hospitable. Worth every penny!