Mala House

Somehow we’ve never tried this place before tonight and all our past favorites have been replaced now. The owners are so sweet and you can tell how much they really care about the quality and taste of their food. The restaurant is so clean and everything was just great honestly. Also if you like (or love in my case) Chonquin Fried Chili Chicken, then you HAVE got to come and try it! It’s authentic, just like I have several times while visiting China over the years. If you love great authentic Chinese Food, I highly recommend you pay a visit. It’s about to become your new favorite too, I’m sure.

Mala House will become our new tradition! Very authentic Sichuan food and the best in the boise by far! Get the house special Hot Pot and taste the most delicious meats and veggies. It’s a really fun way of sharing a meal and you won’t be disappointed in the portions or the price. The staff were really amazing and attentive, even on Christmas! Mala House has earned their spot as our favorite Chinese restaurant, and we will be coming back with all our friends. Glad to see them in Boise and I hope others come support this restaurant!

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.

The food is sooo good. We got hot pot, fried chicken, mapo tofu, and cold noodles with chili sauce. All was so delicious and spicy. Ida was so nice too and told us mamas way to make our hot pot 😁

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.

incredible. incredible. incredible. the only authentic szechuan food in boise. i am from the east coast, so you can imagine my sadness after moving here a few years ago and not having so many options for asian foods. this mapo tofu blows every other mapo tofu i’ve ever had out of the water, including seattle, new york, and san francisco. i am going to become such a regular here. perfect balance of spice and numbing, fragrant, delicious, amazing portion. very reasonably priced. i will be back. often. edit: i posted that after taking only a few bites of this mapo tofu. i have an update. this is by and far the best food in Boise, objectively. period. no contest, not up for discussion. i’m not talking best szechuan, best chinese, best asian, etc. Best Food.

It’s quite hard to find a real Asian experience in Idaho. The Mala House was amazing! The prices were reasonable. The experience was amazing. They also have a Chinese karaoke experience, if you know, it’s amazing!

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.

Been wanting to try Mala House since they opened and came close a couple of times with take-out ordering but never went through with it. With our team wanting an authentic meal experience, we headed over to Mala House. Full Disclosure: We are not Hot Pot folks, which could have been the the issue with our experience. The menu is extensive and there are a variety of meals to choose from but we decided on the following plates. Spicy Garlic Eggplant Stir Fry with Chicken Orange Chicken While the dishes may seem pedestrian, we were expecting elevated flavors and taste and for the exception of the Spicy Garlic Eggplant, the other two dishes were very underwhelming. We discovered that nothing comes with these dishes. They are plates of exactly what you order - The Spicy Garlic Eggplant did come with a small bowl of sticky white rice and while it was very good, the other two plates were very remeniscant of an American-Asian Buffet in San Diego in the 1990s. I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit China last year and stated in Shanghai, Dongwong, Fushun, Guangzhou, and other cities. The food was amazing and that's not even covering the amount of vegetarian and vegan options. There's still remaines a big gap in the Boise area. Also there were not a lot of vegetarian or vegan options available or presented when I asked our server, which was shocking. So many great vegetables with recipes that could have been incorporated into the menu. We may agree to disagree about the authenicity of Mala House, but our experience was just ok at best which means we won't be back.

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.

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

The best Chinese food you can find in Boise. I'm hesitant to make a review because I love it being our secret spot but it's so good if you want authentic!

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.

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!

I ate too much. The food was so good. I had mapo tofu. Its a difficult to find this dish in restaurants.

The service was unfriendly. Very bothered that a vegan came in with questions. They notified me that all vegetarian dishes are loaded with chicken and beef fat. The only thing I could have was fried rice. Very underwhelming, no flavor, had to douce it with sweet soy sauce to give it any flavor. I said thank you and for whatever reason she rolled her eyes at me. Meh, I tried

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

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.

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!

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.

As a frequent visitor to the Szechuan region Fried Eggplant and Mapo Dofu are our faves. Take the recommendations from the staff, they really know what they are doing.

Authentic Chinese/Sichuan food. Good atmosphere. There's a sauce bar. Will come back.

this is the most authentic Chinese restaurant we have found in Boise. The eggplant with garlic sauce, the mabu tofu were my favorites but each dish was very good. We will definitely be back soon.

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

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 :)

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.

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!