Mala Town

Soft opening in a beautiful chic Sawtelle location, between Mizu 212 and Sonoritas. It's a mini hotpot place, I'd say $$ to $$$ price wise, since it's about $20 for your own hotpot. This is a pretty trendy thing in China since you don't have to share boiled saliva with anybody else -- at least if you don't want to. The cold dish appetizers were pretty medium tbh. Cucumbers were as expected but the 8.50 scallops were... Not super great. They kept the scallop skirts on and just marinated them. Just not a wow. Sauces were pretty tasty! And as you can see from the pictures all the food looks very clean and pretty. The burners are a bit small, I recommend putting the lid on after you add ingredients to help it cook quicker. I'm just not convinced the trendy Western veggies like sweet potato and kale fit the "spicy hotpot" vibe they are advertising... Very much a watered down rendition of an authentic Chinese spicy pot. This kind of half hearted commitment to authentic flavors isn't really my thing. Especially at this price. Medium.

Love the individual hot pots - my husband doesn’t like spice so I could go all out with my own hot pot! The signature broth was the perfect amount of spicy and had lots of depth. The seafood was generous and fresh. Service was good too

If you don’t have any experience of hotpot, this place is okay to start. But if you like hotpot, don’t go here. Ingredients are not suitable for hotpot, taste is so-so but price is expensive comparing with the taste or other hotpot place. It’s unfair a little. There are a lot of good tasty restaurant in Sawtelle.

Cute aesthetic, really good choice for sawtelle. first time getting hot pot, will be going back.

I got mala hotpot, broth was really tasty, meat and veggies were fresh. Also, I wish they would put a little bit more meat, different varieties maybe even better? Overall pretty good. Be warned, it's really spicy!

Interesting that this spot treats hot pot as a constructed meal where it's normally an anarchic communal event. The food is excellent. I had summer noodles and the Sichuan mala pot, both were immaculate. If the pace keeps up after the soft open period is over, I'm hooked.

I came here on my friend's recommendation and left feeling satisfied. Not feeling particularly hungry, I ordered the dan dan noodles. The noodles and ground pork were cooked well, and the sauce had just the right amount of heat that it wasn't overbearing. Though it's listed under "Small Bites," I thought the portion was quite generous for being only $6.50, especially for this area. Even with the service charge and tax, the total cost seemed to be on the lower end for what I got. I'd definitely recommend the dan dan noodles here to anyone looking for a quality noodle dish. On the other hand, the Shanto beef pot, which my friends got, didn't seem as worth it due to its price. Bonus: the complementary salad was delicious as well.

I came here for dinner, two people spent over $100 here. 16.5% constraint for service fees. Don’t order other pots expect Spicy pot. Good Luck