YGF Malatang
Chinese restaurant · East Village ·
DIY hot pot, choose from 60 ingredients, spicy or mild broths
DIY hot pot, choose from 60 ingredients, spicy or mild broths
"A China-based chain that opened its first New York location in 2024 in the East Village, serving similarly styled individual hot pots (malatang)." - Nadia Chaudhury
"YangGuoFu Malatang, known as YGF MalaTang (or YGF if you’re really hip), this construct-your-own hot pot place has locations in the University District, Edmonds, Tukwila, and Bellevue’s Lake Hills neighborhood. Simply grab a bowl and start pulling desired items from the refrigerated showcase for a fixed price (currently $14.99 per pound). Choose wisely, as heavier meats, noodles, tofu, and vegetables add ounces quickly. A cashier weighs your bowl, asks your choice of soup base (spicy beef bone is best, with tomato available for the more timid), and then sends it back to the kitchen for you to retrieve from a pick-up window moments later." - Jay Friedman
"If you’ve ever wanted hot pot on the fly—or even to-go—YGF Malatang comes pretty close. This fast-casual East Village restaurant is from an international chain that serves individual bowls of malatang. First, you add your own mix of proteins, vegetables, and carbs from a brightly lit station to the side. Bring it to the counter, where you choose between beef bone broth, mild tomato, or a dry-ish pot with mala sauce. They’ll charge $15 per pound and then cook your ingredients in the kitchen before bringing it out to you—and you still get to play around at the sauce bar while you wait. You don’t get your own burner, like at the Dolar Shop, and Mala Project’s dry pot is a better value, but the food is decent enough for a quick solo meal if you’re nearby. Food Rundown Beef Bone Broth For the strongest mala flavor, go with the beef broth. There are three spice levels available, but even the “extra spicy” is a couple rungs below the mala broth at a traditional hot pot spot. Tomato Broth Watery and flavorless. Unless you’re extremely sensitive to spice, we’d go with the Spicy Mix instead, which is actually pretty mild. Spicy Mix This is the drier, no-broth option, but it’s not fully dry. Nor is it particularly spicy. Everything is covered in a sesame and peanut sauce with the tiniest hint of Sichuan pepper. Still, it packs a lot of flavor—just be prepared for more peanut than mala." - Neha Talreja
"This Chinese chain with 6,700 branches in Asia specializes in malatang. Pick from among 60 ingredients in tubs deliver them to the rear counter, where they are confiscated and cooked, then delivered to your table when a number is called out and you respond. Three treatments are available including bone broth at three levels of spiciness (Sichuan peppercorns provide some of the heat), a sweet-and-sour tomato broth, and dressed with a peanut sauce and no broth." - Robert Sietsema
"A Chinese chain has opened at 92 Third Avenue, between 12th and 13th streets in the East Village, specializing in malatang, a style where customers pick out ingredients and pay by weight (about $15 per pound). YGF has over 6,000 locations in China, Japan, and Korea, but this is its first restaurant in New York City." - Luke Fortney