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    Mala Canteen

    4.3 (103 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Order Mala Canteen Takeout or Delivery

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    MALA CANTEEN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

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    Create Your Own Mala Pot and Shanghai Scallion Oil Noodles
    Grace L.

    My boyfriend and I love coming here, it's one of our favorite local casual spots for mala and Chinese skewers. Service is always quick and food is consistent (at least the mala pot/dry pot and skewers). Def reccomend (:

    大盘鸡 Big Plate Chicken $24.99
    Yixin L.

    We enjoyed all the dishes we selected. The big plate chicken was a good portion size to feed 2 people along with flat thick noodles at the bottom. The chicken was cooked soft. The chicken and fish maw soup was creamy and rich with 2 small abalone. The boneless chicken appetizer had a good amount of spice. The Sichuan beef flank noodle was my favorite. The meat was cooked very soft and noodles at the bottom were the perfect paring for the soup. The make your own mala tang was also nice and you can ask them to make it less spicy. We added rice on the side to pair with the extra soup.

    Camilla W.

    Located in RTC so there's garage parking (free for 90 mins then paid after 90 mins) and minimal street parking. I liked their interior design a lot giving it an indoor outdoor feeling. They have a very large menu to cater to what everyone wants from drypot to noodles to skewers. I normally get their create your own drypot and skewers and sometimes their branzino. They season everything very well. This time we also got the cumin lamb Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo) that was very flavorful and the bun was so flaky like a croissant. They also have an extensive section on drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic for a decent price. We got a miller lite for $3.50 which is uncommon these days. It's always busy whenever we go for dinner but the servers were still attentive to us making sure we got what we needed.

    Deep fried pork sticks - crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside
    Betty L.

    Finally got a chance to try this relative newcomer to the "square", aka Rockville town center. Because of its name, we knew that most items on the menu would be spicily numbing. However the waitress told us everything can be prepared with degrees of spiciness which is good to know. The interior can be considered as casual but clean and nicely spaced out tables. Prompt service and substantial menu with good nonalcoholic drinks and beer/wine. We ordered a cold noodle in chilled broth which is quite unique in taste and accompaniments. The noodles are the kind made with mung beans so they are delightfully chewy. The place also specializes Skewers so we ordered two kinds/ pig intestines and lamb shank. Both have strong cumin seasoning. I would come back again to try other items and may try items with 1-2 peppers next to them.

    Oil Spilled Wide Noodles
    Julie K.

    Came here with some friends to try the mala tang. We got to add as many portions to our hot pot as we wanted. Opted for beef and a bunch of veggies. As for the flavor, I honestly was not a huge fan. Strong sesame or peanut flavor, which is fine with me. Good amount of spice too. But for some reason the soup tasted super gamey like lamb or goat. I'm guessing and hoping this was a one time thing because maybe they cooked the soup in the same pot as before or something it just tasted SO gamey. Every bite just wafted of lamb (i dislike lamb). I'm guessing it's not normally like this but the lamb really threw me off. I asked a waitress if there was lamb in here and she said no, so I'm guessing just a case of cross contamination with soups or maybe meats, idk. Really enjoyed the oil spill wide noodles though. Super cheap but absolutely delicious. A massive portion of flavorful stir fried noodles with some spicy oily sauce made me salivating. Definitely next time I come here I want to try more of their other dishes instead of the mala tang. For the price too, these noodles go so hard! Also the interior is pretty cute. The seating boots are large and can fit like six people maybe but they're super nice. Def can imagine inviting friends here for a meal.

    Amy Y.

    Food was really good here! It's located in Rockville Town Center so there's street parallel parking as well as garages with free first 2 hours. The noodles and eggplants were definitely my favorite and I would be returning for these dishes! I'd consider my spice level to be a little less than moderate so the lamb was a bit spicy for me but I tolerated it okay. Enjoyed my time here and would return again! Also their plum juice is really good too.

    Malatang oil spill noodles
    Lei Y.

    I came for a quick dinner with a friend! The interior was nicely decorated and I really liked seeing the succulents in the corner. The staff was nice and efficient and ordering was really simple since we could just scan a QR code and order online! They still bring a check at the end of the meal but the initial ordering can be done on your smartphone. Malatang: it's fully customizable! The minimum requirement is 5 items and I got 2 meats and 3 veggies. Overall it was really satisfying and the broth had a lot of body and was a bit creamy from some kind of nut butter. The total came to be about 15$ Oil spill noodles with an egg added: the oil spill noodles were really good with a lot of that numbing spiciness! They're definitely oily since that's where all the flavor comes from but overall for around 9$ it's a great price to come and try

    Mala Pot and Scallion Oil Noodle
    Sarah M.

    The food here was amazing! Tons of options to build your own mala pot, and the skewers, while a bit pricey for their size, were absolutely delicious. Super authentic and out of this world--I'd definitely go back. The vibe is super cute inside, and they even sell succulents! Service could improve but the food more than made up for it!

    Kung Bao Chicken. Huge order (same size for lunch and dinner). Vegis are crisp, lots of peppers, nuts and large chicken pieces.
    Jeff B.

    The restaurant specializes in hot pots and skewers. We have had both the Mala Tang (in a soup) and the Mala Ban (dry - not "dry" in a bad way, it's a mixture of ingredients - meats, veggies and spices that are moist - not dried out. It's called dry.) I really like the Mala Tang soup. To me, it's almost addictive. One thing I will suggest is that you talk with the server about spiciness. They have a non-spicy soup that I don't find very interesting (I had it once) and a "spicy" version. I told the server that I did not want something ridiculously spicy (as an aside, we went to one Hot Pot place in Gaithersburg and ordered "spicy", Neither of us - and my partner LOVES spicy - physically could eat the soup or any of the veggies or meats that touched it. It was absurdly hot. The manager came over and diluted it down with broth so we could eat it.) Here, the server immediately suggested I order the soup "baby spicy," which I did. And it is perfection. With each mouthful, you get the complexity of spices and it is delicious. Maybe one day I'll try full spicy here. Since you decide what ingredients you include in the Mala Tang and the Mala Ban, you control how much you eat. I usually get 5-7 items, mostly vegis, and am completely satisfied, sometimes with leftovers. My partner goes heavier on the meats (5-7 items), and always has some to take home. To be honest, we first started coming here for the lunch special ($9.99 for most items), which is a more traditional chinese food combination plate. Most recently, we ordered take-out of these combination plates on their convenient app - one order of Curry Chicken ($9.99) and Kung Bao Chicken ($9.99). Each order comes with a large box of white rice, two spring rolls and a can of soda. You truly can't beat the price for lunch. (The price for these items goes up to $13.99 each for dinner, which is still a good value. For some reason, we ordered at 5 pm on the app and were given the lunch price. But I digress.) My partner is really into curries, and the chicken curry has a nice curry flavor. The Kung Bao is spicy (but not too spicy). The portions are huge (we usually order for lunch and take half home for dinner.) The spring roll is "fine." - We ordered an extra spring roll order by mistake in a take-out order once and ended up throwing them out. As I said, they's OK but not memorable. OK. more honesty. We come here a lot for lunch. We love these lunch entrees. We get them almost every time we come to eat in the restaurant at lunch time. It's gotten to the point that the server sees us walk in, shows us to a table and immediately comes over with two cans of our "usual" soda and asks if we're having "the usual." The service here is quite friendly and efficient. We are glad we found Mala Canteen and am glad we branched out from the chinese plate combo for lunch to now coming for dinner for the Mala Tang and Mala Ban. For take-out, the app is very convenient and offers a bit of cash back for ordering by app. The takeout orders (including the soup) are packaged very well for transport. Most of the customers here appear to be Asian and many order items much more exotic than my partner and I. One day I hope to have the courage to branch out further and try some of these more exotic-sounding offerings.

    Samantha T.

    We love the dry hot pot here, we usually get the beef brisket & ask for less spicy. The skewers are pretty good too. We got the beef and lamb skewers they put it on the same plate and couldn't tell which was which. But, they were all good. We haven't tried the beverages here yet, but saw a lot of people ordering different beverages. The service is always quick and friendly. There's a 2 hour free parking garage that's a short walk over.

    (Create Your Own) Mala Pot
    Shivana D.

    Tried Mala Canteen recently on a slow Sunday afternoon. We were seated immediately and able to place our orders via a QR code. The food came out very quickly too. We ordered a create-your-own Mala Pot, and followed the recommendations for the number of items to include to serve 2-3 people - I believe it was about 10 items. The portion we got was much larger than expected, but still very reasonably priced for two people. Everything tasted good! I'm not a spice lover so I opted for the mild level, and the Sichuan spice was flavorful and a little numbing, but definitely tolerable. I think we definitely got larger portions of the non-meat items than meat items, but every item tasted fresh. I would definitely try this again!

    Mala Pot
    Jonathan L.

    Excellent for chili heads! Spicy, but still flavorful, the mala pot was so good. Order the brisket, fish and tofu. Skwerers were cooked perfectly and seasoned well. Had the lamb, chicken, hearts and lava tofu. A Thai tea (or two) as well as beer to put out the fire.

    Boneless Chicken in Chill Sauce 风味口水鸡

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    5 months ago

    Just updating this review to say it is still so gooood!!! I'm a stan forever. Never change. Love me some tinfoil eggplant and dry pot

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    Food and. Service were excellent. Prices are competitive. Menu options are numerous.

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    Chopin Noodle House

    Chopin Noodle House

    4.3
    (98 reviews)
    5.8 mi
    Locally owned & operated
    Certified professionals

    This is by far the best Lanzhou noodles in MoCo…read more We've been eating the owners noodles for 5 years since before the first location when he was selling it inside another restaurant. Happy to see his nood soup still killing it and winning awards. Order the #1. Add some chili oil. Try a side or two. That's all you need. I personally like noodles, my kid loves belt style, my wide loves knife cut. They do it all and don't miss on flavor.

    We were invited to lunch with a friend who took us to Chopin Noodle House. Interesting concept,…read morebut forget about the piano and the music - the food is fantastic on its own. I got the Scallion Oil Noodles - chewy, hand pulled noodles in a smooth oil dressing. Pair it with the chili oil kimchi for a nice contrasting crunch. My favorite, however, was the Tofu with Century Egg Salad - a small bowl with cubes of soft tofu and quartered century egg and chili oil. Lots of textures and tastes thrown into a tiny little bowl. Be careful - as proof that this place is authentic, their "vegan" vegetable tofu noodle soup is served in beef broth. But once you hammer out the details of the ingredients, the taste is worthwhile. Plenty of others feel the same way - we arrived when they just opened for the day, so we got a seat, but by the time we left, there was a line out the door. If you haven't tried Chopin Noodle House yet, you're missing out!

    Photos
    B7 Stir Fry Knife Sliced Noodles
    B7 Stir Fry Knife Sliced Noodles
    C5 Mutton Chops
    C5 Mutton Chops
    A7 Tomato Beef Noodle Soup

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    A7 Tomato Beef Noodle Soup
    Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodle

    Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodle

    3.8
    (465 reviews)
    3.5 mi
    $$

    I absolutely love this place! Everything we order always hits. From the cucumber salad, to the…read morenoodles, to the pancake. Everything is absolutely delicious. But I gotta say, my all time favorite dish is the cucumber salad. OMG I could eat it all day everyday. It is just so perfectly seasoned, spicy, refreshing, ugh I loveeee it. The hand pulled noodles are always so good. We've had the noodle soup which is also so good. Literally everything they make is good And besides Bobs Shanghai, I am certain these are the best xiaolongbao I've had in MOCO! They are BIG, juicy, soupy, meaty and so yummy. I don't like that they always forget to give us the vinegar sauce but we ask for it anyways. Highly recommend!!

    The pork buns alone are worth the order…read more Got this delivered via Uber Eats and honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm glad I took the chance. Ordered the beef combo knife slice noodle soup, pork soup dumplings, pork wontons with homemade spicy sauce, and the pan fried pork buns. The pan fried pork buns were the clear MVP here, perfectly crispy on the outside with that satisfying crunch, but soft and fluffy inside. Super filling too, which is always a win in my book. The beef noodle soup was solid comfort food with good portions, and the dumplings hit the spot. Only minor thing - I wished the "spicy sauce" had more kick to it. Could've used some extra heat, but that's me being picky. For the price and portion sizes, this place delivers (pun intended). You're getting a solid amount of food that actually tastes good. Would definitely order again, and those pork buns are going to be a repeat item for sure.

    Photos
    Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodle
    Buffalo wing with spicy sauce (6PC)
    Buffalo wing with spicy sauce (6PC)
    Condiments

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    Condiments
    Chuan Tian Xia

    Chuan Tian Xia

    4.4
    (62 reviews)
    2.4 mi

    This is a short review based on my first (but definitely not last!) visit. Will update in the…read morefuture. Was heading home from airport after a long flight. Was feeling hangry because I had planned on stopping at Hard Times for a bowl of chili -and found out they were closed on Mondays. So, pretty much pulled a name out of a hat and would up at Chuan Tian Xia because, well, Szechuan cooking uses chiles, no? Yesssss! I ordered Signature Dumplings and a bowl of Beijing-style Beijing-style Zhajiang Noodles. The dumplings were outstanding: a mix of shrimp, pork, and chive that were plump, juicy, fragrant with the herbaceous flavor of chives. The accompanying sauce was not too sweet, not too hot, just right as a complement to the dumplings. Yowza. I was a happy camper... ...and then I dug into my noodles. Double yowza! Thick wheat noodles topped with a rich sauce made from (I think) fermented soybean paste and braised pork belly, garnished with cucumbers. The portion was way to big for me to eat after my flight, but I really, really enjoyed it (and the remaining dumplings) for lunch today. Did I say yowza? I'm an adventurous eater so the menu's less Americanized items were what I would have ordered given more time (like Maoxuewang: can you say "pig's tongue, spam, pork intestine, and beef tripe"? Protein is protein, baby!). Just means I need to come back, and I will, as quickly as I can.

    Came here after a long day from a convention. My friends and I were hungry and wanted to give this…read morea try and it did not disappoint! Everything was so flavorful and was great! We had the Ma Po Tofu, chive dumplings, sesame chicken, and noodles and out of all of those, the noodles and Ma po tofu were our favorites! Service was quick and the restaurant was very spacious and accommodating.

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    Inside
    Inside
    Fish with Hot Chili Oil 水煮活鱼(徹鱼/龙利鱼)
    Fish with Hot Chili Oil 水煮活鱼(徹鱼/龙利鱼)
    木耳炒牛肉

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    木耳炒牛肉
    A & J Restaurant

    A & J Restaurant

    4.0
    (1.2k reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$

    Benn coming to A&J for years. It's a hole in the wall off Rockville Pike with parking that can be…read moreaccurately described as "limited". It's usually packed with Asian folks who come for A&J's dim sum-style food. The food is described as "Northern style" Chinese, and it's definitely not Americanized. I've eaten many a bowl of noodles here, but my favorites are the Dan Dan Mian (with hot spicy sesame sauce and peanuts) and Xue Cai Ro Si Mian (shredded pork and mustard green noodle soup). I've also enjoyed Ma La Er Si (sliced pigs ears with hot and spicy seasoning) and Pi Dan Dou Fu (tofu with Thousand Year Egg) - things I doubt will EVER show up on a menu in my hometown. And the dumplings: oh my. I think I've tried them all, and haven't found one yet I wouldn't order again. The only downside to A&J (besides it being a drive for me) is their cash-only policy. Fortunately there are lots of nearby ATMs, but beware if it's your first visit. Prices are very reasonable and portions are perfect, so overall value is great. If you haven't been, go now, and work your way through the menu. Trust me, you'll thank me!

    If you like Taiwanese food, this is your place in Rockville! Back in the day, circa early 2010s,…read morewhen Baltimore did not have much of an Asian food offering, my friends and I would make the long drive to Rockville to have lunch here and do some grocery shopping nearby. I have kept this place in the back of my mind, with fond memories, however, have not visited in some years due to multiple moves around the country. Recently, my friend was organizing a casual gathering for our friend group, and asked ChatGPT if there were any good recommendations for food in the area that was affordable and delicious, and A&J came up as a top choice. So I came back to A&J after almost 10 years, and the food was just as good as I remembered. The decor remained simple and unchanged, but this is very typical of Asian restaurants. The menu was large, and it's easy to order by circling items you want on the paper menu. We had a mix of noodle soup bowls (so many different flavors and styles) and appetizers, and everything we tried was delicious. Our bill came out to less than $25 per person with tip. I could imagine more pretentious Chinese restaurants downtown upcharging a lot more for lower quality Chinese food (Queen's English, for example). It was so good and affordable, that I actually ended up coming back the next day with a different friend. Overall, excellent experience, and I will be back again soon! One interesting tidbit, my coworker who grew up in the Midwest and only eats meat, potatoes, absolutely no vegetables, started going here for lunch and loves it. I think flour-based items (noodles, dumplings, buns) are really the star of the restaurant, and this can be enjoyed across different taste palates! I hope you will give this place a try.

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Hong Shao Niu Ro Tang
    Hong Shao Niu Ro Tang
    Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

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    Spicy Beef Noodle Soup
    Bob's Shanghai 66

    Bob's Shanghai 66

    4.0
    (1.7k reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    A local institution - be prepared to wait…read more Bob's is a model of efficiency. When you have to wait for a table, you receive a plastic menu and grease pencil to create your order. You can watch the food being prepared behind a glass window. The Soup Dumplings are hot and flavorful. The dumpling skins have the right amount of chewiness. There are many other items on the menu. The Scallion pancakes, Spicy Tofu, and General Bob's Chicken were favorites. The room is large and simple. BRING CASH - there is a 10% service charge for credit card payments.

    I came here with my girlfriend, and prior to visiting, I was very eager to dine based on all of the…read morepositive reviews on this site. We came on a Friday night, and had to wait about 30 minutes for seating. The dining area is basically wooden chairs and tables. Not much ambiance, but that's not why you come here. We ordered scallion pancakes, soup dumplings, eggplant with basil, and noodles with chicken. I never had scallion pancakes. Nothing I would order again. I have nothing to compare, but I assume they're good. The dumplings were fantastic. The eggplant, which comes in three varieties, appeared to be a popular item with other guests. I guess it was good. I'm not a fan of saucy food. The noodles were fantastic. I feel like we ordered wrong, although my girlfriend picked everything except the noodles. This is not a place to visit if you're looking to lose weight. The hard sugar in the eggplant alone was more than I consume in two months. I'm probably not in the best position to rate our dinner as I avoid carbs and sugar. If I were to come back, I'd stick the noodles and revisit the menu to see if there is a solid chicken option. I came here hungry and left hungry as the food was not filling, and the sugar content sent my system into a bit of a shock. Nonetheless, if this cuisine is your thing, you won't be disappointed.

    Photos
    Waiting for the service not too long.
    Waiting for the service not too long.
    Minced pork?
    Minced pork?
    Eggplant with garlic sauce

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    Eggplant with garlic sauce

    Mala Canteen - noodles - Updated June 2026

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