All the food we ordered had the same exact spice. We didn't care for it so we didn't eat any of the food we ordered. I'm not a picky eater. That experience was far from pleasant. The ambiance was nice. If someone likes that type of spice then they might love this place. I won't go back. read more

Mala Chili is a real find for lovers of Sichuan cuisine. Most of the dishes were delicious and pleasantly surprised with bright tastes. The interior is comfortable and the atmosphere is cozy, which makes the establishment a good place for lunch or dinner. The ordered dishes basically met expectations: the noodles were saturated, and the dumplings were tender inside. Some menu items seemed a little heavy because of the amount of oil, but this did not spoil the overall impression. The service was friendly, although sometimes it was necessary to wait for repeated visits of the waiter. Nothing critical, but there is room for little improvement. In general, I recommend this restaurant to those who are looking for good Sichuan dishes in a relaxed atmosphere. I am happy to try other items from the menu. read more

We had a reservation during the crazy winter holiday break. They put us in a room near the door. People kept popping their heads in thinking it was the waiting room. Ordering was a little confusing since it was on an app on ipads that we shared. We ordered the Peking duck and the waiter said he would put the order in for us. Suddenly everything in our app increased automatically to 3 portions each. We had to renumber all the things we put in already. My son ordered one of the yogurt drinks which is around 8 dollars. He thought it was good but wasn't expecting rice in it. My daughter liked the scallion pancakes. The steamed sea bass was good but it came at the end and we were pretty full. Food was good. read more

Service was good and food came out fast but the food was just OK in my opinion. I like that they're open kind of late compared to some other asian food spots we were looking into. read more

Place was awesome. Good homestyle authentic Chinese food. Lots of drink options available. Loved the mapo tofu and soup dumplings. Green beans were crispy and flavorful. Staff was friendly and attentive. Restaurant was clean and bright. Give them a try he will not be disappointed ! read more

Mala Chili - Mapo tofu & green beans - Chinese Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I'm updating my last review to reflect a little more on the service issues. Unfortunately, it is evident that they are very understaffed. There were only two servers during a Saturday noon lunch rush. All the tables were full and there were more parties trying to come in to get a table. We had to flag a server down every single time we needed something basic. They forgot to bring our water. It took 10 min of waiting at our seat before we could get our check. We had to grab our own to-go boxes. I feel bad for the servers because they both looked extremely overwhelmed. The robot that they were using malfunctioned and drove off while a customer was picking up hot soup which could have been dangerous. I dislike that they got rid of their paper menus. Some of my family members have significant vision impairments and ordering on a QR code menu is very difficult. Regarding the food, the green beans are solid. We really liked the dry fried spicy fish; it was tender, crispy, and well seasoned. The egg drop soup was a bit bland. The cumin lamb had a lot of onion in it; I prefer the cumin lamb from House of Three Gorges. I still plan on returning for the food but maybe during a less busy hour or to get it to-go. read more

Mala Chili - Cumin Lamb - Chinese Near Me - Austin, Texas

We came right before they got busy which was around 6 pm. I enjoyed the ribs girdle. It has mushroom, crunchy lotus along with the small ribs. The flavor was Szechuan and had a tingling kick to it. I also tried their soup dumpling. There's more meat than soup in there. Skip the walnut and shrimp since the sauce wasn't good. They also had yomies yogurt in there so I tried their purple rice drink. It's a bit pricey but the flavor is good. However, they had too much rice in there so it was thick. read more

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Nut allergy - I was fine with what we ordered and highlighted my allergy on the order. A small restaurant in a big plaza, Mala Chili has about 12 tables inside. Funny enough they have a kiosk to order to-go at the door, though we also saw many people calling in and picking up. The staff speak English and Chinese. Service was extremely fast - dishes came out within 15 minutes of ordering. They've got a cute robot server that will bring out a few dishes. For two people, we got the following and had leftovers: - Spicy Chicken (4.5/5): As other reviews indicate, the portions are great, the chicken is on the levels of Korean Fried Chicken of crispy, and it's got the right about of numbing heat. Great with rice. - Hoof Flower Soup (1.5/5): Portions aren't great for the price and we actually thought it needed more salt. The pieces are more bone than anything. They did say that they're trying to dial this one in after being told it was too salty. - Red Oil Bamboo Shoots (3.5/5): Also good portions and good with rice. A little too oily, but it's in the name! - Beef Rice Noodle Soup Spicy (3/5 - 4/5): I thought we made a mistake ordering rice noodles. They were initially bland. But the meat and vegetables were pretty flavorful! I let it cool down a bit and tried the noodles again after 5-10 minutes and I think they absorbed some of the soup, giving them a good flavor. Maybe the lingering flavor was from another dish but I upped my rating with time. - Purple Rice Yogurt drink (4/5): Honestly just a unique experience that I'd recommend trying. It wasn't really for me but if you like Yakult you'll probably like it. Overall, the value is great for the dishes they did well and I will return to try the mapu tofu, maoxuewang and other specialties. read more

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We wanted to try a new place to order take out from and the reviews were promising. If you like Fat Dragon and Asia Cafe, this place is similar. They get 5 stars for their customer service and 3 stars for their food. It was fine. Nothing to complain about but nothing spectacular either. I feel the same way about Asia Cafe and Fat Dragon. Houston Sichuan food has spoiled me! I also think their prices are high for the quantity and access to similar food close by. We ordered: - Jumping fish: very light (not breaded) but tasty. Mildly spiced. I would recommend this dish. It was a decent portion and cost $18.50. - Golden pickled pepper fatty beef was recommended by the person taking our order. It was unlike anything I have had at a Chinese restaurant before, so I'm glad we tried it and it was enjoyable but I would not order again. It was thinly sliced fatty brisket in a soup like sauce that was sour, but not too sour. The name actually sums it up quite precisely. If you're looking for something different, try it once. This dish cost $19.99 -honey walnut shrimp - portion and flavor wise, it was your standard fair except they don't put the sauce on it and give it to you on the side. There is not nearly enough sauce for the shrimp and walnuts. I would not get this dish again. It was $18.50. - spicy chicken is what we usually get at any new Sichuan restaurant. It's also called Chong Qing chicken sometimes. Definitely not exceptional and quite a small portion considering how cheap chicken is and how much they charge for the dish. I would not get this dish. $16.50 - Yu Xiang eggplant. Known as eggplant with garlic sauce at most restaurants. It also comes with ground pork at most restaurants, but here there was none. It was a smaller portion than I am used to for this type of dish and it cost $12.99 They also offered homemade chili crisp for three dollars. We love chili crisps so ordered it but it was really just your standard fair chili oil. I did not notice anything crisp about it. I would not order this again. They were nice, and I am glad we tried a new place, but I would not run back here. If my review is helpful or you enjoy my photos, please like them! It encourages me to keep sharing and taking pictures. read more

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My family party of six went here on Christmas Day. It was delicious! I was impressed that the area has a Sichuan-specific Chinese restaurant. The usual Americanized choices like beef with broccoli and black bean chicken were great. But I really enjoyed the spicier and more authentic dry pot chicken (spicy!) and oxtail soup - which was the star of the show for me. I will definitely go back when I'm back in town. read more

This is my new favorite place for Chinese food! I've only had this place to-go but it's delicious. I thought the boiled beef with chili was excellent and the house made tofu. I'd love to come try their dumplings read more

Great Chinese food in the Hmart plaza. Portion sizes are pretty good, service and food come out decently quick. The store itself is not super large, so might be a bit hard to get a large group in there and while full on a friday night, there was no wait either. Friend and I tried the jumping fish, which was the best iteration of the dish I've had anywherre. Velvety soft fish in a flavorful broth, with some cucumber slices for freshness, it's everything you want this dish to be. The scallion pancakes are super flaky and fried crisp - dip that in their house chili crisp, which is on the smokier side, but very good. Fish fragrant eggplant is a good vegetable dish - while a little greasy, very flavorful and the eggplant has great texture. Many other dishes I want to try! Will definitely be back. read more

The noodles had no salt or seasoning The portions were great ! And the dumplings were good read more

We went during lunch and got 3 dishes between the two of us so that we could try as many dishes as possible and we had plenty to take back home for another meal. The portions are a very healthy size and the flavors are spot on. I wish the pork belly pieces weren't so big but they were so tender that they break apart easily when you bite into them. Even the beef in spicy chili oil was not overly spicy but flavorful. All the other dishes we saw people ordering looked so delicious as well. I wished they had more photos on their menu so when you eat here, don't forget to add more photos for others. During our lunch, a customer was having a heart attack and was unresponsive and I believe the person who was the lead staff, immediately started compressions on this man and the compressions were enough to revive him, while we waited for emergency services to arrive. I was so impressed at how the staff stepped in so quickly and attended to this man. He was truly a hero. Needless to say, it was an exciting lunch, thankfully with a happy ending. read more

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Excellent and fast service. We got our usual go to Sichuan dishes and they did not disappoint. The salt and pepper shrimp and crispy spicy fried fish were well seasoned and perfectly fried. Cumin lamb and fish dishes were full of protein and veggies. We had more than half leftover after stuffing ourselves. Will definitely come back to try more dishes! Prices are excellent. Rice was complimentary. Large parking lot outside. read more

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It's decent for a quick bite but not exactly mind-blowing. The General Tso's chicken was a bit too sweet, and the fried rice was a little greasy. However, portion sizes are generous, and prices are affordable. Good for a lazy Sunday when you don't feel like cooking, but probably wouldn't go out of my way for it. read more

This place used to be a Chinese BBQ skewers place (which used to be something else two other times) but I heard the owner was the same. I wish them luck in this next venture since the food here is really legit Sichuan cuisine. I saw a previous reviewer complaining about lack of Sichuan flavor while ordering dishes like onion beef and fried rice. My brother/sister in Christ, order Sichuan dishes if you want the "Sichuan flavor"...Some suggestions: spicy chicken, spicy boiled fish/beef, stir fry green beans, dried fried intestines (if you're about that). Overall, I thought the food here was delicious and comparable to House of Three Gorges. Talked to a waitress and she explained how a few chefs came down from Houston to work here, and Houston definitely knows their Chinese cuisine. read more

The food here is great! We got the soup dumplings and they were amazing. Service was also great especially with the little robot helper, and the ambiance is nice with super friendly staff. read more

Not sure what all the good reviews are about because all the food we ordered were pretty bad.. its not even about the service- every dish we ordered was just not good taste-wise. Not to mention the lobster soup dumpling we ordered had shells inside of it- which can be a choking hazard. There were families and babies eating at this restaurant so this was definitely a concern. The server just said they can't get rid of all the shells , which didn't make sense then why it would be on the menu. The braised beef was so tough i could not even chew it. Ended up eating radishes from the dish only which was a huge disappointment because a lot of the reviews mentioned this dish was pretty good. The dan dan noodle was the only decent part, but even that was quite watery with the sauce and didn't have much minced pork as pictured. Overall pretty disappointing experience. read more

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The food is seriously some of the best! My husband and I both are ourselves into a food coma because we didn't want to stop eating. Very casual restaurant, but clean and inviting. We will be back time and time again! I've already called 3 of my friends to tell them about Mala Chili read more

Restaurant looked cluttered when walking in, especially towards the back and didn't seem the cleanest. The husband gave the restroom a 4/10. The service was okay. It was confusing on how to order and on the tablet you can't change anything, so we needed the server anyway. Food came out extremely fast!! It was amazing. We ordered the chicken fried rice, crab rangoons, orange chicken, and soup dumplings. Soup dumplings are the best we have ever had. Rice was perfect. I personally do not like dark meat chicken, but the husband enjoyed the orange chicken. I think it would be so much better with white meat! Service was weird....asked for water twice and finally got it. No refills. Had to waive down servers to get everything we needed. All in all, we would come back for the rice and dumplings! read more

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Cute place. Love the robot waiters. The negatives; The American-Chinese options are "fine". I like to mix authentic and non dishes but I don't recommend that here. They aren't horrible but you are better served sticking to the real Szechwan stuff. The Positive: I had the best plate of Kung Pao chicken ever here. I love this dish with the real tongue numbing Szechwan peppercorns and theirs hit the spot. I will say there is a little inconsistency. The first time I had it it came out piping hot and was an 11/10, the second time it was just warm. Not sure why. I'd still happily return though. read more

Lived here for 8 years and haven't been able to find a decent Chinese restaurant- this place by far has the best Asian food! Highly recommended! read more

We've come here so many times now, and it never disappoints!! The dry fried spicy fish and green beans are some of the best food we've ever had! They have this cute little robot that delivers food sometimes, and he's usually dressed up depending on the season. Typically in a cowboy hat and bandana! You order on a tablet that has photos of every single item (very helpful but I always want to order everything that looks good haha) Waiters are pretty friendly, and everything is hot and fresh when it is brought out. They don't skimp on portions in person or for takeout! It can be pricey depending on what you order, but it is super tasty and I love taking home leftovers everytime!!! read more

Mala Chili - Chicken Pot Stickers (8Pcs) - Chinese Near Me - Austin, Texas

The food here is absolutely incredible. Very generous portions and great staff. The restaurant itself was very clean. The noodles were PERFECT! read more

The eggplant and lettuce veggies were delish. The green beans could use more flavor. The duck was flavorless and the skin was saggy. The accompanying crepes were ... weird: varying thickness, very chewy, flavor was odd. The accompanying duck soup was yummy. This place is a solid ok, but don't come for the Peking duck. read more

Loveeeeeeeeeeeee this place, can't get enough of it, almost everything you crave for is there, delicious, huge variety of meals, very nice management and staff, the place is super clean and smells verry good. highly recommended! read more

The food is delicious and more authentic than your neighborhood Asian cuisines. The service is great and very attentive. Their hot tea has edible flowers and nutrients in the diffuser! Definitely worth a try! read more

This place really rocks. Some of the best Chinese food I've ever had for sure. Hot and sour soup is very tasty. Service is excellent. The robot is cool. The food is what will keep me coming back though. So amazing! read more

Loved the food!!! Crispy chicken was delicious on top of white rice. My girlfriend also loved her crab rangoons and her sesame chicken! I also tried some of her crab rangoons and they were great. Service was great, staff was nice and friendly. read more

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The star here is mouth-numbing Szechuan peppercorn, as featured in the Soicy Chicken: But I never knew how good spinach could be until I had it here. The green beans and gyoza are also hits, and the amount of rice they provide is truly generous. Lil B loves the fun robot that brings the food, great spot! read more

I have eaten here multiple times, and never had a bad meal. I think it's the best Chinese I have had since I left San Francisco.

I sorta miss the skewers place that Mala Chili has replaced but the food here is quite good! And the portion sizes are very hearty. I usually come here to grab Yomie's yogurt but I would like to try more of their food soon. Seems to be a very busy spot during dinner time. read more

Mala Chili - Chinese Near Me - Austin, Texas

Yeah, this might be my favorite place to get Chinese food in Austin. Here are some thoughts: 1. Service - I don't care. When the food is this good, the service doesn't really matter. But no one was rude, and things came out relatively quickly 2. The spice level - TONS of options for people at any spice level. Don't let the "Chili" in the title scare you 3. Cost - unbelievably good prices. In this economy??????? 4. Space - Clean, plentiful seating, no concerns 5. The Food - Fresh, hot, plentiful. Really recommend a lot of the veggies (the cabbage was my favorite!) and fish dishes. Can't wait to go back! read more

This is now my favorite dumpling spot! This is everything we ordered. My personal fav was the soup dumplings read more

Spicy chicken and crab rangoons were so delicious. The duck and yogurt drinks were just average. But they take feedback after your meal. Hope they improve. But this place is really great. The service makes you feel welcomed! read more

I was going to give 4 stars but the service from the owner is good. There is room for improvement on Spicy Wontons and Kung pao chicken, overall experience is good. read more

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Very yummy! Nice service, the yogurt drinks are also delicious. The mapo tofu and spicy chicken were very good. read more

Mala Chili - Chinese Near Me - Austin, Texas

Mala Chili is located in the HMart complex near Lakeline Mall around a bunch of other Asian restaurants. This is probably the most authentic Chinese food I've had in Austin. I ordered the noodles as it was a cold day, and the moment I tasted the peppercorn broth, I involuntarily flashed back to my visit to China half a decade ago. The restaurant was neat and tidy. Service was good. Ordering is via your phone so that makes things convenient if you need time to look up different menu items. read more

Mala Chili - Chinese Near Me - Austin, Texas

The salt & pepper shrimp here is so good & has a unique flavor. It's a lot of food for a really good price honestly, I'll definitely be visiting again! read more