Coming from the San Gabriel Valley in SoCal, which is the mecca of Asian food, I come in with pretty high expectations when I try places elsewhere. It's a tough bar to meet. So how does Mala House fare? Honestly, not bad. Of the spots I've tried in Boise so far, this is probably one of the more authentic options, at least for hot pot, and it's pretty good overall. They offer three broths: a tomato based broth, a Szechuan broth, and a chicken broth. All three were good, but the Szechuan was the best one. It had great depth of flavor and that classic numbing heat. If you enjoy mala, this one does the job. The hot pot ingredients are a bit limited, but they cover the basics. Things like lobster balls, beef balls, thinly sliced meats, quail eggs, and a variety of vegetables. You can also build your own dipping sauce, which is always nice. Their à la carte items didn't impress me as much though. I'll need to try more of the menu to be fair, but for now, I'd say stick with the hot pot if it's your first time. Service was great. Our server was friendly. It also wasn't very busy the times I've been, which made for a quiet and relaxed experience. It's not SGV level, but definitely one of the better options around here if you're craving hot pot. read more

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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. read more

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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. read more

Mala House - Boiled fish - Seafood Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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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. read more

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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 read more

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Beautiful interior. Food is fantastic! We didn't understand it was family style. So we didn't order correctly and we ordered too much. It's probably best to ask for guidance. Anyhow, we will definitely be back especially now that we understand how it works. read more

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Authentic Szechuan flavors with generous helpings! Have been here twice and is my go to place when I'm craving Chinese food. You can also ask the chef to up or lessen the spice level! read more

Horrible. Placed an online order and ordered sesame chicken and sweet & sour. They gave me two orders of sweet & sour chicken but put sesame seeds on one. Both were soggy. The broccoli beef was inedible. SO salty and just tasted off. Ordered an order of the "eggrolls" but received 3 vegetable spring rolls that were from the freezer. Slimy, and awful. The fried rice was bland and oily. Potstickers tasted like they were made hours before we ordered them. Paid $90 for an inedible meal. Tried calling the business to talk to them about it and try to find a resolution but they wouldn't answer the phone and their voicemail was full. Will be disputing the charge. read more

Mala House - "Egg rolls" - Seafood Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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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. read more

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. read more

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! read more

Mala House - Mala Fried Boneless Fish - Seafood Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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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! read more

Best Chinese cuisine in Boise, very good, next to the market which is also nice. Would recommend

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

Mala House - No broth half filled... - Seafood Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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! read more

Mala House - Ice cream - Seafood Near Me - Boise, Idaho

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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. read more

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. read more

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 read more

I don't know Chinese food very well, but this seemed very authentic, and the people are so nice! Loved the mushrooms especially.

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! read more

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

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. read more

We had hot pot for lunch here. It was pretty good. Not crowded at lunch. Pretty good value.

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

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 read more

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. read more

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 :) read more

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! read more