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    Mala Sichuan Bistro

    4.4 (115 reviews)
    ModerateSzechuan
    Closed 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

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    Alex W.

    Usually Sichuan places will have some hit and miss dishes but this place was all good dishes! My ranking would be: Spicy crispy chicken Basil eggplant and green beans Fish with tofu Chili oil dumplings Twice cooked pork Black pepper beef

    Combination chow mein spicy (HALAL)
    Trish N.

    I love that this place had a good variety of halal options! There was only one server but she was attentive and service was very quick. It is attached to the Jusgo shopping plaza but it had its own door too. It was very spacious and had lots of tables for small and larger parties. My friend and I got a spicy chicken dish and the combination chow mein and asked for it to be spicy. The chicken was so crispy and was the perfect amount of spicy when ate with the rice 9/10. The mala numbness was good and did not overwhelm the flavor. The same goes for the noodles. They were good but just a little oily 6.5/10.

    Spicy and Crispy Chicken
    Vineela B.

    Great food! Would recommend for anyone that enjoys Sichuan style of cooking and the numbing / tingling sensation that comes from peppercorns. We ordered the Cumin Lamb, Spicy Crispy Chicken, and the Mapo Tofu with Fish. The flavors of these dishes complimented each other and hit the spot. The key is to order a bunch of dishes and eat family style. This location wasn't too crowded on a weekday in the evening. Our food also came out pretty quickly.

    Basil Crispy Chicken
    Patty C.

    I've been to a couple locations of this long standing Sichuan restaurant that originated in Chinatown. They never disappoint! This Sugar Land location is a bit smaller in size, but it still offers the full experience. Most of the dishes contain a healthy amount of spice, though they can adjust the amount most of the time. Their rendition of mapo tofu is top tier! I thought their version of water boiled fish was also stellar. There's not as much chile oil and broth as most places, which I kind of prefer. Pass on the Dandan noodles and wontons. Neither were very good. Their pork with bamboo and fungus was an interesting dish on the sweeter side. The basil crispy chicken was a good non spicy option, though it was on the salty side. Service was okay. We definitely had leftovers, but that's always a good thing.

    Mapo Tofu on the left.  Fish Cubes with String Bean Bits on the right.
    Don Y.

    My family and I have been coming to this place for several years. They have another place on Bellaire Blvd, but this is a lot closer to where we live. If you like authentic Sichuan food, then you might want to give this place a try. We try to eat here once or twice a month. The food here is great and pretty consistent. My family consist of a vegetarian, non-red meat eaters, and everything else (me). So I'm going to break down the meals into two groups and in order of what we normally get. VEGETARIAN Sauteed Seasonal Vegetable - Snow Pea Leaves or Water Spinach with garlic...depending on what's available. This is always a mandatory dish to get. Even my picky kid who hates veggies will eat this. For those who are not familiar with these dish, they are very typical in authentic Chinese restaurants. If the vegetables are fresh, it's a simple and delicious dish. Some restaurants will cook the Water Spinach with Preserved Tofu (our go to flavor), but here they can cook it plain or with dry red chilis. Egg and Tomato Fish Cubes - List under vegetarian, because we ask to remove the Fish Cube to make this a vegetarian dish. The dish isn't discounted because we ask for no fish, and they sometimes they add more eggs to compensate for no fish. This is another simple and delicious dish. It's surprising hard to make at home without a blazing wok. Mapo Tofu - If you like the feeling of your mouth burning from the chili peppers and going numb from the Szechuan peppercorns at the same time, this is another delicious dish. I'm not from Sichuan China, but I think this is pretty authentic. Hot and Sour Soup - Great soup that is vegetarian. I would have to say, this isn't consistent all the time. Sometimes it's too vinegary and sometimes it's too peppery. House Special Funky Cold Noodles - This is a cold noodle dish with a sauce I can describe as a sesame cold noodle sauce with some chili (but not too spicy). Any of the left over sauce from this dish will go on top of my rice. This is a dish we don't often get...only when we are really hungry or want to mix things up. Mala Bamboo Shoots - If you like the taste of raw garlic, this will not disappoint. It can be over powering with garlic for some folks. Another dish we normally don't get, since the adults will only eat this. NON-VEGETARIAN Fish Cubes with String Bean Bits - My kids number one favorite dish. It's small fried fish cubes, tossed with small cut string beans and pickle vegetables. There is so much flavor going on with this dish. Sometimes we order one more dish to go, so the kids can have it for lunch the next day. Basil Crispy Chicken - Picture can be deceiving with all the red look. It's not too spicy and nothing like the Mapo Tofu. You can cut down the spiciness, but my kids love it the way it is. If you eat it with the crispy basil, you will get a different flavor profile. Mala Sichuan Bistro is part of the Jusgo Supermarket, so one side of the restaurant is open to the entrance to Jusgo which makes it not too stuffy. The decor is nice, which they have updated a few times already. They have two large round table with a lazy susan, which can sit 10..but probably could squeeze more if you have kids. My only complaint are the tables. With regular four leg tables with bench chairs, your shins might take a hit. The service isn't too bad, but there are times when they are understaffed, and the poor wait staff can get overwhelm.

    Dry Pot Beef
    Nusrat B.

    When you find halal Chinese and that too szechuan style, how do you pass on that? Impossible to resist and we are so glad that we did. My husband said it was probably one of the best szechuan food he has ever had and I don't disagree. We had ordered green beans and dry pot beef. The portion so large that we had to pack it home. And we had the leftover next day which tasted even better the next day. Decor was nice too, very traditional Chinese style. Really nice and spacious restaurant with good food.

    Three pepper beaten duck $18.99
    Amelia H.

    We have dined her several times. We love love Mala Bistro for years! The dry hotpot fish is our staple order. We love their tea smoked duck. Dandan Noodles etc. We always try something different. 1st time to order the three pepper beaten duck. It was delicious . BUT the amount of boney duck meat served was unreasonable. It was less than a bite size . I'd say maybe LESS THAN a cup of servings? $18.99??? I won't recommend ordering it. We had more discarded duck bones than meat. So disappointing. Service is always awesome. Place is always clean. They just replaced the furniture. I'll still go back tho..minus the 3 pepper beaten duck dish. So overpriced..it was not worth $19!

    Beef Brisket in Golden Soup Spicy and Crispy Chicken
    Allison L.

    Mala never fails me!! I understand why this chain was awarded a Bib Gourmand. You have to do family style when you come and if there's one dish to try, it has to be the Spicy and Crispy Chicken. It is a classic and the crispy and chili oil encrusted chicken bits are a hit with no fail to anyone. It is not too spicy if you avoid the chili flakes, but be prepared to break out in a sweat because it may creep up on you! Personally, the beef brisket in golden soup is my absolute favorite. They give a great portion of beef and it is thinly sliced and melts right into your mouth. The broth is my favorite part, it's umami and pickled with a slight hint of vinegar, but so incredibly delicious. Overall, the service was great and they ensure that all dishes come out with 100% customer satisfaction. There's plenty of seating and the vibe gives traditional Chinese with plenty of wooden furniture and traditional wooden benches.

    Dan Dan Noodles

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    4 months ago

    Fresh food and spicy, delicious dishes. Very good service. Try them out! Their garlic greens was the best dish

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    5 months ago

    The food is always amazing here. The staff are very nice and food is usually done pretty quick if it's not too busy!

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    Cori X.

    our halal menu is Friday to Monday now!

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    Mala Sichuan Bistro Reviews in Other Languages

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    Cooking Girl - Sugar Land

    3.9
    (418 reviews)
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    UPDATE: The star of…read morethe menu is the boiled fish! Always numbing and tender pieces of fish. The spicy cubes chicken was crisp and tasty. The green beans were as expected. We ordered two of the sweet & sour ribs. Always goes so well with rice. The shrimp were exceptional - big, pump, tender and full of flavor! The only issue was the amount of oil used, even after we asked for less oil. I guess they need lots of oil to make Sichuan dishes. Our son came home after a big Cantonese dinner in Chinatown and tried the shrimp, then the other dishes. He couldn't stop from having a little second meal! Said the dishes were really good. We must have picked a good combination of dishes as I loved this meal!

    OVERVIEW: this is a homey small restaurant. It is simple, cozy but spacious enough to feel relaxed…read more FOOD QUALITY: Not very convincing. Very heavy handed with salt even though the person in my party that placed the order specifically told the waitress to tone down on the salt. We also asked for no MSG but they turned to sugar instead so the dishes were a little altered beyond recognition. Specifically, I ordered their Szechuan peppercorn beef. As far as I know, this dish is always all savory and there should not be any sweetness. But, when I took the first bite, it was mildly sweet. Weird! Looks like for the rest of the dishes that has sauce, they used the same dark colored sauce; so, they tasted the same. Not a lot of imagination and creativity in their cooking. SERVICE: They are quite attentive in this area. So, I would give them 4 out of 5 stars in this area. VERDICT: Would I return? Probably not. When it comes to Chinese foods, the dishes need to be superior in their taste. You really need to have skills to survive as a Chinese restaurant.

    Photos
    Spicy cubed chicken,  green beans, meat, shrimp
    Spicy cubed chicken, green beans, meat, shrimp
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    Mala Sichuan Bistro

    4.1
    (1.1k reviews)
    8.7 mi
    $$

    Food - 10/10 I really enjoyed everything I ordered. Seriously. So much flavor. I got a bunch cause…read moreI wanted to try a little bit of everything plus I was using it for meal prep anyways. I'm not the biggest fan of the numbing pepper but there wasn't a lot, just to give it some flavor so I enjoyed everything. The cumin lamb was yummy and I really liked the fish. The lotus root was crunchy and the water spinach was the usual sauted with garlic. The garlic bacon was fun to eat and I really liked the sauce. Service was great as well. Very quick to get the food out and my server was very nice when I asked questions about different items. Ambiance - 8/10 It's definitely an older restaurant. It gives me like 90s Chinese restaurant vibes if that makes any sense. I'm coming back either way. Gotta try other things.

    The food here is fantastic! When we walked in it was very busy, but we were seated immediately as a…read moreparty of two, which was impressive. The food came out quickly and everything we tried was delicious. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 is the service. It was extremely busy and it seemed like there were only two servers handling the entire floor. If you didn't ask for what you needed when they initially came by, it was very difficult to get anyone's attention afterward. We had quite a bit of leftovers and couldn't get anyone to come over for to-go boxes or the check I ended up having to go to the front to ask. Overall, great food and a good experience, but they definitely need more staff if it's consistently this busy.

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    Dough Zone Dumpling House - Sugar Land

    Dough Zone Dumpling House - Sugar Land

    3.9
    (118 reviews)
    1.3 mi

    I tried this place for the first time today. My friend & I split all the food we got but we got an…read moreorder of the cucumbers, green onion pancakes, beef pan fried dumplings, and 2 orders of the Dan Dan noodles. Everything was quite delicious and did't feel heavy one bit. The Dan Dan noodles was definitely my favorite item out of everything we had. I'll have to come back again to try more items, especially the Xiao long bao!

    Dough zone is a clean and family friendly dim sum/ dumpling house. We visited on a weekend evening…read moreand were surprised by how warm it was inside the restaurant. I think the large window plus summer sun made for a greenhouse effect. There are many vegetarian options but I thought the overall flavor for the food was just average. Service was also slow and we had to call wait staff ourselves to ask for the check, water, etc. -Dan Dan noodle - because of the peppercorn leaves a tingling taste on your tongue similar to mapo tofu -Vegetarian spicy ma la noodle - also left a similar tingling taste. Although it was rated as a spicy dish I thought spice level was on the mild end. -Vegetarian dumplings - flavor was just average for this as well. It tasted a little bland to me -Sweet and sour cucumbers - overall liked the flavors although it is a very strong sweet and sour flavor. The cucumbers were cut into a unique shape.

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    Alings Chinese Bistro

    Alings Chinese Bistro

    3.6
    (536 reviews)
    3.7 mi
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    This was my Monday's dinner at Alings Chinese Bistro, a popular Indo-Chinese fusion restaurant. I…read morewas here back in 2022 with a large party. I remember their generous portions and great variety of dishes served during that event. Since I was in the neighborhood during my dinner time in Sugarland, I decided to swing by before the restaurant closes for the night. I wanted to try Hawaiian Chicken that I saw the menu online. I was thinking about featuring it at my party. I was quite disappointed with the flavors. It's just like a sweet and sour chicken with chili sauce and tossed in pineapple chunks. But when I tried Manchuria Fried Rice... OMG, it was very flavorful and with a kick of spiciness. The savory ingredients were ginger, garlic, onion, cilantro and soy sauce. I almost finished a whole plate. I normally don't order fried rice at Chinese restaurants but this is a must try. The service was excellent. Considering being last few customers right before their closing time. I was grateful for their patience for me to finish my meal.

    Great place! The fish, vegetable potstickers, cream cheese puffs were all very flavorful. I only…read morehad some appetizers that my group split, so I did not order a full meal here. I am looking forward to ordering more From here. My favorite was the veggie potstickers.

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    X’ Kitchen 川香阁

    X’ Kitchen 川香阁

    4.5
    (21 reviews)
    8.6 mi

    X Kitchen is located in a strip center in the epicenter of Bellaire's Chinatown and is on the right…read moreside of the street if you are headed in the direction of Alief away from downtown. ( about 1 big block from the beltway.) It is a small space , but very clean and very friendly wait staff. I was greeted as I entered and seated very quickly for an early Friday night, with no issues. I ordered the sliced pig ears in chili oil, pork tripe dish also in red chili oil and an order of crispy spicy fish! All were very large portions, ( enough for 3 people ) and were quite tasty, but I felt that it lacked the numbing sensation and flavor "punch" that you get from , and come to expect from , Chinese Sichuan food! Thus the 4 stars instead of 5.. Also this is an alcohol free locale as well. So keep that in mind. But overall good food and good service too!

    Updated review. Still absolutely stellar, one of our favorite Sichuan/Szechuan places in town. The…read moreportions remain fantastic and the dishes are loaded. On top of our normal crispy chicken/twice cooked pork order... Eggplant (5/5): Great sauce to cut the heat from other dishes. Mala Duck Stew (4/5): Flavors were great, tofu was actually fantastic. The duck pieces were a little too fatty/skin heavy for me but the ones that were meaty were delicious. Mapo Tofu (5/5): Texture, spice, they've nailed it. I'd do a family style meal here rather than a multi course small plate meal in the Heights 9 times out of 10.

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