We stumbled upon this place after waiting 1.5 hours to get into a nearby restaurant with no success. This was my first time experiencing a make your own ramen of sorts. Thankfully the rest of the fam had already been and was able to guide me on which ingredients, sauces and broths are their go-to's. Ok, so grab your bowl and tongs - proceed to the endless variety of veggies, meats and noodles awaiting you that you want and finish up with the cashier who will weigh your bowl. Select your broth - if you don't know, it's okay - they are good at giving you some guidance! After you pay, head over to the various sauces and herbs to mix up your magical potion that will go in your yumminess. All in all, I really enjoyed my home made soup! There was plenty of seating, music playing was good, free water is always a plus when you're throwing down hot soup and there is plenty of parking. read more

I really like the concept of the place. It is simple, you have a choice, and they provide delicious savory soup. As you enter the establishment, it's obvious you have to make a little bit of decision what you want on your soup. So, grab a big bowl and a tong to get started. There are veggies, toppings, noodles, seafood, & meat sections. It's $16.99 per pound, so get only items you think you will eat, or it will add up. After you pick all your ingredients, they will weigh it for you, and they will ask you what soup you want. They will then give you a number, and basically, you can pretty much sit wherever you want. I enjoyed everything about this experience, and I can see why people rate it pretty well. I can picture us coming back real soon. While this review is not too detailed, I will give a more detailed update during my next visit. Stay tuned. read more

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I like the wide, shallow hot pot bowls， they're spacious and make it easy to cook and scoop ingredients. The beef bone broth is rich and flavorful. However, the beef itself wasn't very tender. The sauce bar was also missing Thai chilies, which was disappointing since I prefer a spicier dipping sauce. Overall, the meal lacked the level of heat I was hoping for. read more

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after more than a year, i came here again and found out that this store improved a lot, mostly for the soup taste. seriously, tom yum soup is always the best!!! i think i miss the drink that i had previously. something like tea, sweet one??? and now no longer available ~ so sad though. lol... oh not to forget, the staff's name christian ~ he is great and always very energetic and full of smile. great service... read more

Mala Town - Set with Tom Yum Soup Base 冬阴功汤底套餐 (Mild Spicy)... - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Good food. Good service. Good location. Great food, great service, great location Really enjoyed Mala Town! The food was flavorful and authentic, with a great balance of spice and numbing mala flavor. The ingredients were fresh, portions were generous, and the service was friendly. Definitely a great spot for anyone who loves Sichuan-style mala food. Would come back again! read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Love malatown esp the grilled mochi!! Super spacious and clean restaurant. They have sauce recipes on the walk which is nice

Went on a Saturday afternoon, been a fan of Malatown for a long time! This time around I wasn't too thrilled with the service. My order was served to someone else and a minute later was tried to be served to me. They claimed that it was brand new and even offered to remake it which was nice. But at this point, I have been waiting for so long that I've lost my appetite. While I try not to let one bad experience ruin my whole perception of a place, it was pretty disappointing how they handled it. Not one apology was said to the other person who was served my order or to me. Probably won't be back for a while at this location. I definitely urge you to try Malatown at their other locations! Malatown is still delicious overall and have been happy with all of them read more

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Stopped by MalaTown in Pleasanton and built my perfect bowl - you grab everything you want (and they have everything) and pay by weight. Had to load up on my must-haves: fish balls with roe, enoki mushrooms, quail eggs, udon, veggies, and LOTS of beef belly + premium beef. Then finished it off with sesame paste, chili oil, and green onions from the sauce bar (they didnt have ponzu ) I went with the tom yum broth (spicy + sour = my fave), but my fiancé got the spicy dry pot with this peanut sauce and it was too flavorful with the perfect kick. Super clean space and really friendly staff, which always makes a difference. read more

Mala Town - Tomyum broth - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Went here for a quick lunch during my work break, and it was delicious Mala Town is located in a cute plaza full of fun Asian cuisines, where is there is plenty of parking. The restaurant itself has a lot of seating available, and the employees are kind and polite. The ambiance is very chill, especially since I went for a Monday late lunch. There are numerous food options that are very yummy. There is an assortment of meats, veggies, noodles, and more! There is also a DIY sauce bar with a handful of sauces and toppings like cilantro and green onion. Personally, I like to load it up so that way I have enough for 2 meals. If you have enough for leftovers, they have containers available for take home. They also offer to-go which is awesome if you're on a time crunch. Overall, love going here for my malatang fix. It's so good!! :) read more

Mala Town - Set with Beef Bone Broth Base 招牌牛骨汤套餐 - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

The service is really fast and their stock has a large selection. perfect to share or for yourself. Very clean place too

Food: It's $16.99 per pound. They have a good selection of meat, seafood, veggies, and noodles. The meat was tender and the veggies were fresh! I got the tom yum soup base. It wasn't too spicy, but very coconut heavy. Staff: They staff here is super friendly and attentive! I accidently dropped a beef ball and after picking it up, the lady staff member offered to help me throw it away and gave me more napkins! read more

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Love it here! Will come back again and again! Everything was perfect! Very tasty! Everything was cooled and prepared well!

The food is amazing, and the service is top notch. Will definitely recommend anyone to come to this spot after shopping. read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Excellent food and environment! Very fresh! Will definitely recommend to friends. Love it!!!! read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

First time having any sort of malatang and I was happy with how many options they have. I loaded up on my faves like enoki mushrooms, tripe, rice cakes, and squid. Also got to try some random other things that I haven't had before, which were delicious as well! I got the mild beef broth and my hubby got it hot. They had so much flavor but if you can't do spicy like me, definitely lower the spice level. Service was great and I loved how clean everything was inside. They have a decent sauce bar too but the spoons were small so it was hard to scoop a lot at once. Docked a star since the meat and veggies were a bit overcooked and at $15.99/lb, it feels a little pricy when you're just scooping whatever looks good (which was basically everything). I'm happy to come back though, but with a little more personal restraint! read more

Place was clean and veggies fresh. Got the Tom Yum and although it was labeled mild it was way too spicy for me. Food came relatively fast but wish server would have asked me re: eat in or take out. I always get more than one expected but leftovers made great meal next day. read more

Great food and service. Always come here for the pot. Very easy to find parking. Always have tables available.

The staff is very accommodating for our party of 9 on a Saturday! We came at 5 PM and they helped set up the tables for us. Very clean and spacious setting with plenty of tables for big and small parties! The staff is attentive and checked in for more water and napkins. You pretty much get all the ingredients you want at the start and put it in a bowl (theres meats, veggies, noodles, and more!) They weigh it and it's priced based on that. Then you choose the broth and they cook all the ingredients in it. I got the mild signature beef broth which is a good standard soup to get! It was actually milky and had a good flavor with the veggies and meats I got. Since it's called Mala Town the mala flavor is def there. Def would come back! read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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LOVE Mala Town and the concept! YOU get to pick what you want and how much. You walk in, grab tongs and a bowl and go through a line of different food items that you can add to your bowl. Anything from greens (spinach, cabbage so forth), mushrooms, proteins, other vegetables, and noodles. Then you choose if you want it to be a soup or stir fry and they weigh your bowl and you pay. While you wait they have a sauce bar with an assortment of options to add. I appreciate the aesthetic of the bowls and how the whole location is decorated. Customer service is ok, but I come here for the food which I 100% recommend. read more

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Did you go down to Mala Town? Well we did. And we kind of wished that we stuck with our regular restaurant across the freeway, Zhangliang Malatang. Lol! Seriously though, there were some hits and some misses. Let's start with the good. The restaurant itself is large and spacious. The buffet bar area is also more spread out and it was easy to pick the items we wanted. Selection of toppings was also pretty good. Staff were polite and helpful, but they were not very cheerful. There was an ample amount of sauces to choose from. I really liked the beef bone broth base (mild) - it had good flavors and didn't seem horribly greasy. I will say the mild is still pretty darn spicy. I would not recommend it to kids or other people who are spice intolerant. We really loved the beautiful metal bowls that the soup came in. The food also came out pretty quickly and it was steaming hot. But the restaurant was very empty on a weekday for early dinner. The hand cut noodles were some of the best noodle offerings. I thought their Ramen was a little too soft. Things that were not good: missing tags on some of the toppings. We had no idea what some items were. And dirt on some of the vegetables and mushrooms...I wanted more of both, but it wasn't easy to locate clean pieces. One of the worst things were the prawns with the heads and shells still on them. These were clearly not defrosted properly, and likely soaked in water, given how incredibly mushy they were. They would not even stay together after you took them out of the shells! We were very sad that we wasted our precious ounces on them!! We threw some away without even eating them. Definitely avoid these. The de-shelled shrimp were better, but they still had a strong preservative taste. They were missing green onions in the toppings station. The cilantro was also looking kind of wilted and yellow on the edges. The minced garlic looked really good though. The fish maw chicken broth base is very weak and lacking in flavor. However, it is actually mild. The tomato broth base has a little bit of flavoring in it that kind of reminds me of rhubarb. It is not a pure tomato soup if that is what you are expecting. One kid was okay with it, the other one was not. It seemed kind of expensive for what it was. For three bowls of soup and toppings, it was nearly $100 after tax and tip. We did have some soup left over for the next day, but we added more noodles to it. There is some loyalty program you can join that will probably give you a better discount. Overall, it was okay, and we will probably not be returning, but trying out some other malatang places or going back to our usual spot, Zhangliang Malatang. read more

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Let's start with... this is not Malatang and it is not nearly as good. And let's be honest, many of us come here because the wait for Mumu or Kura are long. The lady who weighed our foods didn't even know the broth names- had to repeated myself many times. The operation isn't well organized. My biggest irk is the fishes had that slimy residue which tells me they aren't fresh. The sauce spoons are your dessert spoon- maybe trying to save on unused/excessive servings, but they are annoying and just holding the line. Also, the seats aren't first come first serve- they are assigned but nobody instructs customers at paying counter... read more

Ambiance is very roomy and spacious. Not my first time here but always like to come once in a while. I really like the fish maw soup. Also ingredients are fresh. Service was quick and accurate. read more

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I've come here twice now and I left unimpressed both times . The first time I came I had the sichuan flavor soup, the 2nd time I had the sour soup . The variety here is great but the soup flavor here just isn't that savory or tasty . The sichuan soup is spicy but lacking any umami ness. The sour soup was tasty but the soup lacked any flavor or depth . YFG and zhangliang both taste significantly better to me . I like how they have free drinks here ! But the soup base just isn't for me , it's really light and I had to add a lot of chili oil / other flavoring to have taste . read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Enjoy the food here! Easy for kids too! Great service. And clean. Lots of variety. Come here quite often. They also have an app for deals

I went there twice now to give it another shot and order a different broth but, mehhh. The first time I went i got sichuan style malatong, but it wasn't flavorful. Just oily and spicy. So I deicded to try it again last week and get beef bone broth and get medium. Still same thing! It was just spicy but no flavor. It wasn't savory at all. It is almost like spice and water. My friend got the sour and spicy soup which was pretty good. But how can they fail on two soup bases and these two are my favorite ones. I still gave it a couple of stars because I do like the variety of noodles and fish balls and veggies. However, I wont be coming back here again. There are other mala places that I enjoy a lot more. Service and ambiance were okay. Nothing to complain on those parts. read more

Mala Town - You can see how oily my bone broth soup on the lower half of the pic vs my friend who got the sour and spicy soup. - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

First time trying Mala Town and took my whole family! Each of us got a different broth and I would have to say the classic bone broth was most impressionable. Other places usually have super super light bone broth but this one has the most flavor! The signature bone broth is slightly salty especially when it cools down . I would say the tomato broth is at the bottom of the list for me (still good). Very spacious parking lot and in a great location too. I do wish they had more toppings options but still more than some other places! Would recommend if you're already in the area and looking for a new place for try read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

I ordered a mala xiangguo to go and when I tasted it, it was not mala xiangguo at all! There is no mala, the sauce was basically peanut butter, and half of the stuffs were not sauced. The tofu skin was clumped together. I ordered beef but lamb was put in instead. I went back into the store, the employee was very apologetic and made me a much larger malatang. She was incredibly nice and professional but the second time she still gave me lamb instead of beef. I also realized that the chef in the back was also not Chinese. This Mala Town branch clearly failed to train its employees well for them to be making these mistakes! It really is a shame considering how good the other Mala Towns in the Bay Area are. The manager of this branch ought to be ashamed. read more

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Food was so yummy! The broth was super flavorful and well-balanced. It was hot outside, but somehow we decided to eat hot pot:) Honestly, I have no idea what we were thinking, probably just craving mala tang that badly. Thankfully, the A/C inside was nice and cool, so it was actually the perfect place to enjoy a hot bowl of hot pot. It's self-service too, so you can grab as much as you want and customize your bowl exactly how you like it! Just don't forget your wallet has a limit lolol. My first visit was $32, but the second time I managed to keep it at $17!! Definitely coming back again! read more

Mala Town - Set with Beef Bone Broth Base - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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I was craving malatang and decided to try Mala Town since I've been to Zhangliang Malatang before but never this one. This spot is in a plaza across the street from the Livermore outlets, which has a bunch of Asian restaurants and a 99 Ranch Market. The inside of Mala Town is nice and spacious, which I liked right away compared to Zhangliang. We grabbed our bowls and tongs, but as I started picking ingredients, I realized they actually don't have as many options as it looks. There were quite a few things missing that I usually get at Zhangliang like tofu skin, fried egg, marinated egg, quail eggs, pumpkin, and a few others. Another thing that bothered me was the weighing process. When they weigh your bowl to meet the minimum, the amount they see and the amount you see is different because they say they have to subtract the weight of the bowl. Honestly, I think that's unnecessary since other places already include the bowl weight to make it easier for customers. I ordered the beef bone broth with medium spice. It wasn't very spicy but it was definitely oily. The condiment station was fine, and they have self-serve water along with a complimentary strawberry drink, though the drink was way too sweet for me. Overall, I don't think I'll be coming back. The lack of ingredient options and the weighing process make it not worth it for me. Zhangliang is much better in my opinion. read more

Mala Town - Beef bone broth medium spicy - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

always come here whether it's a hot or cold day! fresh ingredients, delicious soup bases, & good sauce bar! read more

Mala Town - bar - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Had a really good experience at Mala Town! The food was flavorful and had a good amount of spice, and there were plenty of options to choose from. Everything tasted fresh, and the portions were solid for the price. The staff was friendly and the service was pretty quick too. Definitely a good spot if you like mala and spicy food. I'll definitely be coming back! read more

The restaurant has a clean, open space with plenty of seating. Prices are reasonable, though I wish I had gotten their signature soup at medium. The mild version had barely any spice (the mildest I've tried among malatang soup bases). They have a sauce bar, good service, and a wide variety of meats and vegetables, making it easy to customize your meal. read more

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I was SUPER excited to hear that a Mala Town was opening near me because this is my favorite malatang spot in the area based off the locations in Milpitas and Union City. However, I was super disappointed my first time here. It was near their grand opening so I thought they would try harder, but the vegetables I saw were not fresh and I ended up not getting much vegetables in my bowl although I wish I could have gotten more. On top of that, we were there around 2 hours before it closed but the sauce bar was completely unstocked and running out of some of my favorites including peanut sauce, green onions, garlic, etc. They had free sweet juice/tea available though, so that partially made up for it. I would recommend staying away from the Sichuan base, because it's purely oil (in my picture). My dry pot wasn't made the best either, and the sauce they put on it tasted slightly disproportionate (a bit too much peanut sauce and not as much of the other fun stuff). I know what standard to set because I have had very pleasant experiences at the other Mala Town locations. Hopefully they step up their game with the veggies and sauce bar. read more

Mala Town - dry pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Mala Town is my favorite hot pot restaurant out of all the ones around the Bay Area. When I found out they finally opened one in Pleasanton, I had to try it out, especially since the other locations are a bit further away and set my expectations high. When I visited, it was a Friday evening and it wasn't too crowded - literally no wait time, just walked in. The restaurant was fairly clean; however, around the table areas there was food on the floor but I'm sure this would be cleaned up when the staff has a moment to clean it up. There were customers eating inside, but it was nice that I could take the time to choose the ingredients I wanted without feeling rushed. The tongs and the bowls were ready for use and the first ingredients to select were the vegetables, then tofu and seafood, noodles/carbs, and then the meat was last. One of the biggest differences I found with this location was that it lacked the variety of ingredients available. The Milpitas location was well-stocked with many different ingredients to choose from so it was a bit of a let down that this location didn't stack up. Hopefully Pleasanton can add more choices to their menu! One important thing to keep in mind is that they charge $15.99/lb! As you gather your ingredients, your bowl's weight will be measured so it's super easy to eat with your eyes! :D After you gather your soup ingredients, you can select a beverage for an extra fee, which they have a decent selection to choose from otherwise tap water is available. Once you reach the check-out counter, you'll pick your soup broth. There are 6 types of soup flavors and 1 dry mix you can select as well as choosing the level of spice level. If spice is an issue for you, start light and know that you can add chili oil or spice to your soup separately. Some of the soup broths contain peanuts or dairy and they have vegan options. After you pay, head to the sauce bar to build out your sauce or toppings for your meal. The food comes out relatively quickly, especially if it's not too busy. It probably came out within 10ish minutes for the entire table. If after you finish eating and you have leftovers for home, they have to-go cups you can utilize with no additional charge. If it's cold out or you're just craving something warm and comforting, Mala Town is an excellent choice to satisfy your hunger needs. read more

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A bit of a mess, but I thought it was surprisingly delicious. There's an open counter where you grab meats, vegetables, and other goodies. You put them all in a pot, it gets, weighed, you choose a sauce or broth and it comes back ready to eat. They have lots of options, with a pretty diverse range of meats from the familiar to the less common. There's lots of families here, with children being loud and touching food before putting it back. It's also not super clear how often food is replaced, but sometimes you just have to go for it and hope for the best. I was not super optimistic, but once I tried what came back, I was a believer. The mala-blend was really good. And the meats and veggies all tasted like they were fresh and of good quality. Not a bad option when you want a tasty, casual meal in a pinch. Just be ready to embrace the chaos. read more

While the Chicken Fish Maw soup tasted great to me there were all sorts of wrong when we came here for dinner on a Saturday night. When we arrived, the place looked hella busy, so busy that we weren't sure if there was going to be seating for us by the time we're ready to eat. You start the process by picking out your selections. (I've been to other malatang places before, this is usually not how you begin the process. You usually start with getting a seat assignment before picking your options.) After you pick your options, you then go to the cashier to tell them which broth option you'd like, then we told the cashier where we thought we'd be sitting, then pay. (So the problem with this is, it's so discombobulated!) After we paid, we had to figure out where to sit because the area we thought was available, was not, because there's too many people up and about getting drinks, utensils or sauce, etc. We eventually found an area to sit and waited at least 30 minutes for our food to come out. While we were waiting for our food, my reflection on the whole process while still in the middle of it is-- the option selections were very minimal, they were easily at least two people understaffed, and the entire process is just not ideal especially if it's super busy and understaffed. After we got our food, while I enjoyed how tasty my broth was, it was disappointing how shallow the bowl was. I needed more broth! The broth was not proportionate to the amount of food was in the bowl because they have one size bowl. One star because the staff that was working there did the best they could despite how understaffed they were. One guy was doing cashier, cleaning tables, refilling the water station, cleaning up the sauce area, refilling the food selection, answering questions, etc... Where were the owners!? read more

Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

I really love when the malatang broth tastes like it was simmered for hours for full flavor infusion. Mala Town is nicely decorated and there is ample parking and plenty of seats. The service was a little lacking, I guess because they were short-staffed that night because no one was at the counter when we arrived and after someone was there, they left before we finished our meal which wasn't very long. read more

Mala Town - My malatang - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

Stopped by for dinner around 6:30pm on a Saturday and there were plenty of tables available. There's quite a few seats, and definitely not as cramped as Zhangliang. At first glance, the food display was not the most aesthetically pleasing, and there seemed to be less of a veggie selection than Zhangliang. Some of the meat (beef) was also stuck together so it's hard to grab individual pieces. There was a noodle called golden oil noodle which was a thicker ramen, and it was good! The sauce bar was standard. I didn't have too high of expectations upon first glance, but the broth and ingredients surprised me after it was all cooked. Unlike Zhangliang, this place gives your meal in a shallower bowl, which makes it easier to see all the toppings you've picked. There is still a really good amount of broth even though the bowl seems shallower (it is fairly wide though). In addition, there was a big container of iced lemon water that you can pour yourself. I opted for the Tom Yum mild. It had a good flavor to it, not as sour as I'd thought but it still had a good depth to it. Mild was not spicy at all, so I'd probably opt for the next level up when I return. They added a lemon to the broth too, which was nice. Compared to Zhangliang, I'd say this broth had no mala in it - I'd actually prefer that. Definitely a place worth trying if you like Zhangliang! read more

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First time at Mala Town! Compare to all the mala hot pot restaurants, this was by far the biggest one! The interior was nice and very spacious. It is also very children friendly! Besides the food, the customer service is A+. The waiters were all accommodating and nice. They are attentive and keeps the place the clean! read more

Mala Town - Interior - Hot Pot Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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I love trying new restaurants, so when we drove by and saw a long line outside a newly opened mala tang spot at Pacific Pearl, we had to check it out. They were running a grand opening special--50% off through Monday, July 28--so the line was understandably wild. At first, I was a little concerned about how long it would take to get seated. But I have to commend the staff: they were attentive, fast-paced, and incredibly organized. Special shoutout to the guy managing the line--thanks to him, we were seated in about 20-30 minutes, which was impressive given the crowd. The ingredients were fresh and there was a wide variety: meats, dumplings, meatballs, vegetables, and different types of noodles. You can choose from six broth flavors. Their house special broth is the beef bone broth, but I decided to be a little adventurous and went with the chicken fish maw broth. The chicken fish maw broth didn't taste fishy at all--the chicken flavor was more prominent, and the broth had a smooth, comforting flavor. I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for something that's not too creamy or too spicy. I also tried my parents' beef bone broth, which was pretty good, and the Sichuan broth, which was okay but leaned a bit too spicy for my taste. I definitely prefer the chicken fish maw broth personally. Overall, it was a satisfying dinner, and I really enjoyed the food. The only downside was the sauce bar--it was a bit chaotic. A lot of condiments like green onions, cilantro, and soy sauce had run out and weren't being restocked quickly enough, likely because the staff was overwhelmed with the crowd. That said, it was totally understandable given the grand opening rush. The staff was friendly and really handled the pressure well. read more

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