Our favorite Malatang spot in Massachusetts. Coming from LA, we have pretty high standards when it comes to Asian food, and honestly, most places here have been underwhelming, but YGF never disappoints. The flavor is authentic, the ingredient selection is excellent, and everything tastes just like the YGF spots back in California. Fresh, satisfying, and consistently good every time. We come here almost every week and it's still one of our favorite comfort meals. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

I love Malatang! This place was alright! It wasn't the best malatang place I have been to (not the cleanest or the most options for mixed in), but it hit the malatang craving. The minimum 1 pound requirement is always annoying. I end up paying for a pound and then eat like 25% of it lol. Build your own bowl, weigh, and pay. read more

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Malatang is one of my favorite foods, so I've always wanted to try YGF as it is one of the most popular brands that are in America. This spot in the back bay is a bit smaller but still has a good selection of different ingredients that you can put in your bowl. From veggies to seafood to meats and noodles, I thought everything looked very fresh. You order at the counter, they cook your bowl, and they bring out your food and water to your table. Service was great. For their sauce, I got their dry mix. Maybe it's because my expectations were high but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. The dry mix was very peanuty and creamy--which wasn't something that I was used to or expected in my malatang at all. I felt that it overpowered the ingredients. Overall, maybe I should've chose a different sauce but I thought that it was just okay. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

3.5 Overall. It's what you'd expect for malatang. The price can easily add up with adding a little bit of everything into a jumbo bowl. Everyone in my party spent anywhere between $25-40 / bowl before tax and tip. I liked the yam and green noodles (in package) that you can add to your bowl. Wish there were more seafood options for pescatarians - that I believe other malatang joints in Allston/Boston have. For the marinated meats, it would've been more sanity to have separate tongs just for those to ensure no downstream contamination. I get everything gets cooked in an extra hot broth prior to eating, but still! Service was fine, nothing to write home about but also no complaints. Lots of students and hungry young folks eating here. Not the worst or best, but decent choice if everywhere else is packed on a weekend night! read more

YGF Malatang - Tomato sweet and sour malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

The food here is pretty good. You put food in your tub and you pay by the weight. Half of the self service items were missing though and not getting restocked. Another thing here that needs some work is the service. It was my first time here so when I finished paying, the cashier asked me if I wanted to eat here or to go. I said I wanted to eat here to which she then printed out a receipt and demanded for a tip if I wanted to eat in. I found that a bit odd since everything I had done so far was self service and there was no sign saying that I had to tip in order to eat in. Normally, I'd leave a tip if there was good service but I feel that I only did it because I was forced to and she was pretty snappy about it. Overall, great food just not great attitude. read more

The first time I went here, it seemed nice and I came back 2 more times after that but I have since noticed that the service has worsened after every visit. The first thing I noticed was that there were no more aprons. Then, I noticed that you have to pay before the food is made. The worst part though is that you have to not only pay before getting your food but leave a tip if you want to dine in. This place barely has any seats in it. It's quite loud and there is a make your own sauce bar. I most likely won't be going back though because my food was terrible last time and I had to tip and pay before the food even got made. read more

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Fresh food for real!!!! You choose, they cook. Amazing. Meats, all vegan options, fresh veggies, noodles of your choice! read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

First time here. We just randomly found this place. You just grab the bowl, pick whatever item you like (variety of meat, veggies, seafood, and noodle). They will wait it and give you number. Once it's ready, they will serve at your table. My hot pot was perfect (I asked for little spicy but it's more like medium to me). My husband's one was super spicy. Be prepared if you want to order spicy. read more

YGF Malatang - Beef bone broth with some spice - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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The food (MalaTang hot pot) was very delicious. The services was great and fast. I enjoy this self pick your ingredients of meats, vegetables, noodles and broth and they cooked for me. My first time in the City and at this location. read more

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The food isn't bad, but service and pricing were not the best. This is a pay as you weigh spot so how much food you put into your bowl determines the price; the price per pound is honestly way too high in my opinion for the quality and quantity of food, but maybe that's just me. The bowl I got was almost $50 - definitely more than I expected given the quantity of food! Service was difficult to work with as well - people are rarely walking around so it was hard to finally get our check as they said they would bring it to us, but they never really appeared until we asked again. The place was also not that clean - I don't think they wipe the tables down every single time between parties. Overall, I probably wouldn't come back, but I think this is an okay spot for malatang-esque food. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

One of my favorite malatang places. The broth is delicious and rich, and there is wide variety of ingredients to choose from: bok choy, potato, a number of mushrooms, a number of noodles, beef, lamb, the list goes on! But be warned: you must get at least 1lb of food. At the time of this review, 1lb is $14.99. You can also pair your meal with a custom sauce, as there is a sauce counter to the side of the restaurant. Seating can get tough to find when it is a busy hour, but it's easy to get a seat if you're 1-2 people. Music isn't too loud, so it's a great solo eating spot. read more

YGF Malatang - Beef bone broth - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

We were excited to try New England's first YGF Malatang, as we've heard good things about the ones in California. There is limited seating available, and it was quite busy ~5:30pm on a Sunday. Thankfully, the servers are efficient, and there's relatively quick table turnover. This restaurant is a build-your-own malatang with a variety of vegetables, meats, and noodles to choose from. They had a large selection of high quality options including enoki mushrooms, beef, lamb, konjac noodles, wide bean noodles, frog legs, multiple types of tofu, beef and fish balls etc. You pay per pound and then choose a soup base (tomato broth, beef bone broth, or dry spicy mix) for the kitchen to prepare your ingredients with. They also have a free self-service sauce bar with scallions, hosin sauce, sesame sauce, orange slices, and more. We tried the beef bone broth and dry spicy mix. Both were fragrant but notably salty. The weight of your items quickly adds up, and everyone I came with spent ~$28 to $50 on their individual bowls. The ingredients are fresh and it's a unique dining experience, but for the price of dining here, we could've gone to an all-you-can-eat hot pot place or have a big Sichuan meal together instead, so I probably won't be returning anytime soon. read more

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Absolutely not coming back to this place. Servers expected tips, saying it's necessary when dining in, and won't let you finish paying until you do so. Although we planned to tip in cash, it made us not want to tip them. Bone broth was not very flavorful and lacked depth. It tasted like water with a hint of savoriness. We had to add more of the sesame peanut sauce in order to save the broth. Noodles were overcooked and fell apart before you can pick it up. They had a good selection of add-ins and a decent sized sauce bar so it's unfortunate that this location missed the mark. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

I love this place I always come here when I'm feeling down and I feel comforted. Especially with such good food:)

No tip, no frills, self serve malatang with amazing taste. The service is more of DIY make your own bowl. You grab a huge bowl and you pick whatever you like from veggies, meat, seafood, and noodles. Then they weigh your bowl, you pick your sauce or soup, then pay. I enjoyed the dry sauce a lot. Had a hot and peanut taste. The ambiance is a bit small to be honest but people eat so quickly there is a high turn over rate. read more

My friend and I visited Boston and decided to grab a quick bite. We ended up at YGF since it was close by from where we were. Like any standard Malatang spot, you pick your own ingredients and weight it for the price. It was 14.99/lb. The bowl came out to around $24 which was quite pricey for malatang. This was fine with us since we just assumed it's Boston. We find a seat and the bowl was brought to us. There was a sauce bar where we can get our own dipping sauce and water. The food was actually really tasty but what threw us off was the service, or rather the lackof service. When I went up to pay, the lady at the front told me the total bill with tax and other services whatnot was ~$24. She showed me the scanner for my card and I saw that she had pre-selected the highest tip option. There was really no service for me to tip for besides the bowl being brought out. I was going to tip regardless but the fact that it was pre-selected was outrageous. I changed the option to no tip and scanned my card real quick. She told me that the tip was not included in my bill and I told her that I know. I told her that I would give her cash instead which she agreed to. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this place for malatang in Boston as there are many other better spots you can go to. read more

In the area and decided to stop by and see what the malatang hype is all about. The service wasn't great and the place looks very casual and slightly close to run down. I like the idea of picking whatever you want to eat and pay by weight. The turnaround was quite quick and maybe for that reason, the soup was not steamy. I actually wondered if it was cooked because there were no signs of steam. But it was and the flavor was decent. Nothing impressive but does the job. The dessert was pretty good though. Overall, this place is great for a quick meal. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Food: authentic mala flavor with medium spicy broth. The flavorful broth went well with all the veggies and fresh meat. To order, you have to pick ingredients you self and the staff with weigh them - has to be over 1 pound Staff: kind and friendly I take off a star because it was hit pricy for malatang - 1 pound was around $~18-20. But the food was good and ambience was clean read more

YGF Malatang - Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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We were excited to visit YGF since we've been to their locations in California before. We went shortly after opening and could tell that the staff was having trouble keeping up with the business (lots of the items were running low). We tried the beef bone broth and the spicy mix flavors. The spicy mix comes with the sauce on the side and you mix it in yourself. The beef bone broth was quite flavorful. Overall we enjoyed both though we were a bit disappointed by the lack of options. It also seemed a bit pricey for the amount of food we got (each bowl was ~$30) since it's charged by the pound. The dining space is quite small so it might be hard to come here with a larger group. read more

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Hot pot without the hassle! I've been to the one in Bellevue, WA and was so excited for it to open here. You grab all of your ingredients (meats, fish/meat balls, veggies, noodles), choose your broth, and they cook it in the back for you! You can build your sauce while you wait and find a table (which can be challenging given the limited seating). Once it's ready they bring it out to you. Overall fast and easy process, delicious, and at a good price point (~$15/lb of ingredients). I thought they had a good selection of ingredients, American and Chinese drinks, and the sauce station was pretty good. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

wonderful place, amazing food, this pace was so great. good food and great service. food is very fresh

I love the build your own hotpot concept, and I enjoy being able to add as much as I want. It's really easy to add too much food into your bowl, but as long as you keep some restraint then it comes out to a reasonable price. My bowl was ~$20 and made me very full. The service was pretty quick and is a great restaurant to go to on a cold day. read more

YGF Malatang - Menu - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Loved the idea of choosing your own topics and customizing! Great customer service and good food

YGF is my go to spot when I want to have comfort food. You can eat as much as you want or as little as you want. You choose your portion. Definitely will be coming back read more

Very friendly workers and great fast-casual hotpot option. Lots of variety and good flavors. Highly recommend.

service was nice but food was very mediocre; meat/seafood options weren't all that appealing, vegetable options seemed fresh, broth was not very flavorful overall a decent meal but nothing special read more

YGF Malatang - Beef broth option with various toppings - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

This place quickly became my go to for vegan food (it also has non vegan options if you prefer that). The types of tofu, shoots, mushrooms, and other veggies they have here is often more than what you can find in dedicated vegan restaurants. I've never got bored of the menu (you could likely configure it as much as you can a deck of cards). There's enough variety on the side menu as well (chillies, garlic, scallions, etc and my favourite - sesame + sugar). There's only one vegan broth, but I've been pleased enough! read more

This restaurant is one where you pick out all the stuff you want buffet style, they weigh it, and then they'll cook it with broth or a sauce. As a result, nothing is really perfectly cooked, but it's a warm, hearty meal. The selection is pretty decent though; the staples you'd expect, and some interesting things like frog's legs and konjac noodles; the meat was fine, but some of it was frozen. The bone broth wasn't super savory, mostly kinda salty, which is what kept it back from being a higher rating, and only 'okay'. I think you could tell from how many people had leftover broth instead of drinking it all. The line is quite slow moving, and there seemed to be seats available once you got to the end of the line, which was a concern when looking at how crowded it was! read more

I've never experienced such insanely rude service as I did at this restaurant. I normally find it to be pretty cheeky when restaurants have a high tip already selected for you when you check out. But not only did they do this, but the worker made a SPECIAL POINT to watch me as I selected my tip amount. And then told me I HAD to leave a larger tip!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!! Mind you, this is a restaurant where not only is there no table service, but you are personally responsible for assembling the food for your meal yourself. Not just selecting what you want, but actually physically selecting everything. Even asking for a tip at all when I have assembled the food seems totally insane to me. Let alone having the tip automatically selected for you! Let alone the worker watching as you make your selection!! LET ALONE them then admonishing you when you don't make the proper selection!!! Truly above and beyond horrible service which I have never experienced anything close to in my life. It really ruined my entire day and I will never be back again. Unless you enjoy being admonished to pay EVEN MORE than their already extremely overpriced food, avoid this place like the plague!!! read more

I love their beef bone broth medium spicy soup. Good price and amazing soup. i come here every week.

This is a small restaurant by Newbury Street that serves personal hotpot. The concept is fun: you fill up your own bowl with raw ingredients (meat, vegetables, noodles) and then have them cook it in a broth of your choice. I've been here twice and have tried two broths. One is the bone broth and the other is actually not a broth at all but a dry spice mix. I ordered a bowl of rice each time because I like to eat rice with any form of soup. You have to have a minimum of one pound of raw ingredients and you are charged by the pound. I believe it's around 15.99 per pound. The dry mix I ordered by accident the first time I came because I thought it was going to be a broth. I really enjoyed it and the mala spice was delicious. Not everything is evenly cooked which makes sense considering everything is cooked at once but each item has a different cook time. The second time I got the beef broth which comes in two levels of spiciness. I enjoyed that as well and I make sure to fill up on the meats each time to get my moneys worth. There is a good variety of ingredients to add to your bowl and it gets made quickly. The first time I went, there weren't many people. The second time was after the Celtics parade so it was packed. It was so packed that I had to sit at a table with some strangers to fit everyone in the store but the waitress made it work. This place seems to be understaffed unfortunately, because it looked like there was one or two waitresses for the entire restaurant when it was its busiest and they were stressed. I love this type of food and anything with mala spices. The price is fair for what you get so I will recommend. read more

YGF Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Food was decent, but I must note some ingredients tasted very stale like the tofu, and the meat also still had a tinge of frozen taste. Nice that they had different broth options like tomato, beef bone, and dry pot. But what really made my experience sour and unwilling to come back and support this place is the waitress today who refuses to let you go if you don't tip her until she's satisfied with how much she tipped. She asked us for a cash tip which we were OK with and handed it to her but she loudly asked for more and wouldn't let us leave. It was audacious considering this was self-service and we did not even get any service from this waitress or anyone else, so I didn't believe in giving a bigger tip nor do I feel like they deserved one to begin with. Go support Kung Fu Malatang in Allston instead because they have never done me wrong and the malatang there is better anyways! read more

it's ok. you have to pick everything you want in a bowl, they weigh it, then you pay and they prepare it in the kitchen. i love veggies in my malatang but to get moneys worth i always get more meat. wish that veggies were weighed and paid for separately read more

**FORCED TIPPING**. The service was awful. The server voided my check because I didn't tip enough then proceeded to force me to tip or else I couldn't leave. I wish I read the google reviews about tipping extortion. read more

They charge you by pound which isn't bad for $14.99 a pound but you have to get minimum one pound which is a scam because usually Malatang restaurants don't require a minimum so you can just get as much as you can eat. The spicy dry sauce they put on their food is rancid. I don't even know how to describe the taste of it but it was so bad that I couldn't even use the rice and other sauces they had to mask the taste and I couldn't finish my food. The people that work at the front to weigh your food are also rude. It's a small restaurant so it would probably be best if you didn't eat here at a busy time since there's not many tables but I wouldn't recommend eating here at all. read more

As someone who isn't typically a go-to hotpot fan, I actually really like this spot and if it weren't for space issues I could see myself going often. I thought the format of getting your raw ingredients and then turning them in to be weighed and cooked was streamlined, and I appreciated the freebies (snacks and orange slices) as well. The broth and ingredients weren't anything fancy, but for the price were well cooked and soothing to eat. I think it's relatively easy to not over spend and stay at a reasonable quantity since you pay by weight, the main problem is that the space is extremely cramped which is difficult for staff and customers when dealing with bowls of hot soup. If I can see it's not too crowded/during off-hours, I would pop in again, but I anticipate seating being a problem as opposed to other restaurants that are further away and not as tasty. read more

I like your food very much. The ingredients are fresh. On the whole, I'm satisfied. I think the price is reasonable. Everyone is about 20 dollor. But the last time I went, I saw on Google map that you opened at 11:30, but you were still preparing for it. You didn't let the guests in until 11:45. At that time, it was very cold outside. Fortunately, the food is delicious, and the serving speed is very fast, about ten minutes. read more