Finally a really good malatang place in the east bay! Don't get me wrong, I love Pixiu in Oakland, but sometimes I'm craving toppings that only Chinese Malatang has (like tripe, intestines, blood, etc.). Whereas Pixiu has the tamer toppings - which are good too. Zhangliang has great broth options. Their regular bone one is delicious and I tried their mushroom which was really flavorful. Their toppings are awesome and I love the intestine - it's nice and tender. The tofu skins were plentiful and I loved all of them. The meat is tender as well and I love that they have multiple meat options. The sauce bar is to die for - I love the sauce bar! Lots of great options. The pricing here is very good for the bay area too at $15/lb. Plenty of seating here too. Great place to take friends! Only good things to say about Zhangliang! The only con is that it's in downtown berkeley and parking can be a real pain, but if I'm craving malatang, I'll bear through it! read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Boyfriend got medium spicy bone broth. Yum! - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I'll admit that I'm a novice when it comes to hot pot and was overwhelmed by the abundance of mouthwatering toppings to choose from. Bins upon bins of fresh veggies, seafood delicacies, tofu products, and various noodle shapes and sizes tempted me, and I took the approach of selecting one of everything that caught my eye. By the time I reached the cash register, I was alarmed at the sheer volume of food in my bowl. For the broth, I opted for the classic bone broth with medium heat, which the cashier assured me was not actually spicy. My bowl was cooked and delivered to my table in about ten minutes, and I immediately noticed the pools of chili oil that floated to the top of the broth. Along with the nearly boiling temperature of the broth, my mouth became numb after eating a few bites. But it was SO GOOD! All of the random toppings paired surprisingly well together, and the broth had a rich, savory flavor. Since I had gone a little overboard with the toppings, I had enough leftovers for two more meals after eating as much as I could. The servers are quick and attentive, and the restaurant was very clean. (Note: there are no napkins, so bring your own). Because the restaurant was starting to get very crowded at dinnertime, the tables had to be turned over quickly - which is a good sign, especially when there are so many restaurants to choose from in Berkeley. On my next visit, I plan to try the tom yum broth (and pace myself with the toppings!). read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Bone broth with assorted toppings - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

i love malatang & this place is such a solid place to go theres a waitlist you can put your name down on, but its never too long. once youre called, you can get seated and walk over to the ingredients to pick out items for your bowl. they weigh it, hand you a bracelet w a number, and you pay at the end! i always opt for the classic bone soup which is $14.99/lb and do medium spice :-) my bowl usually comes out to be around a pound but i always get less than i think i need bc i get scared of going overboard LOL while waiting for my bowl to come out, i always make my sauce at the sauce station in the back! the malatang has this slight sesame/peanutty flavor which i very much enjoy and they fill your bowl to the brim w broth so i always take half home to enjoy for my next meal!! ive also tried their spicy dry work but i think i much prefer the broth version. also parking is a bit tough bc its downtown, but i always find neighborhood parking across the street or further down!! read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

love love love this place. been here a couple of times with friends and it never disappoints. the selection of toppings you can put in your soup and the different flavors you can add are to die for. i personally love the classic bone soup with the spiciest possible level. i have a high spice tolerance and it definitely has a little kick to it. definitely comparable to hai di lao spicy soup. the sauce bar is amazing too. the sezchuan chili is my favorite the servers are pretty fast and attentive. they give u a big jug of water for the table so you don't necessarily have to ask them for anymore. getting the check was a hassle as it was busy last time we came but not a problem with us. the vibe is pretty chill. there's a lot of berkeley students eating and doing work here. pretty casual and great place for dinner :) can't wait for my next time read more

Zhangliang Malatang - classic bone broth super spicy - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Was so excited to see Zhangliang open in Berkeley! This is a very popular chain in China and I'm glad to see one can expect the same standardized level of quality and freshness at this location. Imho there just wasn't any malatang spot in this area that has been able to hit the mark, so very thrilled that this is now available. Got takeout from the restaurant today and the service was pretty seamless. I was a bit concerned about over-ordering based on the previous reviews, but mine came out to be about $15 - it was pretty filling for lunch so I'm guessing dinner for me would be between 20-30, which is still not bad for what it is. Cannot wait to come back next week again! read more

Haven't been to a malatang restaurant before, but this was a great one for my first experience! Don't come too hungry (or do) because it's $15/pound which can sneak up on you while adding all your favorite ingredients. They have an excellent array of meats, seafood, veggies, mushrooms, fish balls/cakes, noodles, and more to choose from. The service is simple but straightforward: pick your ingredients, give it to the cashier and get a number bracelet, sit at the table you're assigned and they'll bring back your food after being cooked (dry stir fry or in broth) The atmosphere is pretty casual with a good amount of seating, a sauce bar to make your meal even more magical, and bowls of all sizes. I will be back and hope to try something different read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Super yummy but the mild is still super spicy LOL...my stomach was burning I recommend the fish tofu and tempura and the basic noodles so yummmm read more

Super yummy Malatang they probably have the best broth out of all the Bay Area malatang places! I come here at least twice a month. read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Choose your broth and spice level as well as the noodle and ingredients you want is the idea behind the restaurant. Be careful, it's easy to get carried away and end up with 2 lbs of food! Simple, fast, and easy. Love this location as there is a wide variety of items to select compared to others. As this is on Shattuck, parking is going to be difficult but it's well worth it! Come closer to closing if you don't want to wait in line for long. read more

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It's like a limited-portioned hot pot, which is great for someone like me who wants to control their diet. The restaurant is clean and well-organized, and the food is displayed clearly. There's a wide variety of ingredients and sauces to choose from. I picked the tom yum soup base, and it tasted really good. Lunch for $20--pretty nice! read more

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Not bad! Another quick grab n go lunch spot in berkeley... service goes fast because it's been pretty busy ever since they opened. Everything was fresh and affordable. I'd say the soup options are okay, there's only like 4 soup options and you can't choose the spice level which is fine because they actually have a sauce bar(like hotpot) so you can add more spice or make a sauce. Unsure of what my bowl weighed but I shared it with my friend, our bowl came in a large bowl and it came out to $23. (bowl at bottom of pic) My vegetarian friend had a smaller bowl and hers came out to $10! Super affordable. As I said service is fast which is good, the workers pay attention but they also like to rush you. My friends and I were still eating about halfway done and one of the workers came over with a to-go bowl. LOL. no way we stayed that long?? We thought it was funny but we were only there for a 1 hour. We noticed they did the same with other tables but it's okay, not a bad thing because they're attentive i guess. read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Tom Yum soup Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Dry noodle mala bliss! Come here early (try 5pm) before the crowd gets in! Fill your bowl with whatever your heart desires, they weigh by pounds - very affordable - then pick your broth or better yet do the special dry noodle, spice level, and make your own delicious sauce! This was a delicious experience... can't wait to come back! read more

The food was good, the choice for filings excellent. As somebody who isn't the most experienced with Hot Pot I found it difficult to know how much to take. I wound up ordering a touch more then I'd normally want. It's embarrassing ti admit but at the end of the day I might be better off sticking to restaurants that choose my portions for me. read more

Zhangliang Malatang - My bowl. Mine alone was almost $40 for tax and tip - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Rude service and long waits. When they seated people after me (parties of 2, I was a party of 1 so no difference) and I asked, they were extremely rude about it. By that point I've been waiting for over an hour (it was a busy night and I was a walk in so it was expected) but I was getting agitated since everyone was getting sat except for me. Decent selection of food, soup, and add ons. Wouldn't recommend. Rather drive a little further and head to a malatang place in Oakland. read more

Great food selections and quick services The atmosphere is really chill as there's a lot of space so you don't feel like you're bumping into people The dry mix has a numbing taste if you're into it Highly recommend! read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Dry stir fry - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Expect a long wait if you have a large party, but the mushroom broth is delicious and the price is right.

Awesome i really enjoyed the spice and the flavors of the malatang. reminded me of hot pot read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

This is peak, I've gone at least twice a week for the last year, best comfort food ever.

Eh, not bad but not amazing. I've had numerous malatangs before, including this franchise across the bay. I'd have to say that the one in Mountain View is so much more better than this. Given that they have just opened, I think they have a decent variety of choices in terms of what you can put in your bowl. However, why is the soup literally just a bone broth with chili sauce/oil on top LMAO Service was also insanely horrible lol, we got a number to wait in the queue but the worker was literally just telling anyone to have a seat. What's the point of getting a number in line then? They were also just not the nicest people to other customers. Would I come back? Maybe for the cheap prices and I should give the dry mix a shot before I make conclusions. But I probably wouldn't bring friends here to dine for a chill experience read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Very yummy hotpot, lots of options, and the meat is always fresh. Pricing is quite good too, defiently check out if you want good hotpot near campus! read more

Lemme start by saying I'm kinda new to malatang Outside of tastypot(which is offic not the same thing) but lemme tell you Tasty pot, get out the way. I went way over board and spent enough for 3 meals(which I now have) - still worth it! I tried everything I wanted. It's a more involved but more treat yo self meal then flat but noodles. Highly recommend making your mix of chili oil, garlic, plenty of green onions/cilantro, with a lil sesame oil to make things interesting. I got everything - noodles, scallops/mussels, meat, gizzards/tripe - and it was all either tender or cooked perfectly read more

Malatang charged by the pound. Prices are fair. Quality of vegetables are good as they seem to be fresh. Meats are kept cold and frozen. Broth flavors are savory and there's a sauce bar if you want to alter the taste. Lots of seating and perfect for a cold day in Berkeley. read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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We came here for dinner on Sat night. We came early there were a lot of space, around 6 pm but by 7 pm, people were waiting for tables. Selection: The selection was not very big. Meat, there were Lamb and Beef. I was surprised that they didn't even have pork. There were about 4-5 veggies options, a couple of noodles options. The other Malatang places probably have about 3x the options. Soup options: I actually really like the tomato soup. Unfortunately, I was not blessed with high spice tolerance. Otherwise I would love to try the dry pot too. The bone broth was good too, but mild was still spicy for me and my family. This place is a good addition to Berkeley food scene. Was it one of the better ones? It's okay, but nonetheless satisfied the craving read more

Was walking around downtown Berkeley looking for places to treat myself to a nice weekend lunch after a long week - ended up walking past Zhangliang Malatang and doubling back because of its abundance of window stickers that reminded me STRONGLY of the restaurants I'd been to in China this summer. Turns out, it's a malatang chain based in China with several locations in California. First impressions: inside is very clean, lots of seating available at 1:30pm on a Sunday. I was a solo diner, didn't have to wait for a seat. The servers lead you to a table, then you go to the refrigerated section to select your malatang ingredients for your bowl. They have an assortment of beef, lamb, tripe, fish balls, vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, glass noodles, rice cakes, etc. The cashier weighs your bowl, you select your soup base, then you tell them which table you are seated at. The food came out relatively fast - I got the standard bone broth base, though next time I'd definitely like to try the mushroom base. It was a hot summer day so I wasn't really feeling spice. Overall, this was a super nice comfort meal. Total cost me around $25 with tip included (my bowl was around 1 lb) so not cheap, but it definitely could've lasted me another meal as well. Will come again! read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Absolutely love the food but terrible service. Friend got yelled at for not "tipping enough" at a self service malatang bar and was refused to get a to-go container. Lowest tip starts at 18 percent and if you click other amount they will give you an attitude. read more

This is a chain and I've also been to the San Mateo one. Parking is okay if you're going during the weekday around lunch or avoiding post work hours or weekends. The only thing is you need to pay for street parking about $4 an hour. Came here with a group of 3 (4 total) during weekday lunch and was seated immediately. Easy service, and pretty much get what you want and they charge you by weight. It's $15.99/lb. Simple and easy. Staff knows Chinese so if you don't speak English it's pretty straight forward. Add everything you want into a bowl, it's weighed, you select the soup base and you sit down. There is a condiment bar for you to get sauces. I love the beef bone soup with medium spicy - it's perfect, addicting to be honest. I love getting the lamb and beef rolls. Everything seems clean and very fresh. I tried the mushroom soup too which is good but I still like the beef bone most. Tomato soup is very thick, and not my favorite (don't like tomato soup in general), although it was popular between the others that I came with. Great place for hang out, family, or maybe even a date. read more

If I could give zero stars, I would. Zhangliang Malatang is the definition of do it all yourself -- you pick your own ingredients, make your own sauce, get your own water, and basically serve yourself from start to finish. That's fine if the food or service makes up for it, but neither does. The real issue? The outrageous behavior at checkout. After doing literally everything myself, I tried to tip less than 18%, which was fair, considering there was no actual table service. The guy behind the counter looked at the amount, canceled the payment, and told us to try again with the "proper" tip. We said we already tipped, but he canceled it again and insisted we tip more. Are you serious? Extorting tips for a self-serve meal? Completely unacceptable. Incredibly rude, pushy, and unprofessional. I won't be back, and I'd recommend everyone think twice before going to a place that bullies customers over gratuity -- especially when the customers are the ones doing all the work. read more

The concept itself was really cool! It was my friend and I's first time trying out Malatang. We all had a general idea of how it works- firsthand grab an empty bowl and put in toppings you'd like in your soup. But, it would have been nice to have a worker explain the procedure, as we noticed several people came in waiting for service when it's.. self-service. Now, about that. The workers seemed to be in an overall rush. There was a good crowd in the restaurant but no one waiting at the door, so why feel the need to stare us down? We were there for an hour. When the bill came, they did the typical ~worker comes over with a machine and stands above your shoulder waiting for you to press a tip~ thing. The pre-filled tax suggestions started at 15%, by the way. We were splitting between our party, so we figured cash would have been easier to partion out. Now, follow along this story. When we were all ready to leave, the workers came over, did a thorough scan of our table, and put out their hand demanding for the tips. We are all so glad we did not tip them more than we did. Let me remind everyone that the concept is self-service: you make your own bowl, put away your own tongs, make your own sauce.. you even pour your own water! We feel that ringing up our order and bringing the soups to our table does not reflect a 15%+ tip. Begging for tips on top of that was just pure nonsense and entitlement. Safe to say that we will think twice about heading to this establishment. You should be wary, too. read more

I've been a regular at this restaurant -- usually coming once a week and spending around $30 each time. My past experiences were fine, but today I finally understood what they mean by their slogan "We are different." Unfortunately, it wasn't in a good way. - They rudely rush customers. My friend and I arrived around 11:30. At about 12:40 -- while we were still eating -- a server came over and told us to hurry up because there were people waiting. He even brought over the card reader and stood there, clearly waiting for us to pay and leave. We hadn't even finished eating! I had no choice but to pack up my food. - They don't let you finish the food you paid for. A server came to clear my friend's bowl, and when she said she wasn't done yet, he walked away. But a few minutes later, another server came and, without saying a word, took her bowl right out from under her while she was still eating. - They refuse to split the bill. When we asked to pay separately, the server said we couldn't because "the card machine doesn't support split payments" -- seriously? I asked if that applied to every table, and he confidently said yes. But my friend mentioned that she'd been able to split the bill just fine on a previous visit. My guess is the server had already entered the total for our table and just didn't want to redo it. I used to think service didn't matter much as long as the food was good, but today changed my mind. There's a saying in Chinese: "You can rush workers, but not diners." A restaurant that pushes customers out before they finish eating -- and even takes their food away -- isn't one I'll ever come back to, no matter how good the food is. read more

So I didn't know about malatang till my hong kongneese friend took me, but dang, it's hella good! You pick all the ingredients you want and tell them what soup base you want and how spicy and they cook it up for you. Not only that, you could also do stir fry over rice. Lots of ingredients to choose from such as beef, lamb, spam, sausage, frog leg n seafood as well as lots of veggies, noodles n other vegetarian options. Fairly decently priced as well, depending on how much you pile on. Think it's something like 12.99 per pound of ingredients. read more

I really liked this restaurant--it was nice, clean, and neat. The service was good overall. The only small issue was that the tofu skin (豆腐皮) was a little undercooked, that was the only reason I didn't give it a 4 star. Other than that, it was a really nice place, and I'd definitely go back again! read more

Zhangliang Malatang - A little under-cooked - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Rudest establishment ever. Me and my husband walked into this shop today and we heard someone yell HEY I didn't see who said it and we stood there someone yelled hey again it was a worker sitting down eating he said with the most rudest snarky voice did you read the sign? I'm like excuse me what sign. He said the sign that says we're closed. I said no I didn't see that sign like who in the world talks to a customer like this? That's the most outrageous way to speak to someone all he should have said was hi I'm sorry but we're close or hi we're closed and i would have say okay and left the audacity to think you can talk to someone like this while working is insane to me. As I walk out the door and read the sign in the door it says OPEN COME IN so then I reopen the door to let his ass know that the sign says open. Yes i yelled yes I cussed his ass out next time don't talk to people like that because sir I'm not the one. I would never go back to this store with workers that like you'll close down soon. read more

I love the food here it is always amazing but note to customers especially if you're in a group beware the server. For the most part it is self service almost like self service frozen yogurt so I wouldn't give out a tip but they expect you to and they call it a service fee. I had lunch here and they went back to try and charge me a service fee and it's always the same employee. Even when I dine alone he tries to force that one me which is insane. Just beware the food is great but the employee not so much. read more

Maybe I'm rating it 5 stars because I love hot pot... BUT ALSO I have high standards because of this. The broth... oh my .. so GOOD. I got medium spicey bone broth. The seafood was actually good quality!! Like what. You pay $15 a pound. It's easy to serve more than you need. Fast service & free sauce. Busy spot, casual but modern. I got to take broth home, will be bringing hot pot lovers here. read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Variety to choose from - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Staff spilled boiling hot pot on my mother's lap, did not apologize, and did not remove the item from the bill. Where was the manager when this happened? Incredibly rude, rushed us out of the restaurant and complained in Cantonese that we did not leave a tip. read more

It's a pretty cheap hotpot place. Get anything you want, they only weigh by the pounds. read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Bar area - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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this restaurant literally picks your tip amount for you without giving you a choice. i had to call him out on it and he looked lowkey surprised and scared that i noticed. i honestly regret even tipping after that (i changed it to a lower amount, not the one he picked). i should've tipped 0. this definitely feels like a way to rack up a lot of money off clueless college students who don't realize what's happening. read more

One of the worst service I have received at any restaurant, and horrible ran operations, the whole experience was chaotic. The food was decent, but got food poisoning from it. 0/5 read more

Food is good, ingredients are usually pretty fresh. Super customizable and the soups are flavorful too. They have a customizable sauce bar which is nice. The place is pretty small and gets pretty busy but service is usually pretty quick and efficient read more

Zhangliang Malatang - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

My go-to spot whenever I want a warm bowl of mala. Really friendly service and good prices. Simply decorated but clean and welcoming. I really love both the dry mix and spicy bone broth soup. Love the variety of ingredients to choose from. read more

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