I almost gave this place five stars. The food and speed of service came very close. Service was fast and efficient from start to finish. Dishes came out quickly and the pacing worked well, even dining solo. The kitchen clearly knows what they are doing. Flavors were on point across the board. Everything had that bold, authentic Sichuan profile with good heat and balance. The eggplant with garlic sauce was rich and flavorful, and the long hot pepper beef had great texture and seasoning. Solid execution on the mains. The only miss was the soup dumplings. The wrapper was a bit too thick, which took away from the bite. More importantly, the consistency was off. Some had soup inside, others were dry. That inconsistency stood out compared to the rest of the meal. What ultimately held this back from five stars was the automatic 20% tip. This was applied even though I was dining alone. I do not mind tipping and usually tip well, but I prefer to choose the amount myself. That policy did not sit right. Overall, very strong food and efficient service. Fix the dumplings and rethink the gratuity policy, and this easily hits five stars. read more

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I wanted Chinese food and was delighted with what I found here. However it was FRUSTRATING to locate as the name has changed - the restaurant is called The Best Sichuan. This also seems to be the name of at least a couple other restaurants in the city, and is grammatically hard to google. The restaurant's website has the new name, but the old url! That aside, if you can locate this gem, I think you will be happy. Prices are good, lots of choices, and very pleasant waitstaff. Clean restroom, too. I ordered cold sesame noodles - a longtime favorite of mine, which I can't really find properly in Maine - and soup dumplings, which I had never tried. Both dishes were excellent, though the noodles were different than expected - spicier, but not too spicy. That nice tongue numbing feeling and I think that was to be expected coming to "the best sichuan" restaurant. My partner ordered rice noodles with chicken and enjoyed her meal as well. read more

Mala Kitchen - Soup dumplings with pork - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

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Solid Chinese lunch spot in Midtown East. For lunch, we arrived and did not need a reservation. The restaurant had ample seating, with patrons enjoying their meals. We enjoyed an order of Chicken fried rice, string beans, and chicken and broccoli. The orders were very filling, and we had enough to take home leftovers. The meal was satisfying and decent, so I would like to check them out again, but it was not particularly memorable, given the competition in the area. read more

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I guess it's unrealistic to expect a lunch special when you arrive past 2:30, but nonetheless my friend and I enjoyed our impromptu meal. (We weren't necessarily headed to Mala Kitchen, but it was raining, we were hungry ... Mala was there, and we ducked in.) Having once mistakenly ordered numbing mapo tofu, I made it clear to our server (who spoke limited English) that I wanted it mildly spicy. Chef complied -- it was still pretty spicy -- and I was pleased. I call the restaurant out for charging $2 extra for a scoop of steamed rice -- how expensive is a 20 lb bag?! -- but this dish definitely calls for rice. I'm not sure what my friend got. She said it was delicious. Five stars. I thought she asked for seafood soup, but when I checked their website at home, I didn't see it. If I ever return that's what I would get. A lot of vegetables, noodles ... it looked great. Off-hour the restaurant wasn't busy. Service was fine and we left full and happy. read more

Mala Kitchen - Seafood soup - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

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Traditional Sichuan food. Good service. Food came out fast. It is a small place in Manhattan. read more

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Over the course of my life I have been to China multiple times! I am always looking for good authentic Chinese food! I was in New York on a business trip, and accidentally happened upon this place! The food at Mala kitchen was so good! I love spicy food so I would suggest being careful on the spicy, but I am so glad I popped into this place! The service was a bit slow, however, I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I came at dinner time and there was two waiters in the restaurant. I would say just be patient because the food is so good. The restaurant was not loud, and all of the people in the restaurant were laughing and having a good time! I felt very comfortable in this restaurant and felt like this would be a great place to spend time with people! I don't believe there is a bad dish at this restaurant, however, the chili oil dumplings, and the dry pot beef were incredible! read more

Mala Kitchen - 4. Pork Dumplings in Chili Oil - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

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Amazing food. It felt authentic. Service was nice. They were so considerate...even told us what typically Indians like in their restaurant :-) Best of everything was the desert - Rice ball with sesame filling. Never had anything like that. Chewy rice starch that had sweet sesame filling. Refreshing! read more

Everything was excellent! We started with the hot and sour soup and it was great. The steamed veggie dumplings were delicious. We ordered the fish with black bean and the pressed tofu with chili sauce and everything was so flavorful. The prices are worth every penny! I live in so cal now and you can't find Flo or in Chinese food like this! read more

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Got takeout from Mała Kitchen while I was in NY for work. Was relieved when the storefront looked clean and bright. Food was ready on time, which was fairly quick. I started with the hot and sour soup, which head great flavor but was more broth than veg etc. Would recommend. After that I had the dry pepper chicken which I ordered mild. It was about 80% pepper and even though I largely avoided them, it was spicy. The chicken was over-breaded and fried a little past crispy. With the chicken, I had dry stir fried string beans. These were the star of the show. Delicate and with what I would consider mild spiciness. I enjoyed these. Don't forget to order rice - it doesn't come with. read more

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I've been coming here for years, but I'm honestly shocked at how bad the service has gotten. I just walked out after trying to have lunch -- the menu clearly says lunch ends at 4pm, but I was told it actually ends at 2pm and is only available for takeout. That's nowhere on the menu. When I pointed this out, they didn't care and made zero effort to accommodate me, a longtime customer. It's incredibly disappointing, and after this experience, I won't be coming back. read more

We were doing our touristy sightseeing for 5th Ave and its surrounding on Christmas Day. We parked on 47th St. right next to Mala Kitchen. How convenient! They had their picture menu advertised outside the restaurant on the sidewalk. The point is, they successfully planted the "mala" euphoria in my mind the moment I got off my car. Despite the allure of many well known lunch trucks which we walked by, such as Biriyani Kitchen where my family got their bites, I held my urge till we returned to our car so I could get that mouth watering mala spicy chicken lunch box. Needless to say, such high pent-up expectation was doomed for a bigger disappointment. The spicy chicken looked delicious -- I think it's supposed to be the well known Chengdu Chicken -- and with a price tag of $11.99 in mid-town Manhattan it is most definitely a steal. However, the dish turned out to be mostly inedible dried chilly peppers and some green peppers; there weren't many pieces of chicken to speak of (see photos). What's worse? Each piece had more batter than chicken. It felt like I was eating salty spicy deep fried batters. The lesson? You get what you paid for. They absolutely exploited the use of batter and cheated as much as they could. I think a dish that is not deep fried would stand a much better chance of an OK experienced here. read more

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Decent Chinese food near time square off 5th Ave. we got the: Dry pot veggies 麻辣干锅 Chicken in garlic sauce 鱼香肉丝 service was attentive and the lady was soo friendly! read more

Mala Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

Food 10/10 Before I knew it, I've always been here twice in the same month, now this is midtown, I like to come here after work, I am not really expecting food that makes me wow, but I always leave wife a food belly and happy Service 10/10 Food came really quick, and no one was rushing us to leave after the finished the food. The waiter also gave us food recommendations. Overall it just feel nice to eat here read more

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Great food and very friendly service! A casual spot for food that tastes like Chinese home cooking. The whole fish was incredible, as was the lotus root stir fry. Definitely check out this spot! read more

Mala Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

One of my colleagues was bringing some lunch for all of us to share the other day, and thought it was a good idea to complement the main with some noodles and rice. A quick Yelp search brought up Mala Kitchen - they had good variety and was within walking distance to my office, so off I went. Mala Kitchen sits right off 5th Ave, and like most other midtown quick-service eateries it was filled with both diners and people ordering takeout. I decided to browse the menu and order online prior to arriving - they have a variety of basic Chinese takeout choices plus a few extras. I honed my attention to the noodles and rice sections - they had varieties of lo mein and fried rice with a variety of proteins as well as just veggie. I decided to order a veggie fried rice and a veggie lo mein. Both were good, nothing too outstanding but a solid offering along the lines with other good Chinese takeout spots I've been to. Service was good - the food was ready relatively quickly and I was taken care of promptly when I arrived. Overall, I had a good experience at Mala Kitchen - the food was quality and the service was friendly. I wouldn't be against returning if given the opportunity. read more

Dishes were good overall, but not as spicy as I hoped. The beef in the dry pot was really good but didn't really like the vegetables in it. The house special fish fillet was ok. Service was attentive and lots of seating with large tables. read more

Mala Kitchen - Beef dry pot - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

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As a Chinese stomach This restaurant is not an authentic Chengdu restaurant. Don't order lamb chops!!4 pcs for $32 and too salty, We gave suggestions to the store but they ignored us, the portions were small and full of seasonings. read more

Mala Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

We arrived with a party of four which included two adults and two kids. We ordered a house special low mien and a chicken low mien and a chicken fry rice. The house special request was chicken,beef, and pork. When the dish arrived it was very salty so we investigated and the pork was SPAM and we got no BEEF, We called the waitress over and she confirmed it was spam in the Tin as pork . UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I am a chef and I know cheap food disguise and quality food . Will we be back ? Absolutely NOT But I must applaud her for removing the item from the bill after we brought it to her attention. read more

Mala Kitchen - Spam disguised as pork with no beef . House special - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

Came here for dinner last night, food came out super fast. WOW the flavor was amazing. Everything tasted super great and we were so satisfied with our meal. We got mapo tofu, Bok Choy, and the fish dry pot. The place was pretty busy as well, and servers were nice and attentive. The only thing was that the day after I had this hangover feeling I get when I eat MSG. Also had bags under my eyes, so that must have been why the food tasted so good. I am super ANTI MSG. What a shame. read more

Went for a team lunch and ordered bunch of entrees to share. They do have a lunch special but it looks like it's only for takeout given it wasn't on the menu when dining in. Really enjoyed the fish filet with pickled veg in broth but all other entrees were tasty. Coworkers thought the entrees could've been spicier but to me it was the perfect amount of spice (low spice tolerance). The food came out really quick and the servers were attentive and friendly. read more

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There was about 4 parties seated inside on a weeknight around 6. The dishes came out when they were ready. I was a fan of the garlic sautéed eggplant which had the perfect texture and sauce. The spicy noodle soup had beef chunks that were very tender and flavorful! I ordered the roast duck which was kind of like a peking duck. Unfortunately this dish was a letdown as it was too dry and cut in which a way that the bones interupted each bite. The crunch and flavor was on point but woud not recommend that particular dish. Otherwise, the flavor of the dishes were great! Attitude of the staff was a bit dismissive and rude. read more

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I walked in yesterday evening around 6pm, and there was no one behind the front counter. There was someone taking an order at a table close to the front who glanced at me and continued taking the order (not complaining about that). When the next customer walked in, that's when she greeted and acknowledged (him) saying one moment please. Then when someone came to the front to take in the orders, I was somehow bypassed and they greeted the person who was behind me, who clearly was second in line. The gentleman then told her I was first to be helped, but that was very off putting so I left. Black people should probably just avoid this place if you want to be treated like a normal human being. They'll definitely take your money though. read more

Dry Pepper Chicken (Chongqing Chicken) is solid. The other dishes are okay. I wanted to try a new Sichuan spot. Ended up taking some stuff from here to go. I asked for extra mala and got just a normal amount. If you're in the area, this is an okay spot to dive into Sichuan cuisine. I got the following: Cucumber in Garlic Sauce $10.95 Cold Noodles in Sesame Sauce $10.95 Dry Pepper Chicken $19.95 Dry Pot Chicken $20.95 I'd avoid the cucumber dish completely. It's just cucumbers with a jelly-like dipping sauce. Worst rendition I think I've had of the dish. The sesame sauce wasn't bad at all. Far less peanut-butter-like than most others. Dry pepper chicken was fried pretty well. The dry pot chicken had a good amount of variety. I had to add my own numbing sauce to get it where it normally should be for mala. No serious heat. Again, I'd not avoid this place, but def not a destination Sichuan restaurant. read more

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Stopped by on way back from having sushi at a nearby restaurant and still felt a little hungry so I figured I'd stop by for something small. I arrived at 3:45pm and asked to see the lunch money which she refused to give me, as the lunch was "ending at 4pm" . Will I be back to probably try the food?. Never. read more

Really low-key spot, I think I could have walked by it a million times without thinking about going in. My parents really wanted Chinese food though, so we found a spot nearby that looked decent, and it really didn't disappoint! The food is quite authentic here, so you can definitely order some of the less American Chinese dishes and have a great meal. We got the garlic string beans which were good, but probably could have been fried a bit longer. The fish in spicy broth was really good; strong flavors, fish was well seasoned, and overall great. The spicy wontons were too sweet for our taste, but still good. Overall, really solid spot for authentic Chinese food. Service was also really friendly and fast. Highly recommend! read more

Delicious food and great service! Unexpectedly authentic Szechuan right in midtown not far from Grand Central.m read more

Mala Kitchen - Excellent Szechuan! Highly recommend dry pot, beef with scallions, and garlic pea shoots. - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

This was a hidden gem found close to Times Square, but away from a lot of the hustle and bustle. All the food we got was delicious. It was only 10 degrees on this oddly cold day, and the server constantly refreshed the hot tea that I ordered. All in all, it was a really great experience, and we will most definitely be back. read more

Mala Kitchen - Garlic Sauce Style - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

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Great service even though they were busy and goofed a little. Their friendliness made it all okay. The food is DELICIOUS! The duck! Yum! The pea shoots were very fresh and delicious. The wonton soup - the wontons were so delicate and delicious. I'm hooked! read more

The culinary offerings were delightful, complemented by exceptional service. Our dining experience was thoroughly enjoyable. The cumin mutton was particularly delectable. read more

Awesome, authentic Chinese food! Was great! Looking forward to coming back again soon!

Food was really great. Very friendly staff as well. Especially I recommend marbled beef in spicy broth 特别推荐酸汤肥牛和夫妻肺片. read more

Mala Kitchen - 夫妻肺片 1. Beef and Tripe in Chili Oil - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

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Food was good. Service was good. Atmosphere is not there. Would recommend for food if you are around the area. read more

Mala Kitchen - 5. Dry Pepper Style Chicken green 8. Dry Stir Fried String Beans - Chinese Near Me - New York, New York

Food was delicious Mala dry hot pot was very delicious. Service was great! Overall ambiance was great! Will comeback! read more

Good food and good service! The dishes were very flavorful and came out quick. Nonchalant atmosphere with jazz great for groups

The food is very delicious. Kangpao chicken is great. The staff are very friendly. I had a great experience dinning here. read more

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Service is great! Restaurant is very clean and spacious. Dan Dan noodles were tasty with a stronger peanut flavor. Fried green beans are fantastic. The fried rice was also delicious and very light. We will definitely come back because there are many menu items we want to try. read more

The food was absolutely delicious! We liked the fried rice specifically. The service was great. Hardly any wait and were very attentive.

A new Chinese restaurant took the place of the other one that used to be here, It was a bit far from the job for getting lunch, but they were new and I thought I should check them out. So they have lunchtime specials and I tried the General Tso's chicken for takeout at $12. You can have only white or brown rice with the lunchtime specials, I am used to more options like how about pork fried rice? It also comes with Hot & Sour Soup, Egg Drop Soup, or a Spring Roll. No Won Ton Soup, Chicken Rice Soup, or Egg roll. Well, the food was ok, I was not craving to go back and I have other Chinese restaurants nearby the job with better choices on the menu. But I can see that this place off of 5th Ave. there are not a lot of other Chinese restaurants so if you are in the neighborhood the lunchtime special may interest you. read more

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Ate in a group of 3 on a Friday night, no reservation needed. We enjoyed the dry pot with shrimp -- the flavor was great and there was a good variety of vegetables. It had a kick but it wasn't that spicy. The mapo tofu was tasty, but too oily. The home special fried rice (with shrimp and spam) was solid. Overall good, but I probably wouldn't be itching to come back. read more

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I'm originally from Chengdu city and excited for finding this restaurant in New York. My family love the food and services. Here is a must try place if you're exploring some Chinese authentic cuisine. read more