I was super excited to try Tanghuo Kungfu Mala, and it did not disappoint! My friends and I came around 1pm on a Saturday and had the whole place to ourselves. It was our first time, but the process was pretty straightforward grab a bowl and tongs by the entrance and start picking from a great variety of meats, veggies, and more. I went with the signature spicy hot pot broth (medium spice), and I highly recommend it so flavorful! Prices were fair for the quality and amount of food, and I'd definitely come back. Only downside was that a few ingredients in the freezer weren't fully stocked, but honestly, still an easy 5 stars from me. read more

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"Hot Pot, Mongolian Grill style, in downtown Berkeley" Came here on Black Friday evening at 6:45pm, and it was pretty empty in the restaurant. The place is BRIGHTLY lit, but I confess I would have been confused on protocol without coming with two past diners. There are some large bowls on the side and tongs, and you stack the meats, veggies, and starches from the adjacent fridge/ freezers in the bowl as you walk in, then hand it to the cashier and note which broth you'd like. They then cook it up and bring it out to you. Because they cook it with materials you picked (rather than then giving you ingredients and you cooking it), that's why I call it "Mongolian grill style". The process was a bit difficult-- I don't know Mandarin, and some choices were only labeled in Mandarin (or were clearly mislabeled). For instance, I saw something that looked like fake crab meat sticks, but later discovered it had some sort of meat filling that was not obvious. I picked as best I could though, and everything looked to be in good shape/ quality. The choices were broad-- many veggies and meats, some starches like ramen or other noodles, etc. I got the signature spicy with a setting at mild, and it had some zing but was very doable for me. One of my dining partners had the tomato and asked for "no" space, and she got what she requested-- said it tasted like Campbell's tomato soup. Meanwhile others with us got the Sichian spicy and were sweating hard. The food took maybe 10 minutes to come out, which was fine. The price was about what you'd expect for the downtown Berkeley area-- not "cheap" but reasonable for what it was-- cost about $150 for the 5 of us. Overall, I enjoyed it. Not something I see myself craving and running back to, but a decent choice in the area. read more

Such a comforting meal for sweater weather. I loved being able to choose everything in my bowl. Note that the minimum weight is 0.8 lb--I had to try a few times to surpass the weight requirement. Solid ingredient selection--some of my favorites are imitation crab, sweet potato noodle, fish fillet, bean curd stick, and fried tofu. The broth had the perfect balance of flavorful and not too salty. You can request a non spicy version of their first broth option. The staff is super friendly; just let them know if an ingredient is out of stock. After weighing and paying, the cooked bowls came out very quickly. Will definitely be back soon! read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

===TL;DR=== - Soup base: signature spicy hotpot, medium spicy level ===TMI=== I'm excited that more and more Malatang places are opening all around the Bay Area. At this place, they have the simplest of menu since they don't have much soup options atm. Went for the spicy soup base and medium heat because the lady there made it sound like it was going to be real spicy. Turns out, it wasn't spicy enough for my preference so I asked for the spicy sauce on the side to tweak my spiciness level myself. Like many other malatang places, self serve on what toppings you want in your soup. They don't have a large selection but I think they have most of what people normally gravitate towards. Once you're done, let them know which soup base you want and they'll get to cooking. I think they have potential but currently, nothing stands out for me. Hope to see their growth! Bonus: they also have a self serve sauce bar so feel free to assemble your own sauce! read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - (Dec 2023) signature spicy hotpot - medium heat - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I really enjoyed the food here, especially the sauce bar since it had Szechuan peppercorn oil! Not many places have Szechuan oil at the sauce bar so I was pleasantly surprised. The food and flavor was great too. The downsides was that there was no clear system or sign in place from preventing people who just arrived to save a seat for themselves before ordering. Another issue is that they don't refilled their utensils and napkins at the table. This place seems very understaffed, so I hope they fix that too. read more

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This Malatang place has a relatively small interior but incredibly fast service. You pick and choose everything that you want with tongs and they make it for you in 15 minutes or less. The servings are much bigger than you may anticipate because the majority of it is soup. If you think the amount of food in your bowl is going to be slightly too little, it is probably just right. For a Malatang restaurant to be great, it simply has to have the things you desire. This place has exactly that. The selection of foods is diverse and the quality is satisfactory. I was surprised by how delicious the soup was and ended up drinking a large portion of it. I'd come here whenever I crave Malatang, which since coming here, has been way more often than before. Please check out this place. It gives an experience that many other A La Carte restaurants struggle to offer. read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Tomato Base + Spicy Base - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

Delicious malatang in Berkeley! Signature beef bone soup and tomato soup are my favorite. I love the pick and choose style of restaurant, allowing me to choose the meats and veggies that I want. They're always kept nice and fresh in the refrigerator. Service is great and friendly, they'll readily refill the trays as needed. Super fast! Great soup. Can't complain. read more

I have been here several times, I like there is a good variety of choices for food and the broth is better then zhangliang. Although the red is kind of sore to the eye but that can be overlooked, the staff is nice and chill . read more

The food is not fresh at all. They also need to wash their bowls and spoons better. They still have detergent on there and it made me very sick after eating there. You should avoid. Go to zhangliang instead. read more

After a lot of anticipation, I finally tried Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town. The restaurant was smaller than I expected, but the decoration was really new and there was a lot of people there. This restaurant operates on a system where you choose which ingredients you want to be added to your malatang through an ingredient bar. You can pay by weight and choose your soup base. For around 1.7lbs of food, I paid $27. I chose the malaban option which came with peanut and sesame sauce. The flavour was good and the ingredients tasted very fresh. They offered a good variety of ingredients to pick from! I definitely recommend the quail egg and the fish ball with fish roe inside. Malatang is perfect for colder weather so definitely make your way down there in the next couple of weeks. You will feel warm and satisfied. read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Malatang - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

Pretty good mala hot pot. They have three options for the soup/sauce. I tried them all and I prefer their signature soup base. The soup is very delicious and has a layer of mala oil for the numbness. The tomato soup is not spicy and is kind of thick. Tastes just like tomatoes. They charge based on weight and it's $14.99/lb so be careful when you are packing your bowl because the number might surprise you when you check out. read more

Tried this place on a whim one night and was really pleasantly surprised! I love the style of personal hot pot when you get to pick all your own ingredients, but it had been a really long time since I've found one near me. I loved this place! All the ingredients were so fresh and they were very quick after we gave it to them. It was also fairly priced in comparison to Berkeley prices - it's $16 per pound and mine ended up being around $18.50. I thought it was well worth for the quick service, great food, and comforting, cozy atmosphere. read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Noodle soup and dry noodles - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Self serve noodles!! Actually everything is self serve from drinks and making your own sauce. Come in and you grab a large bowl and tongs, pick out the ingredients you want for bowl. There are like over 5 different types of noodles but I got the potato vermicelli since it reminds me of hot pot. Different variety of veggies like carrots, enoki mushroom, and some other Asian veggies. Protein side had fish, shrimp, squid, random types of meat/fish balls and chicken wing. The only con is that if you're a vegetarian is that there is definitely cross contamination between the ingredients, because we were using the same tongs on the meat and vegetables. read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Top: tomato soup Bottom: spicy hot pot soup - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

Yummy mala hot pot! Quick place to eat delicious food. I would recommend the spicy soup broth option. They charge by weight so just be careful to not get more than you can eat like i did. read more

rose tteoboki was fire highly recommend. It was creamy spicy and super yums! Portion size was also great. More than enough for two people, the rose took. staff was also very friendly :) read more

THE MOST TERRIBLE PLACE -- I wish I could give it 0 stars. The restaurant repeatedly mixed up our order, which is particularly concerning if you have any dietary restrictions. On our first order, they made a mistake with our order, mixing up the foods, so we asked for it to be remade. However, even after waiting another 30 minutes, they made the same error again. After two mix-ups and an extended wait, we requested a refund. Instead of offering any compensation, they refused and insisted we take out the food with us (and shouting). If you're looking for a good mala spot, I would recommend walking five minutes south to a much better alternative. read more

very nice food！Tried a few times(for spicy mix) and never regretted . Always choose mild spicy as a person who can't handle spicy food. Also tried their bbq chicken this week and it tastes good. Very affordable and great meal read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

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The owner is very nice but the food is just not that fresh. I just had the fishiest shrimp and gamiest beef stomach I've ever had. I really like this place otherwise and it's the only mala ton near campus so I am hoping to come back. Will change my rating if they actually improve. read more

The flavor is better than expected, though when they make the spicy stirred fried pot, they didn't really drain the water too carefully. The portion is also very generous and the meat is okayly fresh. It should be more like 4 stars but I give it a 5 majorly because It's kinda sad that now I graduated and they finally have an ok mala tang place in Berkeley... read more

Very nice people and a looot of food variety to choose from. The people there are very sweet, the food is reasonably priced, you can choose your own prorations (kind of like frozen yogurt! lol). The atmosphere is nice and clean. The only setback is that if you have allergies I wouldn't recommend this place, we're only using 1 tong to grab everything so there's a high chance of cross contamination even with sanitary practices! Regardless, I greatly enjoyed my time here. I will definitely come back next time I have the chance read more

Tanghuo Kungfu Mala Town - Signature soup - Hot Pot Near Me - Berkeley, California

I don't think they know how to business. I usually would be okay if the food is good even though their service was not. But their food was so bad that I wouldn't take the second bite. I only had to because I payed for it. Everyone does have different taste about what they are eating, but I doubt if anyone would like this spot. read more