Restaurant Review: Mala Tang

If you're a fan of Melting Pot, then you should give Mala Tang a try. It's a Sichuan restaurant where you cook your meats and veggies in a small fondue pot at your table. I tried it on Friday night with my boyfriend after my roommate suggested it.

We started off our meal with pork dumplings which were delicious but they kind of fell apart as we were eating them which got annoying. I'd suggest passing on those and trying another appetizer. For the main dish my boyfriend ordered a hot pot combination entree with mala beef, "American" veggies (potatoes, mushrooms, and brocoli) while I ordered a la carte sirloin beef. We split the veggies and each meat came with a side of white rice. This was a perfect amount of food for two people...I suggest it instead of ordering two combination entrees. The meat takes about 30 seconds to cook in the broth and the veggies take around 2 minutes. I also suggest their spicy cucumber martini if you're looking for an interesting cocktail to try; it's a yummy combination of hot and cold.

Another cool thing about the restaurant is the sauce station where you can combine different ingredients to make your own custom sauce. There is a guide at the table though in case you are completely clueless about what to make like I was.

All in all, the food was incredible and the price was reasonable. It's a great alternative to Melting Pot that has delicious food as well but is too expensive to go to often.

The menu is here.

Address: 3434 Washington Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201