Although there were no tables available when my party arrived around 6:45pm on a Sunday evening, they told us we could start getting our food in the meantime. Pretty cramped store. Not as many ingredients as I would've liked to see. Sauce bar was also very limited. I went with the beef bone broth base (mild spicy) with ingredients like udon, quail eggs, veggies, beef, etc. Beef was pretty good! I'm usually not the biggest mala fan but the mild spicy broth was pretty good. My parents thought the medium spicy beef bone broth was a good spice level, but too salty. They liked my mild spicy one better. Food comes out pretty quickly after you get it weighed and hand the bowl over to them to get it cooked. The food came out piping hot! Overall good option if you want a fun experience of building your own bowl. So if you're craving hot soup and want a fairly quick meal (assuming no wait), then this might be a good spot for you!
Kate L.
Good food. Self selecting ingredients was an interesting concept. Seating was a little tight though
Eric Liu
Taste sooooo good! Love it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sara Lynn H.
I love Malatang. After frequenting the YGF in Milpitas, we decided to visit this one. We came right before 6:00pm on a Saturday and there was no wait. However after we were there for about 20 mins, a line quickly formed outside. For those who haven't been to Malatang place before, think of it as a "build-your-own Hotpot." The model is similar to Yogurtland. You make your selection of raw and frozen toppings with tongs and bowls, and bring it to the front to be weighed. They charge by weight. You select a broth and spice level, and then it'll be brought out to you. This location has more hotpot toppings than the one in Milpitas, and the organization is a bit better. They have more meat and veggie varieties. The meat is also more thinly sliced and seems higher quality. Unlike the Milpitas location, you pay AFTER eating. Parking is BOOTYCAKES. It's such a busy plaza with so many restaurants and a Japanese grocery market, so be prepared to wait or have to hunt a little for parking if you come during the dinner rush. Even though this location has a greater selection of items, I find that it lacks some of the charm that the Milpitas location has - but that might be bias on my part.
Evelyn k.
Pick your ingredients, weigh it and wait for them to cook it . Also choose ur base I had tomato . It was good . Will try again. There's an option to order dry .
Quynh L.
If I could eat Malatang everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I would despite how puffy I'd get from the sodium content. I'm so happy this location opened near my work so now I can take a break from my miserable weekdays and stop by for an hour of happiness! This location is kinda small, located in a super busy plaza full of delicious food. It was pretty difficult to find parking even for a Wednesday at 1 pm. It's just like their other locations, and every other Malatang place where you pick out your meat, veggies, noodles then choose your broth. I opted for the regular bone broth which is $14.99 a pound. It had hints of lemongrass flavor in it and reminded me a lot of the Tom Yum Mama Noodles. Service was quick as they brought out my food probably 5 mins after I weighed it. In the mean time, I selected my sauces at the sauce bar and set up my little station at the bar seats. The food came out piping hot which I slurped and destroyed within 15 minutes. When it came to pay, it just took them awhile to bring the bill out and collect my card which is why I -1 star. All in all, still a super great dining experience for a quick lunch break. I'll be back!
JULIA GUAN
Delicious! There are also pink mice!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Minh B.
YGF Malatang is legit so gooood! I love that I can diy my own hot pot (don't go too hefty because it will be expensive with added weights). They have good toppings options and great noodles selections. We tried the dry mild pot and the spicy bone broth. Both were equally delicious packing with flavors. Not sure why the dry mixing is more expensive than the broth mixing. But, worth to try both styles. I wish the mixings can be more spicy but no major critique here.
K D.
We went out to try YGF Malatang after going to the Livermore outlet. This place has a great variety of options to put into your bowl. I think of it like a chipotle for hot pot. We both grabbed a variety of fish, tofu, meat, and vegetables. We finalized our bowl, asking for the beef bone broth at medium spicy level at the register. They allowed us to choose a free drink as they just opened recently and it was a promotion. We waited a few minutes before the soup to come out. While waiting, we both went to the sauce bar and made our own sauces. I made us a sauce with chili oil, soy sauce, cilantro, green onion, and a little bit of oyster sauce. The food came out and it looked delicious. The soup flavor was spicy, salty and savory. The servers were really attentive and took away trash as it piled up. The food was hot and tasty. I especially like the thin beef brisket and the Ramen noodles. Potato and wheat noodles were a little too thick. Overall, we both had a great experience, and we will be coming back!
Eric C.
We love malatang. We goto milpitas location at least once a week. We happen to be at cupertino and went to this location instead. The ingredient quality was lacking. It looked as if vegetables were out there the whole day. There were flys near the food section. The chopsticks were full of mold (probably got wet at one point and they just kept it). Other than the sanitation issue, food was decent. It tasted slightly watered down compared to milpitas but still decent. I will stop coming here and only go to milpitas location.
I went to the store and ordered takeout at noon. I added a lot of beef when I made my own choice, but when I took the takeout home, I only had a small piece of beef. I don’t know why. Is this how customers are treated in takeout? Is this way of doing business too much? Who dares to order takeout to go?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Shania W.
I find myself craving malatang fairly regularly, and the rainy weather recently has definitely put me in the mood for a hot, yummy bowl. YGF Malatang is a consistently solid spot, and I always leave feeling quite content. The style is build-your-own: each person grabs a bowl that they fill with your choice of fillings, which you then give to them to cook in the broth. I like to describe it as reverse hot pot. YGF has a solid range of toppings, with a wide variety of meats, noodles, veggies, and more. They have the usual options of ramen, cabbage, tofu, pork, etc., but my parents were especially pleased to have more rare items like blood cake, intestines, and frog legs. You pay by the weight which is about $15 per pound (for me, 1 pound is always more than enough). I think this spot is great in terms of how customizable everything is; you can always adjust the amount you get depending on how hungry you are, and each person can be satisfied by getting what they want. You can also make your own sauces on the side for dipping. For the broth, I usually choose the bone broth, and you can adjust the spiciness. In general, I think the food is tasty, and I always have fun building my own bowl. Service and environment are just fine. The tables are really close together, and the service is curt but quick. There's also quite a bit of a wait as this place is pretty popular--we waited around 45 minutes on a Friday evening, but it's fun to browse in Daiso and Marukai Market while you wait for a table. In terms of how this place compares to Zhangliang Malatang, YGF is a lot smaller, so there are fewer options and the environment is more cramped. However, both are fairly similar in taste. Overall, YGF is a great choice for some good malatang! I would recommend checking it out.
Vanessa T.
The experience here it's pretty cool you get to choose what you want in your soup and whatever the soup weights that's your price . Service was quick and clean we really like the broth options .
Jackie N.
Yay for another malatang restaurant in the South Bay. Lots of options to choose from and always restocking. The location is pretty small, so there can be a wait at times. We waited around 5mins until they called our name and told us that we can start prepping our bowl. You grab a bowl and tongs and just pick whatever you want in to your bowl. So many options it's very easy to go overboard and get more than you can eat but it's nice that you can also togo if you don't finish. They weighed our bowl and assigned us a table. Location is pretty small so it felt a little uncomfortable bc all the tables are so close together. They also have a little sauce bar in the corner. Broth was perfect. What was interesting was that you pay at the very end, after you eat. Personally I would rather just pay when you weight the bowl so you don't have to go back and forth in such a small space. Would come back, super yummy!
Bernice L.
As you can see thru the pic they served us egg tofu with the plastic wrap inside....thank god we didn't start eating cuz the tofu was actually hidden at the bottom. Imagine we start eating the bowl, who knows if it poisoning with the plastic cooked:/ well they waived it as they should and had to wait for the redo again...waited around 35 mins which is not normal as I already see people being served that was behind me . Guess what the chef lost track of our second bowl, so blindly and patiently waiting does not help
Although there were no tables available when my party arrived around 6:45pm on a Sunday evening, they told us we could start getting our food in the meantime. Pretty cramped store. Not as many ingredients as I would've liked to see. Sauce bar was also very limited. I went with the beef bone broth base (mild spicy) with ingredients like udon, quail eggs, veggies, beef, etc. Beef was pretty good! I'm usually not the biggest mala fan but the mild spicy broth was pretty good. My parents thought the medium spicy beef bone broth was a good spice level, but too salty. They liked my mild spicy one better. Food comes out pretty quickly after you get it weighed and hand the bowl over to them to get it cooked. The food came out piping hot! Overall good option if you want a fun experience of building your own bowl. So if you're craving hot soup and want a fairly quick meal (assuming no wait), then this might be a good spot for you!
Good food. Self selecting ingredients was an interesting concept. Seating was a little tight though
Taste sooooo good! Love it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I love Malatang. After frequenting the YGF in Milpitas, we decided to visit this one. We came right before 6:00pm on a Saturday and there was no wait. However after we were there for about 20 mins, a line quickly formed outside. For those who haven't been to Malatang place before, think of it as a "build-your-own Hotpot." The model is similar to Yogurtland. You make your selection of raw and frozen toppings with tongs and bowls, and bring it to the front to be weighed. They charge by weight. You select a broth and spice level, and then it'll be brought out to you. This location has more hotpot toppings than the one in Milpitas, and the organization is a bit better. They have more meat and veggie varieties. The meat is also more thinly sliced and seems higher quality. Unlike the Milpitas location, you pay AFTER eating. Parking is BOOTYCAKES. It's such a busy plaza with so many restaurants and a Japanese grocery market, so be prepared to wait or have to hunt a little for parking if you come during the dinner rush. Even though this location has a greater selection of items, I find that it lacks some of the charm that the Milpitas location has - but that might be bias on my part.
Pick your ingredients, weigh it and wait for them to cook it . Also choose ur base I had tomato . It was good . Will try again. There's an option to order dry .
If I could eat Malatang everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I would despite how puffy I'd get from the sodium content. I'm so happy this location opened near my work so now I can take a break from my miserable weekdays and stop by for an hour of happiness! This location is kinda small, located in a super busy plaza full of delicious food. It was pretty difficult to find parking even for a Wednesday at 1 pm. It's just like their other locations, and every other Malatang place where you pick out your meat, veggies, noodles then choose your broth. I opted for the regular bone broth which is $14.99 a pound. It had hints of lemongrass flavor in it and reminded me a lot of the Tom Yum Mama Noodles. Service was quick as they brought out my food probably 5 mins after I weighed it. In the mean time, I selected my sauces at the sauce bar and set up my little station at the bar seats. The food came out piping hot which I slurped and destroyed within 15 minutes. When it came to pay, it just took them awhile to bring the bill out and collect my card which is why I -1 star. All in all, still a super great dining experience for a quick lunch break. I'll be back!
Delicious! There are also pink mice!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
YGF Malatang is legit so gooood! I love that I can diy my own hot pot (don't go too hefty because it will be expensive with added weights). They have good toppings options and great noodles selections. We tried the dry mild pot and the spicy bone broth. Both were equally delicious packing with flavors. Not sure why the dry mixing is more expensive than the broth mixing. But, worth to try both styles. I wish the mixings can be more spicy but no major critique here.
We went out to try YGF Malatang after going to the Livermore outlet. This place has a great variety of options to put into your bowl. I think of it like a chipotle for hot pot. We both grabbed a variety of fish, tofu, meat, and vegetables. We finalized our bowl, asking for the beef bone broth at medium spicy level at the register. They allowed us to choose a free drink as they just opened recently and it was a promotion. We waited a few minutes before the soup to come out. While waiting, we both went to the sauce bar and made our own sauces. I made us a sauce with chili oil, soy sauce, cilantro, green onion, and a little bit of oyster sauce. The food came out and it looked delicious. The soup flavor was spicy, salty and savory. The servers were really attentive and took away trash as it piled up. The food was hot and tasty. I especially like the thin beef brisket and the Ramen noodles. Potato and wheat noodles were a little too thick. Overall, we both had a great experience, and we will be coming back!
We love malatang. We goto milpitas location at least once a week. We happen to be at cupertino and went to this location instead. The ingredient quality was lacking. It looked as if vegetables were out there the whole day. There were flys near the food section. The chopsticks were full of mold (probably got wet at one point and they just kept it). Other than the sanitation issue, food was decent. It tasted slightly watered down compared to milpitas but still decent. I will stop coming here and only go to milpitas location.
Restaurantji Recommends
I went to the store and ordered takeout at noon. I added a lot of beef when I made my own choice, but when I took the takeout home, I only had a small piece of beef. I don’t know why. Is this how customers are treated in takeout? Is this way of doing business too much? Who dares to order takeout to go?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I find myself craving malatang fairly regularly, and the rainy weather recently has definitely put me in the mood for a hot, yummy bowl. YGF Malatang is a consistently solid spot, and I always leave feeling quite content. The style is build-your-own: each person grabs a bowl that they fill with your choice of fillings, which you then give to them to cook in the broth. I like to describe it as reverse hot pot. YGF has a solid range of toppings, with a wide variety of meats, noodles, veggies, and more. They have the usual options of ramen, cabbage, tofu, pork, etc., but my parents were especially pleased to have more rare items like blood cake, intestines, and frog legs. You pay by the weight which is about $15 per pound (for me, 1 pound is always more than enough). I think this spot is great in terms of how customizable everything is; you can always adjust the amount you get depending on how hungry you are, and each person can be satisfied by getting what they want. You can also make your own sauces on the side for dipping. For the broth, I usually choose the bone broth, and you can adjust the spiciness. In general, I think the food is tasty, and I always have fun building my own bowl. Service and environment are just fine. The tables are really close together, and the service is curt but quick. There's also quite a bit of a wait as this place is pretty popular--we waited around 45 minutes on a Friday evening, but it's fun to browse in Daiso and Marukai Market while you wait for a table. In terms of how this place compares to Zhangliang Malatang, YGF is a lot smaller, so there are fewer options and the environment is more cramped. However, both are fairly similar in taste. Overall, YGF is a great choice for some good malatang! I would recommend checking it out.
The experience here it's pretty cool you get to choose what you want in your soup and whatever the soup weights that's your price . Service was quick and clean we really like the broth options .
Yay for another malatang restaurant in the South Bay. Lots of options to choose from and always restocking. The location is pretty small, so there can be a wait at times. We waited around 5mins until they called our name and told us that we can start prepping our bowl. You grab a bowl and tongs and just pick whatever you want in to your bowl. So many options it's very easy to go overboard and get more than you can eat but it's nice that you can also togo if you don't finish. They weighed our bowl and assigned us a table. Location is pretty small so it felt a little uncomfortable bc all the tables are so close together. They also have a little sauce bar in the corner. Broth was perfect. What was interesting was that you pay at the very end, after you eat. Personally I would rather just pay when you weight the bowl so you don't have to go back and forth in such a small space. Would come back, super yummy!
As you can see thru the pic they served us egg tofu with the plastic wrap inside....thank god we didn't start eating cuz the tofu was actually hidden at the bottom. Imagine we start eating the bowl, who knows if it poisoning with the plastic cooked:/ well they waived it as they should and had to wait for the redo again...waited around 35 mins which is not normal as I already see people being served that was behind me . Guess what the chef lost track of our second bowl, so blindly and patiently waiting does not help