Mala Sichuan Bistro 小熊川菜

Reviews 8

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Daniel Wilson

Absolutely disgusted by the way we were treated yesterday. No one deserves to have food thrown at them! We arrived shortly after they opened (for an early lunch). We both ordered one appetizer each while we waited for other friends to arrive (they werent busy so it wasnt a problem). The waiter brings out three dishes but we hadnt ordered a chicken dish. We tried to explain this to him (twice) and he became overly frustrated. At the same time we told our friends what was happening and they said to just meet them next door. We then asked if we could take our dishes to go, he grabbed the dishes out from between our hands/chopsticks and then came and brought the check. I didnt even bother to look at the check because I assumed he took the third item off when we had already told him twice that we didnt order it. When he came back he literally threw the to go boxes at us on the table and took the check with our cards. He did not remove the item that we didnt order. We went up to the other waiter who was checking us out (near the stairs) and explained the situation. It was awful. I didnt even bother to eat my food because I am sure he did something to it when he took it back to box it.

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Craig Strong

Came with a group of six adults and eleven teens. Wont be back. Eleven of us were served within fifteen minutes. Food was good though bland despite several requests for spicy. The remaining six plates took between 40 and 75 minutes to arrive (with multiple wrong orders being brought before a second clarifying order was taken from those who kept refusing plates with the wrong food on them). After nearly two hours as we waited for the late entries to be eaten two of the adults spoke first with the hostess and then, with no apology or offer of any concession to make this right, directly with our waiter who blamed those who had to wait of not accepting the food they had ordered. When it became clear to them that, after waiting for up to 75 minutes and being blamed for not accepting the food wed ordered, we were not willing to pay for five of the orders they removed them from our bill. The gratuity for our large group remained on the bill. Had they offered to not automatically charge a gratuity or taken any ownership of the problem there would have been no conflict over these unfortunate delays and I wouldnt be writing this one star review.

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Amanda Blackwell

Wow is this place good. Mala Sichuan Bistro is the best Chinese food place in Houston. The best Chinese food place in the Houston area, is actually Alings Hakka in Sugar Land. Note that Alings is actually a hybrid Indian-Chinese resturant. The food at Mala is wonderful. Mala is a new generation Chinese cuisine establishment. The updates (versus older Houston Chinese) are excellent. The menu is wide-ranging and very tasty. A few notes... The menu is long. Keep reading. Some of the dishes on the back pages are quite tasty Parking is easy and Mala is easy to get to (on Westheimer) The Mexican place next door is not recommend (by me at least) Mala is not inexpensive Mala can be quite spicy. Be careful how much spiciness you ask for. You will definitely get it. Service is quite good Mala is somewhat dark. Not in the abstract sense. The lights are pretty low. I would not consider Mala to be "Kid-friendly". White rice is about it for kids. No milk. There is a second Mala in Chinatown (actually the first one). The Chinatown Mala is less upscale with some very, very good food. Enjoy!

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Manuel Mas

I have never had Sichuan food before. Visited this restaurant due to positive reviews. It did not disappoint! The local has an upscale feel to it with pleasant interior decorations, going for that "Bistro" feel. I visited on a Saturday at 6PM where there wasnt any waiting time. However, be advised that there was a line at 7PM. Service was fast and courteous. All of the plates I tried had some form of spice in them, some being more spicy than others, but tolerable and tasteful. We ordered the Red Dumplings (comes with 8) as an appetizer. We shared Dan Dan Noodles, Mala Roasted Whole Tilapia and Cumin Lamb. They served white rice which comes as part of all plates. This was plenty of food for 2, had to take half the food home. I would definitely recommend the Whole Tilapia but be aware that it is very spicy. Paired it with one of the beers on their recommended beer list, which helped with toning down the spice. Again, will definitely be going back. Highly recommended.

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Lizzy B

I have been looking forward to hitting up the Montrose location ever since I heard it was opening. I was taken to the Chinatown location on a culinary tour and it really opened up my eyes to what sichuan should be, definitely not the sichuan I grew up on in Michigan. The Montrose Bistro is just as delicious, they pulled it off again. Service was great, but expect a long wait on weekends. We went at about 7:00 pm on a Friday and it was over an hour wait, but they will always keep your place at the top even if they call your name and you arent there, allowing you to go next door or across street for a drink while you wait, very thoughtful. The funky cold noodles were so tasty, I keep thinking about them. I had read about the red oil dumplings in the Houston Press top 100 dishes list, however I didnt think they were as good as the funky cold noodles. I cant wait to go back and try more!

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Ryan Guerra

I want to seriously downvote this place in order to make it easier to get a seat, but to be fair to the owners, Mala on Westheimer has replaced regular trips to Chinatown. The food is excellent, the service friendly, and we probably eat here in house or for takeout at least once a week. Obviously, the food is spicy. Its freaking spicy. You should know this going into a Sichuan restaurant. Its a type of food that is not for everyone but for those who like it, you can look no further. I highly recommend the DanDan noodles at all times of the day for all meals. Aside from that, their cumin lamb is very spicy, and probably one of the best preparations of this dish that Ive had. Try the Couples lung slices if like tendon or similarly chewy dishes. Just come here. Seriously. Dont bring your spice-sensitive friends as they will be very unhappy and cry, but you already knew that, right?

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Robert Hopkins

I am officially addicted to this place and can understand why the chef was a James Beard finalist. The food I would describe as incredibly flavorful and not really overwhelmingly spicy, The peppers and peppercorns used give the food a flavor like nothing else Ive had. The items I keep coming back for are the seafood dishes like the water fish and the aromatic shrimp, as well as the water spinach cooked in garlic and their fried rice. The Dan Dan noodles and dumplings are also delicious with their red chili oil. Ive always been treated well by the staff here so I dont understand the somewhat snippy comments about that on here. Most look like they are young UH students and are very nice and helpful.

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Diego A. Zuniga

One of the best restaurants in Houston!! We tend to go with a big group and eat family style, that way you can try a big variety of dishes. Mapo Tofu is phenomenal, Funky chicken is a crowd pleaser as well as the Mala Beef. Mala in Chinese means Numbing + Hot, which is the effect that the peppercorns have on your mouth. It is weird at first but becomes extremely addictive. We usually order #people + 1 dish and end up paying between $13-16 (whole tilapia dishes and duck tends to increase the average, no drinks). For those novice eaters, the whole tilapia dishes come with the heads on. This freaks some people out, but it is some of the best parts to eat on a fish.

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