MáLà Project

Great food, very fresh ingredients and quick service.

Emily was amazing!

the second i took my first bite i knew i would be writing a review. the crispy fried mochi…. curse words. i want to use curse words. it is so good. i love people whose brain takes things a step further, and in this case it *really* paid off. my only note is that i wish i could’ve added condensed milk as a side! scallion pancakes… crispy yet soft and not too oily. i wish the sauce was lighter on the saltiness but it’s my first time so who knows. and my hot pot. i can handle spice and got the spicy level and think it’s really nice. not painful or anything just nice. i got beef tongue, bok choy, baby corn, and bean sprouts and it is great. the ingredients taste fresh and i feel alive eating it. fyi, i ordered in and everything was still warm and crunchy when i got it. definitely, definitely recommend this spot! Dietary restrictions: meal was completely dairy free

Delicious food! Tried dry pot for the first time - Very flavourful! 100% recommend.

I had the purple rice, beef dumplings and the house fried noodles. Simple delicious I don’t know what they do to these noodles but yum just simply yum

Dang, this place got a facelift! It gives me “trendy Chinese restaurant” vibes, one might say an IG restaurant but the quality is there. Value is questionable since the prices have gone up. Service is solid. If you get oil on your shirt, they have tide to go pens. There is a bathroom! FYI yellow menu pages are lunch prices, they charge more for dinner.

o TL:DR the staff failed to understand the basic promise of customer service and ruined a brilliant restaurant for me. I’ll start by saying I really like this restaurant. Over my six years in the city, I’ve probably eaten there in person on the order of 20 times and ordered delivery at least that many times (probably a score more). This location was the last place I ate before the pandemic. It was my standing spot for lunch reviews with my advisors, it was my standard spot for out of towners: eating a dry pot in Bryant park was one of my go to activities with visiting friends. Last December, I had an experience at this location that ruined it for me. My little siblings were in town for holiday break so we placed our standard order for a giant dry pot. We’ve actually moved much closer to this location, so we didn’t have to order delivery since my little brother could go pick it up. He came back while I was in the shower and they opened up the boxes to dive in. I came out and noticed the lack of enthusiasm as they ate and asked what was wrong: they said “it tastes bland”. I’ve eaten enough mala project over the years to notice the variation in seasoning between dry pots. In truth, I came to expect this fluctuation as part the experience. So I felt irritated at them for being picky. As soon as I tasted it however, I understood that there was a mistake in the order. We ordered spicy and there wasn’t even a hint of chili-oil-red in the bowl. Considering it was a welcome back meal and it was a large bowl (>$140), I called the restaurant immediately, and said “Hey! I eat your food a lot, and I think something went wrong with the order. It has no spice. Could you remake it for us, please?” The person on the other side of the phone, was not pleasant and after resisting for a couple minutes said “you’d have to bring it back”. I said I’d be right over, (I live very close) and was asking if he could start the process since I agreed to his request, I should’ve stayed away when he hung up mid-sentence. I closed up the boxes (with what my siblings had taken out) and took the boxes back to the restaurant. When I got there, the host got someone for the back who proceeded to weigh and open the bowls in front of people waiting to eat at the restaurant. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. A quick glance at my DoorDash order history (or ask of the bartender who had served me and a friend maybe 2 weeks before this at the bar) would’ve shown that I’m a frequent and loyal customer. In any case, even if I wasn’t, I feel he could’ve done his search in the back of the restaurant if he felt he needed to: instead of implicitly calling me a liar both to my face and in front of other guests. I haven’t been able to order from, or go to any location since then. And I’ve started and ended this note many times. You guys have to do better. If you want to grow, you need to maintain the standard of the food and the service through the growth. Thank you for so many good meals over the years. I will not be coming back.