Mala Asian Street Food — Local services in The Borough District of Drogheda

Since this restaurant opened, I’ve occasionally ordered takeaway from here. Unfortunately, many of my experiences have been very disappointing.

For example, if we don’t pay in cash, they force us to pay by card and charge extra fees. Even after payment, they never provide a receipt.

In recent months, the food quality has clearly declined. The meals often arrive undercooked, the stir-fried dishes are burnt and emit a pungent, unpleasant smell. The chips are not fresh, seemingly reheated leftovers that were already spoiled. After eating, I often experience stomach discomfort the following day.

Around 6 PM on several evenings in May and June 2025, I ordered two spicy meal boxes and some stir-fried dishes for myself and my girlfriend. She felt unwell within minutes of eating. The next morning, I woke up with severe stomach pain, to the point that I felt like I was dying. The symptoms were very clear — a case of mild food poisoning.

I have already visited a doctor, and it is clear that the food caused the illness.

This takeaway is challenging the authority of food safety and public health agencies — they clearly do not care about the safety or well-being of their customers.

Selling spoiled or mishandled food is not only irresponsible, but also a serious threat to customers’ health, with the potential for severe consequences.

I used to stay silent and tolerate the issues — but not anymore.

To everyone reading this review: please do not order food from here. Just walking into this restaurant and opening one of their sealed containers, you can see the extremely poor hygiene conditions. They do not meet even the most basic sanitation standards.

I deeply regret ever ordering from here. It was one of the worst dining experiences of my life.

The doctor’s note clearly links our food poisoning to this takeaway.

DO NOT EAT HERE. PROTECT...

Since trying this restaurant several times, I can honestly say it has been one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.

The kitchen is extremely greasy and unhygienic, and the staff at the cashier often handle money and food at the same time. The food I bought was dirty and unpleasant to eat — many dishes taste overly sweet and artificial. After eating here, I had stomach problems, including diarrhea.

They frequently insist on cash payments and never provide receipts. Even when you pay, the food is more expensive than neighboring restaurants, yet the quality is far worse. Their marketing relies only on carefully edited photos, which are very misleading.

On several occasions, I personally saw shocking behavior: for example, chicken pieces that had fallen on the floor were picked up and served to the next customer. This shows a complete lack of basic food hygiene standards.

An even more ridiculous experience happened when my neighbor’s child accidentally placed an order on Just Eat but forgot to cancel. When they called the restaurant, the person answering, who claimed to be the Asian owner named Caroline, refused to give a refund. She insisted it was the customer’s fault and even called Just Eat to block the refund. This is unacceptable business practice.

The food here is overpriced, unsafe, and handled without the slightest care for customer health. I deeply regret ever ordering from this place.

For your own safety, do...

First time to get food from Mala. I was hoping to be impressed. Unfortunately, I wasn't.

The overall experience was OK. The dishes lacked depth of flavour and missing umami in most dishes. The udon noodle dish was very one dimensional. Same for most of the other dishes. The chicken in each dish again was very bland and lacked that umami flavour. I never order boiled rice from a Chinese takeaway style because it's usually stoggy, overcooked and flavourless. I saw on the menu they had boiled Jasmine rice, which is a nice option and so I went with that. What I got was NOT Jasmine rice but th usual low quality, stoggy, bland rice. I asked for Extra EXTRA spicy and I got mild. To be fair they did put a lot of fresh chillies in but these weren't very spicy either. The delivery arrived in a very fancy bag, with fancy food containers. Personally I would prefer the kitchen to put the extra money, effort and time into their ingredients, sauces and overall dishes, rather than frills which add nothing to the food and thats what you should want....the food to spot on. Overall, nothing exciting or enticing to return. They seem to be afraid to be aggressive with their flavours and that for me is what's missing from most...