MALA EXPRESS — Restaurant in Kirkland

I tried this place out with my wife and 2 kids (ages 3 and 6) after reading the great reviews. The food was super tasty, quickly served and very reasonably priced. Even my kids loved it The service was friendly and prompt. The decor is very simple and unassuming. I wouldn't say there is much ambiance in the place, but it's very clean. I'll take clean and boring over fancy and dirty any day! We will definitely make this place one of our regular dinner spots.

Update. We've been back to this place numerous times because my kids really like the DanDan noodles (with no spice). Now that I've been several times, I've noticed that the meals are generally very low protein. Really not much meat in the dishes.

The most concerning issue though, is the water. The water they serve has a shockingly bad taste. I don't know what it is, but it isn't potable by our standards. It's almost worth trying just to see how bad it is. The real issue is that this is the water they use to make all of their soups.

Because of these two issues, the 2nd of which is pretty bad, I'm going to drop them 1 star on food and...

I always seek out the best I can find in regional cuisines, Sichuan being one of my favourites. Way out in the West Island Montréal suburb of Kirkland is Mala Express. It is worth the trip, and conveniently located just a minute off the 40. I wanted to order everything on the menu. Being by myself, I opted for chicken and cabbage dumplings, cold Sichuan noodles, and of course, hot and spicy cucumbers. All were just fantastic. The dumplings were some of the best in terms of flavour and also texture, nicely crisp on the bottom. They are served with a delicious peanut sauce. The cold noodles were chewy and fresh, topped with scallions and thin slices of cucumber and chicken (which I am sure could be omitted to make it vegetarian) and the sauce was intense and savoury with chili, garlic, soy, peanuts, and peppercorns. The cucumbers are slightly more saucy but equally intense and savoury. The staff are gracious and friendly. They even let me taste each dish and and add extra black vinegar, soy, and chili oil to my liking...

Craving for a bowl of noodles, I went here for the first time on New Year’s Eve for take out. The place had a great family feeling to it. The lady at the front was very sociable and helpful when I was ordering, even when I wasn’t sure and switched up my order. The guys at the back had good vibes coming out of the kitchen as well!

I ordered the chongqing noodles and some chicken and cabbage dumplings. I went for the highest of 3 spice levels for the noodles and it was just perfect. The wheat noodles were perfectly chewy and very well garnished. I was very pleasantly surprise by what was a big portion for 9.50$. The fried dumplings were perfectly crispy, and to my pleasant surprise, they were soup dumplings. And I mean SOUP dumplings. Every dumpling was FILLED with broth, chicken and cabbage.

Give this place a try. You will not regret it. And...