Mala House — Restaurant in Garden City

I just gave Mala House a visit.

For a seemingly ignored strip mall in that part of Boise, I have to say, the restaurant did a good effort in making the interior look good. It's basically at par with some new Asian restaurants I've visited as of late.

I ordered Fish in Golden Soup. I was thinking this is one of the more play-safe orders I can get here for a single person dine-in.

The flavor profile though, is very unique. Even if you're Asian, you can still be unfamiliar with this.

I was thinking this could be similar to a Chinese egg-drop soup because of the yellow color, but it isn't.

The flavor is garlicky, plus something else. The broth is oily.

I'm not sure if it's coming from the fish or from the generous amount of enoki mushroom.

The stew basically used enoki mushroom and mungbean sprouts as like a noodle base.

So if you ever feel a strong sense of umami in here, it might be from the mushroom.

The thing with mushroom is, it's addictive but you can't get overindulgent in eating it. And that's what the meal feels like. Not to mention, the meal is also spicy.

This place is so unapologetically Asian that even comparing it to self-declared authentic Asian restaurants in this area, it feels like a thing of its own.

In fact, when you order the items on the menu, the restaurant just assumes that you're able to handle spice. You'll have no heat level indicator in the menu.

Though I have to say, you can handle the heat of Nongshim Shin Ramyun noodles, you can handle the menu items here. If you're unsure if an item has a heat level you can't handle, you can always ask.

There's a entree menu in a laminated yellow cardboard that seems like it's for a single person (that's where you'll find the fish in golden soup), but the meal can serve 2-3 people.

My order can serve 2-3 people. It doesn't show in the picture but I can barely eat half of it. But it's so indulgently good.

But I do understand if you get overwhelmed by the flavor. There are so many things going on, not to mention there's the unfamiliarity that it gives.

It's basically finding a unicorn.

I grew up eating what I consider authentic Chinese food in the Philippines but this is unfamiliar territory to me.

But still, it's a great experience finding a unicorn in Idaho. This is a nice development.

Try it if you want something new. Feel free to ask the waitress if you're unfamiliar with anything.

My stew came with tofu skin. I thought I was eating an intestine for a second. After finding that it's just tofu, I enjoyed it right away. It...

Finally got the chance to stop into Mala House today. I have a couple clients who love this little joint. They are fond of the hot pot that they have here. I wasn't is the mood for hot pot so I just checked out their lunch menu.

Walking into the joint, it's very colorful and vibrant. I love all the fun decor, light fixtures and fun flags that they have. It's pretty spacious for a smaller venue. The big windows in the front give it so much lighting. I appreciate all the happy money cats everywhere. Adds such a fun vibe to the place.

I didn't catch my servers name today but he got me sat. I looked over the lunch menu, asked a couple questions about some possible alterations to my food but it was a no go. I have had twice cooked pork with chicken before at other places but this option wasn't available. So, I opted for chicken and brocolli with steamed rice today.

I got served some tomato and egg soup as a starter. It was thick and rich in tomato. It had smaller pieces of egg in it, bigger chunks would have been better. I grew up on tomato and egg soup so it was comforting having a bowl of it. Brought me back to my youth, it was nice. Lunch came out shortly. Woooww, it was a beautiful plate. You get a nice helping of rice. It's amazing how many Chinese joints give such little rice with your meal. Not here! It was a great amount. The brocolli was bigger pieces. It was on the harder side but fresh. I appreciate the amount of sauce that came with my stir fry. Sauce and steamed rice together is the best bite! The chicken wasn't velveted so it was a little dry. The egg rolls were sitting in the sauce so it caused the egg rolls to sog up a bit. The middle of it was also really mushy so it wasn't the best bite. I ate half of one and didn't really care to finish the rest.

I can see why my clients really like this place. It's bright, they push out good food and the service was decent. I did notice that there were quite a few staff members but none of them would help the server. He was hustling the front register, phone orders, table orders, sitting customers, bringing food out. I just find it crazy that non of them helped out.

I'm happy I got to try the this joint out today. I did enjoy my chicken and brocolli. The prices for lunch aren't bad and the portions are good! I'll have to try their general's chicken the next time I come. You can never go wrong with general's chicken. Hopefully my next visit will be...

This is a new business, they are just open for take-out but look be getting ready for dine-in. We typically get take out on Fridays, we'll add this business to our rotation. It's different than the Chinese that we normally get in Boise, they bill themselves as authentic. I'll have to take their word for it. Either way, we were impressed! The five spice peanuts were a last minute add for me and we were delighted! Great little appetizer or, honestly, a drive by snack. Boiled peanuts in a crazy good sauce, trust me on this one, a heckuva lot better than it sounds. The fried rice and stir fried noodles were first class, lots of flavor and not a greasy as is the norm. The Chongqguing chicken was unique, we really liked it, we will order again. It sat for about 6 hours (cold) before reheating and that didn't do it any favors. This one didn't travel as well as the others. In the future I'll pick up and take straight home, but, it's a winner. The braised pork is very different than what we are used to. I'm glad we tried it, will try something different next time. It's worth a try. Caution, the dried red peppers are hot! I had a couple and then shuffled them off to the side, did I mention that they are hot? They are hot.. But, that's part of the deal, I would imagine, to get authentic flavor. Don't let them scare you off, but if you take an average to mild level of heat, use some discretion. We'll definitely be back. Boise is now filled with great dining options, this is a fine example of the diversity that we are getting. I recommend taking advantage of it! The pricing was reasonable and I would call it competitive with average takeout, maybe better. $50 and we'll get 4 generous meals out of it. The atmosphere (of a place still finishing construction) didn't merit 5 stars but hey, they are just doing take-out and wisely doing a soft open. It looks like it...