Mala Panda 麻辣熊猫 — Restaurant in New York

Ordered the Premium Beef Malatang.

It was very flavorful, and today was my second time ordering it as well.

Fantuan Delivery also has excellent promos for the establishment, and you get like $10 off the $20 item subtotal.

One thing to note though, it’s actually pretty spicy, and I’m normally good with spice. I got Medium Spice Level the first time, and I was sweating bullets, so I got Mild Spice Level today and it had the perfect level kick to it.

Another sort of weird thing is that, with the base entree, the first time I got it had like three slices of beef and then a hefty amount of glass noodles. This time, I added (for $2.5) additional beef to the base entree (because of the minimal amount the first time), and though this time I had like six slices of beef, there was small portion of glass noodles (seen in the container on the right). Now, one thing to note though is that the packaging did change between the two times of my ordering this for take-out, with the first packaging being significantly nicer (I wish I had a picture), and I highly recommend the establishment return to it. It had like the bowl as well as like a roof to the bowl below the top lid, and the glass noodles were stored in between, so it was all in one, rather than this new plastic bowl and plastic container pairing.

Either way, the flavor and taste is top notch, and that’s why I eventually returned to it. I’d very much recommend...

I'm surprised that I haven't heard of this place before recently, considering how yummy it was!

I was very impressed with the selection of ingredients available -- so many different types of fresh veggies, noodles, fish balls and the like, and a variety of cuts of meat. I did feel that the meats were just a tad lacking in terms of quality (just didn't taste the most tender), but also I didn't notice the frozen meats until I was nearly done assembling my ingredients (and I think they were better haha).

You can choose if you want the type with broth (mala tang) or without (mala dry pot) and the price is based on the weight of your ingredients (I think $16/lb now). My order ended up being around 1.3lbs, which was super filling (and only around $20!)

Other than the mala tang/dry pot, there's also a menu that you can order off of (hot pot, etc.).

Prices are especially good, since there's also no tip (mostly self service) and no tax if you pay with cash. It also comes with unlimited rice for free (you just get it yourself as much as you want).

Definitely super impressed at how tasty and affordable my meal here was -- will...

I have tried to get take out and dine in here 4 times now in the last 2 months but every time i have been denied either of the services saying sorry the kitchen just closed. Everytime i have been has been somewhere between 8:00pm to 8:25pm. Even though the time on google says 9:00 closing, closing the kitchen at 8:10pm just sounds ridiculous given that this isn’t a fine dine establishment. Just today,on a Thursday, i was inside the restaurant at 8:13 pm to be precise to get takeout and the staff in a very condescending tone told me “oh sorry we just closed the kitchen a minute ago”. Well, all the food was still out, 75% of the tables were still dining in. Either the time needs to be fixed on google or the staff needs to stop adjusting the closing time on their own. This is just wasting...