Mala Mini — Restaurant in Palisades Park

My husband and I love a good choose-your-own-adventure type of meal, and this looked right up our alley. We felt a little turned around since everyone else seemed to know what to do and it was clearly our first time, but the guy at the counter was quick to explain how things work: Grab a clean pair of tongs and a bin to collect all of the fixings. There's lots to choose from - veggies, noodles, frozen seafood, and meats.

When you've finished making your selection of add-ins, they'll weigh it at the front (it needs to be a minimum of one pound; every half pound thereafter exacts an added surcharge). From there, they'll ask about your preferred spice level and whether you want your meal 'wet' or 'dry' - 'wet' meaning in a broth and dry meaning stir fried.

A note on heat levels: Beware of overestimating your personal spice tolerance. The spice levels range from 0 to 3 (which can be narrowed down to halves), and since I love some heat, I asked for a level 2. The guy taking my order hesitated and asked, "Are you sure? That's pretty spicy." When I marked it down to a 1.5, he nodded with relief and said, "That's probably better."

When I got my meal and had my first bites, I was immediately grateful for his intervention. A 1.5 had plenty of that signature Szechuan numbing heat and I was feeling that fire in my belly for hours afterwards. My husband's brothy choice (with a more conservative spice level of 1) was far more muted. The nutty broth, along with the side dish of peanut dipping sauce, was a rich and tasty swimming pool for his ingredients of choice.

A few random notes and tips: 'Dry' meals will also come with a bowl of rice. There were tiny specks of egg throughout the bowl, which I considered a nice touch. Curiously, the check is squared at the end of the meal rather than upon point of order (most self-serve spots will have you pay first). Those paying in cash get a tiny dessert at the end. The cash prize used to be tanghulu - a skewer of candied fruits - but now it seems to be a tiny serving of soft serve. There's also something of an honor system at work. I watched people freely get up during their meals to grab their own drinks from the fridge, and everything somehow got totaled up at the end. Remember that noodles bloat. I thought I chose a small amount of noodles and was surprised by how much they thickened after cooking and couldn't finish my meal. Finding parking is a beast of a task in this area. There are a few spots available in front, but it's shared with the cafe next door. Sometimes you can find spots along adjacent streets - we lucked out with a spot in...

Hot pots—some like them dry, some like them wet. Regardless, here, you can have it any way you want. There are plenty of ingredients to choose from, ranging from fresh vegetables, noodles, and fishballs, to packages of thinly sliced meat. Just be aware, whatever you choose, you must have a pound's worth for them to prepare it as a dry pot or in a broth. I focused on tofu and seafood, so I had to have mine in a broth. You then choose your spice level. My skin has an aversion to spice, so I had mine at level 0.5. The others had theirs at levels 1 and 3. They opted for the dry pot, which was stir-fried. They offer cold beverages at the average going cost to help put out the fire.

My House Malatang was delicious and had a nice sesame taste. I opted for plenty of seafood, from razorback clams to oysters and fishballs, along with potato noodles, tofu, and veggies galore. For those who opt for the dry pot, it comes with a bowl of rice. As an appetizer, they give you a small plate of pickled radishes. This helps cool you down should your spice level be too much for you. If you're worried about accidentally splashing your clothes as you eat, they provide a black bib to wear. At the end, you just hand it back, and the guy collects and refolds them, good as new. That part surprised me, and I wished they threw them away for sanitary purposes.

They have very limited parking in the front and surrounding area. There are two bathrooms, men's and women's, and the restaurant can host anywhere from a single person to a larger...

My husband and I tried this place on a Friday night. It wasn't too busy when we arrived at around 7 pm. We didn't know how to order, and there were no instructions, but we got in line and eventually the waitress told us to grab a bowl and tongs. We grabbed some beef in a bag in the freezer and loaded up on the fresh veggies, fish cakes, sausages, shrimp and tofu. I wish the area where you get your ingredients was larger because it gets crowded with people trying to get food and paying. I noticed a few people getting orders for takeout, which sounds like a great idea. You can pay first or later. They will bring your cooked pot to your table. Please note that there's a credit card minimum of $10, which I learned the hard way when trying to buy a $2 can of soda after we got our food. They do provide you with hot or iced water.

My husband got the dry hot pot while I got the mala soup. We went for 1.5 spicy level and it was perfect. The dry hot pot came with a bowl of rice which was necessary since the dry hot pot can be salty. I liked my mala soup. It was mala flavor with a milky broth. They also provided a peanut sauce to dip in. Next time we'll order one big pot and get fried rice with it. I can't wait to go back!

Edit: Went back two days later to order just the dry mala hot pot and shrimp fried rice. We ordered spice level 1 and it really...