Zhangliang Malatang Rosemead（张亮麻辣烫） — Restaurant in Rosemead

If you had trouble finding this place, ** it is on the McDonalds side (not the samwoo side).

Came here for lunch with my friend on a weekend day just as they were opening and the place was not busy at all. This was my first time at this location (having been to one in another city).

The staff greeted us in a welcoming fashion and explained how it worked - you grab a clear bowl and tongs from inside the cool fridge (yay for keeping things clean!), then grab anything you want from the items bar — then they weigh it and cook it either in broth of your choice or the dry stir fry version.

You do need a 1 lb minimum food order- which is about $14 per pound of ingredients (all are the same size).

We tried both the dry pot and the soup base (ordered the mushroom since I didn’t want spicy - and it was flavorful but light).

All the flavors were great and they keep their sauces in a covered area too. The inside has numerous tables small and large for you to sit at.

ONLY downside is that Ingredients bar - only has Chinese labels (none in English).

Drinks: by default you get water but also has a fridge for you to pay for bottled/can Chinese herbal teas and soft drinks.

Service: food came out fairly quickly since we were the first in line, but throughout our meal the staff kept checking on us to see if we needed anything else.

Definitely recommend this place! :)

Parking: FREE lot and free 2 hr street parking. Because this is shared with other restaurants you might have a tough time with parking here during peak hours and on weekends.

If you have ordered too much and need to take this home, you get a to-go container and a nice reusable tote bag...

I was curious about trying Zhangliang, since it's one of the closest malatang restaurants to me. I finally came in yesterday, and here's my verdict:

I got the tom yum soup with potato and ramen noodles. Their broth flavor was actually alright; I liked that it was not too salty or otherwise overpowering as these restaurant foods usually are. IMO, the food here isn't as good as YGF.

However, one guy at the table right next to mine found a fly in his soup towards the end of their meals. I had heard about this via several Yelp reviews. When I told the worker about it (they offered the customer a refund), he did say that the weather is hot and flies sometimes get into their soups.

Probably...

Edit: the new guy is gone and now there’s a new new guy. Wishing the best to the old new guy —

Guess who was back 2 more times in a week?!

Shoutout to the new cashier who let me know I dropped a $20 🥺. Nice dude.

—

I’ve come here so many times in a short span the people working here will probably think we’re crazy 😂

So happy this place opened up near my brother. Love malatang. And cheaper than the Bay Area. Pretty comparable with YGF; but different ingredients. And also love that this place is open...