LaoMa MaLaTang
“This is basically a huge bowl of stir fried food with four levels of spice that range from not spicy to extremely spicy.”
“The best part is that it's in a food court, where a lot of ma la xiang guo places are commonly found in China.”
“A variety of ingredients: fish fillets, fried tofu, fresh tofu, potatoes, broccoli, lotus roots, cabbage, bean sprouts, wax gourd, bean curd sheets, bok choy and black fungus.”
LaoMa MaLaTang
Take-out: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Ate here a few times. It seems to be a favorite in the new world mall. I like how much meat you can add but unfortunately not as much vegetables. It can get pricy because it is about 8.50 per pound. But it is very tasty. Also you can choose your spicy levels. Only issue is the language barrier.
The basement of New world mall looks like a war zone with people fighting for tables. But amongst all the chaos is this hidden gem. It blends in with all the other food vendors but definitely stands out as a winner. This place is kinda like hot pot with many different ingredients but its stir fried. There is a ton of of different meats and vegetables to choose from. The server asks what you want, and then generously tosses them into a giant wooden bowl. One bowl itself can easily feed 3-4 people. It costs 8.50$/lb for meats and $7/basket for vegetables. I asked for mild, but it was pretty spicy when I ate it. I can only imagine how spicy the highest level is.
We had shrimp, beef, broccoli, tofu, seaweed, watercrest, and fish balls. Since our order was over $25, we received 2 bowls of rice. I would of added noodles if I had known. I'm glad I had some bubble tea or else my mouth would have been on fire. Overall, so very tasty!
The hour long trek to Flushing from Manhattan was totally worth it. You feel like you've entered China upon exiting the subway onto main street, and this mall gives a sense of nostalgia.
The food here is truly authentic. $22 got us about 2.75 pounds of food (1.7 lb was meats), and it was cooked to perfection. Asked for spicy, and it was real spicy. This was my second time here, and will be back soon.
This food stand is located in the New World food court, and is split into a soupy portion (left side), and stir fry portion (right side), where you get to pick your ingredients. The review is for the stir-fry portion only.
Indeed, that large wooden bowl of spicy, flavorful, mouth-numbing stir fry is my ultimate guilty pleasure. You choose what you want (protein is charged by the pound, veggies by the basket), spice level (mild, medium, spicy), and wait for the magic to happen. There is only one type of stir fry flavor/sauce, and you're guaranteed ample amounts of garlic and green onions/scallions.
My go-to protein are either fish fillets, "prime" beef (the heavily marbled thin slices of beef), or fish tofu.
A few tips:
– Let them know how many people you're ordering for, otherwise the default will be a 2-people portion
– For protein, opt for thinly sliced/diced versions so the flavor will penetrate better when cooked
– Go wild on the veggies! It counts by basket, not pound
– Their spice level is the real deal. I can eat extremely spicy and am quite satisfied with the medium level for a regular fix. The heat builds up, so unless you're sharing, you want to be kind to your gastrointestinal tract.
– Don't lean over the glass and/or point over the glass. Not only is it not hygienic for everyone else, the workers are not stupid and can understand if you tell them verbally what you want (yes, their English is perfectly fine)
– It comes with 1 serving of rice by default. You get a second serving of rice if the food exceeds $25
– Cash only for orders less than $25
– Get an iced drink from Gong Cha or Kung Fu Tea while they cook your order, because you will need that drink along with your spicy food
Happy spicy food eating!
Want some nice and spicy hot pot without the long process and price? LaoMa MaLaTang offers that convenience. I've always seen the giant wooden bowls of spicy stir fry whenever visiting the New World Mall food court and finally, I went and tried it.
For the stir fry, It's $8.50 per pound of seafood and meat – you can get as much or as little as you want, but these ladies definitely have a heavy hand at most of the ingredients. Be ready to get a takeout box. They're also not that friendly, but that's expected from Flushing restaurants. As for the vegetables, they are $7.50 (I think) a basket – and they charge by the basket so don't make the mistake we did of thinking it was by the pound. Load that basket up with the wonderful veggies – they're (in my opinion) the best part! Mushrooms galore. Careful biting into those peppercorns that numb your whole tongue!
I also go the clam stew – the clams are… interesting. Not what I was thinking. I initially thought this was a noodle soup, but you soon realize that it's literally this: imagine someone has a ma la flavored hot pot. It's boiling. Then you dump everything into it at once, let it cook, and dump it into a bowl. This is exactly what the "stew" is. At $8, it's chock full of ingredients, but is very, very oily, as expected. Also very spicy. It's extremely filling for just a single person.
The hot and spicy had an upper level of heat – make sure you get a milky drink from Gong Cha or Kung Fu Tea before eating.
Solid choice for Szechuan food at the New World Mall Food Court.
Pretty good for a food court!!
My family and I decided to explore Queens a little bit today, and we came across this small restaurant in the food court of a huge shopping plaza right off the subway. There was a lot of small restaurants in the food court, but I would have to say this was the most crowded and had the most variety of people waiting in line for food (not just Asian people).
The menu is very interesting, as its style is almost like a wok's. You get to choose whatever meat and veggies, and they let you choose how spicy the dish is going to be. It's a decent price for a large portion (my family and I were able to share together). But, unlike woks, there are no noodles, and in fact, they give you plenty of rice on the side with your dish. The dish comes in a large wooden bowl to share, and the flavor is so good!! I especially liked the beef because it was so tender and well-cooked. The kelp and cabbage were my favorite veggies. I do kind of wish it came with glass noodles, but they gave us so much rice that I did not complain.
Service is very friendly, and they are very patient if you don't understand Chinese. The lady helping us spoke broken English, but there was no frustration compared to a lot of the other restaurants when they encounter foreigners.
They also have soups in hot pot style, but I would have to say the wok-style is the guests' favorite and the go-to. Highly recommend, and I hope Yelpers start discovering this soon! I would definitely come back with a few friends for a second round!
30/100
Great place for its hot pot offering. You get to choose your choices of meat and veggies at the hot pot offering. The price is by pound and you get some free rice to go along with the meat.
The choice of meat look fresh and clean. You get to see what you are picking.
Also you get to choose the level of spiciness: No spicy, mild, hot, extra hot. If you cannot eat spicy or only be able to eat little spicy then order it no spicy as it has hot sauce by the desk that you can put into your food.
You have to pay deposit money for its wooden bowl, but you will get it back once you return the bowl to them after you finish your food.
The cooking is fast: approx. 5 to 10 minutes.
In addition to hot pots, it offers Mala Tang (soup noodle). There are a variety of offering: lamb, meat, chicken, fish, etc. They are stuffed for the price that you are paying. Definitely worth buying and eating in here.
Definitely it's worth coming to this place!
I literally CANNOT stop coming here. I've tried the dry hotpot and I found it underwhelming. What keeps me coming back is the spicy lamb ma la tang. It's incredible. If you pay $2 extra, they give you a separate container with an extra portion of the protein of your choice. Since discovering this place a month ago, I've eaten here half a dozen times. It would have been more, except I'm only in Flushing twice a week. Be warned, it's extremely addictive.