Málà Project

East Village

New York City

Restaurants

First-Rate Sichuan Dry Pot

the mala project menu east village dining

the mala project cucumber dining east village

The mala Project dry pot dining east village

Cuisine:

Chinese

Price:

Features:

Comfort Food Creative Menu Good for Groups

About Málà Project

& why it made the Carpe City list

Communal, festive, spicy, sichuan home-cooking that has something for every taste
Málà Project is a Sichuan dry pot restaurant. If you’re not up on your dry pots and hot pots, here’s the scoop:
- Unlike Chinese hot pot where you cook your food in broth at your table, Málà’s dry pot is wok-cooked in the kitchen over high heat with 24 different spices and then delivered to your table to be shared, family-style.
- Similar though to hot pot, you pick your ingredients and level of spice.
- We found something for everyone, from the most adventurous eaters (tripe, intestines, gizzards, heart, kidney) to more traditional eaters (beef tenderloin, chicken breast, prawns) to vegetarians (lotus root, enoki, snap peas, sweet potato).
- Opinions vary widely on how spicy their spiciness level is. If you are new to the food, start out with mild and go from there. You also have an option to do non-family style and you may try different pots at different levels of spice. The solo pot option is also great when you have only one vegetarian (or one carnivore) in your group.
The decor is retro-chic and the atmosphere is communal and festive.
Usually crowded for dinner. Reservations are recommended.
They do a nice takeout operation as well.
Besides the Dry Pot, be sure to try the Eggplant in Roasted Garlic and the Leftover Fried Rice.

Carpe City Trivia

What does the word Màlá mean?

Màlá is a portmanteau of two Chinese characters. The first one 麻means “numbing” and the second, 辣 means “spicy.” (Both of which reflect the feelings one gets after eating Mala sauce.)