The malatang cuisine, originating from Sichuan China, involves choosing a variety of skewers and toppings with a spicy broth. Unlike hot pot, malatang is made using a combination of different street food skewers that can be shared. It has recently gone from a traditional Chinese cuisine to a modern restaurant style. This August, the Tang Bar, a malatang-style restaurant chain, opened a new location in San Mateo on 4th Avenue. It utilizes exciting Sichuanese components, allowing you to choose from their wide variety of meats, seafood, vegetables, noodles and more to build your own malatang. Some of the most popular combinations are able to be ordered from their website, like Meat Lover, Seafood Lover, or Feeling Veggie.
My family and I went to try out the restaurant for ourselves to see if it was up to the hype. From the moment we entered the restaurant, we could tell it was more than going to meet our expectations. Upon entrance, the aesthetic was very eye-catching, utilizing both natural elements with greenery and a small stream of water along with artificial elements, like bright hanging lights and glass windows. This mix created a dynamic, peaceful and visually appealing atmosphere throughout our meal.
The ordering process was one of the most exciting parts of the restaurant, as it was all do-it-yourself, which allowed for a much more user-friendly experience. We could decide what elements we wanted and the quantity of each element. We designed every aspect of our meal, creating a very personalized experience with our food. To begin our ordering process, we simply grabbed a bowl and started adding items.
My brother and I shared a bowl of a variety of different meat and vegetables such as wagyu beef, squid flower, tofu, and glass noodles. As the pricing was based on the weight of the bowl and the ordering system was do it yourself, we could add however much we wanted of any item in the bar. My mom, for example, was able to make a soup salad, using only the vegetable items, and my brother and I could pick varying amounts of different items to satisfy our preferences. We then went to the cashier, weighed our bowl, and paid at their rate of $16 per pound. We gave them our bowls, then had to decide on our broth, among a selection of chicken broth, Szechuan spicy, pickled veggies, among others. We selected chicken broth, handed them our bowls, then we were served at our table. The activity of building our own meal was a highlight of the unique experience of the Tang Bar.
When it comes to the taste, all of the items were up to par, meeting or exceeding our expectations of the component. The broth was super flavorful and well-steeped, providing a strong base for the soup that would add flavor to all of the other components. After being boiled by the soup, all of the meat elements were very tender. The lettuce was crispy and the previously raw broccoli had cooked nicely in the soup. We felt the meal was super high-quality and enjoyable to the taste.
The entire experience of the Tang Bar was very individualized, convenient and user-friendly. From the entrance, we were drawn in by the beautiful atmosphere, followed by the exciting activity of building the bowl, which allowed us to choose our own adventure between a wide variety o f items, then taste our very own soup that we had constructed based on our personal interests. As we could choose our amounts, pricing was also a factor that, in some ways, we could control for ourselves.
We chose to have an afternoon lunch, but, with its hours of 11am to 7pm, I could easily imagine the Tang Bar providing a meal at many times throughout the day, from a quick bite after school to a filling, fancy dinner with family. All-in-all, the Tang Bar was a fantastic experience with a fancy appearance, personalized ordering process, and a strong taste. I would give the Tang Bar a five out of five stars as a new restaurant for students in downtown San Mateo.
