Pines Food Court (Prince George's Park Residences)

TBH one of the best malas we’ve had! Doesn’t get jelat and has a flavor profile beyond spice and numbness. Really popular with NUS students so come early!

Really affordable Tom Yum Ban Mian from the noodle stall in PGP.
Costing $4.50, the portion is very generous, and I had more than my fill.

Grade: B+

Once in a while, I will have cravings to savour the famed indoor foodcourt PGP mala with my friends, and would usually order medium spicy (Zhong La), kang kong, and some meat.
For mala in NUS, PGP mala is perhaps the most affordable, and I usually eat my fill spending about $8 per pax. Unfortunately, the prices of items are not indicated, making buying mala a financially risky decision.

Value for money aside, the mala is mainly cooked with chilli oil and not a lot of herbs. Ordering high spicy (Da La) or very high spicy (Te La) also incurrs an additional cost of $0.50-$1. Unfortunately, topping up the money simply adds the number of chilli flakes to the bowl, and the spice level did not provide much of a challenge for me.

Grade: B

Fried Dumplings 🥟 (S$2.5/ 3 pcs)
Liang Bing (S$1)
Spinach (S$1)
Available at Gui Zhou Delight stall in aircon canteen in @nus_singapore Prince George’s Park.
Currently S$0.50 discount when paying with Dash app till 30 April 2019

Signature Beef Noodles 风味牛肉面 (S$5.50)
Available at Shu Xiang 蜀香 stall in Pines Food Court in @nus_singapore
Hot flavourful broth with tender cubes of meat.

There seem to be an uprising attraction towards mala these days and I think I finally understand why. I still remember getting my first ever mala from the koufu food court at NUS Utown and telling the lady I want 中辣 because I thought I'll be fine, but no I was dead. Ever since, I avoided mala till my friend got me to try this, and having learnt my lesson I took 小辣.

The first few mouths were fine. Fortunately, only the numbness (麻) build up overtime; the spiciness (辣) didn't. It's surprisingly addictive, and I think the addiction to this is similar to that of garlic - like how a piece of garlic toast burst into an explosion of strong aroma as it gets chewed. This seemingly small bowl of ingredients I picked costs a hefty $10, with the meat varieties being $2/100g and the non-meat being $1.20/100g. According to my friend, however, this price range is already one of the cheaper ones in Singapore (considering the taste).

So will I have mala again? Yes but only occasionally, and I'll try 中辣 from this stall the next time! Also, avoid the noodles and get white rice instead if you want something less greasy (because the noodles being stir-fried together with the ingredients absorb the oil).