Zhang Liang Mala Tang (China Square Central)

Finally tried out ZhangLiang MalaTang! This hugeeee bowl cost about $36 for 2 and we were super stuffed from this. Their soup base is not very spicy and more on the numb side. You can customise the spiciness by adding in the condiments yourself. We liked their fried chickpeas and sesame sauce and would recommend getting sweet potato noodles and cheese tteokbokki if you’re a chewy lover. Otherwise, all ingredients are priced the same, so pile up on the meat and seafood for most value!

$21.05

Went to Zhang Liang just last week and had their Mala Soup with Maggie Noodles, Seaweed, Quail Eggs, Fish Roe Ball, Seaweed Chicken, Chinese Cabbage, Enoki Mushrooms, Cheese Sausages, Pork and Beef!🤣 I paid a total of $14.70 and was very full😍😁

Zhangliang has always been my no.1 choice for mala soup compared to others that ive tried so ofcourse its a 10/10 from me😅💯 Will be back soon!!

Mala Tang (prices vary based on how much you take per bowl)
This is probably the must-try here, and I'd reco trying this first before you get other soup bases. Honestly this is my first time having Mala Tang, but on first look I'd say their broth looks really creamy, and I'd have thought it's Laksa based solely on its appearance. But it tastes nothing like Laksa, and instead is pretty creamy, with spice being really mild with 小辣 (xiao la), and not too numbing as well. It's not too bad I'd say, and an interesting one, since it's my first time having creamy mala.

NGL I have nothing else to compare to, considering its my first time having Mala Tang, since I've only ever eaten stir-fry/ dry Mala. The prices ain't cheap too, but personally feel it's a unique experience, and although it's not mindblowingly good, it's still a pretty comforting one esp on a cold rainy day, and worth trying once.
* Total was about $56 for 3 pax (2 large bowls), which amounts to $18.70 per pax.

Overall Rating: 8/10

[Zhang Liang Mala Tang]
Tried the outlet at Pickering Street and heard that it's actually better than the one at Bugis!

Just like other mala stores, you get to pick the ingredients you want in a huge bowl, but what's different is it's the soup version here, and you get to pick your soup base from 3 options: Mala, Tomato, Mushroom.

Tomato Soup Base
Prices vary based on how much you take per bowl. This base is kinda similar to HaiDiLao's, in the sense it's the really thick and rich kind of tomato broth. This base would defo be for tomato lovers.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Overall enjoyed this MaLa Tang chain from China for hearty soup with customisable ingredients served in individual bowls. Could see ourselves coming back when wanting a simple, comforting bowl of warm soup.

They offer 3 soup bases - mala, tomato, and mushroom, so there’s something for everyone. The mala tang was more ma than la, but overall still tasty. We were more biased towards the non spicy bases - the thick sweet-sour tomato broth reminded us of HDL’s version (but slightly less sweet) while the mushroom was light and earthy without being overly salty/oily. Would order these two again!

There was a good selection of ingredients to choose from (allegedly more than 60!), and prices are calculated by weight at $2.88/100g. They were generally of decent quality. Would say that the meat isn’t the best, but the vegetables, seafood (esp the fish), and carb options were fine! Also liked the dipping sauce station which offers fresh coriander, spring onion, crushed peanuts, garlic, chilli etc.

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