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Located Bellaire Boulevard in Houston, our award-winning cuisine from China’s Sichuan province, and had been named Houston’s Best Chinese restaurant by local publications, including Houston Press, and was nominated as a James Beard finalist in 2017. Sometimes spicy, always delicious and complex, Sichuan cuisine is famous within China, and this bustling Chinatown bistro restaurant shows why. Excellent wine and beer list, serving lunch and dinner daily.
Sichuan Chinese food, from the traditional to the adventurous, executed in basic surroundings.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 9348 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036
Phone: (713) 995-1889
Website: https://www.malasichuan.com/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Order: Order online
Photo Gallery
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Reviews
J. Platt (Pun)
Amazing food and flavors! Staff was excellent and vibe was welcoming. Will be back to try more menu items! Crispy spicy chicken was hard to not order a seco.d plate.
… moreRichard Cheung
First time trying Sichuan cuisine. Everything was delicious. I only wished the seating was more comfortable. Wood chairs are really tough for me
Owen did a very nice job, making sure he provided everything we needed
… moreOwen did a very nice job, making sure he provided everything we needed
Peter N
Great spot in Houston’s Chinatown! Loved the Water-Boiled Fish with Tofu spicy, numbing, full of flavor. Bacon-Wrapped Cucumbers were crispy and addictive. Fried Pork Intestine was crunchy but needed more spice. Cucumber Salad was fresh and perfect to cool the heat.
Service was fast, vibe was cozy. Parking’s tight but worth it. Solid Sichuan, will be back!
… moreService was fast, vibe was cozy. Parking’s tight but worth it. Solid Sichuan, will be back!
DuanMooMoo Texas
This place has an interesting decor. Ordered a szechuan dandan noodle and the taste was good but portion small. It’s close to Jusgo Supermarket and plenty of parking.
… moreOmar Olivarez
Door dashed, when order was delivered there wasn’t any condiments or plasticware. The Mongolian beef was dry. Hardly any sauce. Good flavor. The spicy and crispy chicken had an insane amount of red chili. Taste was delicious, just could have used a bit more love. Did live up to.iys name. Was crispy and spicy
… moreBrene’ Dolphin
Upon entering, it had a hudden gem mom and pop feel. The food came out very quickly.
I had the house made plum juice, brown sugar sweet rice cakes and the spicy boiled fish with a side of rice. The spicy boiled fish has Sichuan in it. It gave me a electric, fuzzy feeling while I ate it. For me I have a low tolerance and I gained an adrenaline boost. So I didn’t like the feeling, but I know that there’s a lot of people who enjoy that feeling. The food was still great it’s just was a little too spicy for me… But it makes sense since I got a spicy dish.
The atmosphere was fairly noisy considering that there were some groups in the main seating area. There are 2 private party rooms.
The staff was very friendly and helpful. My waitir knew how to answer all my questions and aided me and deciding between which dishes I wanted to try. He was very knowledgeable. The lady who brought out my dishes was very kind and attentive. (Sorry in advance I didn’t get their names).
For one person, I spent $30. Worth a try if you like spicy food.
… moreI had the house made plum juice, brown sugar sweet rice cakes and the spicy boiled fish with a side of rice. The spicy boiled fish has Sichuan in it. It gave me a electric, fuzzy feeling while I ate it. For me I have a low tolerance and I gained an adrenaline boost. So I didn’t like the feeling, but I know that there’s a lot of people who enjoy that feeling. The food was still great it’s just was a little too spicy for me… But it makes sense since I got a spicy dish.
The atmosphere was fairly noisy considering that there were some groups in the main seating area. There are 2 private party rooms.
The staff was very friendly and helpful. My waitir knew how to answer all my questions and aided me and deciding between which dishes I wanted to try. He was very knowledgeable. The lady who brought out my dishes was very kind and attentive. (Sorry in advance I didn’t get their names).
For one person, I spent $30. Worth a try if you like spicy food.
M G
Delicious food. Every dish I’ve tried is delicious. Good veggie dishes too. The mala shrimp is perfectly crispy and spicy.
… moreQuynh Nguyen
I’ve been to their other location in Katy but for some reasons the food here is better. The interior is kind of outdated and they don’t have as large of a seating area compared to Katy. The boiled fish is probably my favorite. Second favorite are the sautéed lotus root and mapo tofu.
… moreKevin Zheng
Immediately when you walk into the restaurant you are greeted with the faint but pleasant aroma of sichuan peppers. It’s a welcoming smell, and instantly jump-started my appetite. The place is covered in traditional Chinese vases, artwork, calligraphy, and more – you feel like you’re in the right place to eat Sichuan (or Szechuan) food.
We ordered the Spicy Fish Fillet and Tofu which was done well. It’s a great dish to be layered on top of a fresh scoop of jasmine rice. And oh, their rice is great (yes, this matters a lot)! The fish was extremely tender and really melted into my mouth along with the silken tofu. The mala flavor was exactly what I expected – spicy, but not overbearing, yet tasteful enough to leave a slight numbing sensation on my tongue. Delish! The Green Tea Fried Rice was also very enticing. While it was green and it was said to have green tea, I really don’t think I could taste much of that. Instead it felt like a really classic, but oh so deligful chinese fried rice dish. Very hearty with a healthy amount of soy sauce flavoring. Very delicious as well! The final dish that we ordered (not pictured) was the Spicy Crispy Chicken! A classic Sichuan dish that feels like an appetizer, but that doesn’t take away from how enjoyable it was. Crispy, crunchy, and (surprisingly) quite flavorful, it was a good contrast texturally to the other dishes.
Overall, all three dishes that we got were thoroughly enjoyable, with seriously no complaints. Easily enough, this place has already been saved as one of my favorites.
… moreWe ordered the Spicy Fish Fillet and Tofu which was done well. It’s a great dish to be layered on top of a fresh scoop of jasmine rice. And oh, their rice is great (yes, this matters a lot)! The fish was extremely tender and really melted into my mouth along with the silken tofu. The mala flavor was exactly what I expected – spicy, but not overbearing, yet tasteful enough to leave a slight numbing sensation on my tongue. Delish! The Green Tea Fried Rice was also very enticing. While it was green and it was said to have green tea, I really don’t think I could taste much of that. Instead it felt like a really classic, but oh so deligful chinese fried rice dish. Very hearty with a healthy amount of soy sauce flavoring. Very delicious as well! The final dish that we ordered (not pictured) was the Spicy Crispy Chicken! A classic Sichuan dish that feels like an appetizer, but that doesn’t take away from how enjoyable it was. Crispy, crunchy, and (surprisingly) quite flavorful, it was a good contrast texturally to the other dishes.
Overall, all three dishes that we got were thoroughly enjoyable, with seriously no complaints. Easily enough, this place has already been saved as one of my favorites.
Alex
I was very disappointed with Mala Sichuan Bistro. Full stop.
I ordered a few dishes for takeout after poring over their large menu and decided on:
Jiggling Pork Belly – it was not very good. The pork was dry, not jiggly at all. The liquid that it came in was so watered down it had no flavor at all. The portion was much smaller than what they show in their pictures.
Couples Lung Slices – this dish was very flavorful, albeit on the salty side. I had to eat it with rice (normally when I order this at other places I can eat it by itself). Once again, the portion was very small. Not even close to what their picture shows.
Dry Fried Pork Intestines – this is one of my favorite items to order at a Sichuan restaurant. Unfortunately this one missed the mark. The intestines tasted like they weren’t cleaned thoroughly. It had that overwhelming offal flavor and aroma that is normally cleaned and cooked out. This place cuts theirs really thick and it’s undercooked (see pictures/video). The seasoning was good though and the portion size was better than the other dishes.
House Special Funky Cold Noodles – for starters, I ordered extra sauce and they did not give that. The flavor of this dish was good, but why it’s called “funky” I am confused. I like funky flavors so I was expecting a stronger flavor. I was expecting a dish like Liang Pi but this was not it. The noodles were on the dry side and I had to scrape them on the bottom of the container to get any flavor on them. Once again, the portion size was lacking.
I don’t know if it’s because I got takeout but I feel like I was jipped with the amount of food I got for $50+ dollars. The pictures of the food on the restaurant plates look bigger so maybe you get more food if you eat there. Look at the pics/videos, I come with receipts. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant so one would assume the food should be cooked properly since they aren’t slammed. Not so. Also, I ordered utensils since I’m staying at a hotel for work and I didn’t get those, so I had to scour the area for utensils. That was not cool.
Overall I would not go here again. There is a wealth of Chinese and Asian places in the area. You have to bring your A game every time and maybe they had an off night but I was very disappointed and wished I had gone to any of the other places around.
… moreI ordered a few dishes for takeout after poring over their large menu and decided on:
Jiggling Pork Belly – it was not very good. The pork was dry, not jiggly at all. The liquid that it came in was so watered down it had no flavor at all. The portion was much smaller than what they show in their pictures.
Couples Lung Slices – this dish was very flavorful, albeit on the salty side. I had to eat it with rice (normally when I order this at other places I can eat it by itself). Once again, the portion was very small. Not even close to what their picture shows.
Dry Fried Pork Intestines – this is one of my favorite items to order at a Sichuan restaurant. Unfortunately this one missed the mark. The intestines tasted like they weren’t cleaned thoroughly. It had that overwhelming offal flavor and aroma that is normally cleaned and cooked out. This place cuts theirs really thick and it’s undercooked (see pictures/video). The seasoning was good though and the portion size was better than the other dishes.
House Special Funky Cold Noodles – for starters, I ordered extra sauce and they did not give that. The flavor of this dish was good, but why it’s called “funky” I am confused. I like funky flavors so I was expecting a stronger flavor. I was expecting a dish like Liang Pi but this was not it. The noodles were on the dry side and I had to scrape them on the bottom of the container to get any flavor on them. Once again, the portion size was lacking.
I don’t know if it’s because I got takeout but I feel like I was jipped with the amount of food I got for $50+ dollars. The pictures of the food on the restaurant plates look bigger so maybe you get more food if you eat there. Look at the pics/videos, I come with receipts. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant so one would assume the food should be cooked properly since they aren’t slammed. Not so. Also, I ordered utensils since I’m staying at a hotel for work and I didn’t get those, so I had to scour the area for utensils. That was not cool.
Overall I would not go here again. There is a wealth of Chinese and Asian places in the area. You have to bring your A game every time and maybe they had an off night but I was very disappointed and wished I had gone to any of the other places around.