YGF Malatang

Whenever my partner and I are in Milpitas, we know we have to go to YGF. We usually have to wait for a table, but it’s worth it. They have plenty of options for meat, vegetables, and other toppings, and they’re always very generous with putting lots of soup in your bowl.

FOOD beef bone broth is very good. they have standard malatang ingredients like vegetables, tofu, meat, etc. sauce station is lacking though— not much variety in terms of sauce. SERVICE wait time is pretty long (about 30-40mins for a table for 4). cooking time is relatively short though (about 5-10mins). workers speak chinese and english ATMOSPHERE very busy at night!! kinda loud inside so youll need to talk loud. parking is VERY hard to find, you may need to park further. they have some bar style seats that face the window (which i liked). theres both outside and inside seating. also saw a cool skyline outside so maybe youll see a cool car too

Price is $15.99/lb with the many options for the broth. Malatang has gotten very popular recently and feels similar to hot pot. You get a decent amount of food if you only eat 1 lb of food. The space in the restaurant is on the smaller side, but the wait time is short. You grab a bowl and go down the line while picking up the ingredients you want into your bowl. At the end, the cashier weighs the bowl to determine how much to pay. Wait time for them to cook the food and bring it out to you is very quick, which helps bring down the wait time. I enjoyed the beef broth but spice level was high for me personally at the mild level.

Pretty good vegetables and meat. The beef is nice and the soup (I got the beef bone soup, high spicy level) is among the tastiest for malatang in the bay area.

Tried the dry version and had a mixed feelings. Noodles were overcooked, which took away the texture. I paid $22+ which felt pricey, though Malatang is priced by weight and ingredients. Flavor wise, it’s ok, but if you’re used to bold, punchy Mala in Singapore, this version might feel a bit muted. Lack of deep aromatic kick.