Breath of Fresh Air: Hao Shi Lai

Craving the variety of a bowl of malatang but not in the mood for soup? Try Hao Shi Lai’s (好食来) soup-less versions of the celebrated soup bowl classic: 

$7.99 Beef Dry Malatang.

$7.99 Seafood Combo Dry Malatang.

Novelty of the “dry pot” dish aside, Hao Shi Lai is worth trying for sheer value per bowl of traditional or “dry” malatang. The super-chewy (“Q”) cellophane noodles took up less than a fifth of the bowl.* Instead, Chongqing chefs here go heavy-handed on a steaming array of vegetables, tofu skins, and mandolin-sliced potatoes:

Not razor-thin, but close.

If you need to cool down after your traditional or soup-less malatang bowl, consider trying the iced rose milk tea (玫瑰奶茶, or méiguī nǎichá). Hao Shi Lai uses rose jelly—made in-house from rosebuds!—and combines the jelly with green tea, milk, and honey. The taste is much like a milk green tea that finishes off with a delicate whiff of rose petals. 

From left to right: rosebuds, freshly-made rose jelly, and
final rose tea product. $3.75 for small; $4.75 for large.

Besides sparing you soup bowl fillers and infusing tea drinks with fresh ingredients, Hao Shi Lai also boasts a airy whimsical theme, reminiscent of Anthropologie and Free People’s bohemian brick and mortar stores:

May Flushing Food Suggest: Ordering Teaus drinks straight from Hao Shi Lai’s page.**

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* As default, traditional malatang comes with mifen, while the dry malatang come with broad noodles (宽粉,or kuānfěn). 

** The same owner oversees both Teaus and Hao Shi Lai, the latter of which opened in 2015.

Media credits: Helen Y.

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