People very friendly to me, and food was spicy which I love. But not too spicy, lots of choice for vegetarians as well, recommend for tourists :)
When I recall my dining experiences with Ma La Sichuan I think: those were great meals, smooth service, with a nice authentic air and a great price to match. Based in my former home turf of Westminster, Ma La Sichuan specialises in modern Sichuan cuisine. The Sichuan cuisine, if you’re new to it, brings bold, spicy flavours as a result of the region’s kitchens’ liberal use of garlic and chilli peppers.
Best friend of mine seems to be biggest Má Là Sichuan fan ever. He kept sending me pictures from eating here unless he took me there for a dinner. I was surprised how good was that place, having in mind that Westminster is propably not the best spot for such meetups. Varitety of meals in menu is just incredible. In our case we ordered shrimps in sweet sauce with cashew nuts, hot spicy chicken, cripsy beef, mix of dim sum dumplings and pak choi with some rice on side. It was great idea to share about 5 main courses while we were a group of 4, but we had no space for any dessert. Service was perfect, atmosphere was nice and warm. Slightly old waiter was not always following our orders or questions, but at the end it was more funny than annoying. I would love to come back and try more out of menu.
Ma La is a modern Sichuan restaurant in Victoria. Sichuan (province in southwestern China) is known for its spicy food and use of chillies and Sichuan pepper that numbs your mouth. Ma La is a relatively unknown restaurant and if my friend Philip had not told me about it, I would not have come across it in the near future. At the moment the best known Sichuan restaurants in London are Bar Shu and Ba Shan in Soho, which is a shame as I actually think Ma La is a lot better. As an example of how little known this restaurant is – even the restaurant website urbanspoon did not have any details of it, and they have details of every single restaurant in London. Having said that Ma La has its fan base and we came here for dinner on a Wednesday evening and it was quite full.
Lovely spot near Westminster. Excellent food that won't burn a hole in your pocket. The place stays true to its name and serves up authentic Sichuan dishes like sea bass in hot oil. They also have a delectable selection of dim sum. Worth the trip!
This lovely and neatly decorated little restaurant is located in a quiet street of Westminster. Despite the quiet street, it was quite busy and lovely on a Friday yet not so noisy that we couldn’t have a conversation.
We ordered a range of dishes, ie pickled mustard fish soup (super spicy and very original), fried rice, noodles, water spinach, dim sum platter, gong pao chicken, cumin lamb, sweet & sour prawns and braised pork. We also had the vegetarian set menu and the restaurant was very accommodating in going the extra mile in leaving certain ingredients out for vegan eaters. We orders so much food that we had to take some home. The waitress serving us was extremely helpful and friendly.
Overall, we enjoyed the meal and had a lovely evening. I would certain go back.
I really like Sichuan dishes, so I went to this Sichuan restaurant for the first time and I am very pleased. The food was as good as I expected it to be, the Mapo tofu was delicious! Ginger lamb was also very tasty! We were served very quickly by friendly waiters. There was a very nice atmosphere and the restaurant is clean. I recommend
Great Sichuan restaurant! I went late on a Sunday evening for dinner, and wasn't disappointed. The restaurant is clean, tastefully decorated and, thankfully, relatively accessible for me with my waking aid. The staff were friendly and welcoming, and helped me navigate the menu. Service was pretty quick, and the servers were very attentive. Portion sizes were good, and the prices were reasonable. I would definitely return if I'm in the area again, and would love to try the dim sum.
10 out of 10. Go see my new friend Eddie!!!
Absolutely must go if you are in Westminster.
The staff is amazing, the food was delicious and came out so fast.
We had veg dumplings, chicken fried rice, ma po tofu, beef with veg, mochi and banana fritters. All wonderful.
***** we liked it so much we went back a second time! ******
We really enjoyed Ma La Sichuan. All the food we ordered was very tasty, the waitress was really nice and accommodating and good value for money. We ordered: Dim Sum Platter (as recommended by all reviews, do order it), Song So's Fish soup (really enjoyed the seabass/shitake combination and zero spicy), the Sichuanese Red Braised Pork belly and the Classic Imperial Gongbao chicken (both were really good and great to pair it with rice). Do come if you are in the area and we are going to check and see if they deliver to our area!!
The food here is great, especially the dumplings. Everything came out very quickly. The food is fairly expensive, specifically a side of white rice for 4£. A 12.5% tip is automatically added to the bill.
Small Chinese restaurant with an exceptional staff. Tried the Dim Sum Platter with 4 different dumplings and they were very tasty, savory & delicious. Had thr prawn fried rice and it was good. Prices are very reasonable.
Me and my friend visited the restaurant for lunch. The duck menu is tasty and sichuan stir fried vegetable is delicious. I was impressed by the kind service from the waitress, who showed us the way to enjoy the meal.
I have been to this restaurant on several occasions, and it never disappoints. The food is authentic with no frills, full of flavors and lightens your taste buds like NYE fireworks. The decor and layout of the restaurant makes it feel like a high-end restaurant, but the environment is relaxed at the same time. The service is very fast and friendly. Their Szechuan dishes are fiery and their specialty. DO not miss their whole sea bass while you are there. A must try if you in the Westminster area and love Chinese food.
Probably the best Chinese in London you might be directed to Soho but there’s no comparison I’ve ever had there. The genuine authenticity of the food and quality surpasses anything in china town. Try the hot pot and the hot & sour soup for sure.
Sid “4fingerdrummer” Nanjangud
+5
Visiting London for the first time and stayed in Westminster. This place wasn’t too far from my hotel so I gave it try. Food was absolutely delectable! They took such good care of me. I would suggest everyone to try this place!
Came here with work. Very suitable for large groups, can be seated on a table with a turntable. Dishes tasted good and were authentic.
Overall good experience and would come again.
I absolutely loved this restaurant. The food was clearly lovingly made and the general ambience is so inviting. The service was near exceptional. They clearly run a tight, well oiled machine where everyone working performs their best with positive disposition which never feels forced or uncomfortable. They never allow your water glass to go dry and the food comes out with such a timely precision I was surprised. Had such a good time and I highly recommend the sweet and sour spare ribs (for the meat eaters) had to get second portion to go (admittedly). Overall a such a great experience.
Absolutely delivered on its promise. Very friendly and professional service; I showed up early for lunch service but they graciously sat me. Throughout my lunch the restaurant filled up with an interesting mixture of guests, some walk-in tables of 8 were welcomed and efficiently handled. My lunch was truly amazing. The cooling spinach offset the crispy soft shell crab’s fiery ma la of chillies and Sichuan peppercorns. Twice-cooked pork with fresh wok hei was on point! If people have soulmate restaurants, this is mine! Not expensive compared to more local Sichuan specialists, great service, environment, food quality and presentation. Great find for a London treat!
Our third visit since finding Ma La through Trip Advisor. The restaurant is large but the atmosphere is cosy. It has always been very busy when we went so booking definitely advisable. The soft shell crab, chicken in black bean and the wok fried chicken are great. For many of the dishes you can specify how much you want your tongue to tingle. Lisa, the host is lovely and makes sure the restaurant runs smoothly. Looking forward to trying some other items on the menu next time.
Really good, Sichuan focused restaurant. Reasonably priced. Dan Dan noodles were fragrant, dim sum and dumplings not as good as some other I’ve had in London but still really good. Service is fast and courteous. Restaurant is large and even though it was full of people didn’t feel like you’re on top of each other. Two of us went for lunch service, just after 12, by the time our food arrived almost all tables were filled. So book ahead of time if you want to be guaranteed a table.
Away from home (California) for two weeks and really enjoyed a authentic Chinese food here!
We did not have reservations but they seated us right away and offered us some water!
They have very nice Sichuan style menu if you enjoy the spicy Chinese food, you would really enjoy this place!
We ordered two different dishes, a bowl of soup, a fried rice and a beef stew noodles!
Very quickly all the food delivered, it was very tasty and satisfying meal!
Way to go Ma La! We! We will come back when we visit London again!
We came here for dinner and it is in a rather quiet location but in Westminster, not hard to get to. Ambience was great and service was super quick and efficient. We got the dim sum platter which was great, the spinach and prawn was our favourite. We also got the Crispy Soft-Shell Crab with Fragrant Chopped Red Chillies which was great but left a fuzzy feeling out tongue which was not pleasant- crab was super soft and crispy though. For the mains, we got the cumin lamb which was good but was great with the soy sauce and we got the Ma La King Prawns which was also good but the vegetables weren’t the greatest, celery was not a good taste. We also got two portions of jasmine rice. We got one coke and the total was around £70, not bad for a dinner in Westminster.
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