MáLà Project

Add this delicious venture to the growing list of Chinese restaurants that are finally giving Manhattanites a chance to feast on spice levels once reserved for the outer boroughs. Inside MáLà Project’s two rooms, find seating that includes a long, group-friendly communal table tucked into a nook, exposed brick walls, beautiful floors and big green leafy plants.

Dinner could go in any number of delicious directions, but a MáLà dry pot is really the best option. Diners are given a choice of ingredients—meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, rice—and then asked for their desired degree of spiciness. A pot of lamb, bok choy, wood ear mushrooms, shrimp balls and chicken gizzards make their way into a wok with a fragrant “secret sauce” and complex spiced oil.