Ma Ma La (Tanjong Pagar Plaza)

Tucked in a corner of the coffee shop at 5 Tanjong Pagar Plaza (next to Ali Nachia Briyani which was unfortunately sold out when we arrived at 1.30!), is this small but modern MLXG stall. By modern, I mean that they offer FavePay and GrabPay payment options.

I wasn’t particularly impressed with the ingredient selection here, maybe because we had arrived quite late after the lunch crowd. Nonetheless, I managed to pick out my standard MLXG ingredients - lotus root, broccoli, ladies fingers, tau kwa, bok choy, luncheon meat, black fungus, enoki mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and mung bean vermicelli. One special ingredient here is cheese tofu, which I love but rarely see in MLXG stalls. I should’ve checked the pricing before I ordered, but the total bowl came up to $10.20 - that’s when I realised that they charge a single price per 100g. So it’s actually more worth it to buy meats than veggies - however the meat pickings are quite slim. Apart from luncheon meat, fish and chicken slices, there weren’t any other meats left. Interestingly enough for the carbs choices, aside from the usual rice and instant noodles, you have the option of fried mantous! I’ve never tried that with MLXG and I can only imagine how perfect those buns would be for dipping and soaking up all that ma la goodness. I was so tempted but... probably another day!

This stall works with a buzzer system and since there was no queue, our buzzer rang within 5 minutes. I’d ordered medium spiciness, and I felt that was a good level of spiciness. You could feel some heat, but it was not enough to induce sweating. Unfortunately, this MLXG didn’t have any numbing sensation. There were some peppercorns hidden inside, but not enough to cause any tingling on the tongue. The sauce here was also saltier than other stalls I’ve visited, so many the saltiness was to compensate for the lack of numbness 😂