Revealing the Westies’ Ma La Xiang Guo (麻辣香锅; MLXG) hidden gem. What are some of your favourite ingredients for MLXG?

My top picks would be beef, potatoes, lotus roots, instant noodles and fresh beancurd skin (千张). This stall constantly attracts queues at meal times and the reasons are completely evident.

Its prices are lower than other MLXG stalls and they don’t charge for the base. And you get a wide array of ingredients to choose from (but no lamb here). Do note that everything here is still charged by weight.

I opted for my standard option of medium spicy with additional peppercorns (中辣加嘛). They were generous with the dried chillies and peppercorns while being frugal with the oil and salt. Some MLXG can be very oily and salty.

I had a great time enjoying the spiciness of the stir fry and the numbing effect on the peppercorns. Would opt for the spiciest level (大辣) the next time to challenge my spice tolerance.

In case you were wondering, this bowl set me aside $16.50. Available for takeaway.