Liji Malatang - Kurunjang

Liji Malatang Target Centre, Melbourne CBD<br/ Spicy Beef Bone Soup<br/ Yesterday I was trembling, I didn’t feel myself, something was missing in my life and I needed to rectify it. I looked to when my last post on this account was and realised that missing part of me was of course soup. Knowing full well this hunger wasn’t going to cure itself I made tracks into the city, and wandered the streets until I found a restaurant that didn’t have huge wait times. This place was Liji Malatang nestled in the Target Centre between Bourke and Little Bourke. While i’m sure many soup fans in Melbourne are familiar with Malatang by now For those who need a refresher, It’s basically Chinese for Spicy Numbing, the flavours you get from Sichuan peppers and chili. Malatang restaurants have fridges that are filled to the brim with ingredients that you put into an oversized bowl which is similar to Hermione Granger’s bag You keep putting things in it but it never seems to fill up the top. THAT IS THE FIRST TRICK PEOPLE. Don’t get caught out, you have to imagine all those ingredients you place into your bowl in that bag of yours that you call your stomach and you will have no problems. Malatang is charged by weight Liji is $3.20 per 100 grams.. and if I wasn’t careful that price could have become very very extreme very quickly. The ingredients options at Liji are much the same as Dragon other similar priced by weight restaurants around the city. They have all the options An assortment of Mushrooms, veggies, tofu and other beancurd related items, balls all kinds of balls, big balls, filled seafood balls, meat balls plenty of balls. The fresh meat here was the standard thinly cut lamb, beef or pork but they also had thicker cuts of marinated beef which were very tasty. One thing I will mention is that Liji has peeled prawns which is an essential, not only are you not wasting precious weight on crustaceanic shell you also can be lazy and suck the prawn meat right out of its tail, less messy good. Now the broth, the broth here was tremendous, It was bold and had all the right flavours dancing around my tongue. Yes it was Spicy, Yes it was Numbing Malatang certified but it was also very beefy. The aromas were fantastic. This place has a sauce station with all the regular condiments. Sesame oil, sesame sauce, chopped coriander, chopped green onion etc. a great addition. Liji Malatang is an underrated restaurant, It’s hidden in Target centre but you won’t feel rushed here like you do in other places because there is a heap of space and heaps of tables. I also saw they did cumin lamb skewers so you bet i’m going straight back for them. <br/ <br/

Greatest mala xianguo ever I had in Melbourne and I used to go. The price is reasonable . Their yogurt also really good. The staffs are friendly and the tables are clean. The Foods are served really quick. Overall is very good experience.

Located in the Target Centre is this malatang spot, you can choose to dine in (which we recommend) or dine out on the communal tables just outside. We chose our various ingredients, I spent nearly $20 and it was sufficient for myself, it's $3.20 per kg which seems to be the going rate these days.<br/ <br/ While waiting they were offering free white fungus soup which had goji berries in it. My mum would usually make this for me, I'm sure it helps restore your ying and yang after a spicy bowl of soup (don't quote me on that). It was pretty pleasant and slightly sweet, grab a bowl while you wait.<br/ <br/ I requested my bowl to be mild and it was, the soup was milky and slightly tingly from all the peppercorns. I couldn't drink much of it, the saltiness builds up on you. I also added in a piece of lamb rib which did not look appetising uncooked but when it came out it was tender and fatty, delicious. Nothing else worthy of mention, a lot of the ingredients were standard across all restaurants of its kind. Mushrooms, bean curd, sliced lamb, mussels, etc.<br/ <br/ Not a bad joint for some malatang, nice touches here and there.

MALATANG is getting popular in Melbourne, i used to feel like liji is a bit tasteless, but since i ordered super spicy i am totally obsessed

Was worried that all their soups would be spicy as their name suggests however was told they had a non spicy option.<br/ Soup flavour was great compared to Dragon Hot pot. <br/ Food selection was not too bad. Many dipping sauces available with garnishes. <br/ Would return<br/ <br/ Food: 4/5<br/ Service: 3/5<br/ Ambiance: 3/5