We are late to the party but that's how hot the slots to get a seat at Má Là Kitchen have been in a little over a year of its existence. But we finally did snag ourselves a spot in early December of last year and we promptly showed up before the appointed hour at Aditya Ramakrishnan and Dongli Zhang's home. We're glad we showed up early cause we could get acquainted with Simboo, the family dog, while Aditya showed us around the dining space.
It was neatly done up with a few ornamental elements, cookbooks (we spotted Fuschia Dunlop in the mix), and the menu for the night. Dongli, who's a native of Chengdu, had her family heirloom out on the table – a silk scroll – that Aditya explained the history behind it while we were waiting to take our place at the table.
The supper club starts with a tea ceremony with Aditya walking us through the entire process and there's nothing more social than having tea together with Aditya's playlist of Chengdu rap playing in the background. Our Shazam picked up a few songs for the ride back home. On the menu was Wood Ear Salad, Scallop Vermicelli, Mouthwatering Chicken, Dan Dan Noodles, Mapo Tofu, and Sweet Corn Mochi.
Since we had mentioned mushroom allergies, Aditya swapped it out for a Liang Fen, a mung bean jelly salad, a cold dish with sweet, sour, and spicy notes, and something we wanted more of. The dishes come out one by one with Aditya walking us through what the dishes are, what textures, and flavours are expected, and how each of the are based on the 24 flavour profiles in Sichuan cooking with Má Là meaning spicy and numbing. In between courses we learn that Aditya does the cooking while Dongli does the plating, and it was during the lockdown that Dongli started missing home food and ended up cooking a lot of Sichuan food that Aditya fell in love with and the rest is history.
The menu rotates with Aditya bringing in new flavours and dishes, and we were lucky enough to try braised pork ribs, something that everyone at the table who tried it wanted more of.
Between conversations with fellow diners and also actually discovering that the idea of six degrees of separation is in fact, a fact, we thoroughly enjoyed the supper club. More of that Mapo Tofu, please!
