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This Chinatown classic is in a particularly strong phase lately. Chef Jianyun Ye has returned from a China sojourn. Owners Cori Xiong and Heng Chen have lured Mala's founding chef, Rong Wu, back from China, too, along with his culinary school mentor, Zhenou Lei. This kitchen triple threat is working out a core menu for future expansion plans, while keeping the quality steady at the sainted Bellaire Boulevard original.

The Sichuan dialectic of tingling Ma (from tongue-numbing peppercorns) and La (from fresh and dried chiles) is as riveting as ever in such dishes as mapo tofu, salty and slightly bitter; cold noodles or Funky Stick Chicken spangled with sesame; and a mind-boggling Devourable Beef Pot featuring gelatinous hunks of konjac, a plant corm.