Baby octopus on the malatang bar in Suwon Cheoncheon-dong: Rahongbang

Today I finally got my proper malatang fix haha. I hadn't had malatang in a while and suddenly the numbing spice was calling my name. So I looked around nearby and heard there was a great malatang spot in Cheoncheon-dong, and went straight there. Today I'm introducing Rahongbang Malatang Suwon Cheoncheon Branch!

Where is Rahongbang Malatang Suwon Cheoncheon Branch, and its hours and parking

Rahongbang Malatang Suwon Cheoncheon Branch is located at Sehwa Plaza 1F, Unit 102, 6 Manseok-ro 5beon-gil, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi, South Korea. It's open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, with a 12:00 opening on Sundays.

• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:00 / Sundays open at 12:00
• 🚗 Parking: Nearby public parking lots or street parking (free 11:30–2:00)

The storefront was overall clean and well kept. It wasn't hard to find, and the malatang-restaurant vibe was clear even from outside. Since it had been a while since I'd had malatang, I was already excited before even walking in haha.

Once inside, there were already quite a lot of people in the restaurant. With a school district nearby, there were lots of student customers. When students flock somewhere, it kind of makes you think it must actually be good haha. So if you're looking for a good malatang spot in Cheoncheon-dong, this one might be worth checking out.

Picking your own ingredients at Rahongbang Malatang, baby octopus included

The ingredient bar at Rahongbang Malatang Suwon Cheoncheon Branch had vegetables, meatballs, mushrooms, noodles, rice cakes, tofu, and even baby octopus. The fun of malatang is picking exactly what you want to add!

I looked through the ingredients one by one, and overall the vegetables looked fresh and well kept.

With various types of meatballs and mushrooms available, I ended up spending a long time deciding what to add haha.

There was also a wide variety of noodles, essential to malatang. Along with fenzi (glass noodles), there were wide flat noodles, regular glass noodles, and potato noodles to choose from. And there was baby octopus, which I hadn't seen much at other malatang restaurants! The seafood selection was relatively varied too, which made picking ingredients even more fun.

There were also tons of rice cake types — from cheese rice cakes to sweet potato rice cakes — along with various fish balls. Adding them to malatang gives it a chewy texture, so I personally always toss one in haha.

My favorites — bean sprouts and napa cabbage — also looked fresh. And there was a good variety of tofu to choose from too. With this many ingredient options, even ordering the same malatang can turn out a little different each time, which I find fun.

Meat charged by weight: beef or lamb

One thing I really liked was the meat setup. Here, meat is weighed and charged by the gram, so you can add as much as you want. Both beef and lamb were available, so you could pick according to your taste. I always add meat when eating malatang or mala xiang guo, so being able to portion exactly how much I wanted was great.

How to order and what's on the self-serve bar

Once you've picked all your ingredients, you order via kiosk. Next to it, you can select your preferred spice level too. Everyone's preferred spice level for malatang is really different haha, so being able to choose your own level was convenient.

There's also a wide range of side dishes for sale, so if there's something you want alongside your malatang, it's worth ordering together. That day we ordered malatang, mala xiang guo, and guobaorou. Since it had been a while since I'd had mala, just one malatang felt like too little, so we decided to go all in and properly restock our mala levels with mala xiang guo and guobaorou too haha.

Basic plates and pickled radish, among other things, could be taken from the self-serve bar. Being able to grab as much as you needed made it convenient to use.

They're also running a Naver review event, so if you're visiting, it's worth keeping in mind haha.

How was the malatang broth at Rahongbang Malatang?

The malatang came out first! Even at a glance, it was loaded with ingredients, and I liked the look of it right away.

The broth was fairly rich, so the distinctive mala aroma really came through. On the first bite, the mala flavor was well developed in the broth, and the ingredients were cooked just right, making it a dish I kept reaching for.

Maybe because it had been a while, the numbing, rich broth really felt like a proper mala refill haha. Each ingredient had a different texture too, so picking through them one by one was fun.

Mala xiang guo with lamb and cheese rice cakes

Next up was mala xiang guo, one of my favorites. Unlike malatang, the seasoning here was deeply soaked into each individual ingredient, so it looked intense right from the visual. On the first bite, the mala aroma hit along with a strong umami. This is the kind of dish that really demands rice haha.

Salty yet full of umami, it felt like it would taste even better with rice!

I especially loved the lamb and cheese rice cake combination in it. The rich flavor of the lamb paired with the chewy cheese rice cake made for an interesting texture and a great flavor match.

The frying balance of the guobaorou

And there's one dish that's absolutely essential while eating malatang. That's guobaorou haha.

Ordering a guobaorou alongside malatang or mala xiang guo is great because you can switch to a different flavor in between bites. Here, the sauce was seasoned just enough while the crispiness of the frying held up well.

So when eating it, the outside was crispy while the inside stayed moist, and the balance between sauce and frying was really good. Personally, I find guobaorou disappointing when the frying gets too soggy or, on the opposite end, too hard. Here, the crispiness held up while the sauce soaked in just the right amount, so the balance of texture and flavor was really good. It was delicious eaten crispy, and the parts where more sauce had soaked in were nicely moist too. Honestly, out of all the guobaorou I've had, this one had one of the best frying balances.

Take a sip of the malatang broth, then a bite of guobaorou — that combo works really well too haha.

Is Rahongbang Malatang in Suwon worth a visit?

• A wide variety of ingredients from fresh-looking vegetables to meatballs, mushrooms, and rice cakes
• Malatang where the rich broth and well-cooked ingredients came together nicely
• Mala xiang guo full of umami, with a great lamb and cheese rice cake combo
• Guobaorou with an especially good balance of crispy and moist
• A Suwon malatang restaurant where I properly restocked my mala levels after a long time

Rahongbang Malatang Suwon Cheoncheon Branch, visited because I was craving malatang after a long while! The variety of ingredients and the fun of picking them myself were great, and I enjoyed not just the malatang but the mala xiang guo and guobaorou too haha. The guobaorou especially stuck with me for its great frying balance. If you're craving malatang in Cheoncheon-dong, this one is worth a try!