Common in China, malatang is a streetfood consisting of a spicy broth to which ingredients of your own choice are added. Traditionally the broth has Sichuan pepper and dried chili peppers as key ingredients.

When Guus Rodermans was studying in China (ended up there while travelling in Asia) he used to eat malatang several times a week. During the harsh covid lockdown in China he returned to the Netherlands, but was missing the food in China a lot. That’s when he started dreaming of opening up a malatang restaurant in Amsterdam. He had an outdoor sports company at the time, but believed he could make a bigger impact on one’s mental and physical health as well as the environment, with a healthy and cosy food location!

And so with the support of his partner Dana and cousin Niek they started out to make it happen. Though in China most malatang places offer meat as well, they chose for a vegetarian concept. Mogu Malatang opened in May 2023. And the name? Mogu is Chinese for mushroom, in Japanese it’s the word for the sounds one makes while eating! Read more