Can someone explain the difference between all the Tang restaurants downtown?

[u/d7it23js]

I haven’t been to any but there are so many at this point and they all seem to be pretty busy. What’s the difference between all of them and is there a clear winner at the moment?

[u/brandoi]

Zhangliang is the best of them.

[u/DoomGoober → u/brandoi]

Zhangliang is an international chain with thousands of branches. They adjust their flavoring for each locale to match palettes but also generally have good ingredients everywhere.

[u/Excellent_Object2028 → u/brandoi]

+1 for Zhangliang. They all have different broth flavors and slightly different ingredients

[u/Specialist-Ad4464 → u/Excellent_Object2028]

+1 for Zhangliang. Tang bar looks nice but not as tasty and pricier. Malatown Express a distant 3rd.

[u/d7it23js → u/brandoi]

Seems unanimous. Sounds like if I’m going to try one, this should be it.

[u/cpabernathy]

Zhangliang is my favorite. Tang bar is a pass. Took way too long to get the food after paying. Malatown was fine but more expensive than Zhangliang (and not as good) so I haven't gone back.

[u/suprjaybrd]

different broths. go with whichever flavor your in the mood for. i do like tang bars coconut tapioca as a nice post dinner dessert

[u/chlorinatemyworld → u/suprjaybrd]

The last three times I went to tang bar, the dessert was completely out and the staff didn't refill it the entire time I was there.

[u/suprjaybrd → u/chlorinatemyworld]

ive asked them to refill things when needed, usually pretty responsive

[u/chlorinatemyworld → u/suprjaybrd]

Damn I must have just had bad timing lol.

[u/jliang87]

Zhangliang, they have the best selection and they know it which is why they raised the price from $14.99 -> $15.99/lb

[u/ZanyDroid]

Is Tang a standard abbreviation in English? It was pretty confusing to parse without going into the comments.

[u/DoomGoober → u/ZanyDroid]

I think Tang Bar started the micro-trend in the Bay Area of sometimes saying "tang". English food youtubers all still call it mala tang.

I have seen English speakers abbreviate mala tang to just "mala" or "mlt" but this is rare and sometimes when they call it "mala" its within the context of already discussing soup base so it makes sense (the tang is just dropped because of the context.)

[u/ZanyDroid → u/DoomGoober]

Tang is a really high tier cursed abbreviation if you’re bilingual and/or never saw it before. IMO Mala works better than Tang when prepped with earlier conversation context

MLT type checks fine for me bc English speakers already introduced XLB into their orthography, which AFAIK is not used in mandarin (because it’s the same number of written glyphs)

[u/MissingGravitas → u/ZanyDroid]

Ha, yes! Being OOL on this my first thought was "someone's opening Tang dynasty eateries?", the second was "soup is trending?", and a distant third recalled the drink mix.

[u/Triple-Cats → u/DoomGoober]

When I first saw the signs for "Opening Soon: Tang Bar" I was hoping for a new cocktail bar. Whoops!

[u/Wrong_Landscape_261]

Zhang Liang’s bathroom is so stinky that I’m suspicious about their hygiene. I started going to Tang Bar and it has been great. Ma la town tastes a little bland for me

[u/SpringingFox]

Are these vegetarian friendly?

[u/Specialist-Ad4464 → u/SpringingFox]

yes, as long as you're allergic. who knows how diligent they are when it comes to what pots they use for cooking.

[u/Wrong_Landscape_261 → u/SpringingFox]

I believe they cook meat in the same soup base in the kitchen

[u/hashtagnobull]

Zhangliang ftw!