Mala Project

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedJanuary 13, 2025
• inspection score20 pts
• critical violations3
• last inspectedSeptember 28, 2026 →
• address122 1 Avenue, Manhattan 10009
• cuisineChinese
• phone2126021005

Is Mala Project clean?

Mala Project currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on January 13, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on September 28, 2026 scoring 20 points — but NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has not ruled on that visit, so no new grade has been issued. Inspectors wrote up 3 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder the posted grade reads clean 😇; the numbers above come from the newer visit.

What did inspectors find at Mala Project?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 28, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🍽️food left out / unprotectedcritical
  Food, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display, service or from customer’s refillable, reusable container. Condiments not in single-service containers or dispensed directly by the vendor.
• 🧽surfaces not properly sanitizedcritical
  Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
• 🌡️fridge is giving… room tempcritical
  Cold TCS food item held above 41 °F; smoked or processed fish held above 38 °F; intact raw eggs held above 45 °F; or reduced oxygen packaged (ROP) TCS foods held above required temperatures except during active necessary preparation.

When was Mala Project last inspected?

Mala Project has 5 inspections on record going back to April 19, 2022, averaging 18 points.

Graded visits shown below · newest first · tap a date for the record

Mala Project vs East Village

East Village runs 76% clean across 754 tracked restaurants — 487 clean, 48 mid, 109 cooked.

Against the 754 spots Cooked tracks in East Village, this one comes out cleaner than 48% of them.

Other spots in East Village

• A 787 Coffee
  clean · August 10, 2026
• B Dim Sum Palace
  mid · August 25, 2025
• A 11Th St Bar
  clean · May 20, 2025
• ⏳ Uluh
  cooked · November 25, 2025
• A Tabetomo
  clean · August 14, 2025
• A Cadence
  clean · November 7, 2024

See every restaurant inspection in East Village →

How New York grades restaurants

New York City health inspectors score violations in points, and lower is better: 0–13 points earns an A, 14–27 a B, and 28 or more a C. Every restaurant is inspected at least once a year, and the letter has to be posted in the window. A restaurant that scores 14 or more on the first inspection of a cycle does not get a letter right away — it stays “Grade Pending” until a re-inspection settles it, which is why some spots here show an hourglass instead of a letter. Cooked only ever shows a letter the city actually posted; we never infer one from a score.

Read the New York ratings guide →

Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.

Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) via NYC Open Data. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated September 28, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.