Congrats to Azalina Eusope on getting her new restaurant open in a couple weeks! She’s opening MAHILA in the former Contigo in Noe Valley on June 15th. She’ll be serving dishes that highlight her Mamak heritage—a community in Malaysia, which melds Chinese, Indian, and Polynesian/Malay influences—along with California influences and inspiration, making dishes in her own unique way. Specialties such as salted fish curry, sweet potato dumplings, mee Mamak (spicy stir-fried noodles), and pasembur (a salad of shredded cucumber, potato, beancurd, turnip, bean sprouts, and seafood, with a spicy nut sauce) will be on the menu. There will also be beer and wine selected to pair well with Mahila’s flavors, plus specialty fermented alcoholic drinks, and teh tarik, a hot, pulled milk tea. A great deal of the produce used in Mahila’s dishes will be sourced from a 3,200-sq.-ft. urban hydroponic farm located within Azalina’s Bayview commissary space.
As for the name, “mahila” means “becoming a woman,” in Mamak, referring to the second stage of a woman’s life, when she comes of age and can become a leader of her community and family. I think it nicely reflects Azalina’s journey as a businesswoman, who started as a farmers’ market vendor in 2010, working with La Cocina, and keeping her family’s legacy of street food vendors alive and well (she is the fifth generation to do so). She has her own line of packaged products in Whole Foods, a kiosk in The Market, and a robust catering business. So excited for this next stage for her.
Open Tue-Sun 5pm-10:30pm and for brunch Sat-Sun 10:30am-2:30pm. You can make reservations on Tock. 1320 Castro St. at 24th St.
The delightful Azalina Eusope. Photo by Tim Benson.
