mine too - very numbing and spicy
Five at the table - no one detected any mala.
that is so odd
Perhaps the sichuan chef is not there all the time.
I know when I next go I am making it a point to ask about the inconsistencies and to tell them how I want it.
Re-visit this week if I can
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Two possibilities:
(1) You gotta ask for mala if the % of Asians in your Hop Woo party numbers less than 80%.
or
(2) Chef 射急歐 was not in house.
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We were right at 80% but the wife is the only one who spoke canto to the waiter. The food had a lot of chili heat, so I don’t think we got the guai lo treatment.
I’d still specifically request mala the next time, just in case. The default setting for the Westside Chinese places is to automatically assume (and err) on the side of “not spicy enough”. Just my two renmibi…
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Yet ANOTHER place where you gotta call ahead and make sure Sergio is working.
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We certainly are a fickle crowd, aren’t we?! 
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I certainly will put in the mala request. It just seems odd that they’d bring out the flamethrower but no prickly Ash.
They’re only $500 each, available from The Boring Company. Just in time for wildfire season in Southern California.
Very funny.
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Where is this place?
Mini-mall on the SW corner of Sepulveda & Olympic.
My wife’s scorn beats any flamethrower. 
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Okay … this may sound paranoid but I had a sneaking suspicion the guy who took my order was feeling me out to discern just how familiar I was with the taste of mala. When he asked me if I’d been to Killer Noodle, I made a point of saying I had, that I always ordered my noodles high on the numbing scale, and that I preferred authentic Chinese Dan Dan Noodles.
I can’t tell if they’re being stingy with the peppercorns or what, but it apparently pays to be explicit and insistent you want mala.
OK OK - I get the request order. But when one orders certain dishes that are supposed to be mala from this region, well…
Must not forget to also take into account “the Westside effect”…
OK - this is getting too complicated for me. The angles of failure are getting sliced thinner and thinner. Hop Woo, you lost me. Either I’ll start tipping at SGV levels so they know I’m on to them, or I’m not going anymore.
Oh, That is not where I was thinking it was. Thank you.
You may be thinking of Hop Li (2 locations on the Westside), which I do not recommend for anything spicy.