Hunan Hamlet

It’s been a while since I spent time out of the upper-​middle class confines of MoCo — 7 years, to be exact. But I’ve always thought that it’s important to reconnect with one’s roots, so with that mindset, I headed to Beltsville, MD (plus, I had a dentist’s appointment there at 3:30). It really warmed my heart to drive through the area and see the shabby houses, littered streets, and ghetto fabulous citizens of my youth. Good Ol’ PG County. Much love. Holla back.
Hunan Hamlet used to be something of a hidden gem, located in a strip-​mall-​ish area, nestled between the Ballet Academy (yours truly spent many hours dancing here back in the day) and a Korean liquor store. My mom had the hook up with this place — she was the owner’s son’s Chinese school teacher — so we always got to order items off the menu, though I always stuck with the Salt & Pepper Pork. Recently, however, the Korean liquor store owners next door bought out my mom’s pupil’s parents, so things are a little different.
The decorations are the same, the kitchen staff are supposedly the same, but gone are the perky waitresses and chatty floor manager of yore. Our waitress was slow and unenthusiastic, and her service was decidedly lackluster. The food was definitely mediocre. The Salt & Pepper pork chops were nicely salty and garlickly, but more bone than meat. I can’t even begin to put a name to the other two dishes, but I can take a stab at the ingredients — seafood + celery, beef+ asparagus. Both dishes were smothered in thick, dark brown, vaguely sweet-​and-​sour-​ish sauce. Blech! The beef was actually really tender and juicy, but the flavor was obscured by the gross brown gloop. Luckily, prices were good. $ 25 for 3 dishes.
The liquor store next door is pretty nice. Seemed well stocked; clean-​ish. And the guy behind the counter, who also owns the Hamlet, was eager to please — he told my dad that the next time we came, he would personally tell the chefs to prepare anything we wanted. What a nice guy. Too bad my parents have already decided that our family will never again darken the doors of this little establishment. Nothing personal, we just prefer eating better food.
RIP Hunan Hamlet of my youth.