Hunan Restaurant

came back again on our way for my wife’s graduation. we ordered steamed whole fish with spicy sauce (gee, it’s huge), shredded stomach with oil, combination delight and sauteed lamb. they have all been our orders for ten years since we dined at their first restaurant in monterey park. their san gabriel store is much larger, brighter and cleaner, but the tastes are consistent for years. if you like fish and spice, i highly recommend their special fish head. it’s just i cannot handle that kind of spice any more as getting older. during weekends there was always a long waiting line in front of their montery park restaurant. btw, they are cash-​only, like a tradition.

Great selections for vegetarians! Tasty food. I love their Napa cabbage with beans and celery with tofu.

I decided to drop by here for lunch because we wanted somewhere quick and this was the first place that we saw. when I came in place was dead. so I had doubts at first. but food turned out to be pretty good. we got medium spicy and I loved it. despite the place being a bit sticky, I have no other complaints. service was quick. just be aware that it is cash only.

the restaurant had good reputation since way back, but the food is not as good as before. We had a steamed fish head, which was over cooked with so so pickled chilli source. We ordered a few other hunan style dishes but nothing stands out.

Ambiance: bright, spacious and echo sounding
Service: friendly, fast and attentive
Food: overall good
Beef Stew with Turnip Soup — *** very light, average taste
Braised Pork with Bean Sauce — **** spicy, soft and juicy, recommend
Pork with Sliced Wild Fungus — **** very flavorful and chewy, recommend
Pork with Dried Bean Curd — *** average taste
Dried Long Bean with Preserved Meat — **** sour and tasty, recommend
Special Fish Head — *** spicy sauce, but fish tasted plain
Sauteed Lamb — *** average taste
A Choy with Braised Garlic Bulb — *** average taste
Pork with vermicelli — *** spicy and flavorful
Price: decent, less than $ 20 each for a group, cash only

The food itself deserves 4 stars, but the reason for the 3 stars is the menu pricing. The prices are more expensive than what it states on the menu! Our meal was supposed to be around $ 34 turned out to be $ 42. That’s just straight deceit.
The food is cooked pretty well. The fish head is fresh, but lacks the type of flavor that Hunan Mao’s has. The eggplant «clay pot» we also ordered was good, but it did not come in a pot, but a normal dish. The long bean pork was very tasty and made me at about four bowls of rice.
I don’t think we’ll be back because of the deceptive pricing. That’s just not right.

This is NOT a Thai restaurant.
Owned by the same owner of original Hunan Restaurant on Atlantic and Hellman in Monterey Park. Now, if you live in the north side, please try this place out. Same food quality, great taste just bigger place and a lot cleaner. Good service too!

Customer service was good, but the food was way too salty. Prices are normal but small portions.

So spicy, but so good. Only problem was these little Mosquitos that kept flying on and around our table.

Great fried pepper, fried pepper w/​eggs, probably the best fish head w/​chopped pepper.

my wife and i went there for 2 consecutive days, just to try out different dishes.
the food is decent, service is okay, not often you can expect great service from a mainland chinese restaurant, but service is not the reason why we were there
typical mainland chinese dishes from the region, oily and salty, goes well with the steamed rice so tend to eat a lot of rice when you go to a hunan or shichuan restaurant. their dishes are not too salty, which is good, but still oily to my taste.
it is a little on the pricy side; many dishes are over $ 10 and NO lunch menu, without the grand opening discount (ended, till end of May) i don’t think we will be going back often, my wife and i usually order 4 – 5 dishes and take home the leftover, which will be good for a couple more meals. their smoked meat dishes are good, except for the steamed assorted smoked meat dish, we thought it was quite aweful and greasy, not worth the money.
will we go again? yes, but not going to be often cause the price. when i am craving for hunan spicy food, i will definately be thinking about it. worth give it a try if you are in the area and likes chinese spicy food.

Another Hunan restaurant in San Gabriel Valley.
Ordered hunan diced chicken with hot sauce and leek & dry bean curd with shredded beef.
Hunan diced chicken with hot sauce ($ 7.99): crispy but hard pieces of chicken. The spice isn’t evenly mixed because some pieces are super salty. 3 stars.
Leek & dry bean curd with shredded beef ($ 8.99): I wanted something beefy so I got this dish. It was bland and they should put this under tofu category instead of beef. Where was the beef? It’s mostly tofu :(2 stars.
The workers are super nice but the service is very awkward. They put the tea pot right in front of me and the girl took the order super close to me. I had to move so our bodies were not touching because she was only inches away. The plate was cute but too small and impractical; very hard to scoop the food without spilling. The warm rice was served right away with tea. They should wait until the food was almost ready so the rice didn’t get cold. No napkins @ the table. I had to steal napkins from the other table.
Roomy and clean place. Super friendly, fast and nice service. Cash only.
2.5 stars! I think I’ll stick with Hunan Chili King.
Hunan restaurant is not yummylicious!

i was actually the first customer of the restaurant, lol. i have been once their restaurant in MP. the food there was remarkable but the restaurant was small. this new one is relatively big so more comfortable seats are available.now. that’s good.
i have been to this new restaurant couple times after its great opening. i am already a big fan of them and every friend i brought here likes the food too. the most recommand is beef tripe hotpot! personally i like «(frog hotpot?)» better. i tried the whole fish instead of the fish head but it also tastes good since i love the chinese traditional spicy food. Do try lightly if you cant have spicy food!
last but not least important, the manager of this new restaurant is so sweet and friendly! she considers the customers and reminds me the local neighbour restaurant in my hometown! so im definitely coming back to this lovely restaurant!

When one of my friends asked if I wanted to go to the grand opening of this restaurant, I immediately checked Unilocal and realized no one has even added them. Of course, I had to be there to review them!
I went on the restaurant’s soft opening so the walls are still undecorated and it looks like they are still missing a few tables. I looked up reviews of their other 2 locations in Rowland Heights and Monterey Park. I was concerned that the food may not be that good because the other locations only have 3 ½ stars. Boy, was I wrong. The food was as legit as it gets.
Hunan is a region of China that’s known for their spicy food. This type of cuisine is very rich in flavor and the dishes are full of spices. If you’re not a fan of spicy food, you can ask them to make it mild for you.
Their specialty is the fish head. It’s seriously the biggest fish head I have ever seen in my life. The head itself is over a foot long. It does take a little longer to cook because of its size but the end result is amazing. The fish meat is so tender and it is seasoned perfectly. There was so much flavor packed into that dish. I asked the owner what type of fish it is and she said «Big Head Fish». I’m pretty sure that’s not what it’s actually called lol.
Their other dishes are very good. I had the beef with chili and it was awesome. There are 3 kinds of chili, 1 imported directly from China in the dish. It was spicy but not overwhelming. Other tables all ordered the beef tendon in a hot pot. I didn’t get a chance to try it but it looks like it’s a very popular dish.
I am totally a fan and I will definitely be back again for that giant fish head!