This time around I was once again in Koramangala area scouting for my lunch after a hectic start to the day. The 1st cross road in the locality has gradually grown as a gastronomic high street. Linking the Inner ring road to Ganapati temple road it is lined up with who’s who of the restaurants. Right from small eateries to medium scale and up scale restaurant, it hosts all. I was in a mood for some good Chinese food, so after a couple of social recommendations I chose to eat at Hunan Chinese Restaurant. This is a mid scale restaurant and perfect for a lunch outing with family and friends. I was greeted with a couple of award certificates for best Chinese food, increasing my expectations instantaneously.
The Location
The restaurant is one of many located on the 1st cross road in Koramangala, right opposite to California pizza kitchen.
Address: 123, 1st floor, 1st cross road, 5th block, KHB colony, Koramangala, Bangalore
Phone: 080-25520154
The Hours
The restaurant is open for lunch from 12 PM until 4 PM and for dinner from 7 PM to 11 PM.
The Ambiance
I found Hunan with a very balanced ambiance, the interiors were perfect for a Chinese place with a couple of carvings and nice light chandeliers. The seats were comfortable in white shades with a good quality cutlery. The servers were dressed neatly with pleasant personality.
The Service
I just basked in the great service provided to me at the restaurant. The servers were very mindful of the needs and kept coming back at just the right times. They made sure that the cutlery was cleaned every few minutes (I took a weekend set menu with loads of items). They asked again for refilling our drinks which are generally single serve in a set menu and I loved this gesture. In between the whole lunch experience, the manager made sure to come over and ask how was it all going and if we needed anything else. They kept just the right break between two meal courses and were very knowledgeable about the food being served. A great experience.
The Price
Hunan is a typical mid scale restaurant and a weekend set menu for two costed about INR 1300 ($22) with taxes and surcharge. Very reasonable for the overall quality.
The Food
After going through an elaborate menu, I decided to go for the weekend set menu as the items looked interesting and I could get more choice than pure A-la-carte.
I first went in for the Shanghai style spicy sour chicken soup. Even though it was pretty warm outside, the soup was just a bliss. The right combination of spices and sourness with egg and green onion made it just delectable.
Moving on to the salads, Thai spicy chicken salad came in a lettuce leaf. It had cold shredded chicken mixed with some green herbs with slight tangy taste. I liked the cold salad and even asked for some more during the course.
In the starter menu, there were five in the list starting with Shredded potato chili and spring onion, The crunchiness of potatoes went well with the spring onions and it had just the right amount of spiciness. This was followed by Kung pao baby corn, well I’m a big fan of Kung pao vegetables and meat and this one was no exception. A perfect Chinese dish on my plate!
The next in line were chili lemon pepper squid, they were fried which probably reduced the moisture in them a bit, but nonetheless good to eat. The vegetable steamed jiaozi were vegetarian dumplings served with accompanying chili sauce and olive vinegar dressing. Although the dumplings were nice, freshly steamed and went nicely with the sauces, I could have preferred a non-vegetarian option for dumplings, may be they can offer a choice here. The final ending with red dragon chicken was really good, the chicken was cooked to perfection and a great choice for a Chinese starter course.chili lemon pepper squid
In the main course we had 2 vegetarian and 1 non vegetarian option to go with chili garlic noodles and ginger capsicum fried rice. I just loved the stir fry greens with very little oil and a perfect combination of bok choy, beans and other Chinese greens. The vegetable balls in sauce had the right balance of ginger and garlic and went very well with nicely cooked rice. The Chengdu chicken was also a good accompaniment for the noodles which I must admit were of top notch quality.
I was really feeling very full by now and thinking of skipping the desserts, however the next came a great surprise, a molten lava cake and a great red velvet cake. These two are not the regular fits in the set menu, however my social engagement was quickly picked up by the restaurant owner. He although not physically present, connected through a Bangalore food group in Facebook and made this great surprise for me. The lava cake was lit with fire and tasted just out the world with my ice cream (regular as part of the menu). The red velvet cake was also very soft and delicious. This just goes to show how much the owners are connected to their customers needs. Just a great thought, thank you very much for this.
I must say Hunan is one of the best Chinese places I’ve been in few months and I loved the whole experience. A must visit for anyone.