Hunan House - Chinese New Year

[Pookipichu]

I celebrated Chinese New Year with family and non-Chinese friends last night at Hunan House and I must say that it was one of the most fantastic meals I have had and they brought their A-game for their first Chinese New Year.

I have had worries about Hunan House down-sliding and perhaps CNY is not the ideal reference because I assume they would try harder on the biggest holiday of the year.... but with that being said, the kitchen has never been better.

We ordered:

Pumpkin cakes - crisp, greaseless, rough breaded pumpkin, served piping hot and with subtle sweetness. The pumpkin was smooth and silky.

Hunan fried noodle - Well executed, but not memorable.

Water cooked beef - pungent with chili oil, peppercorns, chinese parsley and generous, tender strips of meat.

Cumin lamb - Lightly crisped at the edges, the lamb was aromatic and peppery, crowd pleasing.

Hunan chili chicken - The best iteration they have produced. The chicken was covered with fragrant, wok seared sesame and ginger, dry sauteed, crispy yet juicy with cumin kick.

Lotus pork - The pork was cut with extra care and meltingly soft, with heady lotus leaf flavor and aroma that infused the meat and rice flour.

Whole steamed fish - The ginger and scallion sauce was phenomenal and the fish exceedingly fresh and tender.

Hunan smoked duck - The duck was a bit fatty but if you are a fan of duck fat, it is absolutely not to be missed. A little duck fat mixed with rice is manna. The skin was crisp and infused with spices and the meat was exceedingly moist and lacked any trace of gaminess.

Chinese cabbage with fermented soy beans - The cabbage was flecked with chilis and the fermented soy beans were extra flavorful.

Dao Miao with garlic - They took care to remove any parts that were older. The shoots were crisp and tender and a huge hit.

Lastly they served complimentary dessert, Red Bean soup. The soup was room temperature when it should be hot and had no ginger flavor. It was however just the right sweetness, which is to say, naturally sweetened by the beans themselves.

My only other quibble is that the noodle should have been served last per tradition. And the pumpkin cakes first. The dishes came out in random order.

I am HAPPY to note that all the dishes came out hot (temperature-wise) aside from the bean soup. I am also happy to note that I have never seen the restaurant busier, it was bustling right up until closing (which is when we finished our huge feast).

-----
Hunan House
137-40 Northern Blvd, Queens, NY 11354

[Joe MacBu]

I've been going to Hunan House about twice per month since it opened and never noticed a decline in quality.

I went there for lunch on the 14th. They have 3 set menus (in Chinese only) posted for the new year, priced at $188, $288 and $388. It was too rich for a party of three. I chatted up the maitre'd and owner and ordered dishes not on the regular menu, some specific to the new year.

Pigeon soup
Cold poached chicken with a great cilantro and salted chili dipping sauce.
Tóu wǎn 头碗 - An elaborate layered dish with pork, mushrooms, quail eggs, jujubes, fish cake, omelette and sweet sticky rice cakes with minced yam (?). The name means beginning bowl and is the first dish eaten in the new year. However, since this seemed like a special request, it was the 4th dish eaten due to the 40 minutes it took to prepare. Well worth it.

[Pookipichu]

All the meals I've had at Hunan House have been wonderful, except for the last meal prior to CNY. Hence my worries about down-sliding. This was in conjunction with changes in the recipes and presentation, for instance, they no longer use whole lotus leaf to wrap the fu zhi pork. I was very vocal about my disappointment, but I need not have worried because my CNY feast was phenomenal.