Hunan Bistro

We have been to this restaurant numerous times. Always love the food. Very generous portion and dishes served very fast.
We normally order the cumin lamb, chili fried chickens (the small cubes chicken pieces is lightly fried, not greasy at all, crisp outside and tender inside) fish head, seafood tofu on sizzling platter, snow pea leaves (dou miao)…
We like to try new dishes, so every time we go we will order the ones we love and add a new dish to try out.
You can ask them to reduce the spice for any dish.
The severs are not the most friendly, but they get the job done:)
Next time I go, I will take some pictures of the dishes so you will know what to order.
We had lunch here today.
1. chili fried chicken: always good.
2. fish fillet: lightly fried and then a light spicy sauce over it. Very good.
2. sizzling pot tofu: Tofu is not very fresh, a fried egg buried under the tofu and a few thinly sliced pork (like bacon) mixed in between. This dish doesn’t have lot of flavor. Will not order again.

Most of the dishes are made in the same way: meat, ginger, garlic, green and red peppers and whatever. You could tell little difference because the spice dominates your tastes.

Oh man. The flavors of all dishes ordered were just bursting inside my mouth. We got the mala tofu, seafood soup, and some greens. They were just the amount of flavor without being overbearing. The mala tofu was true to its roots of numb-​ness and quite soon I couldn’t feel my tongue anymore (which is half the point of the dish). Much of the food here is spicy so please go if you are a fan of hot hot authentic Hunan food!
I had a great experience – great food and a great staff make a great restaurant. Will recommend and will come again!

Been here a few times. Very traditional tastes. One of the best in Houston, but they can’t compare to restaurants in NYC or cali, since they can’t prepare more complicated dishes.

Let’s start with the food first because I think this is what everybody cares about the most. The food is relatively good, with the fish head and a bunch of other stuff we ordered. Interesting thing is that every dish we got that day have the same type of spices (the green and red looking peppers) in it, making them taste all the same. The dry pot series are very good though, but we have only tried the duck and cauliflowers. The pot comes in small sizes, which leaves ‘stomach space’ for us to eat all the other food. This is a good place to go for friends who have never tried Hunan food and don’t mind the spiciness.
However, I would never come back to this place. We arrived at a Sunday night at around 9pm with a group of 8 people. The server was rude and in a hurry to close. We were still talking about what to eat (fish head or whole fish), and she stormed off to the kitchen to order a fish head. I mean, we have kids in the group, and she can’t just go away after asking them what the whole group want without our knowledge. She was aggressive too, so the kids kind of just say yes to whatever she asked. Less than a minute after she stormed off, we called her back to tell her we want to whole fish instead of the heads, and she got pissed saying she already put in the order. That’s ridiculous. I told her why can’t she wait till we decide to put in the order, and she said the kids gave her the go ahead and now we are the ones changing out mind. Hello? Are you saying we need to apologize to YOU so we can go ahead with our order? She ended up changing the order for us, but I was already pissed. Apparently it takes more than 20 minutes to prepare the fish dish and the kitchen was closing. She hurried us in our other orders and told us that although the restaurant closes at 10, the kitchen is starting to close at 9 and they tried not to put in more order after then. Interesting restaurant, let me just say. Not an enjoyable experience generally speaking.

Overall great food great vibe and most of all great staff attentive and sweet servings were huge could last on it for a week actually haha lol I would come back her again for sure thank you guys

Among the best Hunan cuisine in the Houston area, judging based on Chinese standards. I would recommend the bacon series, which are both unique and authentic.

I came here with my mom, and we ordered the spicy fish head and the braised pork with taro. The braised pork was very tender and together with the taro, was delicious to eat with rice. The spicy fish head was indeed very spicy, but i really enjoyed it! I love how they add noodles to the dish once they bring it out. The noodles really soaked up the flavors of the spicy soup/​sauce.

I came here during lunch hours and was a little disappointed that there is no lunch menu. I had to pay twenty dollars for my lunch! However, the quality of the dish had made it up for me. I tried their cumin lamb. It is VERY delicious! It is very spicy, Hunan style. It has a very balanced taste. I would come back to try the other dishes.

This place is located at the opposite side of Tofu Village in a popular plaza. Plenty of parking. However, be aware during dinner rushes and lunch times during the week it can get pretty packed in this particular plaza.
The inside is kept pretty cool. I suppose with all the spicy foods, it’s prudent to keep things cool. There are pictures on the wall that can be representative of what they will serve. It helps if you need some ideas. They should have tables that should seat up to 8 – 9 people.
Service is good and friendly. We had to ask for refills but everything was done after we asked so no big deal.
The food was rock solid. I highly recommend the lamb cumin and the spicy cauliflower. Just make sure you can handle the spicy. For spicy lovers, this is the bomb.
This place is a bit pricey, but honestly it’s all pretty worth it. I will definitely return in the future.
Bonus: Rice is free, this is such a necessity with all the spicy foods.

Wow! This is my first time eating at this place and I was blown away by their food quality and customer services! I have been many Chinese restaurants in China (I visit China 3 – 4 times a year and usually spent 3 weeks there each time) and especially Hunan or Sichuan styles. I can tell you this Hunan place is very authentic and actually, to certain extent, is better than many Hunan restaurants in China. The reason I said that is that the flavors here are of the same as or even better than ones in China but the food ingredients used here are much better quality than ones in China. For example, they serve Frog Legs which are 100% fresh. Their fish head is excellent. Speaking of their customer services, their waitresses were extremely friendly and constantly providing recommendations and suggestions as we were placing orders.
I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who can handle really spicy food. You will not be disappointed!

We got pig feet, eggplant n green beans, and the fish head. Everything else was greasy but good.
But the fish head… Hmm I couldn’t finish it. The bladder must’ve been punctured when the fish was gutted, because half of the head had a very strong bitter taste. I asked the owner and she acknowledged it, but no discount or any compensation.
I guess that’s the different between an ok restaurant and a great one. At a great restaurant:
— upon discovery of a material quality issue, owner should apologize and compensate the customer,
— owner should ensure this is not a systematic issue, ie not continue to use the same faulty vendor /​raw material (seemed like the owner is familiar with the issue)
This place is just ok in this perspective, a pity really. I might not go back…

A lots of food selection. Most dishes are spicy. Food portions are big and the prices at every reasonable. The taste are so delicious and we couldn’t even finish all since each plate is so large. Highly recommended this place.

Just discovered this a few months ago and every time I go it gets busier and busier! You will leave with your belly full and mouth numb.
We’ve ordered the eggplant, stir fried lamb, fish cooked in water (eh, not my favorite) stewed meats appetizer platter, pork belly. All were good. We tried to order the fish head twice but they ran out.

Reading these reviews made me believe that the food was going to be spicy and authentic. I think this Hunan food is pretty good/​authentic as oppose to all the other hunan restaurants in Texas. It sure can’t beat the ones in NY or LA. I’ve been to better. Food is honestly not that spicy. My standard of spicy is different from other reviewers I guess. Coming from jiangxi province, I eat ghost peppers everyday so honestly this wasn’t spicy at all lol. Dishes are a little too salty. But like I said for a Texas Hunan restaurant, this is the best that we get… Lol

I’m from Hunan and I can tell you this place is spicy even by Hunan standard. We told the waitress specifically for milder spice, but regardless the stirr fry we got was still so spicy we were sniffling/​sweating/​can barely taste what I’m eating.
We got the dry pot with duck, frog meat, fish head and a vegetable dish. The fish head is probably the best one, not terribly spicy and reasonably flavored… The only disappointment is we got a «small», and it was basically half a head, with little meat.
The duck and frog were cooked similar way with red and green jalapeño peppers. As I said, way too spicy, can barely taste other flavors.

Recently, several hunan restaurants have opened. This restaurant is probably the spiciest one I’ve tried… we ordered less spicy and were still sniffling and shoveling down rice. There are not as many non-​spicy dishes… so this is probably not a good option for people who can’t take the heat.
Out of all the restaurants, I feel that they serve the best fish head with chilies dish. The meat was sooo tender and it comes with noodles which were a delicious addition.

Great food, great menu. Authentic and spicy. Was brought here after the hubby told me about their lunch here, since I’ve been craving for some spicy fish head (pardon my terrible translation).
This place is like other typical Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, not that fancy and usually a little bit crowded. But we are not picky as long as the food is good. We had the chicken pot, spicy fish head, spicy lamb stir-​fry. Everything taste good to me, if you like Hunan cuisine (not the Hunan Beef/​Orange Chicken kind of Hunan, though) you will like this place. The spicy fish head takes longer time to cook, but it’s worth the waiting, and we order some noodles which goes perfectly with this dish. Btw the portion is pretty big here, and you can always ask the waiter for advice when ordering.
Staff are super nice, especially our young waitress. She was super nice and caring from the moment we entered the restaurant. We were seated by the door so we kind of saw how the staff interacted with the customers. They were all nice and professional, and that really boost our impression of the restaurant.
Will keep coming back. Such a good place for some hot and spicy food in winter:)

2 stars because I went on their 3^rd day and I’m hoping to go back to change this review.
Worst thing here was the server that hated his life and didn’t want to be there. Sorry guy, it’s a new restaurant in Chinatown and people are excited. It will be crowded but it’s still no excuse to be a dick. Typically when someone gives you an order, the polite thing to do is to acknowledge that person talking to you instead of scowling and looking down. Also, when that order is completed, many places will repeat the order back to the customer to ensure it was received properly (or they repeat it as you give it to them). Also, especially at a Chinese restaurant, drink orders are taken and hot tea is sometimes given automatically. Nope. No one wanted to take our drink orders.
Oh and, usually chopsticks and napkins are given — or already on the table. You’d think AT LEAST by the time food arrived they’d give us some? Even after us asking? Errmmm nope.
There are many more instances of TERRIBLE HORRIBLE AWFUL service. But I don’t really want to relive it… =)
Food.
All the dishes came out without serving spoon. When requested, we were given a TEASPOON, and 2 soup ladles. I know they’re just overwhelmed, but that was ridiculously entertaining, and completely unhelpful.
We ordered the pork belly with tofu. 1) it was like 80% fat/​20% lean meat, and 2) Yes, 2. Because we received TWO pieces of tofu in the dish.
Steamed fish head? After 25 minutes (this is after our first dish came out) we asked a lady where this last dish was, bc all the other dishes were already out, and she said the fish takes 15 – 20 minutes. Ok, reasonable, but it was already 25 minutes past. 10 minutes later, it came out. We dug in… raw in the middle. This was definitely a dish that was forgotten and popped in when we asked then taken out way too soon. We caught the attention of sad/​angry waiter, and without saying a word, he promptly took my moms napkin from under her arm, tore it in 2 and whisked the dish away. (the plate was hot). LOL WHAT THE HELL?! At least give my mother another napkin!
Tea was never refilled, nor was the water.
Not the worst meal we’ve had in Chinatown, and we eat in Chinatown at least once a week. But definitely fighting for top contender. It should be just 1 star however I feel bad and want them to do well (at least do better than the Phở place!!!) so… 2 stars for now. We’ll see.
Good luck to those who try it!

Sometimes things just happen this way. Last year people were all saying that Houston didn’t have any Hunan food and now there are three places opened within the past two months.
After its grand opening I learned about this place from a friend in a chat group. She posted photos in the chat group and told us that this place was good. Of course then I had to try it out.
Last night we went after trick or treat and it was busy enough but we were still able to grab a table. The place was small and they tried to put as many tables as possible so it was a little cramped.
Anyway we ordered the typical dishes like smoked bacon with dry turnips, pork with peppers and cabbage with glassy noodles. All the dishes were on the greasy and salty side but the ingredients and taste were authentic. We were pleased. I told the waitress that the food was a little too salty and greasy and hopefully she would convey the message to the chef for improvement.
My husband texted his colleague about this place and she said she was just planning to go today and asked if we would want to go again. I couldn’t see why not so there we were again.
Tonight it was really busy and we waited a while for a table. The food came really fast though despite how they were super busy. The smoked bacon with dry turnips was an all time favorite for our friend so we go it again. I told her about the noodles and we ended getting it too. We also got the preserved eggs (I think they are called thousand-​year eggs or sth like that) with peppers, steamed fish head (which is Hunan food’s real specialty) and steamed ribs (we had a two year old who probably couldn’t handle spicy food).
I specifically instructed less oil and salt when we ordered and I think they got it. The food came and everything was so good! We were actually really skeptical about the fish head because it’s a difficult dish. It really needs fresh fish head and I think as far as I could tell, it was pretty fresh. Everything was pleased by it. They said they tried the fish head in Spicy Hunan and it wasn’t good but their smoked bacon was better than Hunan Bistro. The steamed ribs were also a winner. I didn’t pay attention how much the little one was eating but the adults ended up eating a lot of it. It was made with taro too and the whole dish was tender and flavorful. The prices for the two places are basically the same but we agreed that Hunan Bistro gives bigger portions.
Overall this place is a must-​return on my list and it definitely makes Houston a lot more livable for me.