Hunan Gourmet

restaurant is closed.
went there today and sign on door says closed.
Whats up???

Decent Chinese food. Is a bit pricey but in my opinion a step up from Wongs which is located just around the corner. We usually come for lunch. I normally get the cashew chicken and sweet and sour soup. However, the last time I came here, I found a hair in my food which completely turned me off. When we brought it to the waitress’ attention, she brought out a new dish for me. It was hot and you could tell that they had made a new one fresh for me which was nice. I’ve never tried the sushi or hibachi, but I heard the sushi is fairly affordable. I do recommend their lunch specials.

Been there for both eat in and take many times. Yesterday, Mothers Day we ordered take out and were very disappointed. We called and were told our order would be ready in 20 minutes we arrived to pick it up and waited another 30 minutes. I sat at the bar in plain sight was never offered an explanation as to what was happening. Whenever l asked which was twice I was told its coming. When I finally got my order not sorry for the delay or apology. Some of the food was cold and the quality
of some dishes was not good. I realize the holiday was busy but with 158.00 take out order I would have expected to get soy sauce with my order and some recognition for my wasted time. Oh well I guess it’s back to Wongs

Whenever there is a birthday at the office the guys I work with ALWAYS want Hunan Gourmet. They love the lunch box. Every lunch I have had from here has been excellent, very fresh and well made, not one complaint. But the reason I am specifically writing this review is to tell you about the Pad Thai. Wow!!! Excellent, probably the best I honestly have ever had. Not too sticky fake-​sweet, truly delicious. If you are craving Pad Thai for lunch or dinner, this is the place to get it. Yum yum!

This has been one of our favorite local restaurants for decades. Lately, the service has been very hit or miss. Most recently it missed to the point of being surely. We will not be going back.

Food was excellent and service was very good. I’ve never been here before, but I will be back soon.

Food was mediocre at best. I got the Hibachi Steak and it taste like it was cooked earlier in the day, then reheated. My mom got the hibachi chicken and it was the absolute worst have ever tasted. Just like the steak, it had little flavor and was soaked in sauce. My brother got the General Tso’s
Chicken and it was decent, just loaded with too much sauce. Overall this was a disappointment. I have 3 stars since the server was nice and the food came quick. I won’t go back anytime soon not recommend.

Was there for some dinner while passing by. looked authentic Chinese with a mostly Asian staff all very friendly and helpful. The beef chow fon was OK not great a lot of beef but could have been better. Diced hoonan chicken and the king po chicken in black beans were much better. They had a Martini menu which was interesting but the dry martini seemed watered down. The place is old for basic Chinese food. But don’t expect great.

Good Chinese restaurant with a really nice atmosphere. Their sushi isn’t the best but I think it’s the best in the area for a reasonable price (half-​off menu).
I also recommend their hibachi! It’s kind of pricey? But imo the quality is good.
Also I MUST mention, I have never experienced bad service here! (as quite a few reviewers have written, to my surprise). The only times something went wrong was one of the sushi rolls I ordered wasn’t correct (which happens all the time; personally, I like all kinds of sushi so I ate it anyway) and one time my drink was way too strong for my taste (can’t really complain though, more alcohol for the same price? Lol). The manager and waiters have always been pleasant, at the very least, so I’m not sure what their other customers experienced =[
I’d definitely recommend this place to friends and family!

I just came from dinner with a party of 14. Ask the waiter for noodles for the table and we were l told «we don’t do that». Huh? No noodles for the table? Ok maybe when my hot and sour soup comes out. Answer again was «no, only on to go orders». So a party of 14 with soup and no noodles? I understand if you don’t have any but you do. It’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The food was fine. Nothing special, just fine. The place was less than half full and still the service was horrible. All 3 California rolls were put on one plate and give to one person when 3 people ordered them. One appetizer came out with some of the main dishes and some main dishes came out with the appetizer. Half the table was done with their food (after waiting 10 mins) by the time the rest of the table got their food. There are so many other and BETTER Chinese options nearby there is no need to suffer through this place. Thank God the company was good otherwise it would have been ugly.

This was terrible. We got Chinese takeout tonight. Beyond bland and rubbery. Sesame Chicken, While I appreciate that it was huge chunks of white meat, they were not battered in any way, which sesame chicken should be. But they were thick chunks of meat that had the consistency of rubber. They didn’t just have an orange colored sauce on them, it was as if they were dyed orange. The sauce was thin and watery and lacking in flavor, it really didn’t taste like much at all. Broccoli was hidden underneath and completely over cooked. Almost tasted like a hint of curry, which was weird.
Roast port fried rice, literally tasted like cardboard, no flavor whatsoever. If I ate cardboard, I wouldn’t know the difference.
Wonton soup, broth had great flavor, there were these mystery strands in there, I ate them, but have no idea what I ate. They felt like paper. I am sure they were edible, but I have never seen anything like this in wonton soup; The meat in the dumplings, sparse and a complete mystery. I felt like I was eating plastic as I bit down on cartilage. (maybe?) Chunks of not chewable substance, hard like a rock. Gross. And not a deal breaker, but who doesn’t put scallions in their wonton soup!
The free crunchy noodles with duck sauce were good, but the smell of them was not so good. But somehow they still tasted good, ate the whole bag myself because I was starving from not eating my meal. Try somewhere else.

What a wonderful surprise for me! This is new favorite restaurant in Marlboro. I chose from the Thai menu and was delighted. Subtle and distinctive flavored cooked to perfection, presented beautifully and bountifully. If you are down this way make the stop. In fact just make the drive. You will not be disappointed.

Very disappointing! Stopped by for take out, told the girl who was helping me I’d be waiting right outside, sitting on the bench at the front window (she couldn’t help but see see me sitting there). She had told me order would take 15 minutes. Thirty minutes later I went inside to check, «oh sorry Ma’am» (3^rd one of the night) to be handed my food. Arrived home to very disappointing warm rolls! Oh I ordered spicy mayo, they charged $.50, the container was minute & ¾ full!

Worst service ever. Asked if the half price menu items come in handrolls for the same price both say yes for their lack of understanding amd charge me full price for everything. After complaining both waiters said they never said yes. First time I never tipped at all thats how bad the service is.

The WORST experience I’ve had at a sushi restaurant. This was completely not what I was expecting when I walked in because it is a very nice looking restaurant. The ambiance was beautiful and the atmosphere was very cozy.
HOWEVER, the service was absolutely terrible. We ordered sushi from the half off menu and when we placed the order we asked the female waitress twice if the hand rolls were also half off and she said yes. When we got the bill, they charged us regular price for the hand rolls and when we asked the male waiter (the one that brought us water), he said no I told you whatever was on the menu is half off only. And then we said ok but the other woman who took our order said the hand rolls were half off. The woman said no I never said that WHEN SHE CLEARLY SAID YES. We went the manager and the male waiter got very defensive and rude and started yelling at us saying that he never said that and the woman waiter said she also never said yes. We were so disgusted by the way the waiters were behaving that we left and gave them NO TIP which my boyfriend has never done before. Because there were only 2 other tables in the restaurant my boyfriend was going to tip them 20% because of their lack of business but after the shenanigans they pulled, we gave them both $ 0.
The sushi was not too great either. The spicy salmon roll was complete mush and tasted like nothing. The seaweed had zero flavor. The spider roll was the smallest I’ve ever seen. The size of the rolls in general were very small compared to other places. The only good thing was the spicy crab hand roll– it was delish.
Honestly though, I would have dealt with the food being not great. However the nasty attitude of the waiters and unprofessionalism killed it. I have never experienced that kind of behavior from waiters before especially the yelling back at customers part. I will NEVER go back and WILL NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE.
Hope this helps save yall in the future. There are also bad reviews on their Facebook page regarding service. wish we had read that before going. sigh. :(

Great pan Asian food. Very helpful staff and great place to unwind in the middle of manalapan!
Highly recommend the chow mei fun!

Sushi was not edible the absolute worst no taste sushi I have ever had. The Chinese dishes were ok. Good luck if you want to try it

It’s been 12 years since the last time I’ve eaten at Hunan Gourmet. I was very excited to return– for many Jerseyites, it’s always important to gorge oneself on the cuisines that cannot be found in high quality elsewhere (bagels, pizza, chinese food, etc.). Hunan Gourmet was an iconic establishment of my youth. I was there the first week they opened, back when Palmers and Easy Video were next door. I was there every year for Jewish Christmas. I got into heated arguments over which Chinese restaurant was best in the Marlboro/​Manalapan/​Freehold area– always trumpeting HG. And for the most part, there was a lot of consensus that HG was, in fact, «best.»
Perhaps it’s the distance of time between my last visit over a decade ago and present day. Perhaps my memory has distorted things. I prefer think that I am more objective than anyone who has recently given this place a high marking.
Hunan Gourmet, now, is perhaps one of the worst Chinese restaurants I have been to as of late.
Back in its heyday, they had table clothes, and provided each table with complementary fried noodles and tea. «We do not provide noodles in the dining room,» my party was bluntly told. No exception. No option to pay for them. Almost ready to cry over what was seeming to be a lost memory of childhood, I ordered a standard fare of Chinese cuisine while others in my party order sushi. My food (Chow fun, spare ribs, wonton soup) was bland. Again, the service– their standard «meh» approach to making customers happy was apparent.
I tried my sister’s sushi. And like anyone would expect from a Chinese restaurant servicing Japanese food in a misguided attempt to reach a broader population was awful.
Management has clearly opted to appeal to the lowest common denominator .
In some ways, I am happy HG has gone to pot. I no longer will pine to eat here, now knowing that it is a shadow of what it once was.
You can never go home again, I suppose.

Throughout the 15+ years I’ve been eating here, the quality and taste have not changed. They’ve changed, in both appearance, and what they offer (they’re now a sushi/​hibachi restaurant too!) but continually do not disappoint. Good pan asian cuisine in the middle of Manalapan? Yes please.
I no longer live in Manalapan, but whenever I come back I know this place will always be here for quality Chinese food to feed my whole family. Thank you, Hunan Gourmet!

I went on a Friday night with 6 coworkers around 9 PM. We had to wait about 10 – 15 minutes for a table, which was no big deal since we could grab drinks by the bar. It was a nice atmosphere — definitely not what I had expected.
The drinks were all pretty good, especially for $ 4.50 (HH price). The bartender messed up our order but it looked like an okay martini so we didn’t bother asking him to redo it. There was another person helping out the main bartender who was fun and joking around with everyone.
The waiter seemed to rush us a bit, but it was understandable since we were there late and for a long time. He was nice enough to take a picture of the group and even joked a little even though it was little after closing time. I ordered a yellowtail roll, spicy tuna roll and spicy valentine’s roll. It was so cheap! The rolls aren’t that large but it was decent considering the price we were paying for them ($ 2-​$ 3). I would skip out on the spicy valentine roll though — nothing exciting.
Everyone seemed to like their sushi & dishes: chicken lettuce wraps, calamari with peppercorn (they’re ring shaped and thin but not bad), shu mai, vegetable lo mein, sweet and sour chicken.
I’ll definitely come again for happy hour sushi & drinks, and I definitely want to try their other regular priced rolls the next time I come!