Hunan Chili

Since my last review, I hadn’t been back until now (2011).
Same decent food. Good service.
(Drafted 03÷14÷11, posted today)

I’m not too sure if it even matters that I am writing this review as they will closing down indefinitely due to property lease raise. I ate here for lunch and thought it was a bit on a saltier side. Made me think of how the food was in China… everything was salty. But just like China, the price was cheap, especially for the area that it was located. So if you happened to Unilocal this place and it’s still open, give it a shot before it closes down.

During one recent evening aboard a large Titanic esque pirate ship, a crew of high tech slaves were crunching away into the night to deliver some sorely needed major cannonball shots for a sorely needed victory.
Cap’n Jack, not Cap’n Crunch (but he should be one because he does kick ass), decided to kick things up a notch and ordered Hunan Chili for those keeping the ship afloat.
The meal was delivered promptly and although the food was mostly shall we say Panda-​ized, it brought a sense of sorely needed relief and energized the crew into the night.
Some sort of orange beef — thinly sliced crispy beef. Almost to the consistency of jerky, with an orange sauce like concoction. Who can say no to deep fried beef?! Got rice? You can be so set. There’s some other crispy deep fried meat, can’t recall if it was chicken or pork, but even if unrecognizeable, it’s damn delicious.
Hot and Sour Soup — one of the best renditions to date in the area. Beyond the typical white pepper hot, and signature sour, the contents were carefully prepared and cut. Maybe the crew were delirious from the tech, but this soup woke everybody up. Maybe it was the delicious addition of pork strips in there.
Some eggplant dish — more fried goodness… that’s how you make Chinese style eggplant tasty… it’s all in the oil and then next times the fragrance from the spices (whether «fish sauce”/yu hsiang) or garlic, or if Cantonese style… nothing escapes the mighty salted fish (cured threadfin sail in salt for example). More food meant to make you eat more rice, create muffin tops and beer/​rice bellies.
Mapo Tofu — having had a just-​ok version of a lunch special, the delivery version must have been made by the killer Sichuan chef who must have been on duty that night. It was total ass kickery, and easily the best item out of the entire lot. This should satisfy the vegetarian and vegan pirates in the crew easily, for those of you working onboard other Silicon Valley pirate vessels and need to cater to a wide range of pirates/​high tech slave appetites. Appropriately seasoned and not so much on a heavy reliance of Sichuan peppercorn/​huaqiao. Despite the redness and bloody mass murder looking chili oil content, it did not feel like greasefest. Perfect during cold wintry foggy nights. It does make a difference who makes this dish at this restaurant… perhaps inquire before you go…
It is sad to learn this place is closing end of the month. Please read up on Local S’s updates/​reviews to get a better idea.

Maybe one of the longer standing restaurants on Castro street, I still remember when it was built. The lunch selection doesnt seem to be as robust as dinner so I may have to give them a chance during the evening. Prok in Garlic Sauce and Lamb with green onion were ok. I think there are too many other Chinese choices to make this a go to, but I guess if you’ve eaten at all the other places and need new blood, this can be on the rotation.

Incremental edit Aug 2013: Hunan Chili closed as predicted below. At the end of this review I summarized ALL notable other Chinese restaurants in the immediate area that might be considered alternatives, with review links. (Based on my own experience averaging 10 visits to each.)
— — –
Owners, citing a 3:1 rent hike, plan to close end of March — so if you «get» what Hunan Chili is about, enjoy it while you can!
Addendum: March-​1 Daily Post had the story: «Rent hike spells end for Hunan.» Photo: «Lu Yin is the owner of Hunan Chili, which she runs with her husband Xiang Wang, right.» (That newspaper is print-​only; a copy is posted at Hunan Chili’s counter.) This is a random peril for silicon-​valley small businesses. Occasionally (as now), a business boom temporarily hikes the price of commercial rental vacancies. Long-​term tenants whose leases are up for renewal at such times can be forced out, unless the property owner values the long-​term tenant relationship.
Any new 102-​Castro tenant, to survive, must be a different kind of business from a low-​margin independent restaurant like Hunan Chili, and may face extra challenges stemming from this episode. Lu Yin has complained of rude treatment during the negotiation. She told me that regular customers are pledging to shun any new business tenant at 102 Castro.
Five stars above are for Hunan Chili’s house specialties, especially Sichuanese dishes, especially (but not necessarily) when made by the senior Sichuanese chef. (NOT for the generic American «Chinese» dishes which, alas, are avowedly all that some Unilocalers ever tried at Hunan Chili). Since the restaurant doesn’t strongly advertise its strengths, inquiring pays. Owner Lu, often up front, is a fount of helpful insight.
Hunan Chili’s many steady customers appreciate its good values and Sichuanese master chef making vividly authentic specialties — prized both by Chinese customers, and non-​Chinese like me who know Sichuanese cuisine, who know how rare are authentic renditions here, ans also how little the generic Americanized Chinese dishes reflect this kitchen’s real ability.
It may be inevitable that some past Unilocalers reviewed Hunan Chili who show very little acquaintance with either this restaurant or Chinese cooking generally — with Hunan Chili’s strengths, unusual specialties on the full English menu, or even larger supplemental Chinese menu (which the owners eagerly recommend and translate if asked). People to whom «Chinese» food means just mu-​shu, sweet-​and-​sour pork, «Chinese» chicken salad, pot stickers, or other «apple-​pie» (Stett Holbrook’s term) American Chinese clichés — rather as their parents or grandparents thought Chinese food meant chop suey, egg rolls, and in parts of the US, packets of «duck sauce.» To whom Chef Chu’s is actually a standard of excellence! (Word to the wise: To avoid embarassment, don’t assert any such assumption on a discussion-​based food forum like chowhound, or to any group of Chinese connoisseurs.) Chu himself publicly acknowledged in 2009 that he early abandoned authentic, varied Chinese cooking to focus profitably on the dozen dishes most habitually ordered by non-​Chinese customers — the diners I’ve seen in Chef Chu’s for 30 years. Nothing wrong with any of THAT. What’s very wrong is judging the whole of Hunan Chili (most of whose menu you don’t even know about) from such myopic perspective. That’s rather like feeling qualified to appraise French restaurants on the grounds that you’ve enjoyed many good French fries.
In this neighborhood, Chef Zhao Bistro
now gives serious competition as an authentic Sichuanese kitchen (New China Delight, the other local one, having closed in 2010 — its space still vacant). Chef Xiu
and Bamboo Garden
offer good unique specialties from other regions of China (and the inevitable American-​Chinese fare too). Kirin
is a temple of inexpensive Cantonese comfort food. Chef Liu
has a Taiwanese chef and many fresh-​noodle specialties. But Hunan Chili, longer established than most of those, enjoys great community support. Many locals appreciate its amazing-​value lunches, definitive Sichuanese specialties (many details in my earlier reviews here), friendly owners. A local institution, appreciated (unlike Chef Chu’s) by Chinese and non-​Chinese customers alike.

Having eaten at Chef Chu’s I have a pretty high bar for Chinese restaurants in Silicon Valley. Hunan Chili was about the same price point and decidedly lower quality in both atmosphere and food. The service was slow, which wasn’t a bad thing in this particular case but if you’re expecting them to be prompt with the check go somewhere else.
I will say it’s a shame the place is going out of business, they seem like good people. That said, for downtown mountain view you have to be better than just good to succeed as a restaurant.

Really fast, really efficient service.
This a popular lunch time eatery — I know because when my co-​workers and I are looking to go out to eat for lunch, this is always a Plan B or Plan C. And sometimes a Plan A.
Their lunch time menu has a lot of the typical options like most full-​sized Chinese restaurants, but the speed and quality of the food that comes out is remarkable.
A hot soup that hits the spot, no matter what the weather is. Crispy egg rolls to get the taste buds ready. Their entrees come out fresh and clean-​tasting. Not too oily or salty. And usually enough to really be two decent meals (unless you’re me — then it’s just watching me stuff my face before getting back to work).
And an ice cream at the end!

Had my lunch catered by them for work. They’re pretty good. The food came pretty quick and it was still warm.
The Kung Pao Tofu was very yummy. I usually prefer fried tofu because I think the soft tofu doesn’t get flavored enough by different restaurants. Hunan Chili did a great job with the sauce and the way the tofu was cooked because the tofu absorbed a lot of the flavor.
I would recommend them if you’re in the area!

I always come here whenever I’m in the area. Their spicy dishes are delicious (and well … pretty spicy). We always get the fish fillet in hot sauce whenever we come here. Each dish on average is around ~$ 9-​$ 10, service can be pretty slow on busy days, and parking can be hard to find on those days too. Not authentic chinese, obviously, but definitely one of the closest places that comes to it.
And oh, they have free strawberry/​vanilla ice cream for you after your meals (:

Extremely good for spicy dishes…
Mongolian Beef can be ordered extra spicy, which will rock your boat.
Marni’s chicken is delightful, just the right about of chili oil, and the fresh chilies make a statement!
My new favorite on Castro.

Came here for Friday lunch — was expecting crazy busy, but since it is the Friday after July 4^th, it wasn’t that bad. Maybe that should have been a sign?
Not cool that they decided not to offer their lunch specials the entire week — not sure what having a holiday in the middle week had to do with not offering the lunch special on a weekday. Especially now that I’ve seen how cheap their specials are.
I ordered House Chili Fish Fillet. When I ordered, the waitress was like «Ooh, wow, yea that is good.» Good: crispy coating, good size pieces, pretty big portion (I only finished half). Bad: stir-​fried with chilis but not spicy at all. I’m pretty sure the large-​ish crystals I saw on the pieces was MSG, especially considering how thirsty I was after eating.
Coworkers ordered General Tso’s Chicken and some eggplant dish that I didn’t try (so I’m not going to review that). Chicken was deep-​fried enough that I couldn’t tell it was chicken anymore. Sauce was slightly-​tangy/​savory — I liked that it wasn’t super sweet. They asked for extra garlic which was tasty so IF I were to go back and order that, I would do the same.
Above average service (refilled our waters fairly often). Standard Chinese restaurant ambiance (better than hole-​in-​the-​wall).
Nothing special about this place though. Maybe cheap prices would have bumped the rating up a star, but there’s much better Chinese within 15-​min drive.

When visiting Mountain View and the Dojo, I’m always sure to find some interesting people to grab lunch with. My buddy and his roommate had just moved to Silicon Valley and we decided to grab some late lunch at Hunan Chili since one of them had a bad experience across the way at HK Bistro.
We ordered the eggplant with garlic, kung pao chicken, and kung pao tofu, which came with rice, hot & sour soup, and an eggroll. We had no idea that the portion sizes were so huge until it arrived so we just shared everything family style. I found all of the dishes overly sweet, and the soup was actually lukewarm! Nothing blew my mind and the table we were sitting at was still a little dirty from the last party that was there. Service was also whatever.
I really wish Chinese restaurants would up their game and care about their business. The food was pretty whack and, besides the portion sizes, was disappointing. I won’t be back.
Food: ⁵⁄₁₀
Service: ⁴⁄₁₀
Price: $$
Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₁₀

Holy cow at the portion size of their lunch plates. Came here with 2 friends for lunch and each ordered a plate. There was more than enough food to last two complete meals, if we weren’t such pigs. Lunch plate includes an appetizer (egg roll), soup (some vegetarian broth) and ice cream.
After 2 visits at this place I feel comfortable giving this a solid 4 stars for being an affordable, satisfying lunch destination. Come earlier than 12pm to beat the crowds.

This is my local home for spicy, filling Chinese food. A few dishes are odd, but most are excellent. A house special lamb is heavily seasoned, with bits of bell pepper, but my secret favorite dish is a four-​alarm dry braised chicken, also with bell peppers, called Marni’s Chicken. Both are also available cheaper as lunch specials.

We stopped in here the other night with a big group and had a really enjoyable dinner. Gathered around one of the big round tables, they loaded up the lazy susan in the center with a variety of dishes.
What rocked: black pepper beef, dry sauteed string bean, garlic baby chinese greens, orange peel chicken.

On my last night in Mountain View before moving, my boyfriend and I were craving Chinese food so of course we turned to Unilocal to help us find the best one on Castro St. Unfortunately, everything seemed to be 3.5 stars. So we had a crazy idea, let’s visit 4 Chinese restaurants and order 1 item at each and then compare! (Side note: I do not recommend this…)
This was our last stop on the tour. The inside is ok, not super nicely decorated but our waiter was so friendly and helpful and the tea was the best of any of the places we visited. We ordered the soft tofu with vegetables which claimed to have pork in it but I could have told you that was a probably just an incorrect translation so I was not disappointed when our dish arrived sans meat. My boyfriend seemed confused but after one bite was happy as a clam. The sauce was really flavorful and the vegetables were crunchy without being undercooked.
I would definitely go back!

In general, I’m satisfied with the food, but nothing beyond being satisfied. However, I would give 3.5 stars overall, because service was efficient and polite.
We ordered two dishes:
-«Fish fillet in hot sauce» (ie. «water boiled fish»): Personally, I give this dish only 2 stars in terms of my liking of the flavor — I felt that it was too bland despite the spiciness. However, I’ve tried this dish at many Chinese restaurants and Hunan Chili’s version is pretty standard in comparison with the other ones. The only place where I liked this dish much more than usual is Everyday Beijing in San Mateo.
-«Pickled Vegetable Pork Oriental Noodle»: 4 stars for this, even though it’s by no means an impressive «restaurant» dish. It’s pretty home-​y, but that’s what I wanted when I ordered it, and the flavor was good. While I do like pickled vegetable, I was happy that they didn’t use so much of it that it dominates the flavor. I was worried that it might be too salty due to the nature of the pickled vegetable (and also based on other Unilocal reviewers’ experiences), but luckily that wasn’t the case. They use Korean vermicelli. I might not necessarily order this dish again, but based on this dish, I wouldn’t mind going back to try other items.

Out on an errand run Monday night, I was looking for a quick bite to eat on Castro. Since the good shabu place was packed and most other places were deserted, I took a chance at Hunan Chili.
This place definitely sells more on authenticity than quality. The food is quite mediocre. The flourescent ambience is typical of low priced Chinese restaurants with a few loud parties and many nervous pairs of engineer types.
We ordered very spicy fried chicken and some completely bland seafood/​tofu stir-​fry. If you know anything about Chinese food, you know what a heavy hand with spice says about the quality of food. Anyways, I shoveled both down like a trooper and was left burping nasty hot grease for the next 24 hours.
Within 3 hours though, something was wrong – I had food poisoning. The color drained from my face and I could do little more than curl up in a cold sweat, nursing my disgruntled stomach. The next 48 hours would see me vaguely alert as I passed in and out of feverish episodes. Every disagreeable bodily function was exercised, again and again.
Today, I finally recovered enough to scribble this review. What kept going through my mind was the search for the trigger. After careful elimination, I think it was a contaminated cup of ice water. That was the only thing my wife didn’t have that night and she was just fine.
For $ 36, that’s one heck of an experience I never want to have again.

3.5 stars. This is a solid place for quick Chinese food. Every time I’ve been here, I’ve never had to wait for a table. My favorite dishes here are the eggplant with hot garlic, ma po tofu, and dry sauteed string beans. The lunch deal is especially worth it and all meals come with ice cream at the end! No complaints here. Service is very nice as well.
–L.

We got to Castro late and people kept saying the place would be packed and we’d have to wait for a long time. Not true. Hunan Chili was more than 50% empty (maybe for a reason, I’ll leave that conclusion up to you).
The waiter was very nice and didn’t rush us like some Chinese restaurants do; he explained what was in each dish and made sure he got every order right. The problem is that the food was entirely underwhelming. The complimentary Hot & Sour Soup was dull. The Kung Pao Chicken was kind of slimy and didn’t have much heat or flavor to speak of. The Vegetable Chow Fun was definitely not fun to eat because the noodles had all clumped together prior to the stir-​fry, so instead of eating individual ribbons of noodle you ended up eating a brick of noodles. Not appetizing. The complimentary ice cream was nice.
My final complaint is that they only take one credit card (over $ 20), which is very limiting. Considering the clientele is high-​tech lunch-​goers, using multiple cards is quite common.