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Hunan Home's Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
143 reviews for Hunan Home's Restaurant
Review Highlights
"The rice cakes and the fujian fried rice are great."
(in 6 reviews)
"The hot and sour soup is certainly one of the best I've had..."
(in 14 reviews)
"great mirugay soup, steamed fish, dungeness crab."
(in 5 reviews)
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143 reviews in English
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Review from Cheena O.
San Diego, CA
12/13/2011
My family has been eating at this place ever since I was a littke kid. My dad used to work around the area and would come here often for lunch with some of his coworkers. And we would drive from Fremont to have dinner at Hunan Home's at least once a week for awhile too. Not only is the food amazing, since we went there so often the owners recognized our family and we all became buddy buddy. I live in San Diego now, but every time I visit home, I try to convince the family we should go have dinner there. I love their fried tofu with this spicy chili sauce they put on top.
However, this is the number one reason why Hunan Home's deserves 5 stars. My younger brother is severely autistic. He is a very picky eater and is sometime prone to breakdowns if his routine or something sets him off. The owners and staff have been very accommodating to our family. My brother always eats beef chow mein with no vegetables. After awhile, they recognized our family, so without ordering, my brother's special order would appear right away while the rest of us are still figuring out what to order for dinner. We always appreciated their great customer service!
Thank you, Hunan Home's. -
Review from Colin B.
Mountain View, CA
2/6/2012
Good lunch special menu with egg roll and soup and ice cream with rice.
Almost equal in quality to Su Hong further down the street. -
Review from Andrew G.
Sunnyvale, CA
10/27/2011
Came here almost every week growing up. It was our favorite place to go, and we got to kno the owners very well.
I miss it... I must go back soon!!!!! -
Review from Vijay R.
Los Altos, CA
1/27/2012
The food here is not so great. I have been to better Chinese restaurants. The potions are small and you have to dig ur way through random veggies to find any meat in your dish. The service is very bad and the people working here are rude. Not going here again.
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Review from Christina N.
San Jose, CA
2/3/2012
My coworker and I go here all the time for the lunch special. The food is great. (my fav is the orange peel chicken)The service is hit or miss. The prices are fair. I will keep going back. Just wish the service was better
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Review from Audrey C.
Santa Cruz, CA
10/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
My family and I love this restaurant. A great family style Chinese restaurant that you definitely have to try. Me and my family always eat everything that's put in front of us because it is just that good! They're portions are well priced and everything is well worth it. Usually Chinese restaurants have their food too greasy, but this place is not like that.
They have a free appetizer of fried tofu and soy sauce that it is SO GOOD. It sets the mood for how good the rest of the food is going to be. We love to get the crab here. It comes in a pot with vermicilli noodles and is the best crab I have ever tasted. They also have great steamed fish, the sauce is so good with rice. Last but not least they also provide free green bean soup for dessert!
The atmosphere is very nice here, I would suggest sitting in the middle because that is where the best lighting is with the chandeliers. -
Review from Michael F.
Philadelphia, PA
10/12/2011
Solid family-style offerings of good food at solid prices. Is anything going to blow you away, probably not. Are you going to be seriously disappointed, probably not either.
Try the jellyfish salad to say that you've experience a jellyfish salad. The hot and sour soup is certainly one of the best I've had and a small can easily feed two or three people. Beyond that, Hunan Home has quite a selection, so bring a few friends and order a variety of food to share around the table.
Overall its worth a visit, but I am sure there is better in the area. -
Review from Chloé N.
Mountain View, CA
9/7/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I liked them more before...but after going back a few times, feel like nothing much that I'm interested, and ended up ordering the same thing again and again...
The cabbage wrap with smoked pork is one of the must every time I order, pretty authentic Hunan food. But most of the stuff on the menu looks very Americanized...The taste was ok, but I'm just not a big fan of American Chinese food :P -
Review from Justified G.
Mountain View, CA
1/17/2012
The best Chinese food I have found in the area so far. The sesame chicken is cooked well. The noodles taste well. Overall though, I haven't found an amazing chinese restaurant in the Bay area that has blown me away. Still looking for an authentic noodle place.
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Review from Michael C.
Saratoga, CA
6/28/2011
My family and I have been coming to this restaurant consistently for more than twenty years. Even as more and more Chinese restaurants have opened, with the recent influx of Asian immigrants as a result of the high tech jobs, Hunan Home has always been our favorite Chinese restaurant, hands-down.
Despite the 25 minute drive it takes to get here, we love this place so much that it is always worth it. The owners already know my parents by name - we've been here that many times. Their food has always been consistently great. Their Mapo Tofu is, in my opinion, the best dish. Be sure to ask for it with ground pork.
There are a variety of other great dishes, unfortunately, I only know the Chinese names for those dishes (Chinese dish names don't translate well into English), but pretty much everything there is good.
Also, a word to the wise, if you order ice cream at a Chinese restaurant, you have only yourself to blame. Ice cream is NOT a part of Chinese cuisine at all. As for green tea ice cream, it is an abomination of Japanese-American fusion. -
Review from Jay Y.
Mountain View, CA
7/16/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I have visited here twice and tried various dishes here. Everything is nice, and some exceeded my expectation.
It is not risky to choose dishes here. What I mean is that they do not cook it too exotic way. Sometimes if I order something in other restaurant, it is hard to finish the dishes, it may be because they put too much spices, you know every ingredient has its own natural taste, but those spices kill it and making hard to eat. Too greasy food is another example.
But food here is not too strange and not too greasy. But the food is tasty indeed. If you visit here with at least 3 people, you can never regret it, whatever you order, if your order list is well balanced. Menu kindly has "pepper" mark for spicy food so you can mix spicy and non-spicy dishes when you order.
Servers are quick and kind except sometimes they try to speak Japanese words, misunderstanding that I am a Japanese. -
Review from Lyn N.
San Francisco, CA
6/23/2011
I really like this place. I'm a frequent customer here and always enjoyed all the lunch specials I've ever ordered. May be it's an off day today but the sweet and sour chicken I ordered, when you bite down was dry and my dessert which was green tea ice cream was more like the texture of a milkshake. I didn't want to ask for a new cup of ice cream since I asked for them to slow the rate of the ceiling fan (it was cold for me). So they moved me to another table.
Again, I like this place - service is good. Staff is friendly and nice. Just a bit disappointed that my ice cream was more on the melted side. -
Review from Kathleen M.
San Jose, CA
3/8/2011
Yo Homes, smell you later!
My husband is so obsessed with finding a good Chinese restaurant that the day I told him about the take-out my friend got us from Hunan Home's, he immediately wanted to pick up food from there that night. Maybe I overhyped it because he was ultimately disappointed...
But then we got take out again and again from there and now he's totally on board. The dish he initially wasn't too into that my friend raves about, Hunan Home's Chicken, is now his favorite dish. It consists of chicken, cabbage, and green bell peppers, and onions in a spicy sauce. I think the sauce is a little one dimensional - more spicy than flavorful - but I still like the dish.
My favorite is the Broccoli Chicken. If I haven't mentioned already, Hunan Home's uses white meat chicken, and the nice pieces of meat, combined with broccoli and a good sauce elevate this dish.
We've also had the Mongolian Beef. It's my friend's husband's favorite, but I didn't think it was anything special (sorry!). The beef was cut too thick for my taste.
My husband liked the Mushrooms and Broccoli. There wasn't much of a sauce to it. I would get this with another dish but not on its own. We've gotten the Mu Shu Chicken a few times. It's above average.
My husband has only gotten take-out from Hunan Home's. I still haven't been here in the flesh. But right now it's up there with our local Chinese food pantheon of Ginger Cafe (Sunnyvale) and Su Hong (Menlo Park).Listed in: I'll Have that Mountain View…
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Review from Linda L.
Mountain View, CA
3/27/2011 2 Check-ins Here
This place is a great family business that doesn't have the pretentious hype that other local restaurants have. Would definitely recommend for family dinners and friendly get-togethers. This dining place is great for loud, laughter-filled, good conversations with family or close friends. Everyone who eats here is always seemingly "happy."
p.s. They make really good green onion pancakes and mu shu dishes. Overall, the food on the menu is representative of authentic Asian cuisine and reasonably priced (minus the fortune cookies, of course). -
Review from Sheila G.
Santa Clara, CA
5/24/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Been here twice - once for a weekend lunch and once for lunch special to go. The first time I wasn't as impressed because I was comparing the spicy eggplant to the SF location. (It's better in the city.)
But their lunch special was delicious. It's pretty inexpensive ($7.99 for entree, rice, soup and egg roll). The Mongolian chicken hit the spot.
Service has been fine in my experience. Some of the folks are nicer than others. I see a lot of Asians here and take that as a good sign. A lot of people were doing dim sum on the weekend so perhaps I'll try that next time. -
Review from Angela W.
Stanford, CA
1/21/2011
Hunan Home's has a great reputation in my mind for being a rather authentic Chinese restaurant in the area.
After arguing with a friend over whether our location for food consumption should be driven by Zagat or Yelp ratings more, I finally conceded to his request to meet at Hunan versus a higher ranked Yelp restaurant. I was not disappointed by his choice. I must say that my concession does not in the least bit undermine my belief in Yelp, it only strengthens my belief in Yelpers ability to review great food. Enough divergence.
We tried a variety of dishes Peking duck, orange chicken, and sauteed green beans. Nothing disappointed and I was impressed by how well done the duck was. I failed to ask if they roast the duck in house daily. Rock solid service and an abundance of Chinese families (the true indicator of an authentic chef in the house). -
Review from Cynthia C.
Alameda, CA
1/23/2011 10 photos
Decided delivery Chinese was not a good idea. My thinking is, a quality Chinese resto should get enough business from clientele and not resort to extra revenue from delivery.
Very up with the technology, it was easy to locate the menu items on their website, but I should have gone only with the Chef's selection. This would have catapulted HH to four star status.
The regular menu is a bit greasy and gelatinous for my taste, I asked for low salt/oil.
LOVED:
-Tai Chin Crab in Claypot, yum-o
-Pea Sprouts w/Garlic
-Clam and Ginger Soup, nice broth
-Chicken chow mein, very good noodles, nice and chewy.
Good:
-Mu shu Chicken
-Spiced Chicken Salad, liked the shredded breast meat and seasoning
-Wonton soup very clean flavor, no MSG evident
Yuck:
-Pea sprouts and Chicken, oily and overly salted.
-Garlic Beef, it's fried and quite disgusting.
-Skip the FREE tapioca dessert, totally burnt tasting and it's FAKE taro.
Phone service: GREAT. Polite and super easy to converse w/in English.
Pickup: Remember to ask for utensils, napkins, soy sauce and chili sauce.
Parking lot: Full of minivans and SUVs, definitely a hotbed for families.
Yay! They have brown rice! Charge for all rice. BR is $1.50/pp. I was a tad bitter about the charge, most Chinese restos will comp the rice when you're spending $100+. -
Review from qirk z.
Los Gatos, CA
Updated - 12/22/2010
Still like this place, been here many times since my previous review.
Fijian Fried Rice, Ma Po, Salted Porkchops. Yum.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/27/2006
Ate here a couple times... good food, decently priced, was stuffed when I left.
Memorable entries...… Read more »
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Review from Andy L.
Campbell, CA
11/28/2011
Went there on thanksgiving and ordered a butt load of food! While we were waiting for the food to come we got two complimentary plates of fried tofu which were okay. We got the duck soup which had duck bones and was very flavorful and also the plate of duck which you wrap in little white buns which was good as well. Also we ordered sizzling beef and spicy hunan pork which were both pretty good as well. Besides those good things, were some okay things such as the bloodcake stew and veggies. The last thing that came was the fish, which i expected to be the best thing there, it was bass and it was cooked well, but I felt it was very flavorless. Overall this was an average chinese place, the food wasn't very spicy for hunan province, I would come here again but only if I was treated out again hahaha
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Review from Alex C.
San Francisco, CA
11/15/2010 1 Check-in Here
The Mountain View Hunan Homes fares almost as well as its San Francisco namesake. Points for hospitality.
It's a cozy little place by the Whole Foods, in a modest building of its own, rather than a strip mall. The layout inside is certainly unconventional, but also allows for a more private experience over other Chinese restaurants.
The service has been terrific in my experience. Granted, we've all come to expect slightly less from Chinese restaurants in the way of hospitality, but I was pleasantly surprised. Our server was attentive, and our water and tea were kept refilled throughout the meal. They poured water for us when we sat down too, which is rare, but I suspect it to be because my friend and I look hardcore ABC (no argument there).
Most dishes are probably safe bets, so go for all your favorites. The Mongolian beef is a little too heavy though. Unfortunately, I hate going outside my comfort zone, which is limited to kung pao chicken, dou miao, and West Lake beef soup, so those are my only recommendations. -
Review from Victoria G.
San Jose, CA
10/22/2010
Came here upon the Boss's recommendation. Not bad, but I've had better chinese food.
Upon walking in, we told the lady at the front counter that we had 2 people and she said that it would be a couple of minutes. My coworker and I were really confused because there were so many empty tables. Seconds later, a chinese guy brought us to our seats.
Now it doesn't smell like old carpet in there, but it does smell like hot and sour soup. Their hot and sour soup is decent and I like that the lunch specials come with soup and an appetizer (chicken salad or veggie egg roll).
I asked the waiter which spicy chicken dish to get and his recommendation? "They're all good!! Just get whatever"..
Uhm, thanks bud. LOL -
Review from mark L.
Los Altos, CA
4/20/2011
There are a several classic restaurants in the area which has long been a popular discussion, and I am also down with the Hunan Homies. They satisfy and even impress the more critical palates and that's what separates them. The details are in the food and the ingredients are always superb.
Some of the classics: Fujian fried Rice, orange peel chicken, Peking duck, great hot sour soup, sizzling rice soup...
The Seafood is outstanding! I spend a lot of time on the water so I am extremely picky with seafood--they are very serious about their seafood. Lobsters and crab are cooked many ways, very fresh,... well, live, hanging out in the tank. Yeah... I don't like to sit by the tanks for doomed lobster and fish. Gotta try some of the seafood specialties. especially the crab and lobster dishes. They come in nice portions and are satisfying if u crave excellent seafood!
There is a fried flounder fillet dish that is wonderful. I don't know what it's called, maybe salt and peppered flounder fillets. They recommended it once and we get that every time now--beautiful batter, fresh fish, and great savory flavor. People who really love seafood know that they have to be picky with seafood, and I think the Hunan Homies are well aware of that. They will recommend off menu specialties also. I'll always remember the "lobsters three ways" we had a few years ago. They must have recommended it or formulated the combination for my parents. I remember one way was an amazing lobster soup in a stone pot of some sort. Goodness, it was so satisfying for someone who loves seafood.
Yes, that Fujian fried rice is awesome.
I've had Peking duck quite a bit, and this is my favorite. I even had it in Bejing at the two of most famous peking duck places which are excellent! But I still immediately compare it to this one. You just have to try it to experience it.
I'm not big on the tea smoked duck... Dad and his friends used to get that.
I always get the orange peel chicken, I'm not big on sweet and sour dishes but I love this dish cold as leftovers. Hahaha. I mean, when I take the container out of the fridge, I know it's done. I can't stop eating it when it's cold. Might sound a little weird, but it's all glazed over sweet and orangy, like a candied jerky snack. hahaha, yep, great snack, no rice, just my fingers. Once in a while I'll get an extra order to-go just so I can have some refrigerated at home as snack. -
Review from Jen S.
4/14/2010
I was pleasantly surprised by HH's food. I do think their name is odd because it seems that it would be a name for a real estate office and not a restaurant.
My co-workers and I have come here for lunch twice. Their lunch menu is really affordable, ranging from $7.95 to $10. You get a choice of an appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert. Those 2 times, I have ordered the Hunan Homes chicken which has a spicy flavor. Now, for those who know me, I am a spice wimp but I actually handled it well. I did, however, feel my scalp getting sweaty and a bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face the last time I was there. The lunch is enough food (at least for me) to stretch it out for leftovers.
Service is cool but it seems to depend on who you get. Food comes out super fast so if you've got limited time for lunch, come here. -
Review from Matt Z.
Monsey, NY
8/19/2011
A little frayed around the edges, but solid menu with excellent variety and delicious. Service was prompt. I had the sauteed snow pea shoots with garlic (excellent) and the sweet and sour fish. The sauce was a bit on the ordinary side, but it really was delicious.
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Review from Nance H.
7/21/2010
This restaurant has a pretty comprehensive lunch combo set. It is a couple bucks more, but Chinese lunch sets are usually affordable.
I ordered some tofu and vegetable combo platter. It comes with an egg roll, rice and sweet and sour soup. I liked my dish- no complaints there. One of my coworkers did not enjoy his platter, as a vegetarian, going to this restaurant sucks if you don't like tofu. I like how they give you the brown rice option as well.
The service was fine.
Overall, I am satisfied. -
Review from Eve K.
Updated - 2/12/2009
Chinese lunch my parents like. All ingredients were fresh, but the experience you have will depend on the dish you order. Some dishes are great and some are just so-so. 3.75 stars due to the great ones.
Cost to worth it ratio: 2.6 (lunches start at 7.95 and go up to 9.50--bit higher than usual and definitely high on the seafood side)
Highlights:
- Good mix of Americanized dishes like broccoli beef and kung pao along with more authentic ones like ma po tofu and squid.
- Black bean fish: the most stand-out dish we've gotten. Moist, fresh pieces of fish doused in a black bean sauce with some sliced jalapeno for an extra kick. Sometimes you see dry or fishy tasting fish but here it's done perfectly. Also I dug that it was accompanied not only with onions but a whole load of asparagus instead of just green pepper.
- Beef with asparagus: super duper tender meat pieces--delightful to eat. Sauce was just enough and asparagus was crisp. My second favorite.
- Lunch specials: includes more than your standard choices. Egg roll (mongo-sized) or chicken salad; soup: hot and sour, won ton, or corn; entree and dessert: mango pudding, ice cream or fruit (sweet slices of oranges)
Midlights:
- Kung Pao shrimp: shrimp were generous sizes and cooked just right, but the sauce left some to be desired. It had too much of a ketchupy/tomatoy tangy taste so it wasn't to my liking. More slanted in the sweet and sour direction than tradtional spicy kung pao. Mom claims they have changed their recipe cause she used to like the kung pao here the best.
Lowlights:
- Chinese chicken salad: bland, boring, very strong on the vinegar
Still like this place due to the quality of the ingredients and excellent dishes were way above what you can get at other locations. We'll be back for the beef and fish and probably try another shrimp dish.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/29/2008
This is a good lunch place--not as many Asian people in it as say on Castro or Cupertino but… Read more »
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Review from Jen C.
East Palo Alto, CA
3/8/2010
I came here on a Saturday for lunch. It's nice to find a place that serves Taiwanese breakfast. We ordered Chinese donut, soybean soup (sweet), fried pork chop noodle soup, fried taro, and pork sauce rice (can't remember the exact name so just created something similar). I enjoyed everything and would actually order the exact same dishes again next time, except I would skip the pork sauce rice. I didn't particularly like that dish since I think I was expecting minced meat. The donut's a bit on the greasy side but acceptable.
Ambiance is quite nice and there's ample parking on the street and in the back. -
Review from Ken K.
4/12/2007
I've been here a few times. If you don't think of the restaurant's name or its reference geographical region in China, perhaps in itself it is and can be a decent eatery for simple stir fry stuff.
I don't know what authentic Hunan food is like because after living in the USA for so long and going to places like Tampa Florida and the Midwest, all I can say is Chinese restaurants (Northern) are typically Hunan or Sichuan, with little or no measurement of authenticity.
I'm going to yelp about my grandma for a bit. She's been smoking for 50+ years, almost 90 and full set of black hair (all natural). She's from Hubei, and knows what real Hunanese food is. She can out-eat anyone in terms of spice tolerance level, consume the hottest of chili or jalapeno peppers including the seeds without a beat and no water. Any North American Chinese restaurant that claims to make dishes that are uber spicy, she will give it a taste and say "that's too sweet".
If I had her tolerance level I'd down a bottle of hot sauce, then swim in a pool of Ninji mala hotpot... I'd be a hero.
My guess is that HH won't satisfy grandma's homesick tastbuds and for sure she's not ready to fly down and then drive down to eat here .
Whether HH here or in purportedly Chinatown are run by Hunanese, I wish them luck.
If I remember correctly their menu is in Chinese, English, and Japanese(?). I would think their dishes might satisfy a select portion of Japanese expats who like Japanese style Chinese food, but likely does not come close, but will have to do for the area.
But -1 star, because of the dreaded moo shoo poo poo stuff that's also on the menu. I would have loved to see a special section, maybe even Chinese only, that advertises purely Hunanese specialties, rather than generic Hunan beef, Hunan chicken yada yada, and scattered across the menu. If you look at their fried rice section, there's Fujian fried rice.....uhm sorry that's a dim sum seafood Cantonese restaurant lunch dish, what is it doing at HH's menu?
Doesn't seem authentic to me. -
Review from Matt G.
3/8/2008
With a limited amount of family-owned restaurants along El Camino Real side of Los Altos, I needed to come here for lunch. This restaurant is located across the street from the San Antonio Shopping Center. The setup for the restaurant is good enough to attract Matt G's appetite.
I arrived nearly close to two o'clock and I was seated right away. I ordered one of the lunch special: Mongolian Chicken. For $7.95, I get a choice egg roll (which I got) or Chicken Salad as an appetizer, a choice of soup, which I got Won Ton Soup, Steamed Rice and dessert. My Hunan-style Mongolian Chicken plate, which comprised of bits of Chicken, sliced Onions, bell peppers and red-hot chili pepper was very spicy and tasty. My dessert was a small bowl of Mango Pudding, which was good as well, despite being a little bit small.
I also got a fresh brewed hot-tea with my hefty meal. Oh yeah, my meal was very filling and satisfying with friendly service from the associates. I charged my meal, in which they accept. I had a solid Hunan meal and whenever I needed to come back to Los Altos, this Hunan place is definitely worth coming again. -
Review from Trina M.
Mountain View, CA
12/7/2008
Let me start by saying that this 5 star review is for my favorite carb items on their menu. I LOVE CARBS. Yea I said it.
My new hands-down all-time favorite place to order fried rice is Hunan Homes. Actually, that's not true. Prior to today, their combination fried rice was always what I'd crave whenever I'm in the mood for chinese food. If I'm feeling under the weather, I'd ask the hubby to pick some up for me... I think it's like my chicken soup, cuz I always feel better afterwards. Theirs is just so full of flavor and super moist. (I really hate dry/bland fried rice, where the rice and other items don't stick together. I'd much rather have plain white rice if that were the case.) So this place is my fried rice heaven.... yea I know I sound like I'm going overboard. But I told you I love carbs.
TODAY, however... today I discovered an even tastier fried rice... their Fujian Fried Rice! It's ridiculous how good it is. I mean, it's just rice for goodness sake, right? Wrong my friend. It's like a meal in itself. Their menu describes it as "fried rice topped w/ shrimp and scallops in gravy". GRAVY PEOPLE! OKAY??? What are you waiting for..... pick up an order to go and thank me later.
My other carb item that I love is green onion pancakes, and I am so happy that this place has them... although it's not on their menu, and it's only available during lunch on the weekends, I believe. Hecka weird, but if that's when I need to have it in order to get me carb-fix on, then I'll take it. Try dipping them in white vinegar! -
Review from tamara w.
Irvine, CA
4/9/2007
You can't miss this place... just look for the colorful pink and blue awning outside. I've been here twice and the food has been good both times. But this review will be for the most recent time since the last time was too long ago.
What made this visit so interesting is that it was the day my parents and my bf's parents met for the first time. His parents invited mine to dinner, and we ended up going here. For the first 5-10 minutes his parents and he were talking to the waiter about different dishes in Chinese so my parents and I were just sitting there like the lost English-only speakers we are. From looking at the menu online, this is some of the dishes we had (I can't remember all of them at the moment):
Clam with Ginger Soup - tasted very... clean. Simple flavors but oh so good.
Peking Duck - always so good. Except I like the steamed buns more than the actual duck so I usually try to get a little of the duck so I can look like i'm eating it correctly - but am really enjoying the bun.
Prawns Baked in Spicy Salt - yum!
... I give up. I can't remember the rest. One was a sizzling dish that was really good - I suck at reviewing. The staff was very helpful and overlooked my dad's I will use my very limited Chinese but will say the wrong thing and almost end up offending the waiter until he realized what he meant to say and then proceeded to pick on my dad all night. My bf's parents haven't forbidden him to see me anymore so I guess things went okay. hehehe -
Review from Nancy L.
Berkeley, CA
2/19/2008
Ok, I have a confession. I'm Chinese by ethnicity but, Chinese food is, like, #8 or #9 on my Top 10 Cuisines. *Gulp* Mom, Dad - please don't disown me. I love your cookin' but, I'm just not down with "Americanized" Chinese food. Gag.
Enter "Hunan Home's." This is the only Chinese restaurant my parents frequent. The ONLY one. Ever since I was an obnoxious little 11 year old brat, my parents have been taking me here. It's THAT good.
My parents even like the fried rice at Hunan Home's. And any Chinese or Taiwanese person born in the motherland will tell you that you should never, never, never eat fried rice at a Chinese restaurant. (Why? Because they know what's in it!! Y'know those leftovers from the party before you? Well, guess what the restaurant didn't throw out,...) My parents, however, make an exception at Hunan Home's.
Super casual atmosphere; I roll up in sweats sometimes. There's never any problem with getting a table ASAP. The food comes out with a quickness. And the price is just right. Definitely worth a few visits. Yumm. -
Review from Ryan C.
San Jose, CA
8/15/2008
I've always had good experience at this restaurant.
Usually visits this place for company dinner or with customers.
Their seafood specialties are formidable, with usually fresh ingredients.
I've had regular Chinese dish items too and they were okay as well, but I'd rather have seafood related dishes when I'm here.
- Steamed prawns /w special sauce: with eggs and the sauce? Very good.
- 2 or 3 styles of preparation for crustaceans: try steamed and salt & pepper.
- Don't forget to order Jogui if you're a drinker.
- With a Chinese owner named Carson, how can you go wrong? -
Review from minal s.
San Jose, CA
5/23/2011
Been here twice and the food has consistently delivered. Service is a bit spotty, maybe cause it was just two of us shuttled into a corner. Not that i mind but if I was in hurry, would need to think twice.
Lunch specials come with soup, egg rolls (or salad) main entree and a dessert, not bad at all. Especially appreciated they had options for vegetarian egg rolls and soups. Always a plus when they are considerate. Had the corn soup, and the rolls were crisp, fresh and big!
For main we had the Hunan house chicken and the spicy prawns, both were excellent with tons of veggies in there. Dessert was with the option of mango pudding, fruits or ice cream, the pudding tad too sweet for me, and we couldn't figure what was in the ice cream.
Overall, i liked the food. Only down was they don't served onion pancakes on weekdays, since there was so many good reviews about them i was craving for them, oh well will have to wait for a weekend! -
Review from Han K.
Mountain View, CA
9/29/2010
We order take out from here every once in a while and love it.
The rice cakes and the fujian fried rice are great. There is also a Chinese mustard leaf dish called "do-miyao"(I am not pronouncing this correctly so corrections would be appreciated) that we learned about.
For some reason the dishes are sometimes saltier when we have them at the restaurant. -
Review from Edward W.
Fremont, CA
5/31/2011
The Mu-Shu beef and the combination fried rice were average, nothing spectacular in terms of taste. The proportions are very generous and more than enough for two people.
-
Review from Lisa R.
5/14/2010
We visited Monday night after about 6 months away. We go here about 2x/year when our friends come in to visit from Montana. They swear there is NO good Chinese food in MT, and they're right.
There were 3 of us and we started with pot stickers, then hot and sour soup (some of the BEST I've ever had) and Mongolian Beef, Sesame Chicken with Hot Spicy Garlic Sauce and then Chicken Mu Shu.
The service is really good. They were so funny that night, they dropped off "on the house" fried tofu with this incredibly yummy green onion/soy sauce and also at the end of the meal, when we were STUFFED to the gills.....a tapioca dessert. That, I'd skip if I were you.
Good meal, good service, came out to $60 before tip. Good deal -
Review from Jesse S.
San Jose, CA
1/29/2008
Came here for the first time today for lunch. I came in at 12:30pm and was seated promptly. Hot tea was given along with the menu. There is a full selection of lunch specials, each comes with a choice of small appetizer, soup, and desert.
I ordered the kung pao chicken with vegetable egg-roll and wonton soup. I don't eat fish or shrimp and almost every place makes their wonton soup with fish. They don't make theirs with shrimp and it was really good. The home made egg-roll was also good.
The kung pao was served in a generous portion with oversized portion of white rice. It had just the right amount of spice and good flavor. No funky/salty taste. I surrendered midway through and didn't make it to desert. Too much food, but then again that's a good thing.
The service was prompt and professional. The courses came out at just the right time and there was no waiting. Very good value for the money. Excellent wok hay. -
Review from kkat m.
San Diego, CA
7/15/2010
I am a big fan of Hunan Homes. I've been eating here since I was a kid, and I love it. We always get the same items and rarely branch out. We know what we like, ok? The spicy egglplant is the best I've ever had, the salt pepper spare ribs are tastey, and I like the chinese broccoli beef. My brothers are fans of the orange chicken, but for some reason, I've never liked orange chicken.
I've talked to a lot of people that say that this place is just ok, and it's a bit expensive. I still love it, and I'll keep coming back. It's my comfort food. -
Review from Michael G.
Sunnyvale, CA
2/7/2011
The first time we had their food, we called in for takeout and were pleasantly surprised by the food. We loved it.
This past weekend when the wife wanted Chinese...I instantly thought of this place. We drove a bit longer distance than we normally would for dinner. We got there and it was still a bit early so there weren't that many people there..it wasn't empty..but it wasn't busy either.
This is why we gave it 2 stars.
The service sucked.
We were shown our table (me, my wife, and our 1.5yr old)...we then stood there waiting for the highchair..we then had to ask for a high chair...okay no big deal.
We looked at the menu, figured out what we wanted.
Then waited
and waited.
waiter walked by at least 4 times.
And waited
Until I had TO ASK FOR THEM TO TAKE OUR ORDER! Really..they don't business?
We got our food, but no water.
Waited...then finally asked for water.
no water...waited.
A group of about 10 retired age folks (that came in after us), they got water.
Keep in mind, we are seated right next to the kitchen and the waiters passed us every minute.
We never got the water that we had to ask for! (in retrospect I shouldn't have left any tip..I guess I was in a forgiving mood)
In the end, my wife took the kid and went to the car as I had to ask for the check.
I did notice (and I'm not being ageist or racist or whatever..this is just an observation)..but if you were not Asian or old and white..then they didn't seem to care that you were there..and don't seem to care if you come back.
I complained when I paid,...just to let them know that it wasn't acceptable.
They told me one of their waiters didn't show up (but the one that did passed our table 20 - 30 times..so that doesn't make sense), and that it was Chinese new year...okay but we were there long before the crowds came...so that doesn't make sense...and the people that were there before us and after us got much better service.
So...food is good, service is bad enough for us not to deal with it ever again. They obviously dont' want us there.
Time to find a better Chinese food place.
