Every person I spoke in London praised Hunan, “a Chinese “gem””, where there are no menus and you will “explode” of the amount of delicious food. And indeed, Hunan is “not your typical Chinese restaurant.” You don’t get any menu, and the waiter just asks how spicy you would like your food and what you don’t eat. “It’s like having your own personal chef – and the result is a unique meal you will treasure forever.”, Hunan’s website says.
The number of people who were dining in Hunan that evening did seem to indicate that the restaurant can justify the fantastic reviews and high ratings in guides. The only problem was… the food. There was a lot of it, but I didn’t eat even one dish that was memorable. The pork was dry, the prawns where even dryer (and not even opened) and it seemed that the pancakes served with the Peking duck were bought in a supermarket and just heated before serving. (Maybe not, but it seemed so). The only dish that was delicious and flawless was “deep-fried green beans”.
It did seem that you had “your own personal chef”, but not in a good way. I don’t understand those who say that they love homemade food in restaurants. You don’t go to restaurants to eat homemade food, you can do that at home.
So to make a long story short, nor the execution, neither the quality of the products really shined. Can it be that Hunan is just another “marketing product” where everybody goes there because of its “exclusive” and “homemade” image?
