It’s fair to say the Hunan is not the most inviting of restaurants. As with a number of Chinatown places, it’s on the first floor. So, that’s up a fairly steep, dimly lit, staircase (which doesn’t have a handrail for the first quarter). Then down a dimly lit corridor, into the main space, where you are greeted by one of the several smiley women servers. Put the entrance aside, and you may be in for a bit of a treat if you’re looking for something different from the mainly Cantonese restaurants in the area. Now, I have to say, the Hunan was not our first choice but the Little Yang Sing had a 20 minute wait for tables and I’m not willing to stand around for that amount of time. There’s a perhaps interesting comparison between the two places. With what seems to be the permanent demise of the once internationally known Yang Sing on Princess Street, the Little Yang Sing is probably now the longest standing Cantonese in the area. It attracts an almost entirely Anglo clientele. In contrast, most diners in the Hunan were young folk of East Asian heritage, as they have been on the couple of occasions that I’ve previously eaten here.
So, as to the food. As suggested by the name, the dishes are mainly Hunanese main courses, with a few starters There’s a handful of Cantonese for the less adventurous, which suited my partner. So, for her, vegetarian spring rolls and a vegetable chow main, with crispy noodles. Both perfectly fine if, truth be told, a bit uninteresting. For me, a starter of chunks of raw cucumber, dressed with soy sauce, chopped garlic and finely sliced chilli. It’s light, fresh and the chilli gives something of a wake-up call. My main course was a repeat of the dish I ate when we were last here in 2021 – “Chairman Mao’s Red Braised Pork”. It’s delicious – very fatty piggy cooked so long that the fat becomes meltingtly soft – slippery and unctuous even. The texture may not be to everyone’s taste but I love it. There’s red pepper and a deeply savoury sauce. And lots of garlic – whole cloves, at least a bulb. I’m not sure how often I’d need to eat this to become bored. Certainly not once every couple of years. Note to self: come back to the Hunan soon.
