Hunan Villa

20141005:
This is my first time at Hunan Villa and the first thing I notice is the medium lighting. Of course then I looked at the menu and decided to get the Szechuan chicken. Just to make sure, I asked the waitress what kind of oil they use and she told me they use vegetable oil.

Szechuan Chicken (20141005)

The brown rice costs extra, but I thought it go well with the chicken. The menu said the chicken would be spicy, but I don't even think it tastes mild. Maybe I'm slowly adjusting to spicy food?

I sense a bit garlic at the very beginning, but not soon after. The smell is not overbearingly power on the nose - which is good. There are some Chinese restaurants and/or fast food Chinese takeout joints where whiffing the orange/General Tso's chicken sauce can knock you out for a second or two.

Large Prawn Chow Mein (20150316)

Overall, the Szechuan chicken is sweet - just as the server said it would be. 2:36PM PT

[20141117 Edit][20150504 Edit]

20150316:
I came back to Hunan Villa today, but instead of eating in I got takeout. After looking at the menu, I decided to order large prawn chow mein and salt & pepper crusted fish filet (spicy) - my mouth was watering just by reading the menu!

Overall, the fish was delicious, the sauce was good, and the chow mein was normal. 10:02PM PT

Salt & Pepper Crusted Fish Filet (20150316)


20150418:
Once again I got takeout from Hunan Villa. Today I decided to get the Peking-style spare ribs and butter garlic noodles.

Upon taking the lid off of the container with the noodles, there was a strong garlic smell, but it quickly faded away.

After inspecting the spare ribs and the noodles, I decided to have a spare rib first and the first thing I thought of was Chicken McNuggets from McDonald's - possibly due to the sauce.

Butter Garlic Noodles (20150418)

As for the butter garlic noodles, they tasted almost exactly as I had expected them to taste. While there were sesame seeds on top, they didn't seem to affect me negatively.

Overall it was a great meal. 3:00PM PT

[20150504 Edit]

20150429:
Today I ate in the restaurant and ordered asparugus beef with chow mein from the lunch menu. To my surprise, it came with a corn soup (gelatinous consistency) which tasted good.

Cool teapot (20141005)

The chow mein was exactly the same noodle as the garlic noodles I ordered recently (20150418), except they were plain. While the noodles are plain, the flavor of the beef is more than enough to enjoy the dish as a whole.

I should also note that there was a lot more asparagus than there was meat, but there was enough meat that I did not mind the imbalance. In particular, the asparagus were well-prepared; they were nice and crunchy on the inside, while a bit softer towards the outside.

Asparugus Beef with Chow Mein (20150429)

Finally, the two wonton chips placed on top of the dice were a nice touch. 12:54PM PT

[20150504 Edit]

20160204:
Looking to try something new, I got the sizzling platter fish fillet. I also got the prawn chow mein - which I've had before.*

When the sizzling platter came out, the waitress completed it by pouring the brocolli and sauce on top of it. It looked fantastic.

Sizzling Platter Fish Fillet (20160204)

The fish was lightly fried and lacked flavor, possibly because it failed to soak up any of the sauce. Meanwhile, the shrimp in chow mein was just ordinary. Overall, the entire meal was as good as I would expect.

*Though I'm not sure why these are called chow mein as opposed to lo mein, because they're soft like lo mein would be.

[20160312]


Black Pepper Chicken (20161211)

20161211:
I had the garlic spinach and black pepper chicken. Cooked in onions, scallions, and a bit of garlic, the chicken was delicious. It was cooked in onions, scallions, and a bit of garlic.

Meanwhile, the garlic spinach had a simpler taste. It had reminded me of clam juice. It was real good.

Garlic Spinach (20161211)

I stuffed myself eating all of both.

[20170219]

Hunan Villa

Peking-style Spare Ribs (20150418)

Relevant Links:
Hunan Villa Website*
Hunan Villa Website*
Hunan Villa - Pinole, CA (Yelp.com)

*I don't know why, but this place seems to have two websites. I guess each serves a different purpose.

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