Hunan-Szechuan Dilemma

I was in Visalia over the weekend to visit my brother.  He mentioned an amazing story in Chowhound and the newspaper about an Executive Chef in China who opened his own restaurant in Fresno.  To make a long story short:  Chef Zhongyi Liu is a former Executive Chef of the Grand Hotel Beijing and trained in the Chinese aristocrat cuisine called Tianjian cooking.  He is the lone representative of China to the 1999 World Cuisine Contest Bocus D'Or in Lyon, France.  He was invited here to head a restaurant in Evansville, IN.  In 2003, he moved to Albany, CA to run China Village where he made waves and impressed a Chowhounder and SF resident Melanie Wong.  He later left Albany and bought a restaurant in Fresno with two partners, the Hunan Restaurant.  She was so impressed with the Chef's skills that she tried to track him down with the help of another Chowhounder form Fresno.  You can read the whole story here.  They later arranged a Chef's Tasting Menu last Oct. 18, pictures here.

After hearing the story, I was dead set to have a meal at this place.  The Hunan Restaurant is located in a nondescript strip mall next to Long's Drug,  there are no big signs, just a small name bunched with other tennants of the place.  I was hoping to try the Chef's tasting menu but it is only by special arrangement on Monday nights when they are closed and at least 10 people.  Bummer.  

It so happens that the local regulars to the old Hunan restaurant had a hard time adjusting to the Chef's Szechuan food , so mainly Hunan dishes are served.   I wish there was a grant for Chef's as artists so they can practice their art without compromising freedom.

Here are some of the dishes we tried:

Chicken Salad with Black Beans,  sweet and salty dressing with added crunch from the black beans.

Dry Cooked String Beans, crunchy and fresh at every bite, wonderful.

Combination Fried Rice,  most of the dishes were heavy so plain steamed rice would have been the better choice.

Slender Bamboo Shoots and Shredded Pork,  this was really good, nice and spicy.

Butter Cream Prawns,  this was my favorite dish,  so delicious,  the shrimp was light and crispy outside, moist and fresh inside, with a creamy sauce.

Mongolian Barbecue Lamb,  cooked with peppers, celery, onions and carrots .  Yum.

Sweet and Sour Fish,  the fish was moist and fresh, coated in a light and crunchy batter even with the sauce.

Szechuan Hot Pot Chicken,  another stellar dish, chicken with mushrooms and hot peppers.  Most of the dishes we got were specified mild,  I wished I had medium heat.   

I walked out of the place with dry mouth and thirsty from the heavy, spicy and salty dishes.  Overall,  the food was really good, but nothing compared to the Chef's Tasting Menu.  Service was excellent.  

The Hunan Restaurant

6716 N Cedar Avenue Suite 104

Fresno, CA 93710

(559) 297-0336

info@thehunanrestaurant.com

The Dumpling Empress

I was recently invited to a dimsum party at New Capital in the SGV.   There were several items that we got that I wished I had taken pictures of,  but more often when the "Lazy Susan" gets in front of me it's either empty or half full.   The food was good though.  So I decided to do my own dimsum escapade to Empress Pavillion in Chinatown DTLA.  Getting into the restaurant on the weekend can be tough, sometimes you have to be there by 10 am to get in by lunch.  I made it a point go there during the week to avoid this.  There's validated parking in the back, and with 4 levels of parking you will probably find a spot.  You are greeted by a Maître d' who then takes you into a huge ballroom and to your seat.  Once there, you are on your own with choices, choices, and more choices.  Straggling along the lanes of the restaurant are these moving carts filled with sumptious goodies waiting to be discovered.

(From L-R) Pork and Shrimp Siumai, Shrimp and Vegetable Dumpling,  Scallops and Vegetable Dumpling,  Steamed Pork Spareribs.

(From L-R) Steamed Tofu Skin with Enoki Mushrooms,  Steamed Chicken Feet,  Roasted Suckiling Pig,  Steamed Rice with Spareribs with Chinese Sausage.

The stand-outs were the Tofu skin with the Enoki mushrooms,  there is a delightful play in your mouth with the textures and flavors,  the enoki mushrooms have that loud crunchiness when you bite in, and the Tofu skin wrap is so smooth like silk on your tongue and has a wonderful almost meaty texture.  The only drawback with this is that the Enoki mushrooms keeps getting in between your teeth.  Both the Shrimp and vegetable dumplings and the Scallop and vegetable dumplings   were delicious, fresh, lots of flavor bursting out from the light and thin dumpling wrap into you mouth when you bite in.  

Empress Pavillion

988 N Hill St.,  Ste 201

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 617-9898

** Dimsum served only until 2:30 pm

Full House

Full House Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown, is a place we usually go to for late night hankering because they open until 3 am. There are only a few places in Chinatown that open this late.


Sizzling Rice Seafood Soup $7.95, this is one of my favorite soups, it's your basic clear broth seafood soup then they dump a whole plate of deep fried rice and the dish just sizzles from the heat and popping of the rice. The rice adds a smoky caramelized taste to the soup.. yum.

Fresh Clams with ginger and green onion $ 9.50, we usually get the one with the black bean sauce but opted for this for a change.

Chinese Mushrooms with X.O. sauce $ 10.50, three kinds of mushrooms stir fried with their X.O. sauce. For me, this was the dish I liked the best in the whole meal.


Cantonese Beef Stew with turnips $ 7.95, beef in a hot pot braised to delightful tenderness. Not as tender as I hoped it would be, the tendons were a little rubbery.


Full House Seafood Restaurant
963 N. Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-8382

Mien Nghia: Party in a Bowl

I never even knew this place existed, much like a lot of places in Chinatown. I pass by Mien Nghia often to get to Phoenix Inn for their Century Egg and Duck Chok. I first heard about this place from fellow blogger Eatdrinknbmerry in his Noodle Whore blog. Since then, I have been back there numerous times for their awesome Beef Stew with Egg Noodles (Hu Tieu Mi Bo Kho) $ 7.25.

This time I had to try the Seafood with Rice Noodles (Hu Tieu Hai San) $ 6.75. There is a crispy dough with a shrimp in the middle when they serve it. Nice, crunchy, and tasty, a good prelude to the dish. The soup base is light and delicious. The fish cakes, shrimp and squid balls are made in-house. The shrimps were nice and fresh.

The party really doesn't get started until you take a whole spoonful of that amazing chili sauce that they have and "Helloooo!" It takes this soup a few notches up the goodness level. Don't be afraid to put a lot of this stuff into your bowl, it's not that hot. I think they put some ground peanuts with the peppers into the sauce. I don't think I can stop myself from coming back for more for this.

Mien Nghia

304 Ord St

Los Angeles, CA, 90012

(213) 680-2411

Other Branches:

Mien Nghia

7755 Garvey Ave

Rosemead, CA, 91770

(626) 288-0177

Mien Nghia

406 W Valley Blvd

San Gabriel, CA, 91776

(626) 570-1668