Best AUTHENTIC Chinese Food in Fresno
Submitted by BandHDad on Wed, 02/28/2007 - 18:09.
This is my semi-shameless plug for Hunan Restaurant. I say 'semi" because I have no monetary return in doing this - only being able to eat fantastic, authentic Hunan and Schezwan style food here.
Located in a terrible spot for business - between Savemart and Longs in the back of breezeway at Cedar and Herndon (SE corner) This restaurant is by far the most authentic and best I've had ANYWHERE outside China.
The chef is a 5 star, worldwide (even inside China) award winning Chinese man that I want to see stay here plying his trade.
I've traveled inside China for many years, and this is the best food I've had outside China, especially if you prefer Schezwan or Hunan (spicy!) styles.
Check out the wall as you come in to see what I mean.
My favs:
Hot and Sour Soup
Fish with Hot Bean Sauce (this is outstanding)
Spicy Beef
Hunan Beef
Kung Pao Chicken
Whatever the Green vegetable of the day is - usually baby Bok Choy
Spicy Lamb
Every single one of the Shrimp dishes
Mongolian Beef - real Mongolian beef
Ask for the PINK menu if you like spicy, but they will spice to your taste also.
Try it - for me!
-House special Lamb
-Spicy Shredded Pork with Garlic sauce?? something like that
-Buttercream Prawns
-Peach Prawns
-Steam Dumplings in homemade sauce
-Spicy Sour Fish filet soup with rice noodle
-Hunan Pork chops
-Many of those soups...
Forget those mongolian and kung pao stuff..
You will notice those are NOT on the asian (pink) menu
I love this place!
Hunan is great! Don't forget to try their Chicken Salad--I could eat it all day. The butter prawns are actually pretty good, and I absolutely hate most seafood. Another good Chinese place to try is Helen's Gourmet (www.helensgourmet.com)on Fresno and Alluvial across from Kaiser.
Big List
First - if you like Spicy - get the PINK menu. that's the REAL Hunan and Schezwan stuff.
Hot and Sour Soup is a must.
My favorite dish (which is hard to say here, but I usually order this every time) is Fish with hot bean sauce.
Kung Pao chicken
Mongolian beef
Spicy lamb
spicy chicken
Get the green vegetable of the day - ask for it with garlic!
Pretty much all the shrimp/prawn dishes. They push one all the time called "butter Prawns" which are not my favorite, just because the sauce is made with butter and honey - too sweet for me, but they apparently are big sellers for them.
I LOVE the eggplant in hot garlic sauce.
Also, it's really a Cantonese/American thing, but their Chinese Chicken salad is good too.
It's pretty much - if you're into eating "anything" - you can't really go wrong. Let me know!
Recommendations
So what are the do not miss items? I'll eat anything so don't hold back.
Yeah - gotta Spice 'em up
I usually use hot oil with the bean sauce to jazz 'em up. I don't know if Hunan makes them, but they have all kinds of Bao Tze, sweet, savory. Dessert is the one thing the Chinese do not do well, in my opinion, so the sweet ones I do without... When I get them in China for breakfast, it's always a crapshoot because I can't communicate well enough to ask what's inside! Usually whatever is on hand, I think...
That's the one, not my fav but
tasty none the less. Sesame on that one is a good compliment.
Yep, Bow Zuh is the one-zuh. They have an interesting bread-y flavor from being steamed and not baked. I liked that flavor but my dad didn't so much. I like the spicy bean oil they bring to the table too, goes good on everything.
Diablo
I think it IS Butter Prawn
I think those prawns actually are Butter Prawns. Were they sweet with honey? I think he makes the sauce with butter and honey. Not my favorite, but apparently they sell really well for them, because they seem to have it on the daily special menu every time I go in there. I need to try the diapers! In China, they eat those for breakfast. You can buy them on the street for like 10â each. Pronounced Bowd Zuh, right?
once you try it, of course!
After you actually have there, I mean!
Yes, anything shrimp
or prawn is good. I just tried their special the other day, butter prawn, but I think either a typo or someone touched the dry erase, Batter prawn I suspect is what it was supposed to read. Spicy Lamb was great, had a soup I cannot recall the name of but it had everything in it. Kung Pao Chicken very good, just eat the chili man it won't hurt forever and it tastes great. Bao Tze, my girlfriend called them diapers cause they kind of look like old school cloth diapers tied at the top, are great. That one is a steamed bread with a pork filling. Yum. Totally want to try the authentic Peking Duck (I know Peking Duck isn't the techie term but we all know what it means)but we always shoot from the hip and they want a days notice for that one.
Diablo
Charlie's Place
Yeah, Orcaoid - I never heard of Charlie's place - wish I had, because I was smiling when you mentioned the crab. There's a restaurant in China by our office that served spiced crab, then they took the spices after you finished the crab and made hot-pot out of it. My favorite place ever - now shut down for some reason. We cried when we went there and found it dark. I'll have to see if Hunan can do it next time, although crab season is pretty much done here now. I bet he can, I think it's a big Hunan dish.
And Diablo - I agree the place totally could go in any location - it's just that unless you happen on it, you won't find it, or unless FFer's get the word out. I'm glad you like it as much as I do. What's your favorite dish there?
Agreed
This place freakin rocks. I don't think the location and such are so much of a factor for this place. Though I don't think a better location would hurt at all, I think it's so freakin good it stands out like a fly in the rice.
Diablo
better get there
places that are gems need to get support, especially if they are out of the way
anyone ever hear of "Charlie's Place"? used to be in an industrial park by Ingram, near Herdon, went bye-bye because of the poor location
it served sandwiches & Korean food
had the best killer crablegs, spiced & chilified, it bit back, it was so good
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