veggieburgh

Editors’ note: This review refers to Hunan Kitchen in Squirrel Hill, which closed in June 2007. Never fear, however! The owners have moved the vast veggie menu to their other restaurant, China Palace in Shadyside. (And they’ll still deliver piping hot brown rice in mere minutes.) Be sure to visit China Palace and check out the now double-length menu. Perhaps they’ll earn a coveted five-veggie rating soon.

It is difficult to write an impartial review for a restaurant one knows and loves. Yet, your venturesome veggies will don their judicial robes and attempt it.

We visited Hunan Kitchen in Squirrel Hill for a weekday lunch. It has been on Forbes for three years, including its first year as the strictly vegetarian Zen Garden. It then added meat to the menu and changed its name to attract more customers. If it needs a page of chicken and shrimp to stay open, we’re all for it–anything to maintain access to their amazing soy protein dishes! (Pictured: Hunan soy protein and brown rice.)

The spacious dining room was nearly empty when we arrived (we’ve never seen it full). The atmosphere is calm and pleasant with elegant dark wood furniture, an aquarium, a kimono, and a Terrible Towel draped over the bar. Music went from decent light jazz (Dianna Krall) to Easternized muzak (including a gaudy cover of Coldplay, which we’ve heard there before), which, along with the paper placemats, detracted from the atmosphere a bit.

The lunch menu is limited compared with the dinner menu, but still offers plenty of vegetarian dishes. Each comes with brown or white rice and choice of an eggroll or one of three soups. The brown rice, a house blend of short-grain varieties the owner gets from Brooklyn, is the best in the city.

Resisting our urges to order our favorite dishes (Hunan Stir-Fried Soy Protein and Sesame Soy Protein), we branched out and tried the Curry Supreme with Soy Protein ($6) and the Fried Tofu Sauteéd in XO sauce ($5). The food came quickly (even full dinners for four have never taken more than 15 minutes). The wonton soup had a well-balanced, flavorful broth and good veggie wontons. They use whatever is fresh in the restaurant that day, often bok choi, broccoli, cabbage, and soy protein. The hot and sour soup was on a par with what you would find at most Chinese restaurants.

We must preface discussion of the Curry Supreme by mentioning that the soy protein at Hunan Kitchen is the tastiest vegetarian protein in town and as good as any we’ve eaten elsewhere. This is not fake meat–it doesn’t try to be chicken. In the curry, it was also excellent, and the potatoes provided an interesting textural counterpoint. But the cumin-heavy sauce was a bit flat. Overall it was not as good as some of the other soy protein dishes, but still far better than anything around the corner at New Dumpling House.

We reasoned that a fried tofu dish, while more mundane than the wheat gluten and soy protein offerings, would be a good test of the restaurant’s quality. Tofu is one of the hardest vegetarian ingredients to prepare well, and we weren’t disappointed. The tofu was tender with just a hint of crispiness, as were the accompanying vegetables. The XO sauce, a house brown sauce, was slightly sweet and perfectly balanced. Overall this was a surprisingly good dish.

In conclusion, considering the generous portions, included soups, and high quality, Hunan Kitchen is an exceptionally good value for lunch. At dinner the vegetarian entrees are priced a bit high at $10-14, but the unique offerings and reliable quality of the food compensate. Great for dates or for skeptical meat eaters.

Update: How could we forget to mention the seaweed salad? Though a bit pricey ($6), it is a light, flavorful starter that surprisingly few people know about. It’s just soft wakame seaweed tossed with some sesame oil, sesame seeds, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. It comes with soft tofu dressed in sesame oil and spinach. Admittedly, the tofu’s consistency is a bit weird (it’s not firm, and is in its flaccid uncooked form), but it grows on you, and the seaweed is always excellent.

[4.5 veggies]

Recommended dishes:

• Spinach and seaweed salad (appetizer)
• Wonton soup
• Orange, hunan, or sesame soy protein (don’t be tempted by the mango; it’s not as good)
• Stir-fried string beans
• Eggplant stir-fried in fresh basil
• Fried tofu in XO sauce
• Moo shu wrap
• Vegetable rice noodles