Yes, I know, I just a post on Taste of Hunan back in May. But, since our first revisit in years back in April, it's been a favorite of the Missus, and we've been returning every other week or so. And, in July, I went to do a takeout order and noticed that the menu had been revised, there were several new dishes added, and several, like the "Stir Fried Pork Lard with Green Pepper" were no longer on the menu.
So, I thought I might as well do another post before the menu changes again and highlight some of our favorite newer menu items.
Let's begin things with what happened on that takeout visit. I went and ordered the Minced Pork with Pickled String Beans as part of my order. When I got home and the Missus opened the container She looked at me angrily and said "why did you order the sliced chicken gizzards with pickled string beans, you know I don't like that, I specifically told you to get the pork!" I told Her that I ordered the pork, but She didn't believe me.
Anyway, on our next visit, we decided to dine in and I pointed out the item on the menu. It was the only one with pickled string beans.
The Missus looked at me and said; "see, it says chicken gizzard!" I told Her no, it says minced pork. Well, apparently it says chicken gizzards in Chinese….but I don't read Chinese! Sigh.
Anyway, from that point on we've basically dined in at Taste of Hunan, ordering 3-4 dishes and taking the leftovers home where I stir fry veggies on the Big Kahuna.
Here are a few of our favorites, along with some ordering notes when applicable.
My favorite dish is the Xiangxi Style Beef Entrails.
Man, when the tripe is right it is so buttery as is the tendon. The other cuts of cow are so beefy. This has some decent spice. The key is to eat it at the restaurant and let it sit over the heating element for a while before giving it a good mix. It'll sizzle away and the onions at the bottom will get soft and creamy and absorb all the beefy-spicey goodness.
The Stir Fried Chicken with Pickled Radish is another favorite of ours.
The key here is to get it with boneless chicken, it's more meaty and tasty, and you can put it away faster without getting slinters of bone stuck in your gums. You can order the chicken without bones. Also, be aware of the large slices of ginger. You might think that's some pickled radish and you'll be in for a surprise. Funny thing is; I've gotten used to eating large chunks of ginger and kind of enjoy it now! Decent spice, nice sour-acidity.
If you want to get "Wild" (Cherry) and "Play that Funky Music", definitely get the Braised Pork Intestines.
On occasion it's been quite buttery and tender.
Even when it's not super tender, it's "offal-y" good.
The Missus likes the Braised Pork with Quail Eggs.
She loves those little molten orbs of lava which are the quail eggs which have been slightly boiled, the yolks are usually soft, and then fried. Be careful!
This really isn't Hunan as it lacks spice. The pork belly is very swiney and it's on the sweeter end of the scale almost Su Cai. It's great as leftovers on a bowl of rice.
Of course not everything was a hit with us. The Beef Brisket with Sweet Potato Noodle was so-so.
The meat was very beefy, but too chewy, the noodle sheets mushy, and the broth on the bland-sweeter side of things.
The Steamed Tofu and Fish Filet with Chilies was ok. The tofu was nice and silken, but the fish was mushy.
And sometimes, even our standbys miss the mark. On this visit, the Tea Smoked Duck was quite good.
But on our most recent visit; the duck was dry, tough, and rubbery. And the skin was like eating saran wrap.
We did notice that we don't find the dishes here to be overly salty. And our new favorite dishes above have always been good the 3-4 (or more) times we've had them. Though it's always been for dining in.
And while I do miss the stir fried pork lard, the beef entrails have always been good. It's our new favorite. Hope you enjoy Taste of Hunan!
Taste of Hunan
9880 Hibert St.
San Diego, CA 92131
According to Diego, there are 700 of these in the city, which mark historic structures in the city. Whoa, 700!
Instead of heading straight down Avenida Juarez, the main drag, we strolled down Calle José María Morelos and of course we passed a couple of churches. This one caught our attention because it was open for visitors, so we decided to take a look.
Looking at my Google Maps, I identified this as the 
Guadalajara, at least what we saw of it seemed like a nice family friendly city. This is the 
What to say about this? The meat was on the toothsome side, but the goat was oh so gamy; flavor of the pasture indeed. There was a nice goaty-smokiness to the broth which had a lightly rich tongue feel without being greasy at all. For some reason, those pickled onions were just amazing with this. The freshly made tortillas were hardy and up to the task. By far the best birria de chivo we've ever had.
As I figured it was typical "LA Kalbi" – flanken/cross cut ribs. First thing I hit up was the mac salad. It was quite plain , with a few strands of carrots. It needed some salt and pepper and was kind of "watery" as the mayo hadn't really coated the macaroni well.
At most places, the chicken would be tenderized to an even thickness, but this was not, thus some bites were pretty thick and tough.
On this visit, it seemed like the gentleman who I believe is the owner was working the kitchen, so I was interested to see how my food would turn out. The first good sign was the mac salad, which while still in need of more salt and pepper was evenly coated and the mayo not runny like on my last visit.
Man, these were a lot more hefty than I recalled. The venison, which was done medium-well, we weren't asked for a preference. had a mild gamey flavor, the Havarti was kind of wiped out by the bacon and onion jam, which added a nice sweet-pungent touch to this. I enjoyed this, but it was a bit much for the Missus.
Overall, this was quite disappointing. I was looking forward to Izola reopening. I'm thinking I'll try the place in a couple of months and am hoping that this was just an off day. And at seven bucks a croissant….man, how would Parisians react to a six Euro croissant? I can only imagine!
Wayfarer tends to over bake their croissants; but this wasn't bad, quite flaky and crisp, the interior a bit on the dry side, but light and fluffy with a decent butter-salt ratio.
The bread was again nicely toasted, the cucumbers again refreshing, I wish it had more tomatoes and I appreciated the mint. There was a generous of labneh slathered on the toast, but it was just too puckery and sour for me to enjoy, the sour Zaatar just piled on, I'd have appreciated perhaps touch of sweetness and savory to balance things out a bit? As a whole, much too sour for me. My salivary glands are puckering up just looking at the photo!
Love the tortillas here, full of maize goodness, heated on the comal with drippings, it is always up to the task. The tripas have a nice mild crunch with beefy goodness. I bet you'd never figure out what it was if you were served one of these.
My goodness; this was even better than we thought! Fried to a light crispness, the interior was light, creamy, and almost fluffy. There have been times when we've had a iodine like aftertaste when having mollejas, but this was mild with a slight offal-nutty-buttery-sweetness. We actually didn't need salsa, lime, or heck, even the wonderful tortillas.