A new restaurant opened in BGC last November specializing in regional Chinese cuisine
A BITE OF HUNAN situated at W Global at 30th corner 9th beside California Pizza Kitchen, is actually their second branch. The pilot restaurant opened in Circuit Makati several months ago.
What is Hunan Cuisine?
“Hunan cuisine, also know as Xiang cuisine, consists of the cuisines of the Xiang cuisine consists of the cuisines of the Xiang River region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province in China. It is one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine and is well known for its hot and spicy flavours, fresh aroma and deep colours” – Wikipedia Per Mr. Sam (Marketing) Hunan cuisine is purely spicy but not numbing like szechuan. It is known for its smoked meats, fish, pork. Mr. Sam further shares that Hunan and Szechuan are known to be more oily and more flavorful compared to the other Eight Great Traditions of Chinese Cuisine.
Eight Great Traditions of Chinese Cuisine
- Shandong – fresh and salty with a lot of seafood dishes
- Sichuan and Hunan – hot and spicy
- Guangdong (Cantonese) Zheijiang, Jiangsu cuisines – seafood, sweet and light flavors
- Anhi and Fujian – wild food from the mountains
Asked why they chose the Philippines from among other countries in the world for their first food venture, Mr. Sam’s answer was simple. It is because the owners live in the Philippines and like it here.
The Food
Duck Roll with Egg Yolk P580
The flavors were subtle. I loved how neat and pristine the presentation was.
Toss Preserved Egg with Pepper P280
How interesting that this was presented in a mortar and pestle. Apparently, you pound the century eggs and all its garnish together until everything is incorporated.
Sweet & Juicy Pork Ribs P580
The ribs were indeed juicy . This will appeal to the Pinoy palate because of its sweetness. Tocino comes to mind… and bowls of rice please haha
Chinese Yam with Blueberry Sauce P380
There was a bit of a disconnect because I thought it was ice cream. Expectation was really high so that when I finally tasted it, it was almost a let down. I dont know if I like it. It was a feast for the eyes though.
Imported Spicy Fish Head
P7,999 Large (3.8kg)
P2,999 Small (1.2kg)
Definitely the star of the show as far as I’m concerned along with the crab. The fish head was absolutely fresh and cooked perfectly. It almost tasted too salty at first but when mixed with the noodles , a balance of flavors is achieved.
Salted Egg Spicy Crab
P188 per 100 gram
I love crabs so I thoroughly enjoyed this. The part I got was fat, meaty and flavorful….yum!
Fried Pork with Chili P380
Pork Ribs with Cumin P580
This was a surprise for me. I only know cumin from Mexican or Italian dishes. So this was pretty interesting. The pork ribs were tender and fall of the bone. The smell of cumin was really strong but it enhanced our enjoyment of the protein
Sauteed Chicken Wings with Garlic P680
This dish was practically buried in fried minced garlic. Not really a date dish haha. But wings were fat and succulent and tasty
Braised Okra P580
I’m not really a fan of this particular vegetable but I loved how green and fresh-looking the okra were
West Lake Beef Soup P480
The color green is from cilantro. The texture is thick and slurry-like. I tasted the beef.
Goat’s Stew with potato noodles
This was another surprise. No gamy taste. No funny aroma. It is reminiscent of our local bulalo in terms of richness of broth. The goat’s meat were really tender. The potato noodles provided the texture the soup needed.
Fried Carrot with curd inside with glutinous rice
Think our familiar favorite buchi minus the sesame seed and instead of balls , shaped to look like the real carrot down to its green stalk. What fun! It did not hurt that it was quite scrumptious too
Overall…
- Quality ingredients
- flavorful dishes,
- beautiful presentation,
- alert and cheerful service
- great ambiance
- authentic Hunan cuisine
- great location
What’s not to love?
Yes it does look pricey at first glance but given the above plus points, you get what you pay for.
Try it out and let me know what you think.
Definitely returning with the piggery in tow.