What kind of chinese restaurant does not have white rice? Â The fried rice rice was pure salt. We were a group of five, Â the first 2 meals came out 30 minutes after we got there, then 2 more 15 minutes later and the last meal another 15 minutes. What kind of service is this? Horrible! Then we had to wait another 20 minutes for the check!
After 10 years of going there this will be the last time we will ever eat at Hunan Palace.
Updated Review: Â July 26, 2011
Last time I rated this restaurant  4 stars. But upon my lunch order today, I will have to bring them down to 2 stars, and that's being generous.  I'm very sad about this.  I'm not sure if their chef left (as they opened another store on North Salisbury) or what, but my whole lunch order was pretty sad. Â
The stir fry's were just a gloppy mess, and almost sauceless - What's stir fry with out sauce to bathed the accompanying rice? Â HUH? Â I ask you, what??? Â
I also ordered the Peking Duck, which I have been wanting to try for a very long time, but this being Salisbury I did not have very high hopes for it, so I never ordered it. Â Until today. Â BAD MOVE. Â I should have trusted my first intuition. Â There's a lesson here somewhere, if only I would learn it. Â Stupid duck craving stomach. Â
Anyway back to le Duck, as soon as I opened the take out container (maybe even right before, as there was no delicious roast duck smells wafting up to my my expectant nose - should have steeled myself better for the oncoming disappointment) Â a very sad thing to behold, the "duck" (can't really vouch that's what it was), stared back at me and I could almost hear a very small high pitched whimper coming from it "I'm sorry, it's not my fault" it said.
It looked like it was about 3 weeks old, shredded, not sliced, pile of dessicated poultry meat with some scattered skin covering it for modesty, probably to hide the hideous pile underneath just a few seconds longer. Â The meat was gray and stringy, and the legs were so dry the meat struggled mightily to separate from bone. Â I hesitatingly tasted it and yep... tasted just as old, and sad as it looked. Â My dogs seemed not to mind too much, though later I felt bad giving them sub par food, but I felt really bad just chucking it in the trash.
Sadly I'm not kidding. Â I can't believe they sent that food out to a paying customer. Â If there was no duck, or if the only duck available was from a few weeks ago and you know it's not up to par, why not just say - SORRY, NO DUCK FOR YOU. Â I wish I didn't have to write this, I wish the food I ordered wasn't terrible and heartbreakingly dissapointing. Â I wish I didn't feel like I just flushed good money down the toilet.
Why 2 stars instead of 1 you might ask? Â I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt as they were quite good before. Â But now this gives me pause from ordering there, and definitely heed my warning on this - DO NOT ORDER THE DUCK!
We ate here on a Sunday evening. After stopping at Ruby Tuesday and standing in the lobby for several minutes without any attention or service from any of the numerous staff, we turned around and drove across the street to Hunan. There were one or two other families there and it was a nice quiet spot for husband and I to relax.
Our waiter was a rather soft spoken young man who didn't say much other than "yes...no...you're welcome...you guys..," and "I'm sorry." In fact he repeatedly apologized when we made requests for water, an extra to-go box, etc, when he hadn't done anything wrong at all. I thought he was doing a fine job considering he appeared to be the only waiter in the house. I only wish he would have spoken up a bit.
The decor at Hunan is a variety of booths and tables fenced in by the typical brass bar decked half-walls that seem to be popular among Chinese-Restaurant owners. My husband remarked that the framed waterfall mural on one wall was wrinkled badly and had a very obvious seam running down the middle.
The menu is an extensive combination of American Chinese standards and sushi. Some of their sushi rolls sounded delicious, but my husband won't touch them so I abstained.
He ordered the pepper steak and I ordered Dragon and Phoenix (shrimp with vegetables and sesame chicken). We started with a Pu pu platter for two, which contained ribs, crab wontons, egg rolls, beef stick, shrimp tempura and duck legs. Â The dug legs were wrapped in foil and difficult to unwrap. Mine was so greasy I gave up on it while husband said his was "fine." The beef sticks were tasty but a little tough. I did not try the ribs but husband said they were a lot of work for not much meat. The Egg roll was mostly cabbage and not very flavorful at all. The crab wontons contained a lot of cream cheese and not much crab and the wonton wrappers were a bit hard. Â The shrimp tempura was nicely crisp.
We were a bit shocked when our meals came. They were HUGE, which was lucky since it meant we'd probably be getting a couple more dinners out of the leftovers. Husband was quite happy with his pepper steak, although he complained that the fried rice was dry and didn't have much flavor.
Having never ordered Dragon and Phoenix before, I had assumed that the shrimp, vegetables and sesame chicken would be all mixed together. On the contrary, they were served side by side on a long rectangular plate, with each of the proteins in a different sauce, all garnished orange slices and a giant flower made of shaved ginger. The shrimp's sauce was a bit salty, but the vegetables were well cooked. The sesame chicken was DELICIOUS, sweet with a tangy citrus twist. I did note that they brought me white rice instead of the fried rice that I ordered, but it actually worked out fine as the nice sticky white rice ended up mixed in with my sesame sauce anyway.
Husband decided that he wanted to try one of their desserts. They offer several flavors of ice cream (including green tea and red bean), fried ice cream, fried cheesecake, fried bananas, and fried bananas with ice cream. Husband went for the fried bananas.
The fried bananas are large chunks of battered and fried banana, drizzled with chocolate sauce and surrounded by whipped cream. Oddly enough, they were set upon a bed of shredded lettuce. Â That one threw us both for a loop! Â The taste was so so. I've tasted this particular dessert done better at Tokyo Steakhouse.
Our total cost was about  $40 before the tip. The Pu pu platter was about the same price as our entrees. But they did give us a TON of food. We ended up leaving with five little Chinese takeout boxes.
Overall a decent meal and dining experience. We will probably try them again with some friends who like sushi.
In the likes of the Eastern Shore, especially Salisbury, you would expect a limited amount of quality ethnic food, but Hunan Palace reminded me that even in the boonies, there's a solace of affordable un-hole-in-the-wall Chinese food.
Being a pescetarian, I had the Mapo Tofu (with the fried tofu, because I'm not THAT health-conscious) and was presented with double portion (the same price and maybe alittle cheaper) what I would expect from a hole-in-the-wall carry-out Chinese place in Georgetown, DC. Â The portion overwhelming and the taste a mediocre "okay."
I also picked the Dynamite roll (a spicy tuna, salmon, yellow tail roll w/ asparagus and a spicy aioli sauce) and it was pretty good for a Chinese place. Â The combination of fish did not smell "fishy." Â Though they could've gone without the overdone portion of tempura flakes that completely covered the roll and then some. Â Something to hide, HP? Â Even so, I enjoyed the meal (company much better) and didn't end up with acute gastroenteritis when I "experiment" on new Chinese joints. Â Kudos to HP for keeping my stomach gratified and in-check.
I wouldn't mind going back if I had to. Â Might even just try only the sushi next time..
My girl and I come here for the bean curd and vegetables, which she enjoys. Â Good hot tea, and their fried cheesecake is pretty good, as well. Â Not a fan of the vegetable fried rice, however.
Service has been fairly attentive and fast when we go.
They have an extensive sushi menu, if that's your thing - I haven't tried it yet!
Definitely the best Chinese in town (and aside from Megan's Noodle House perhaps the only one worth dining in). Â Relatively quick service (though I've run into a couple of dunderhead waiters over the years), higher prices than the cheaper, dirtier Hunan Delights that litter the town.
Try the Crispy Beef/Chicken. Â Can't be found anywhere else in town.
The best Chinese in Salisbury. The menu is huge, the service is fast and usually good, and the food is delicious. Their sushi is also, in my opinion, the best in Salisbury.
The entrees are almost always delicious, but they do vary slightly depending on the chef. Their wonton soup, sweet and sour soup, and miso soups are all fantastic. My favorite dish there is double cooked pork, but I've tried just about everything on the menu at some point over the years, and enjoyed most of it.
The sushi is fresh, tasty, and interesting. They have a wide variety of rolls. You can sit at the sushi bar or have it brought to your table with your order.
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