Dong Ting Chun

As a Hunanese traveling to the U.S., I was curious to see how our home cuisine tastes abroad. To my surprise, it was very authentic—the flavors were rich and bold, and the spices were not compromised, unlike in Singapore where the dishes are often modified to suit local preferences. The portions here are also incredibly generous, so be careful not to over-order—you’ll likely be taking some home! The restaurant was very busy, and we were offered to share a table, which speaks to its popularity. Overall, highly recommended.

The food is well seasoned and tasty. It’s on the heavier salty side with oil. For most people it will be spicy. We ordered the sauerkraut and it was a blend of savory and sour flavors. The pork came fried with rice puff/crackers that gave a nice crunch and texture without being too hard. The eggplant included century egg and was also quite salty. Everything was balanced out by the star, rice. The coconut balls were crispy on the outside and filled with coconut and sago and was not overly sweet. For the whole meal it was about ~$88 overall and leftovers were taken home.

Great flavor! Authentic food. The food can be spicy so some notes are needed for me :-)

Walked in on a weekend night. Place was clean and organized each dish came out at different timings. Overall experience was just okay not thing really special. Servers were okay too.. only thing I would recommend was the eggplant and century egg. Not sure if I’ll be back again. But if you can take on hard spice definitely check it out.

Came in on a Friday night as soon as they opened. Very clean on the inside and friendly waitresses. The food is as close to authentic flavor of China as you can get. If you’re ordering a spicy dish, you better be ready to enjoy it because their spice level means business.

Food is good and the dining service is good. But we waited too long and the front cashier was so busy to answer any questions.

This is my favorite Hunan restaurant in the US and in fact I drove down from the Bay Area to eat it. This used to be the location of Boston Lobster before it changed ownership. The food here is amazingly good especially frog pots. Pretty everything here is authentic and it can become extremely busy (2 hours wait) so I highly recommend going during lunch time or early or late for dinner. The place is not very big and service is efficient and courteous in Chinese way. :) I think you can't go wrong with anything you order here if you can eat spicy food. If you can't then don't come here because what's the point of coming to a Hunan place if you don't. The atmosphere is a typical Chinese restaurant so don't expect much and you might like the bright atmosphere.

The sign outsides says Dong Ting Chun, but all the branding inside is Dong Ting Xian. Good food and service. Nice spiciness and freshness.

Perilla Bullfrog is hands down my #1 dish! The frog legs were insanely tender--like melt-in-your-mouth goodThe perilla flavor really soaked into the broth, and you can choose your spice level, which is awesome! Pork intestine with stinky tofu? Game changer. Yes, it smells wild when it hits the table but wow... the tofu soaked up all that spicy chili broth and the intestines were super clean and chewy. Perfect with rice! Stir-fried spicy beef? Gone in 30 seconds. Spicy enough to make your eyes water, but it's so addictive you literally can't stop. The beef was super tender and perfectly cooked--props to the chef for that wok control Even the rice was impressive fluffy, separate grains, not mushy. Heads-up though this place gets packed. Expect a wait during peak hours but it's worth it

I swear, I've heard about Dong Ting Xian so many times my ears were about to get blisters . All my Hunan friends kept telling me I had to try it -- so of course I had to see if it's really that good. And honestly? It did NOT disappoint! This place really is the gold standard for Hunan food -- every dish is packed with that fiery, bold Hunan soul. Stir-Fried Sliced Beef This is basically their signature dish. Thin, tender beef, wok-fried till it's smoky, spicy, and super flavorful. Pretty sure every single table orders this -- and for good reason. Mao's Braised Pork Belly Sweet and savory, rich but not greasy at all. The fat just melts in your mouth. Eat it with a bowl of rice and it's pure heaven. Famous Shimen Pork Intestines These are so well cleaned -- no funky smell whatsoever. Big chunky pieces, crispy outside and tender inside, soaking up all that rich sauce. So good with rice! My husband was annoyed because I kept stealing from his plate Spicy Boiled Black Fish Fillet Tender, boneless fish slices in a super fragrant, numbing spicy broth. Loaded with bean sprouts and wide noodles -- so addictive! I even packed up the leftover broth to take home. Pro tip: mix it with noodles the next day -- chef's kiss! Dong Ting Soy Sauce Fried Rice Looks basic but packed with wok hei and deep soy flavor. The kids devoured it. Winter Melon Pork Rib Soup No proper Hunan meal without soup! The winter melon is soft and flavorful, the broth is super tasty -- but the ribs themselves are pretty tough since all the goodness goes into the soup. Overall vibe: Dong Ting Xian isn't some gimmicky Insta-famous spot -- it's the real deal that wins people over with solid flavors and generous portions. Service is nice too, just expect to wait a bit when it's busy. Prices are super fair -- in Irvine you'd probably get half the amount for the same price! Totally worth the drive for a foodie like me. Pro tip: Bring your foodie crew. The more people, the more dishes you get to try -- and trust me, everything here is worth it.

If you have strong tolerance to spicy food, this place is it. Hunan food which is unapologetically spicy and tasty. The service reminds me of typical dining experience in China - functional and efficient and not much else, which I don't have a problem with. I was excited to see they had black stinky tofu and it was incredibly delicious. I wish the pricing was a little less for it. The other entrees were well made with fair portions and lots of flavor. My recommendation is to not book a lot of activity after eating here because if you're not used to Hunan spice you may want to be near a bathroom... heh.

Foods are delicious! It was pack of people during the lunch time! All dishes are amazing, but little spicy after we left note to the kitchen ez on the spice. The portion of the foods are quite big! Will come back for sure! Just need more staff, I had to grab the utensils and water by myself.

It's been a minute since my last 'traditional' Chinese food. This place at this point- Nov. 2024 is still unclaimed on yelp, the AC breaths like a cobweb of spice, grease and fast paced talking. You know it's gonna be good. I would've given them 4 stars but the moms said be generous and give 5. As a great cook and master of steam buns, my mother has a pretty honest taste bud and she loved the braised pork with chilis. There's like over 57+ menu items.. we didn't even have time to check what they have fully before there's like 7 items in the cart. Expect a wait and poor vegetarian options.

The waiter were super responsive even tho they were super busy ( it always is...) Love the spicy fish head. Super fresh. It's not as spicy as it looks. Other dishes are generally very tasty too. It's a place that won't fail you

Giving 5 stars to a Chinese restaurant is kind of rare. Usually the service or the food bring the rating down a bit. My stepmom is from Hunan and she really liked it. She even met some people from her village who come every week. Smashed eggplant with century egg - this was my favorite dish! I didn't think it would be but it was so good, so much that I tried to find a copy cat recipe online Fried rice - this was a wild card. I love a good fried rice. This one was well seasoned and fluffy. Long wait aside, the service for this place is unexpectedly good for a Chinese restaurant. Would definitely come back!

Did you know that Hunan food is more spicy than Sichuan food? With so many Dong Ting Chuns and Dong Ting Springs (all named after really good chain restaurant in China), this place probably takes the cake as the best "fake" Dong Ting Chun outside of China. I've had other restaurants with the same name, but non comes to be as authentic as this one. For starters, I recommend calling for a reservation, or you'll be stuck waiting a long time since this place is kinda small and really popular, especially amongst Chinese Internationals. My party of 5 ordered the Yangzhou fried rice, the duck, intestines, frog, eggplant, and stinky tofu. The fried rice is really authentic to ones I've had in China, paired with a distinct wok flavor you can't replicate at home. Definitely a recommend as a break from the spicy flavors. The duck is also really good; it's soaked in spicy flavors. Their duck has a good amount of meat, and arguably the least spicy. The intestines received praise due to the taste, and how it possesses the highlight stinky taste. Also very spicy. The frog had to be remade for our table because it was way too spicy. The minute my part took a bite of it, we were literally choking and coughing, and asked the staff to remake it with less spicy (they agreed) and it turned out to be really good. Definitely more spicy than the Sichuan variant. The eggplant serves as another good dish to take a break from the spice. The stinky tofu absolutely STANK - but I guess that's what makes it so good. An acquired taste, but iykyk, then it's a must order. We also ordered a few other dishes I can't really recall. While the dishes are really spicy even when asked for mild spicy, the quality and service was amazing. Our waters were constantly topped off, and the dishes are reasonably priced in regards to quality, but portion sizes were definitely a little smaller. If you ever want to try Chinese cuisine spicier than Sichuan, then this place is the place to go!

This place came highly recommended by a friend. So a few of us decided to try it out. If you like spicy food, this is the place for you! You scan the QR code on the table to see the menu and order from your phone. They serve you iced water. They don't have hot tea like the other Chinese restaurants. Food was spicy but you can ask for mild. We got the spicy steamed fish head and added tofu (extra charge). It was delicious. Parking can be quite a challenge as the lot is small and there are many eateries in that plaza.

I'm originally from Hunan and used to eating spicy food, but after dining there last night, I had really bad diarrhea. I even had to wake up several times during the night to use the bathroom. What's worse, I found two pieces of micro plastic in their dish. The first time was while we were eating at the restaurant--I didn't think much of it. I thought it was a hard bone part. The second time was when we had the leftovers at home. The plastic pieces were so small, they're easy to miss. I might have actually eaten some, which is really upsetting.

my fav Chinese restaurant in all of LA. very spicy, oily, and flavorful. Swift service and everyone is there to eat. get the eggplant and the pork intestine. for me I would request extra mild or mild next time

My family go-to for Spicy Asian Dishes. Feast with your eyes or go on google and point to the dishes that are appealing. For any non native Chinese, use GOOGLE. 1. CROWD PLEASER: Pig Intestine Stinky Tofu 5/5 2. Stir-Fried Bacon with Garlic Leaves and Peppers 5/5 3. Spicy Boiled Fish Filet Soup 4/5 4. Minced Pork with Bamboo Shoots and Steamed Buns 5/5 Please see Receipt as the name of the dishes don't translate exactly to their Chinese Counter Part.

Food is good! (If your tolerance can handle it) Service is good, they were busy but still very responsive. Parking in plaza could be difficult, but street parking was decent. Fair warning, majority of the dishes are spicy. It's definitely not ridiculously unnecessarily spicy like most places that serve this kind of food though. Didn't ask to adjust spice level as a lot of the flavor comes from the different chilis they use. It's spicy for the flavor not just for the sake of being spicy. If spice tolerance isn't great, they have a few non-spicy/low spicy dishes which still taste great. I wouldn't recommend most of the dishes if spice tolerance isn't good, because you might not enjoy it or taste the flavors I did see a table who dipped their food in water first and then ate it, they still tapped out with 80% of the food still there. BIG tip, order rice. It helps absorb some of the spice in your mouth, and stomach for the next day.

I have eaten here several times and I believe they have some of the best spicy Chinese food, more specifically Hunan food. Their stinky tofu and intestines pot always taste fresh and flavorful, and they have some of the best smash eggplants. The food is great every time I went, and the service is always great. If you plan to eat here, be mindful that there is another restaurant using the same name (on the second floor of San Gabriel Square), I don't know if they have the same owner but that one is really bad, so be sure to come to this location.

Great food, great ambiance. Prices are a little high for San Gabriel (~$20-25 an entree), but nothing too outrageous. Food preparation seemed to be on the slower end, not just for us but for other tables as well. 5 stars just for the dried radish bits + pork dish (萝卜干炒辣肉). So spicy (as someone who doesn't usually eat spicy), but soooo good. A rice thief dish for sure. Highlight of the night, and approved by my mom who spent the majority of her childhood in Hunan (Changsha). We also got the 小炒黄牛 (good, but not as good as the dried radish dish), and vermicelli + scallop (which took a long time to prepare). The scallop wasn't really fresh and was super small, but the vermicelli was really delectable. Overall would come back again, staff were also friendly and helpful as well despite the full house. Portion sizes are very generous as well, the 3 of us had planned to come as a part 1 dinner, but left too full to eat anything else.

Fast service, authentic Hunan cuisine. Just spicy enough but a little too greasy. I must have had 3 bowls of rice - this usually means that I enjoyed the food lol. They do have a wide selection of dishes. We ordered a frog. It was pretty spicy but we loved it. We weren't able to finish it so I took it home and had a 2nd meal with it. A good choice for authentic Chinese spicy food if you're up for the challenge.

Food is fine if you order and eat here but I gotta leave this negative review for anyone who wants to order for pick up off fantuan. They just don't care that you get your order. It's been at "ready for pickup" for 45 fucking minutes while I sit next to the fish tank waiting for my food. DO NOT ORDER OFF OF FANTUAN. The service is diabolical. I should've just sat down and ate.

I enjoyed the quality of the food even though I cannot take well. The service was great. They kept refilling the water for us even when we didn't ask for it (well I needed it haha). I requested less spicy/ mild, but it was still beyond my tolerance. I think the price for most of the dishes is reasonable with the quality and portion.

Hidden gem in the back of Popeyes on San Gabriel Blvd. If you like spicy you can get it HOT here. The menu and ordering are all done via a QR code. This is our second time here and we tried the Pork Blood. It's a definite winner along with the chicken gizzards.

3.8/5 Venturing out to try other Chinese cuisines. Hunan is rising up on my scale... Got the fried pork with green peppers... should have made it extra spicy, might have been better... but overall, a great dish. We nommed that down with the quickness. Eggplant with preserved egg was also a delight... could have done without the preserved egg though. But overall, very good dish - can be a meal in and of itself. The sesame balls were pretty good... not my favorite but unique. Filled with coconut tapioca inside, a nice surprise... They're not too sweet... crispy and soft... Service was great. Inside is spacious and big; pretty fish tank at the front. Order on the QR code at your table and they bring the food out - similar to Xiang La Hui. Such an efficient ordering system - love it! Bathroom is clean. Overall a solid joint!

Greta authentic spot for Hunan cuisine. They have a QR code menu with pictures and an English option but some dish names are in Chinese. It is located where the old Boston Lobster location was and there is a shared parking lot in the plaza. Here's what I ordered: - Eggplant with preserved egg: my favorite dish here! It comes in a mortar and pestle where you can mash the eggplants and preserved egg together. The century wasn't too strong and the creaminess of the yolk paired well with the eggplants - Boiled fish fillet: came in a soup of chili oil and spicy chilis. The fillets were soft and had a good amount of spice - Intestine pot: this is a dry pot with flavorful intestines that I really enjoyed - Stir fry clams: flavorful, spicy clams that tasted decent Overall I enjoyed the flavors of the dishes here, but it is definitely very oily and filled with chilis. The servers were attentive and accommodating and I'd definitely recommend trying them out for authentic Chinese food!

Most of the dishes are spicy, so if you can't handle spicy good, then I suggest you to look at the photos and tell them do it less spicy or order other not spicy dishes like eggplant with preserved egg. Overall, the food is good and authentic. Their english menu from the QR code still shows Chinese mostly, so I had to use the translation from the browser on my phone to translate them all to English. I think they only have one waitress knowing a little bit of English which she helped me.

This is my favorite Hunan restaurant in the US and in fact I drove down from the Bay Area to eat it. This used to be the location of Boston Lobster before it changed ownership. The food here is amazingly good especially frog pots. Pretty everything here is authentic and it can become extremely busy (2 hours wait) so I highly recommend going during lunch time or early or late for dinner. The place is not very big and service is efficient and courteous in Chinese way. :) I think you can't go wrong with anything you order here if you can eat spicy food. If you can't then don't come here because what's the point of coming to a Hunan place if you don't. The atmosphere is a typical Chinese restaurant so don't expect much and you might like the bright atmosphere.

DO NOT GO THERE I went there last night. It was experience I wish I could've had avoided in the first place. 1. The food was horrible. It tasted no better than a regular home made. And it was cold. I seriously doubt that it was some left over or reheated abandoned order. 2. The serve speed was like a crawling turtle. Between two dishes, I had to wait at least 20 minutes. In the end, I only finished the first dish, and canceled the rest two because I couldn't afford waiting any longer, since I need to take my kids to the afterschool. I would recommend avoiding this restaurant unless you have lots of money and time to waste.

There are 2 locations and the one located at 727 Valley Blvd, San Gabriel has better reviews so here I am! This location is called 洞庭鲜湘菜餐厅 on Google Maps, it was previously Boston Lobster (I hope this helps LOL). Not sure if they belong to the same owner, but this one is definitely good!! We try: - Mashed Eggplant with Green Pepper and Century Egg. This dish literally comes out in a mortar and pestle HAHA! And the server helps us mash the eggplant, green pepper, and century egg. So fragrant, savory and delicious!! The mashed eggplant and century egg make this dish creamy. First bite is sooo good, but the more I eat it, the more boring the strong flavor and creamy texture get HAHAHA! There are only 2 of us and we cannot finish it. Very recommended when you devour it with many people though! - Signature Stir-Fried Beef. My favorite! I looooveee the generous amount of both beef and cilantro. The beef is tender and the cilantro helps make the oily dish less oily! - Signature Farmer's Pork. One of their most famous dishes, but we are honestly not so impressed with this one. The pork is a little hard and the flavor is just an okay. Overall, the foods are good! Just like many Hunan restaurants, their foods are spicy and salty. The flavor is very strong so their dishes are best eaten with white rice or else it would be too salty. This kind of food is my weakness, so I will definitely go back lol

My hubs and I loved it! We usually go to another Hunan Restaurant Atlantic Blvd, but we wanted to try Dong Ting Chun. We ordered the Eggplant and Thousand Year old egg specialty, the mixed mushrooms with pork, and the squid griddle. The eggplant was the tastiest we ever had, it was braised and then pestled with the egg. We also really liked the mixed mushrooms, it was flavorful and spicy, but not to the point where you feel overwhelmed. The squid was also really good, next time we'll try the cuttlefish dish, another table ordered the vermicelli which also looked tasty. They gave generous amounts, we brought it home and had enough for another meal. We are definitely coming back for more!

I love spicy food but don't get to have authentic Hunan food often as someone who lives in West LA. Since my sister and her bf were in town, we decided to try Dong Ting Chun 洞庭春. Upon arrival, we were quickly seated at a table where there's a QR code that links to their online ordering system. We placed our order at 6:43pm and didn't receive our first dish until 7:22pm. Pretty sure they forgot about our order since they left us hanging for 45 minutes. When we asked the staff about the status of our order, we were told "you're next" while other tables that were seated after us got their dishes first. 招牌小抄牛 Signature Stir Fry Beef: decent meat portions with spicy flavor, kinda salty. Beef was on the tougher side. 成魚茄子煲 Salted Dish Eggplant Clay Pot: large portions, strong fermented fish flavor with tender eggplant, really salty. Not my cup of tea but they're apparently famous for their salted egg w/eggplant. 腐乳空心菜 Sautéed Onchoy: can't say much about this since we cancelled it bc it took way too long. Don't think I'll be coming back unless I wanna treat myself to terrible service and mediocre food. Parking is easy if anyone else wants to waste their time and ruin their mood. Try checking out this place instead: https://m.yelp.com/biz/sichuan-impression-alhambra-3

Small but good authentic Hunan Chinese food. The place is Very Busy with long wait time. Service is good given how busy they are. Ambiance is quite noisy.

Didnt even know what Hunan food was until I stumbled upon this place and boy was it amazing. every single dish was so great. duck , tea oil chicken , and the signature pork dish. cant wait to go back to try more. yes the ordering was a bit hard with the QR code but barely any english on the menu but we managed. They were helpful

The food here is soooo good! We love the spicy chicken wings and spicy ribs here. The flavor is really good and the spice levels are intense (def be careful for non-spicy eaters). It's a little bit on the pricey side but it's well worth it. My family and I enjoyed the food so much we came twice in a week

This place is one of the best Hunan cuisines!!! We ordered 4 dishes and everything is so good!!! Really like the Spicy Bullfrog with Perilla leaves Super yummy with rice!! Spicy! But addicted! Signature Hunan dish: Fried Pork with Green Pepper was delicious! Can't get enough rice with this dish. Spicy Boiled Blood Curd, Beef Tribe, Beef Omasum and spam. Love the blood curd! Super tender! It really has crab in the Crab Fried Rice. Love this place!!

我是能吃辣，但受不了太辣的，平时螺霸王螺蛳粉放半包辣油不到一点这种。觉得这家店辣味刚好。 推荐小炒肉，很下饭，量也足，里面的青辣椒不辣，所以也能当菜吃。 臭豆腐肥肠也不错，臭豆腐很臭，nice，肥肠软硬适中，有厚度，有满足感。 另外还点了毛血旺和鸡脚炖猪蹄，这两个一般般。 总之味道挺好，是口味比较重的，推荐买个酸梅汤，甘蔗汁，水果茶啥的配着吃。

This restaurant is a GEM! If you are a fan of bold flavors and spicy food, this is the spot for you. I randomly discovered this restaurant through Yelp and it exceeded my expectations! Every dish is on point, there is nothing i can say that is negative. I am also pleasantly surprised about the service! I would recommend coming before 7 if you want to avoid lines in the weekend! Twice cooked pork Cabbage Squid

Boom spicy crispy duo Very delicious, the perfect amount of spice and salt. Definitely recommend if you come here!

Terrible service. I had to wait more than an hour for food. Workers did not communicate properly.

Amazing food and casual but comfortable ambiance. We had the signature farmer's pork, boiled fish, and eggplant and string bean and all were delicious and complex in flavor. Our favorites were the fish and eggplant. The pork was very good but not too exciting (unless you got a spicy bite of green chili - watch out). The fish was not too spicy - more delicate and fragrant and very fresh. The eggplant was heavenly, rich and bursting with garlicky goodness. The service was a bit slow, with our eggplant dish coming out long after our other two dishes, but this was maybe just a fluke because we saw other people getting all of their dishes fast. Anyway, it was worth it!!! Next time I want to try the stir fried beef - lots of people were getting it! Oh and also, prepare for a wait on the weekend unless you come early.

We came in for a lunch on a Monday as a party of 5 at approximately 1:20pm. We were consequently informed AFTER we joined the waitlist and a table became available for us that they would not seat us at the table (An average sized table that would be appropriate for a party of 5-6) if we did not order a minimum of $200 worth of food. I feel the need to say that this table was not in a private room which would normally and reasonably warrant such a minimum, but was in a cramped corner of the restaurant sandwiched between two other tables. Putting aside the absurdity of the UNWRITTEN rule in the first place, there was no other party of our size that would even take the table in our place not that it should matter. We were essentially denied a seat for it to remain empty. Absolutely ridiculous, I hope they enjoy watching the table collecting dust.

Amazing Hunan flavors! They are not shy about expressing the authentic spiciness of the region.. chef is definitely from Hunan. Their dishes hit every time. If spicy food is not your thing, skip this spot. Asking for milder heat 100% compromises the integrity of the flavor & experience.

The flavor of all the dishes is really amazingly. The environment is clean and new. Bing care of dinner time since of the long line of waiting. The service they provided is really nice and alternate. They tried to serve the customer who come by chronological by change the table size. Definitely tried the steam egg and other dishes that not spicy because they are also really out of standing.

This restaurant is very delicious. I like the food the food. The flavors are bursting through my mouth. The buns are phenomenal.

When my favorite Hunan restaurant is always packed this is a solid standby. Don't let the grade at the door scare you, the food is still good and service is quick. All items come with a decent amount of spice and quantities are good for 2-3 folks, ordered variety of items as noted in pics, nothing bad at all. Prices are good for the portion sizes. Recommend

This is the ONLY place that the spicy foods does not give me tummy aches‼ Modern ambience with good services which is such a PLUS‍!!

A new restaurant that opened where Boston lobster was. Big shoes to fill in the SGV. The restaurant was decorated with huge Chinese murals and looked nice. The server was nice enough to explain the menu and their popular items.

The service is terribly bad and attitudes. Just don't understand why the waitresses are mad and in a bad mood all the time. Not going again.

Will NOT come again. The server was nice but minimal service provided. We packed our own leftover and she asked me to give her 15% tips.

Recommended from some many friends around me and finally have a chance to visit this restaurant. I have tried several Hunan restaurants in LA, and I would say Dong ting chun is one of the best. We ordered these signature Hunan dishes, and they were all authentic and yummy. TMI: I heard the chef spoke Hunan dialogue, another solid proof that this place is authentic lol

Way too spicy. We like spicy food, but we were unable to eat this food. Not one in our group was able to eat. Staff told us milder option is not available since this is Hunan style.

New restaurant alert!!! Come to check it out for authentic Chinese cruise. Definitely come back @dongtingchun

One my favorite restaurants in LA! There are several Hunan style restaurants in San Gabriel area, but this is the first time I come to Dong Ting Chun. Dishes are not so expensive, very friendly service, and clean environment! Most importantly, the food is very authentic!