Hometown Kitchen

Fake duck blood. Ordered pick up. the duck blood was fake. The beef was tough, and the cucumber skin, which used to be crisp and refreshing when dining in, was this time mushy and salty. The flavor was good, but it felt like there was no nutrition — just fake duck blood and a bunch of artificial stuff.

The food was awful. The Twice-Cooked Pork with Chili came with two giant chunks of meat instead of proper slices—completely not what it should be. While the server did replace the dish after we pointed it out, the overall quality didn’t improve. The fried rice noodles were soggy and broke apart immediately, and the pig trotter still had large patches of hair left uncleaned. Hygiene was a serious issue. On the way to the restroom, I passed the kitchen and saw cooked beef just sitting in plastic crates directly on the floor. Service was mixed. The staff were polite when we spoke to them, but it was hard to actually find anyone. One server was sitting by the entrance playing mobile games and didn’t seem interested in helping. Not coming back.

All in all, I really recommend this place! I think this is the truly hometown flavor that I’m looking for. All the dishes are tasty and made with traditional ways. I love the fried stinky tofu, it’s super juicy! Rice noodle is another must-try dish here, with sliced braised beef. Servants are friendly and nice. Cost is not expensive. If you wanna try traditional Hunan cuisine, this is a really good choice.

I got the green pepper chicken gizard and the dried red pepper fried chicken...real hot, real good... Fast and good service. Will go back soon.

I love every dish I’ve tried since 2022. I keep going back to this place either by myself or inviting friends to go with me. Please keep making the great real Chinese food. So happy to find this place.

My friends and I were on our way back from Monterey when we decided that we were too hungry to wait until we got back to Sacramento to eat. A couple of Google searches later and we found this gem! The most authentic Chinese food I've ever had! Couldn't read half the menu because it was in a different language, but that didn't stop us from ordering everything and anything! Staff was awesome and helpful, answered all our questions! Next trip to Monterey, I know where I'm stopping for some delicious food!

The best of its kind in Milpitas. Fresh ingredients and flavorful. It's not as cheap nor plentiful as other places but quality makes up for it. The place is small and echo-y, so it can get quite loud/rowdy during peak time.

To be fair the food is not bad if you love spicy. However we went there with kids and elderly so we ask for just little spicy. They said ok but seem did not do anything to the dishes. We had 7-8 dishes but came out as not a single one was cooked in less spicy. My family was disappointed

The best hunan cuisine I have ever had in Bay Area. Especially Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chili (剁椒鱼头).

The food although edible was drenched in oil 2 inches deep in the cardboard container. Service was lacking. Even after a nice tip I received no thanks or pleasantries. The ambience was well...like home. However the food was overly oily for the price and the taste was one dimensional. If I received a thank you or any type of acknowledgement I would've gave another star. Overall it is a one star experience in my opinion.

Food was great and came out really fast! It's a great environment for group gathering since there are big tables.

This is a 3.5 star review based on my most recent experience. I am a regular at this restaurant since they opened, and I have ordered many dishes repeatedly. over the 9-10 months, dishes are getting progressively more salty. The 白辣椒炒腊牛肉 I ordered today was extremely salty, even after I dipped it in my soup. The frog dish I LOVED before is also getting really salty and not as spicy as it used to be. The portion of toppings on the noodle soup is also reducing, which could be a cost saving move, not to do with the flavor. I'm quite disappointed, not sure if they changed the chef or what happened. I also really miss the old waiter there, who left sometime last year, perhaps a change of ownership?

AUTHENTIC HUNAN dishes! I was so impressed by the dishes that we've ordered. Note: majority of the dishes here are SPICY so if you are not a fan of spicy food then you might want to skip this restaurant. I was taken here on a weekday for dinner by someone that was born and raised in Hunan so he knows what's up. He told me that the dishes here tastes the closest to home so I was really looking forward to giving this place a try. The restaurant pretty quiet. There was only one person working the front so sometimes he will go to the back to bring out orders or help with to-go orders. From what I noticed, regulars will just go find an empty table to sit at when the staff isn't in the front. I would say the service was pretty standard. Food was yummy and there were a lot of dishes that I haven't seen before. I ordered the stirfry eggplant with green beans, spicy fish stomach, and the Hunan Style Fried Rice Cake. The stirfry had good wok hei and flavor. The crunchy fish stomach was cooked with 3 different types of pepper which made the dish spicy with a hint of sour. The rice cake had sugar sprinkled on top and had a nice texture. I asked for asked for extra sesame on my dessert and the serve was nice enough to bring out a little bowl for me. I can't wait to try some of their other dishes next time!

I ordered stinky tofu, duck blood in Chili sauce, braised eggplant, and ma po tofu. At first not spicy enough, however the ma-la creeps up on you. The portions are generous, that I had plenty of leftovers. These dishes go really well with rice, don't skimp on the carb. Some of the dishes on the menu are exotic, however they have plenty of normal dishes.

3.5 stars I need to preface this review as i am a very non asian asian who doesnt like spicy so take my review as someone who doesnt like this type of cuisine automatically. I was forced to come here by someone who likes this type of food. First time trying Hunan food. Definitely not my type of food. I will avoid coming here myself. Snails: a little spicy and super inefficient to eat just the feet and body but not the huge poop sack Cold chicken feet: not that spicy but hard to eat cause its cold Hunan stinky tofu: i have not had taiwanese stinky tofu and after having this i think id rather never to try any again. I dont like super stinky cheeses and this is like cheese but tastes actually putridish. Yuck haha Fish paste soup: a non spicy dish Charsiu in what appears to be a crap ton of peppers: pretty spicy. I can only eat the charsiu with rice Veggies: not spicy. Can eat They had a cool big brain fish in the fish tank. This place is very popular and if you like this type of cuisine or spicy food, you probably will love this place. Its definitely unique. I personally will not be back sorry!

We were invited to dinner and the foods were amazing. All the dishes were on the flavorful side (salt, spice, sweet, oil) and probably that was why they were all good. The eggplant pepper century egg cold dish appetizer was delicious. Sushi was fresh, seafood dishes were all fresh. Server came and changed our plates twice.

Food is average. The atmosphere is bad. They allow non-service dogs in the restaurant that were consistently barking and causing issues. There were two tables when we were there, one table had 1 dog. The other table had 4 dogs. These were not service dogs, they were pet dogs. These dogs were constantly barking and causing noise and commotion. The dog owners had trouble controlling their dogs and staff did nothing to try to calm the situation. If you're looking for a pleasant and nice atmosphere to enjoy a meal, please look elsewhere.

As i pulled up to go in.... a gentleman came out of the kitchen door, lit a cigarette, blew his nose in his hand and wiped it on the pole in front of the door. Proceeded to go back in and did not wash his hands as he was moving around things on the tables. I just can't.

I've been to this place a few times. The five star rating is for my general experience here. ​​ ​​For our most recent visit, we ordered: ​​ ​​蒜苗炒腊肉 5/5 - Smoked pork is on the moist and tender side, very flavorful! Highly recommend! ​​ ​​酸豆角肉末 4.5/5 - I'd give it a 5 star if there's no tiny pieces of ginger. Definitely ask them to skip the ginger if you're not a big fan of ginger like us. ​​ ​​酸辣鸭血 3.5/5 - duck blood itself is very good. A well balanced sourness and spiciness. Hubby enjoyed this dish. Next time we may try the 干锅鸭血. ​​ ​​Stinky tofu 臭豆腐 2/5 - their stinky tofu kept me coming back, but it is my least favorite dish this time. All the tofu pieces were way over-fried. I requested for a remake and they gladly took it back to the kitchen. The second time they brought out the dish, tofu looked a bit better but still were over fried. I had to spit out some of the over-fried skin. This dish is usually a solid 5/5 for me, so I don't know what happened in the kitchen today. Will probably give it another try next time.

My favorite spicy food. When I crave spicy food, I get the spicy snail from Hometown Kitchen.

We got takeout here on a weekend for our whole family (including a few kids). This was really tricky because most of the good dishes here are spicy, so we ended up ordering some dishes we would usually not get. Out of everything we ordered, the fried rice was the most popular (with kids and adults). The walnut shrimp was also good. I'm sure their spicier options are much better, but if you don't eat spice, set your expectations a bit lower.

Bay Area Food｜If you don't eat two bowls of rice, you will be sorry for Gu Xiang's dishes! || Top 1 Hunan cuisine in my mind: hometown kitchen Gu Xiang [Frowning R][Frowning R]

Super authentic and delicious if you can handle the heat! Their plain rice noodles have the best soup broth ever!

The food there is great! Whenever I start craving something spicy to eat, I get the spicy snail from Hometown Kitchen.

The best changsha stinky Tofu in Bay Area. All the fish are authentic and good food quality. A lot of choice and the fish is so good with noodle. The fried egg soup is amazinh～ Snail is so traditional and is one of the must try Chinese street food. Will definitely come back soon!

真的很生气！今天晚上7点不到点的pick up，就两份炒粉和一份夫妻肺片，结果做了一个半小时！！！去拿餐的时候等了四十多分钟，中间催了又催。现在已经晚上八点多了，这晚饭吃的真晚啊！出餐效率极低！而且一直拖到基本其他餐厅要关门了......之前去留湘，眷湘各种中餐馆从来没有遇到过这种情况，这是等的最久的一次，太不专业了！ I'm really angry! I ordered a pick-up before 7 PM, just for two orders of fried noodles and one order of Sliced Beef and Ox Tongue in Chili Sauce, but it ended up taking an hour and a half! When I went to pick up the food, I had to wait for more than 40 minutes, and I kept urging them during that time. Now it's already past 8 PM, and I'm having dinner very late. The efficiency of the restaurant is extremely low! They kept delaying until almost all the other restaurants were about to close... I've never encountered such a situation at other Chinese restaurants like Ping's Bistro and Easterly. This is the longest wait I've ever had, and it's too unprofessional!

This place cooks really good spicy Chinese food. The depth of their menu is amazing for such a small restaurant. I love their bull frog dish. It burns your mouth but you can't eating. Wait time can be long, so best to get here on a weekday.

Great food and services. Fish fillets (snake head w skin on) is delicious w sour / pickled mustard soup. Spicy sauteed chicken pieces taste good but bony so not recommend for kids. Fair prices for this kind economy. Relaxing environment w a balloon head fish swimming in the tank at the corner of the room. Quite spicy but good.

Super authentic Hunan food. Rare ingredients cooked to perfection. It made me homesick. Price is such a charm on top of the taste.

This is the best place to eat the Hunan Stinky Tofu! It's extremely transitional flavor. It smells super good and super juicy ! Preserved duck egg with chili! OMG! Actually I don't like preserved duck egg at all, but its mixed with the chili, it's pretty good! Heng Yang style rice Noodle, the sour bean with the chili oil ! I would say they're the best matched with the rice noodles! Hunan Style Fried Rice Cake , if you like to eat sticky rice something , you have to try this one ! It's the best part for my dessert tonight !

臭豆腐是上来是凉的，酸辣鸭血里面全是酸菜，被小红书骗了，不会再来了。雷辣椒也一般般。总体很失望。StinkyTofu is cold when it was serviced.

I was in the area for a weekend visit and my friends took me here for lunch because it just opened and they hadn't tried it yet. It's mostly Hunan cuisine aaaaand as someone actually from that region, I have to say the dried chopped radish bits with sliced smoked cured meat tasted like home. It's just an ordinary homey dish that has neither fancy ingredients or pleasing plating, but goes well with a bowl of rice. Soooo 5-star goes to that dish. We also got an eggplant and minced pork in casserole, and a chicken w/ dried hot chili peppers. They were delicious, too.

tldr: Almost everything we ordered is an authentic hit. If you're from Hunan, this is the best mom-and-pop style restaurant there is in the Bay Area. (Hunan Impression is equally good, but more hotel/upscale style) 档次还要高一点的话就去韶山印象，但全湾区最正宗的小炒湖南菜就此一家。 I'm from Hunan, China, where I grew up with dishes like this restaurant's. True authentic cuisine isn't as widespread in the US as Sichuan cuisine, so it's been really hard to find dishes like Changsha-style stinky tofu and rice tofu. This restaurant surprised us so many times that we went back 4, 5 times in the course of a couple of months. Dishes I particularly liked (you can preview their menu here, but don't order as you need to scan a barcode on the table to do so: https://dinfo.me/onlineorder/#/home/menu/?restid=hometownnnoodle Tofu - 臭豆腐 (Stinky tofu) - 米豆腐 (Rice tofu) Beef - 干煸牛腩 (Deep fried beef tendons w/ chilies) Chicken - 大盆土鸡 (Free-range chicken with mixed chilis) - 小炒仔鸡 (Fried chicken, this is more of a braised dish than actual fried chicken wings that you think of. Blame their translation) Pork - 萝卜干炒腊肉 (Smoked pork with daikon) - 脆皮猪蹄 (Crispy trotters) - 腌筍肚丝 (Shredded pork stomach with smoked bamboo) Vegetables - 丝瓜焖荷包蛋 (Braised fried eggs with loofa) - 炝炒莴笋 (Stir fried lettuce stem) River (Hunan is an island province!) - 砂锅香辣跳跳蛙 (Braised spicy frog casserole) - 干锅嗦螺 (Braised river snails) - 黄瓜炒黄鳝 (Fried eel with cucumber) - 顾湘豆瓣鱼 (Hunan-flavored watercress fish) Sweets - 糍粑 (Hunan-style candied fried rice cake): better than mochi - 冰粉 (Hunan-style jelly with brown sugar): you need this to cool down! Almost all of these dishes are particularly hard to find in the Bay Area. If you're not from Hunan (even if you're Chinese), you might not be accustomed to some of these dishes, which tend to have a strong combination of chili flavors, well cooked and salted meats, and are meant to be eaten with rice rather than alone. Enjoy!

Besides what's in the pic, we also got: 干煸牛腩 (great), 豆瓣鱼, ginger stir fried chicken? (Chicken pieces are bone-in, very authentic), 丝瓜荷包蛋 (tasty soup great for non-spicy eaters)，stinky tofu, the fried dessert, and the jelly dessert (another fav) Service: very good, we were there chatting and eating for a long time Too full that day, will come again for their noodles lol.

Very spicy if you choose the very spicy level, seriously spicy. But still tastes awesome and authentic! I can't get enough of the white chilies, and all the dishes we tried were great!

Before I discovered this place, I've been going to Taiwanese restaurants for my stinky tofu cravings. Those were just a "fix". This place's stinky tofu makes me want to go back everyday. Other dishes are pretty authentic as well. If you like Hunan/Szechuan/spicy this place needs to be on your list.

We ordered 白辣椒鸡珍，烟笋鱿鱼干，臭豆腐还有炒米粉。 The food brought me all the memories of hometown. It's so special feeling that I can experience in American! Everyone here is also so nice. Highly recommended!

Spectacular Hunan Style Frog - A spicy and sour, flavorful masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!! A must try

The waiter refused to provide the receipt! My receipt has been changed. We paid extra money. Please request and review your receipt carefully.

Very authentic and delicious hunan food! ! We love it. Service is great!! The rice noodles are the best.

I went there a few times. Spicy dishes are very tasty. The Korean soup is below expectations. The service is average. Prices are very reasonable. The environment is a little noisy.

I'm old and do not like ordering by scanning a QR code! The food was good, especially the shrimp fried rice. The waiter was very nice and helpful. The ambiance was peaceful.

Authentic Hunan cuisine. 2 thumbs up! The noodles are flavorful and chewy. The cured pork belly is the best of it's kind I tasted, soft not hard, meaty, not just fatty. You must try this restaurant.

The food is great, but one incident made me very skeptical of the restaurant's staff management. I saw a male employee walk out of the women's restroom while the men's restroom was unoccupied. He saw me, didn't explain anything, and walked away with a strange smile on his face. Apparently he has used the women's bathroom, and didn't flush the toilet or put the toilet seat down. I sincerely hope that this is a misunderstanding, but I am concerned about the hygiene of this restaurant and also don't feel safe about the environment.

We had a takeout of multiple items. Unfortunately, none of it was edible as it was way too salty. We eat Chinese food frequently and this is the first bad experience in 25 years. May be it was cooked by a trainee.

Super good, really the taste of hometown. We drove all the way from Sunnyvale to here to try.

The only place I have seen so far that has the fermented black stinky tofu. It's the closest thing to the real thing you can find in this area, but I think it needs to be a little crispier, very spicy too. My only complaint is that the food is quite pricey.

The best stinky tofu in NorCal!!!! Another one must to order is smoked pork fried rice.

this place is garage! ordered my food and 1 hour and 10 minutes later, my order got canceled. suprisingly, my food was supposed to be delivered ... called the resturant, and the person answering phone said "we don't have chicken"...don't order from this place...zero stars!!!

What a great place to come get home cooked food. I've visited this place many times and it keeps getting better! The menu options are endless and all cooked to perfection. No matter what kind of food, they all tasted great. On top of the food, their customer service is fantastic. They're attentive and have good recommendations for everyone. 从小红书刷到后，就一有空就来这家吃，太好吃了，强烈推荐擂椒皮蛋和长沙臭豆腐~ 老板也超级好！他们家也会定期有新菜品！姐妹冲吧！

Place has a tempting menu for those of us looking for food from home overseas, but ultimately super mediocre. You're able to find stinky tofu, which is quite rare here, but it's not very good. No complex flavors at all. Fried noodles come drenched in soy sauce and don't seem to be cooked with any other aromatics. The rice tofu is just ok. The spicy fish isn't spicy, unless you're the kind of person that finds ketchup spicy.

This is the shadiest restaurant that I've been to and for newcomers, beware they will SCAM you. I ordered a shrimp fried rice which costed $18 approximately but the front desk told me there was a minimum charge of $20??? I looked around everywhere in their restaurant and online ordering and could not find what they were talking about. I was also told that I had to pay this random person on Venmo and after I did they took back the receipt. Really bad experience here, even if there was actually a $20 minimum, the front desk would not let me order another item and straight up told me that I have to be charged extra. $2 is not a big deal to me, but what is a big deal is the way this restaurant is scamming their customers of money that they should not earn. Will never visit again and will recommend anyone that is interested in this place to STAY AWAY.

The food was absolutely wonderful, but we found the set up and service rather odd. We ordered two appetizers and soup and two items for the main meal, but they came in a very odd progression. We first got an entree, but without rice, then we got one of the appetizers. Then the rice and the soup came and after that the other entree, About 25 minutes into the meal we finally got the second appetizer. They had the very best Ma Po Tofu I have ever had and the soup and the spicy chicken were great. I have always liked to m make my own dipping sauce {Usually chill pasta, soy and vinegar}, but none of the seemed available. Lastly, they have their menu set up so it is basically only available to download onto a phone or other electronic divice. This is really hard for some of us, I don't see well so ordering was more difficult than it really should have been. I will probably go back, but I will look at the menu on my computer before hand so I can figure out what they really have.

You know a place is good when all of the customers are only speaking Chinese. Found this restaurant searching Yelp for a place relatively close to my work in the south end of Fremont bordering Milpitas. Our son has been hankering for some solid fried rice since moving out of state for grad school in Atlanta, GA, so I took him here for lunch. We tried their chicken fried rice and dry sauteed string beans. Ordering is done via mobile phone after scanning a QR Code on the table. Our son was skeptical that a dish of just beans would be satisfying but it was a hit along with the chicken fried rice. The beans were crunchy and tender at the same time with a basic sweet soy sauce. Simple, fresh ingredients expertly prepared made for a thoroughly enjoyable meal and has him wishing for something like Hometown Kitchen in ATL. My only negative is they are little heavy with the MSG, but I'm pretty sensitive.

you need to update your darn schedule on here and google that you are closed today! You are wasting everyone's time, no wonder you have a bad yelp score.

Strongly recommend! We ordered signature Tofu and rice noodles. Very tasty with good price!

Super authentic Hunan food. Really worth driving all the way from SF to this restaurant and try out the food here!