Quincy P.
Yelp
The first time I ate here was about 4 years ago. Still very much during peak COVID, so my standards were already lower. My boyfriend and I decided to do the buffet, and by the time we got food on our plates it was too late to back out. It was all inedible. The interior was pretty dingy too, but I never judge a restaurant based only on that-if the place is old, that may mean the food stood the test of time (Looking at you Pinetta's, RIP). But that was not the case here. We asked for the check after barely eating and the waitress looked so sad. We tipped well and went to the car. Before we could pull out, an older man ran to our window and begged us to let him cook something fresh for us free of charge. I felt so bad, but being put on the spot we politely declined, even though he kept insisting. I feel so guilty about that now that I've read other reviews and learned that was the owner, Mr. Cheng. Apparently he was aging and in bad health, and I can understand why that may have affected the quality/freshness. There definitely wasn't a lot of in-person diners given that we all were trying to stay in quarantine, so I presume the buffet was just being neglected.
BUT, I was looking to order delivery the other day, and I happened to see some very encouraging new reviews. Mr. Cheng sadly passed away, and everyone was raving about the changes the new owner made. Both with the food and the interior of the restaurant itself. So I decided to try again...and I'm happy to say that it was fantastic! I live about 15-20 min from the restaurant and everything was still piping hot when I got it. The flavor of their fried rice was incredible, not exaggerating when I say it's some of the best I've ever had. Their eggroll was literally the width of my palm (I'm 5'8", my hands aren't super tiny) and the filling was perfection. No weird gray meat like you may see with other eggrolls. Not saying that always indicates a bad flavor, but this was just nicer to look at lol. Egg drop soup was great. My ONLY complaint, which isn't a huge one, is that the general tso's chicken had much more breading than meat and had no spice to it, just very sweet. So that could have been better. But I also know that's the standard for american-chinese cuisine and most people probably prefer it that way.
Overall it just really warms my heart to see an older business have new life breathed into it. Especially here in BR where most restaurants hardly last over a few years. If you haven't been to Hunan in a while, I encourage you to go give it another try!