Hunan Kitchen — Restaurant in Annandale

This is my go-to Chinese takeout spot. I order from here more often than I'd like to admit, but am almost never disappointed (aside from in myself for my lack of self-control...). I usually order either pick-up or delivery through GrubHub and my food is always either early or perfectly on-time. Our favorites are the wonton soup, steamed meat dumplings, spring rolls, egg rolls, fried chicken wings, chicken lo mein, chicken chow fun, taiwanese style rice noodles with beef, or chicken with broccoli. And always ask for some chili oil! I will say, sometimes the quality is hit or miss - sometimes a bit too greasy, other times a bit dry. But I always think the taste is good, especially for a quick, convenient takeout place! The service is pretty friendly, but I've never eaten in the restaurant to see what it's like beyond a greeting and handing over my order. I will say, the very few times when something was wrong with our order, they weren't exactly the most customer-service-oriented, and were reluctant to either give a refund or replace an item, but GrubHub takes care of most of that for me. Overall, this isn't going to be a luxury dining experience, and it probably isn't the best Chinese food in the world, but compared to a lot of the Chinese takeout in the area, I think it's pretty great. And...

I ordered dinner for my wife and I around 5:30pm. Dinner arrived about 6:15pm. When I opened the container of sweet and sour sauce, it was so watered down it ran right off of the chicken leaving no flavor at all. When I called to report this, I was told it might be as long as another 40-45 minutes for them to have the driver drop off a different container. I live less than 5 minutes away. After an hour I called to inquire where the replacement sauce was and was told that it had left the kitchen and they had no idea where the driver was. An hour and forty minutes later, the driver shows up with the sauce, much better this time and "Chinese donuts" as an apology.

I WAS very satisfied with Hunan Kitchen for almost a year, even fighting with my wife to order from them over another Chinese restaurant because Hunan Kitchen's sweet and sour chicken is/was much better. I have noticed in the last 6 months that the amount of soy sauce in the bag has decreased, prompting us to request extra soy sauce when ordering. We did exactly that this evening and received THREE packets of soy sauce. That was barely enough for MY serving of fried rice. Thankfully we had a bottle in the fridge.

I am giving them one more chance before never ordering...

I love Chinese food but had a problem lately. The two places I order from have been messing up my orders. And in some cases I believe they have changed their dishes - in a bad way. Long story short I went to Google Reviews to find a new Chinese place to order delivery from. So I found Hunan Kitchen and order sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, an egg roll, Crab Rangoon with cheese, and Chinese dounuts. First sign I have found the place I wanted - took about 40 minutes to get to me. Perfect. Second sign - driver was well mannered. And even smiled. Great. And the food was still hot and tasted great. I was even surprised by the dounuts which tasted like dounuts. Not tiny, dry, diner rolls covered in sugar. And to top it all off - they sent two plates and two forks and napkins. I was very impressed and have found my new Chinese place. Update - Ordered from Hunan Kitchen a few days ago. Honey Tempura Chicken. Crab Rangoon, and of course Chinese Dounuts. Took just over 45 minutes but the food was hot and good. No plates but two forks and two...