Hunan Lion

I like this Chinese restaurant. They are the best sit down Chinese restaurant in Columbus. The prices are not too bad for the quality of food. It is clean and the staff is very friendly. They have a good selection of spicy items. I ordered the Szechuan bean curd. The tofu was flavorful and spicy. They also offer a selection of Chinese teas that are nice when it’s cold. It was pretty fast service, and they are pretty attentive. This is worth a return to.

I have been eating the same few stuff whenever I come here.
This time I tried the Pad thai and Thai Spicy Seafood noodles, and have to say they were really delicious. Nice balance of all the flavours.
Service as always is welcoming and good.

Food is pretty good compare to other Chinese food around the area, but The price is slightly high. The restaurant looks fancy compare to the food and way they are served. This would make a good place to meet with guest or business partners. Lunch special would be the best deal here. The green beans were good.

Very good food. Nice atmosphere. Seems to be a popular place. We arrived early but the place quickly filled and there was a wait by the time we left. Sizzling rice soup was different than we expected, it had a brown broth rather than more standard chicken broth. Mongolian beef and sesame chicken were excellent.
There were lot if Asians eating here which I see as a good sign.

Although the entrée I ordered was insanely sweet (Sesame Chicken) I’m definitely up for trying this place again because of the nice atmosphere and super friendly service.
A good egg roll is hard to find in Columbus and I thought these were probably the best I’ve had locally, obviously cooked fresh to order and not lying around like most places. Portions are generous. This is a nice place to go if you want to actually talk too, nice quiet background music, no blaring music or TVs.

always been my fav chinese spot !!! no chinese compares to hunan lion!!! love it !!!

I ordered the spicy general tso’s with tofu. I was pretty excited because it sounded promising. It was definitely far from spicy. It was so sweet I had a hard time eating a lot at once. Besides that, the tofu and veggies were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was actually good, if you wanted it more on the sweet side. Also, my boyfriend loved the mala lamb, but also was not spicy when the menu said it was.
The atmosphere was really clean and nice. The servers were friendly and attentive. It seemed a little more formal than i thought it would be.
I keep having this happen, that when I go to a Chinese food place and order «spicy» it’s never «spicy», and it’s really disappointing.

The restaurant has a nice setup and was pretty busy. But we felt pretty awkward being the only Asian customers in the entire restaurant. You know it’s a bad sign if you’re an Asian lol. but we wanted to give it a try. So we ordered Mala lamb and Szechuan chicken. We were pretty disappointed with the food. They were cooked with a lot of soy sauce. Despite being dishes from Szechuan region, there was no dried chili peppers or szechuan peppercorns in their cooking. If you’re looking for an authentic Chinese food, this is not a place.

It was my first time there with the family. My dad recommended it since his work is right next to the restaurant. The place inside looks really nice and I liked the decorations. From the menu, my family ordered the Peking Duck, Green Pepper Steak, Tom Yum Soup, and Mala string beans. My whole family thought that the food was beyond delicious. The Peking duck is served with some veggies which I remember to be cucumber and green onions (?) and «pancakes.» I’m used to eating the duck with bao, but it was still delicious! This place is great if you want to have a nice family dinner.

Food here is pretty solid but far from authentic if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s your standard Americanized Chinese food, and they throw in some Thai food too. I’ve had a few things here, with the standouts being the general tsos chicken, sesame chicken, and Mongolian beef. Last visit I tried their Thai curry which was pretty mediocre, but did have a nice kick of spice. Overall this place is forgettable, but if you’re in need of a Chinese fix this will definitely do the job.

Food is meh…
Because of the high rating, I decided to give it a shot. I asked the owner/​manager if he had any Sichuan/​Szechuan dishes and he was dismissive, telling me that the menu is sorted by protein type and just look at it.
After browsing through the extensive menu, which mostly looked very Americanized (but then again he shoved the lunch special section of the menu at me) and I still didn’t really see anything that popped out, I asked if he had mapo tofu. Once again he was brusque, telling me that «here, it’s called Szechuan bean curd» and it’s basically the same thing. I verified to see if it had pork since it was listed under the vegetarian section and I wanted pork. Also added in an order of hot and sour soup. Total was $ 12.xx. (Way overpriced for mediocre food.)
I got a pint of soft tofu chunks in a sauce that’s mildly flavored. Not spicy at all. And a pint of hot and sour soup that’s mediocre at best. Best part was the plain white rice, only because I haven’t had white rice in awhile…
I won’t be back. One star for the clean place, another star because the tofu did taste decent, only if what I wanted to order was tofu chunks in plain/​mild sauce…

Went in on an early afternoon with a friend. It was quiet, clean, and nicely decorated. I was very shocked by it’s location at the end of a strip mall. The food was delicious and the service was wonderful. My friend and I split an appetizer and entrée and it was plenty of food. I will definitely be returning!

I am sold! This place, hands down, has the best Chinese in Columbus. The portions are amazing, the freshness of the food is fantastic, the ratio of meat to veg is AWESOME, and they don’t seem to ever over cook the seafood in a dish!
I was doubly amazed, because we were here on Christmas with a party of 10 diners (2 children included) and it was CRAZY! The service was great, the server was super friendly, and all of our food was really very good, fresh, and hot!
I always get nervous going to places on days when it is typically crazy, but I was happily surprised.
My husband and I have already decided that we will be back on a regular basis!

Came here for New Years Eve. Apparently everyone over 70 in Columbus had the same idea. The wait was an hour, until we were finally seated. Whatever.
The crab rangoon was not that good for $ 7. Then I got a combination meat dinner thing in a brown sauce. This was very good. Service on the other hand was pretty terrible and our server seemed irritable and would disappear for large chunks of time, such as when we wanted to pay our bill. All in all, I guess I would say avoid this place on holidays, they can’t handle crowds.

Been here twice and I love the food ! The menu is BIG so you won’t be short on choices.
Service is good and everyone is really nice. On both occasions, I tried the spring rolls (2 for $ 4.95) and they are YUM ! Packed with minced beef and veggie wrapped around crispy springroll skins, a perfect choice for an appetizer.
A standout for me is the crispy duck ($ 14.95). It’s basically lightly fried roast duck sitting on a plate of 5-​spice sauce. The meat isn’t over-​fried so it’s still juicy.
If you are craving for Chinese food, look no more, head to Hunan Lion !

Came early on a Sunday with the kids. Great service. Had the Triple Delight, which was no too spicy, despite the warning «flame» on the menu.
Kids had rice with beef satay strips and sweet and sour chicken. The latter were solid, and the kids enjoyed them.
My wife had the pad Thai, which was also solid. Overall, excellent dinner.

I’ve had a rough week and was looking forward to going out to a nice dinner with a friend. We found Hunan Lion on Unilocal,decided that a nice Chinese meal was just what we needed, and headed over.
We walk in and are not immediately greeted. The woman that I assume to be the hostess is busy with other things. When she eventually acknowledges us, she’s a bit short. She looked a bit irritated, but was nice enough, so no big complaint here.
We’re seated and start to look through the menu. I decide on the beef with oriental vegetables and my friend gets the pad thai.
Our waitress was pretty short with us too, which I didn’t love. I felt like I was inconveniencing her by being there. Our food was fine. Honestly, I was expecting to be wowed by my beef with oriental vegetables, but it was just alright. There weren’t a ton of vegetables in it, it was just a lot of beef. And while the beef was good, it wasn’t amazing. I really hate to say it, but I could have saved about $ 8 by staying home and getting beef with broccoli delivered to me.
The ambiance was nice, admittedly. The restaurant itself has a classy ambiance, as others have noted. I think the tables are a little close for my taste; I heard all of the tables closest to us’ conversations.
Maybe I got the wrong thing (I do have a habit of doing that) or maybe we had the wrong server (a VERY nice waiter thanked us and said goodbye to us as we were leaving) but whatever the case, I don’t think I’ll be in any rush to come back.

This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the city. It’s not the least expensive, or the fastest, but to me it’s the best quality. I haven’t been in awhile, but I STILL dream of their Sesame Shrimp. Sesame Shrimp isn’t on a lot of menus, and when it is, the shrimp is so sad and small. Hunan Lion doesn’t skimp on their shrimp! Mmmm…
Love their Mandarin Duck appetizer… and it comes with cucumber salad, which is sweet and vinegary heaven.
There are so many delicious looking and sounding items on their menu, I just want to try it all!

I’m happy to update this review with an additional star compared to my first visit. I came with the same friend who brought me initially. I enjoyed the Pataya Shrimp quite a bit, while my friend who loves this place got a curry of some kind, and our other companion had the Chicken with Asparagus.
The tea remained magically hot throughout the meal again (seriously, if I had that pot I’d never have to get up to make more tea all day), and we were able to sit undisturbed for a *very* long time after finishing our meal.
Still, the décor is more noteworthy than the food. It’s simply a gorgeous place. And for eat-​in Chinese food, I have been won over.

Hunan Lion is one of my favorite Asian places in Columbus. When I want great Chinese (sit down or takeout) I come here.
I’ve been coming here for several years, and they’ve never once failed me in food, drink, or service. I haven’t had everything on the menu, but they have great General Tso’s (let’s start arguing how it’s not really «authentic») and other spicy dishes. It’s always been a good amount of heat and flavor (as well as some of their Szechuan dishes).