Hunan Dynasty

I ordered red curry with chicken and Kung Pao chicken from Hunan Dynasty one Sunday afternoon. Expecting a 40ish minute wait, I set about the house to clean up and do other things. After only 15 minutes, I received a call saying that my food had arrived. Wow! Probably the fastest delivery order I’ve ever had from anywhere. The delivery man stayed outside instead of following the instructions on GrubHub to get into the building, which was a tad strange (and annoying) but totally not a big deal.
Let’s start with the chicken with red curry. When I opened the container, I was immediately met by the smell of bell peppers – and that was it. The dish was actually quite bland overall, and to have been under the heading of «Thai Food,» it truly didn’t taste like a curry at all. It wasn’t bad, but it was heavily underwhelming. ²⁄₅ stars.
The Kung Pao chicken, an old standby of mine, was better. I ordered it medium spicy, which I think they delivered. on. They loaded it down pretty well with water chestnuts but were not skimpy on the beef, so that was fine. 3.5÷5
I had both dishes with white rice, which was standard. I wouldn’t jump at ordering from Hunan Dynasty again, but I may drop by the restaurant in person one day to see how the food compares to delivery. I’d say to stick to the Chinese dishes and order Thai from an actual Thai place.

Definitely a hidden gem when it comes to sushi. After living in Japan for a year and half and eating great sushi 4 to 5 times a week, I’ve become a sushi purist — no rolls, just unadulterated fresh sashimi and nigiri. Our family orders sushi regularly from HD, and have yet to be disappointed. The sashimi and nigiri is always fresh and portions are substantially more generous than any other DC sushi restaurant.

Advertised sushi lunch for $ 8.99 pick two items. I picked two rolls and when it came time to pay, total was $ 10.75. Shrimp was pretty bland, and the spicy tuna was so drenched in siracha there was no tuna flavor left. This was my second time at Hunan, and the first experience left me disappointed too — the price was fine, but the orange chicken I had was mostly fatty. Save yourself the trouble and go across the street for lunch specials.

This is review is for the lunch special only!
I got Hunan beef with fried rice and spring roll, off the lunch special menu. At $ 6.75 it’s a very reasonable lunch on Capitol Hill, and a large portion too. But the food is just mediocre. The fried rice was just plain rice that had been fried a little bit. No pork or veggies, none of that savory smoky flavor that good fried rice has. They did have egg in it though which was nice.
The entrée itself was ok. Beef tasted a little old and I wish there were different veggies in the dish like baby corn or straw mushroom. It was just broccoli, bamboo shoot, and plain mushrooms like you get the supermarket. Sauce was tasty, could have been spicier but that’s just my preference.
Their sushi looks nice and I’m sure eating in off the dinner menu, say, is better. I actually only came in because I had forgotten to bring the lunch I packed to work and decided to try this place because I pass it every day. I may be back for sushi or dinner some time if I’m in the area, but I doubt I’ll come back for lunch.

I had to call to ask what some of the menu items were, because they don’t disclose that info, and the person on the other end of the phone was completely friendly and helpful.
After ordering half the menu about an hour later, the order was delivered. And the food was amazing! Most of the Pu Pu platter was great — the cheese wonton was terrible and the rib was muted in flavor. The noodle dishes were fantastic — the combination yakisoba and Taiwanese style rice noodles, similar in flavor but very good still. The salt and pepper ribs were good, although there’s no veggies with them. The veggies and meat dishes were good too — Hunan lamb and house special duck tasty but not the greatest.
And the sushi! Fresh and wonderfully delicious.

Food at this place is about average, leaning towards more authentic Chinese. To those people that posted a picture about extra grease… News Flash, that’s sauce, that is not grease. If you know anything about Chinese food you know that particular dish is using a brown sauce and the grease is only in the pan to make it not stick. That doesn’t look like it had that much grease at all.

I’ve been ordering from here for several years and it used to be my favorite take out place. I ordered delivery tonight and the food was disgusting. The noodles were undercooked (and not yaki soba & greasy) and the fried dumplings were only cooked on one side (and soggy). When I called to let them know about how my order arrived, they told me they have a new cook and thats how the dumplings are made now. Sad that a great place now has horrible food. I wouldn’t recommend ordering delivery.

It’s hard to believe, I know, but Capitol Hill doesn’t have a good Chinese restaurant. When I check with neighbors, they agree & say Hunan Dynasty is the best we have.
We were 3 for 3 tonight. The egg drop soup & General Tso’s chicken were both good. Best of all was the lemon chicken – crispy with a tasty sauce. Yay!
One big hint: if you ask for a chicken dish to be made with all white meat, they’ll do it but will charge you $ 2 more. It’s worth it!

Love the timely delivery and the food is awesome.

Don’t eat here
I try not to let one bad experience sway my opinion to this extremes but it has.
I live in a high rise and they would not bring my food inside — not even to the lobby. I wish I could get my preauthorized tip back. LESSON LEARNED
General Tso’s «chicken» review– on the bright side you get to pick from white or dark meat. I picked white — it tastes strange. I hope it was tofu. Either way I’m not finishing my plate. Two thumbs down!

Wonderful food and terrific service here! I work nearby and this place has always been my first choice when thinking about Chinese food! lov lov lov the jimbo shrimp and broccoli, and the seafood soup was AMAZING! had one small bowl and added a large bowl right after the first sip! the rest of the food are also good, and what’s worth mentioning is the generous portion of meat in all the dishes! The sushi bar is also great as well! I have tried their delivery 2 times and it’s generally good and in time and the delivery guy is polite and considerable.
All in all, nice place, nice people here, will continue coming as long as I am still nearby.

ZERO stars
I’m headed to Charlie Chang’s in Crystal City just to find out while placing my order that it’s no longer in business. Heartbreaker! lol So I reluctantly place an order at this place. BAD IDEA. Still the most disgusting «Chinese» cuisine in the area, plus my order was inaccurate. They did not give me the soup I ordered. I actually spoke to the person who, while ringing my order, assured me there were 2 bags of crispy noodles w/​the soup. He said 2 were in the bag. Well the soup and the crispy noodles were missing and I didn’t know this until I got home. They offered to give it to me w/​my next order as well as a free appetizer but we don’t even eat here and tonight I was just in a bind, thus ending up here. So credit my card please. CHECK OUT THE PICS of inedible shrimp & broccoli swimming in GREASE. DISGUSTING

Quite possibly the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. Hot and sour soup didn’t taste like hot and sour soup at all, wonton soup had basically no filling in the wonton — pretty much all dough, and sesame chicken didn’t not have enough sauce.

General Tsos was pretty bomb. In a good way. Rice was holy sh** bad. Like wowza. Lo mein coulda been better fo sho but did have a good amount of chicken so props there. Definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something mediocre AF.

Awful!!! After an hour and 30 min this place STILL doesn’t have my order on the way, which the last time I called (it was an hour in) they said the sushi order was already on the way. Then they tell me at the 1.5 hour mark that they were 20 min from even filling my order!!!
Awful service!!! So glad I did not give them my cc info as they said it would be another 30 min before delivery would be on the way. Terrible service and did not want to even talk to me. DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS PLACE!!!

GREAT SUSHI. Not even «great for the price,» it’s just genuinely good quality sushi. The rolls are huge and the price is more than right. I’ve ordered sushi from here a lot and I have never had problems. The workers are friendly. I will say, for calling in orders during lunch time, give them a good 25 minutes to make the order. Over all though, due to the consistency I’ve personally had, I think this place gets an easy 4 stars for sushi.
My favorites: yellowtail scallion and spicy tuna.

Boy, this place sucks. But it’s very cheap, so you can’t get too upset.
But it’s the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had and makes the place my parents go in Pacific Palisades – Joan Rivers’ regular Sunday night place with her family – look like Shun Lee or the defunct Chin Chin on 49^th and 3^rd across from Smith and Wollensky.
I had a good trip to DC last week and my dinner here was enjoyable due to the company. Otherwise it was a disaster.
Won ton soup (cup) is 1.75. It was bland salty broth with a bad won ton (all noodle, no meat). My friends ordered a goupy shrimp entrée. I wasn’t hungry but even if I had been, I would have eaten just rice to stave off starvation.
The Szechwuan string beans weren’t horrible, but they weren’t good: If I had been going to my own home, I’d have boxed them up, hosed them off, and used them for something else.
Greg B wrote: «Perfectly fine standard Americanized Chinese food.» I agree with Americanized, but not with perfectly fine. And why any Asian tour group would come for lunch and dinner baffles me, unless they were on some budget tour.
The server didn’t speak English but was quite nice. He takes your order by the price of the dish. So my subpar beef skewers (greasy, blah meat) was «5.95.»
The real kicker is that they play the same muzak Christmas carol (singular) on a loop: 90 minutes of «Frosty the Snowman.» We didn’t notice until about halfway through dinner.
If a date wants to take you here? Run for the hills. It means the person is cheap and that s/​he has no taste.
Never trust a cheap Chinese place that serves sushi. Asian fusion fine dining is one thing. But almost no cheap or moderate restaurants do Chinese *and* sushi well.
Kyla W’s review says it all: «I’m not a huge sushi eater, but this is the perfect place to begin.» She recommends «chicken teriyaki rolls.» Sorry, but that’s not sushi. It’s a bastardized, non-​fish sushi-​type food product.
I suppose vegetarian sushi at some place Adam Platt recommends (New York Magazine critic who recently «came out» from behind his shroud of secrecy) might be okay. But sushi should be fish, preferably raw, and in some specialty rolls cooked.
A moderately-​priced place on the UWS off Columbus and 68^th is fair; they have sushi rolls along with other Asian entrees, but that’s New York.
Astonishingly, politicians (people in both houses of Congress) are willing to admit they dine here. As you come in, you see a wall of autographed 8×11 pictures. There’s one of Hillary in 2007.
Congresspeople either have zero taste (not at all hard to believe), or they’re a bunch of liars who pretend to like Hunan Dynasty (even less hard to believe). At 10, I would have hated this restaurant. It has not one redeeming feature, unless the cool aquarium counts.
If you must go with a group, 1) Find better dining companions so as to avoid this next time in Capitol Hill, 2) Stick with sake, which is 9.95 for a large.
You’re better off at Bellweathers or that Mexican joint a few blocks from the Library of Congress, which has a cheap friendly happy hour and decent Mexican food.
I think the reason there is so little good food in the area is that heavy hitters all dine at their clubs. You have Cosmos, the Capitol Club and the one across the street from the CC. They’re probably quite good and better for networking.

God food,
good staff,
great service.
I’m not a huge sushi eater but this is the perfect place to begin. The chicken teriyaki rolls are good and their smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls are good. I wouldn’t get the steamed meat dumplings as it contains, «mystery meat.» some ground up paste that I just wasn’t feeling, but their prices are pretty reasonable!

Great Asian dinning hidden on Capitol Hill.
This marks my 2^nd time ordering out from this restaurant and it’s been equally satisfying from their customer service to food taste standpoints.
While I have yet to dine in, their interior design is beautiful and spacious.
I was attracted to dine here because of the variety of vegan options and I love Chinese food. I have my hesitations and concerns with cross contamination of meats with vegan/​vegetarian foods so I called here first (as I would any other place) to ensure their meals are cooked without meat or sauces etc. They understood my concerns and ensured their authenticity of vegan standards enough that I placed a takeout order for my guests and I for my friends birthday.
It wasn’t until I arrived that I remembered ordering from here in the past. Our food was ready fast and I was greeted with what it looked like to be a manager that held a friendly conversation as I paid. They were happy and welcomed us back.
The good stuff:
I ordered the amazing dish called «General Tso’s Eggplant» which came with rice. The eggplant was cooked perfectly and the flavors tasted great! My meat lover friends couldn’t resist it! I can’t recall what they ordered but they enjoyed their meals too, needless to say this restaurant was a winner! The portion and pricing are to my liking and I look forward to dinning in.
Truly 5 Stars Worthy

Don’t be fooled by the $ 8.96 lunch special and the prime location. This is easily some of the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had.
Boyfriend ordered the Hunan Beef and I had the Kung Pao shrimp lunch special. First course (soup) was horrendous; luke warm, thick grossness filled our little cups. I had the egg flour (which literally tasted and looked like warm egg yolks, and the bf had the hot and sour. His was edible, but mine was frightening.
Next was our entrees accompanied with white rice and veggie egg roll. Again, his beef with broccoli was edible, although luke warm. Mine, on the other hand was both luke warm and just beyond disgusting. The shrimp tasted limp, undercooked, and virtually flavorless. Presentation was awful (a plate full of defrosted shrimp in some brown sauce with a few peanuts), complete with a disgusting mutilated leftover shrimp body with the legs and everything. Not spicy. Not at all what a kung pao dish should be. Ate a few and was too scared to continue. Not entirely de-​veined either. I’d say just avoid anything with shrimp in it.
Fortunately the rice and the egg roll were good (and hot). I didn’t leave too hungry but I definitely left unsatisfied.
Easily one of the worst meals I’ve ever had, which was really surprising given the location, decent reviews, and loads of pictures with notable politicians who have dined in the restaurant.
Apparently they serve sushi too. Yeeeech!