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Hunan Ranch - Cedar Park

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Written by Deb Arnold Saturday, 07 October 2006

Chinese cuisine rates high for great taste, large portions

Elaine Sum, co-owner The first things diners notice upon entering a restaurant are the atmosphere, the friendliness of the staff and the aromas of the food.

Hunan Ranch Restaurant and Grill, open since March in Avery Ranch, scores high on all three accounts. From the contemporary design of the restaurant and furnishings to the fish swimming in the eye-catching aquarium, you feel relaxed and ready for an enjoyable meal.

For appetizers, we enjoyed the PuPu Treasure Platter (9.00), hibachi included, which was not only fun but presented an interesting variety of tastes including fried fantail prawn, BBQ ribs, crispy egg rolls, spicy chicken wings, beef sticks, and delectable crab rangoons.

We also tried the lettuce wraps (6.95), which we filled with bite-sized, stir-fried chicken with diced onions, mushrooms, and water chestnuts in a light sauce. The spring roll (1.95) was a delicate rice wrap with vermicelli, fresh lettuce, cilantro, and shrimp served with a peanut sauce.

As we awaited our entrees, we reviewed the menu which offers a lunch and dinner menu, both of which have extensive choices of traditional dishes such as sweet and sour shrimp, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli and General Tso’s chicken.

The salt and pepper shrimp (10.50) had numerous shrimp, deep-fried in a light, puffed batter and sautéed with hot pepper sauce, red onion, jalapeños, green pepper and white onion. This spicy dish was a generous portion and well prepared. Neptune’s Delight (12.95) was an assortment of shrimp, scallops, crab, fish, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, snow peas, mushrooms, and tiny ears of corn stir-fried in a rich, brown sauce.

The chicken with broccoli (8.25) was a tasty meal of steaming chicken in a stir-fried sauce with emerald green broccoli and carrot slices in a large family-style bowl of rice and sweet and sour sauce.

The Szechuan Fish (10.95) was a fresh fish braised in a special tangy hot sauce with a side of firm tofu and sprinkled with green onions. This rich dish was the most exotic of our fare. The sesame chicken (9.25), deep-fried and then sautéed in a hot, spicy orange sauce was one of the best I have tasted.

We left with satisfied palates and take-home boxes. As one of our party said, “Bring a date or a whopper of an appetite because you will get properly fed!”