Search

Hunan

51 Pimlico Road, SW1W 8NE Full details & map

Restaurant: Hunanese

Time Out says 1 Users say 5/5 Rate it

By Time Out Editors Posted: Sep 27 2011

The dining areas of this family-run restaurant are comfortably snug, and apart from the collection of Chinese artefacts over the door, the space is neutral in tone.

In contrast, the cooking is far from mainstream. The 'leave it to us' menu of a dozen or more small tasting dishes is the USP, and this should satisfy the most daring of diners.

Textures and offal took centre stage on our visit, starting with spicy cold octopus and mustard greens with light soy sauce, followed by pig's tongue wrapped inside the ear of the piggy. Then a short respite with steamed pork and chicken soup served in a bamboo cup, before the arrival of claret-coloured, deep-fried pig's intestine, served with hoi sin sauce, as well as moreish beef tripe with a dash of rice vinegar.

Although too many of the dishes we ordered were accompanied by shredded white cabbage, we enjoyed Hunan's interesting take on Chinese regional cooking. Service is attentive, though staff spent a lot of their time shuffling and announcing dishes between tables. There's a well-crafted wine list as well.

Tags: Asian, Chinese, Hunanese, Creative cooking, Something different, Central, Belgravia, Expensive, Restaurant

Comment 2 Tweet

Hunan details

Address

Hunan

51 Pimlico Road SW1W 8NE

Transport Sloane Square tube

Telephone

020 7730 5712

Hunan website

Lunch served 12.30-2pm, dinner served 6.30-11pm Mon-Sat

Set lunch £28.80 per person (minimum 2). Set dinner £42.80 per person (minimum 2)

Credit cards AmEx, DC, MC, V

Facilities

Babies and children admitted, Booking essential, Vegetarian menu

Hunan map

Expand the map

Restaurants & cafés near Hunan

See all restaurants near Hunan

Bars & pubs near Hunan

See all bars & pubs near Hunan

Just drinking? See Bars & Pubs

Share your thoughts

Name (will appear on the site) *
Email (will not appear on the site) *
Add a star rating Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.
Enter text...
Tick to receive relevant updates from Time Out including news, events, offers and competitions.

* Mandatory fields for leaving a comment

Comments & ratings 5/5 (Average of 1 rating)

By ndavey - Oct 12 2010

FAB-UL-OUS! One of the best ever restaurant meals I've had in my life. There were people queuing up at the door to get in on a Monday night - you definitely need to book.

I love that there is no set menu - instead there is rolling delivery of small plates and small bites. They consult with you at the beginning of the meal to check what you do and don't eat and whether you like hot, medium or mild spice, etc. The service was unobtrusive, impeccable and fautless. Only ever two dishes on the table at once so table doesn't get overcrowded. It's like tapas style, but each dish is just one or two bites, so although we ended up trying maybe 15 different dishes, we didn't feel over full at the end.

Another highlight was the beautiful low tannin wine that the Manager / Owner Michael Peng recommended to us. The wine list was impressive, and even lists over 10 varieties of 'Noble Rot' wines - very high end indeed. Wine started from £16 and went up from there, so there is a bottle to suit every budget.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough. Mind blowingly good from every aspect.