Saturday, March 20, 2010

Link: Hunan Manor Savaged on Taste of Baltimore

The Columbia mainstay Hunan Manor gets savaged by Nakiya on Taste of Baltimore.  Read Nakiya's whole post, but the first paragraph captures the tone:
Remember when your mum used to tell you "just because it's popular does not mean it's good" in high school? Well, I'm going to say it again - but I'm not talking about the popular crowd and all their naughty ways....I'm talking about Hunan Manor in Columbia. It is crowded, it seems very popular, it is NOT good.
Nakiya isn't going back to Hunan Manor, and I can't argue with her.  But she shouldn't give up the suburbs for Chinese.  I'm still high on Grace Garden in Odenton, Hunan Taste in Catonsville and even Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro in Columbia.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd like to recommend ChopStixx in Elkridge as another good suburban option. The strip mall ambiance hides some of the best pan-Asian noodle dishes in Howard County. It's my favorite place for Pad Thai.

KristenB

Unknown said...

I was insanely loyal to Hunan Manor for what mustve been 15+ years but in the mid 00s the place just want the same. The prices went up, and the quality went down. The people working there were always super nice but we were regulars... Waiters knew our name and the carry out ladies would make comments that made you feel like they knew you. This place used to be THE place to get Chinese food in Columbia.

I've been going to Hunan Legend lately in the Dorsey village center. It's amazing, much smaller than Hunan Manor but the food/atmosphere are what Hunan Manor was like before the rest of the state found out about it. I highly recommend the steamed dumplings and the Kung Pao Triple Delight.

And if anyone knows how to get me on "secret menu status" here it would be appreciated. I've always wanted to know what they have but that they don't put on the everyday menu.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Jake; I think you would have to add Hunan Legend to that list of excellent Chinese. Not only is th food exceptional, particularly the pei-pa tofu, chilean sea bass, and stuffed scallops off, the "no-longer-secret menu" (Jake, you can find a copy taped to their front counter now I believe; they even gave us a copy when we asked for one). On the other hand, I would have to disagree with HowChow on Jesse Wong's places. Given that I agree with the nice ambiance and environment, I don't think the quality of the food is on par with the price tag associated with it (not to mention, I don't find their menu particularly unique, it seems all they did was give the dishes a new name apart from the usual labels). Just my two cents.

MuSsang Jaeger said...

The last two times I was at Hunan Manor, the food was just as amazing and authentic as always. While I am a very loyal patron of Grace Garden and have been since they opened, I still think Hunan Manor is one of the best in the area.