A piece of local culinary history in Sunnyvale A piece of local culinary history in Sunnyvale (April 20, 2001)

By Jim Harrington

It was a loss to Castro Street when the old Hunan Gourmet closed down a few years back. The restaurant was a dependable source for fairly priced, upscale Chinese food, and many locals loved it. Unfortunately, not enough of them did.

Luckily, the second location of Hunan Gourmet is still thriving on the restaurant row of Murphy Avenue in Sunnyvale. Patrons who miss such Hunan Gourmet specialties as braised fish in hot chili bean sauce and braised fresh fish tail, as well as such Americanized Chinese staples as sweet and sour pork and mu shu chicken, only have to travel a few miles.

The Sunnyvale spot will feel very familiar to those who frequented the Mountain View restaurant. It's run by Wei Yin, the same person responsible for the old Castro Street favorite. The deep, varied menu is the same. The attractive, sleek look is the same. The service provided by the attentive wait staff is the same.

Hunan does big lunch business with the high-tech crowds looking for a convenient escape from In-N-Out and other fast-food choices. The lunch prices aren't that much higher than what one would expect to pay at Burger King. The lunch menu, which is served weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., offers a variety of combination plates. Each combo consists of soup, salad, an appetizer, a main dish, steamed rice and ice cream. The entrée choices read like a greatest hits list of Americanized Chinese food: curried beef, broccoli prawns, kung pao chicken, etc.

For an appetizer, ignore the boring egg rolls ($3.50) - too dry, not enough flavor - and skip to the nicely prepared Shanghai steamed dumplings. For $4.95, the restaurant serves eight steaming-hot pastries filled loosely with meatballs of ground pork. Vinegar is served as a dipping sauce.

The hot and sour soup ($5.95) is a big murky bowl of large slices of mushrooms, bits of tofu and plenty of egg in a thick, rich, mild broth. The Chinese chicken salad ($6.95) offers shredded skinless fried chicken mixed with lettuce, carrot, crushed peanuts and rice noodles in a hot mustard sauce.

Back to the main courses. Most of Hunan Garden's menu is made up of the regular variety of Chinese dishes. Operate under one simple rule and you'll be fine: If you like a dish at another Chinese restaurant, you'll probably really like it at Hunan Gourmet.

The kung pao chicken ($7.95) is particularly good and carries a bit of heat. Small slices of chicken are sauteed with dried whole chili peppers, water chestnuts and cucumbers in a spicy sauce. Another fine choice is the lemon chicken ($7.95), boneless chicken breast dipped in batter, deep-fried, and then slathered with a lemon sauce that is more tart than sweet. The Mongolian beef ($8.50) mixes tender slices of filet in a sautee of scallions and ginger.

Those feeling a bit more adventuresome should go straight to the specialties list. The General's chicken ($7.95) delivers chunks of deep-fried meat in a spicy brown sauce. The chicken two-style ($8.95) mixes the General with lemon chicken. The kung pao triple delight ($9.95) gives the regular kung pao treatment to chicken, beef and prawns.

Don't miss the honey pecan prawns ($10.95). The prawns are deep-fried and then smothered with a sweet mustard-mayo sauce and garnished with candied pecans. This dish is simply too rich, too decadent for one person to order. It's best if shared by a large group.

Bring a group, or go solo, to experience a piece of Mountain View's culinary history in Sunnyvale. {Hunan Gourmet, 163 S. Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale; (408) 739-8866. Hours: Sun.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Credit cards are accepted.}