10/04/09

Why eat anywhere but the original Hunanese in America?

by davidB

This is the successor restaurant to the first Hunanese restaurant in America. It, and all the other Henry's in the area, serve identical menus, but I prefer the homestead, still run by Henry's kids. What you'll never find anyplace else: smoked hammmmmm. Fish warning: landlocked province; delicious with fermented bean sauce, but really, not the most important thing to eat here. All the others are either direct but shallow imitations like Brandy Ho's, or Hunanese in name only. The original is still right here!

P.S. I always park at night in the lot open right at the corner north of the restaurant on Sansome, no tows yet! (22 years)

• Pros: Hot & sour beef, Chicken or Eggplant Salad, Marty's Special
• Cons: parking, fish

11/12/08

Hunan On Autopilot

by invidia

For two years I've lived in Shanghai, China, the city that gathers the best chefs from the China's provinces at its highly competitive dining scene. I had low expectations for this restaurant. Hunanese do not emigrate; predictably, staff at Henry's spoke Cantonese and the whole venue seemed well past its prime and on autopilot.

Food was plentiful and dull. No other spice touched Henry's Special Shredded Pork except for soy sauce it was sauteed in. Spicy & Hot Cod Filet was larger than you ever get in China (but that's how you try many dishes in one meal) and devoid of any complexity. In Shanghai this would be called 'home-style' and served in street canteens at 4-5 dollars a plate. Unless San Francisco has a secret gem of authentic cooking modestly glowing somewhere in Chinatown, I'll save my appetite for Chinese food till next visit to China.

• Pros: Price, Quantity
• Cons: Cooking

11/09/07

Best Hunan in the city and it won't break the bank. Quick

by sanfranciscorealtor

The only place I go for takeout and I often eat in. The food is great, service is great, and price is great. Usually restaurants focus on two of the three Henry's Hunan has all three.

Gregory Garver of Real Estate Agent at Brokers USA

gregorygarver."com

Spicy and sour, the traditional Hunan dishes at this Chinese mini-chain have a faithful following in each of five SF locations.

by Contributor

Being closer to the hustle and bustle of downtown, this location is a busier lunchtime spot than, say, the Noe Valley venue. But the menu that's made Henry's an SF classic stays on par: giant plates of noodles, smoked meats (made on premises in the traditional regional style), stir-fried veggies and braised fish all doused generously in garlic, salt and spice--the little flecks of chili seeds dotting almost every plate. Spice-sissies need not worry though, as even the hottest dishes are not unbearable, and almost everything can be ordered mild or medium on request.

07/12/06

Avoid Henry's Hunan

by yumbear

My first and last time eating here. We heard it was good, but the hype was just that, hype. We mistakenly recommended it to friends from Taiwan, who like Hunan food, but they and my partner and I were so disappointed. We left it to the server to provide the best chicken, seafood and vegatable dish they had, and if that was their best, avoid them at all cost. Every dish was virtually the same, except for the main ingrediant, and each was relatively bland and uneventful. Not the mention the fact that who wants the same basic dish. It was like they were trying to get rid of leftovers. Granted, we did arrive only an hour before they closed, so my suspicions may be correct. In addition, the food was overpriced for Chinese food generally, and especially for such mediocre food. The bottom line? Unless your desperate, skip this place. I don't know if it was ever good, but it is not now.

• Pros: The restaurant is large and roomy.
• Cons: Bland, unimaginative and far from good Hunan food, and expensive on every level for Chinese food. There are much places for better Chinese food in San Francisco.

03/10/06

Have been going for 15 years

by revenko

My wife and I enjoy Chinese food, especially spicy and hot. Hunan serves a variety of dishes that are cooked to order. Main courses we really like are Kung Pao Chichen, Orange Chicken, Hot and Sour Chicken, Henry's Pork, Kung Pao Beef, Curried chicken, Garlic chicken. We usually go before the ballet or opera. Parking is easy at that time and its not crowded. Service is very friendly

• Pros: food, service, value
• Cons: ambience

02/05/04

The BEST

by cannon1

I have been coming to this place since I was born and have never been disappointed! Henry's is BY FAR the most fantastic Chinese food I've ever had and I compare all other Chinese to it, and they all fail miserably. Highly recommend the dumplings, onion cakes, and garlic chicken.

• Pros: delicious, inexpensive, large parties welcome

11/18/02

Fan of spicy food?? This is a must try!!

by pamela_wu02

Food is so delicious...if I didn't live so far I'd eat here everyday! Try the tofu, for all you vegetable lovers! Or Diana's meat pie. Yumm!!

• Pros: Inexpensive, Authentic, Tasty
• Cons: Parking