Hunan Kitchen
Closed as of Jul 14 07
$$ - average
Chinese
Chinese restaurant offering fake meat dishes
Hunan Kitchen - formerly Zen Garden, which was entirely vegetarian - still serves a number of fake meat entrées, including mock chicken (labeled "Sensation" on the menu), beef ("Soy Protein" on the menu), and shrimp, with standard Americanized General Tso, Sesame, Orange, and other sauces.
They also have a number of vegan tofu dishes, and vegetable rice and noodle dishes.
For appetizers, they have a few soups, dumplings, and several tofu and fake meat starters, such as fried veg shrimp.
Be advised that Hunan Kitchen has 3 locations, but only the Squirrel Hill location is particularly vegan friendly, with fake meat and such.
The 61A and 61B both stop at the corner of Forbes and Shady Avenues, almost right in front of the door.
The 61C, 61D, and 61E stop at Forbes and Murray Ave - just get off the bus and continue down Forbes one (long) block. Hunan Kitchen will be on your right.
Don't be fooled - Hunan Kitchen is right next to a place called "How Lee", a Chinese take-out place.
- Quiet
Added by Vanessa Schweizer on Jan 21 06 (updated Jul 14 07)
Reviews
I highly recommend this place to any vegetarian/vegan who wants something OTHER than Broccoli with garlic sauce at a Chinese restaurant. They have a very expansive Vegetarian menu available. They also have very good soups, including vegetarian wonton and hot and sour.
Great stuff -- our favorite place in Pgh. Our 12-year-old daughter, vegan her whole life, loves it, too. Take your favorite meat-eater here!
They have a good selection of vegetarian options, including several soy protein dishes. The first time I tried the General Tso's soy protein there, not too long after eliminating meat from my diet, I paused after the first bite to ask the waiter if they had mistakenly prepared it with chicken. He assured me that it was soy protein, and that they frequently get this question from customers. Now that I've been vegetarian for some time, the "realism" of their meat substitutes doesn't matter much to me, but I still order such dishes frequently because they're prepared well.
They also serve a tasty and healthy brown and red steamed rice blend with many of their dishes, and the staff are consistently friendly. I recently recommended Hunan Kitchen to some out-of-towners who attended this year's North American Vegetarian Society in nearby Johnstown, and they reported enjoying it.
I believe this used to be a vegetarian-only restaurant, but recently had to expand due to limited demand. While I was sad to see that conversion, I'm glad that they still offer a number of good vegetarian and vegan options, and continue to support them.
Hunan Kitchen is now China Palace (see listing). Same owners and menu; new location and name.