Dongting Fresh Hunan Cuisine Restaurant: A Spicy Journey Through Regional Flavors

Food is good and the dining service is good. But we waited too long and the front cashier was so busy to answer any questions.

Great flavor! Authentic food. The food can be spicy so some notes are needed for me :-)

Came in on a Friday night as soon as they opened. Very clean on the inside and friendly waitresses. The food is as close to authentic flavor of China as you can get. If you’re ordering a spicy dish, you better be ready to enjoy it because their spice level means business.

The food is well seasoned and tasty. It’s on the heavier salty side with oil. For most people it will be spicy. We ordered the sauerkraut and it was a blend of savory and sour flavors. The pork came fried with rice puff/crackers that gave a nice crunch and texture without being too hard. The eggplant included century egg and was also quite salty. Everything was balanced out by the star, rice. The coconut balls were crispy on the outside and filled with coconut and sago and was not overly sweet. For the whole meal it was about ~$88 overall and leftovers were taken home.

Authentic Chinese Hunan cuisine. Can get super busy on weekends. Get there early.

This is my favorite Hunan restaurant in the US and in fact I drove down from the Bay Area to eat it. This used to be the location of Boston Lobster before it changed ownership. The food here is amazingly good especially frog pots. Pretty everything here is authentic and it can become extremely busy (2 hours wait) so I highly recommend going during lunch time or early or late for dinner. The place is not very big and service is efficient and courteous in Chinese way. :) I think you can't go wrong with anything you order here if you can eat spicy food. If you can't then don't come here because what's the point of coming to a Hunan place if you don't. The atmosphere is a typical Chinese restaurant so don't expect much and you might like the bright atmosphere.

As a Hunanese traveling to the U.S., I was curious to see how our home cuisine tastes abroad. To my surprise, it was very authentic—the flavors were rich and bold, and the spices were not compromised, unlike in Singapore where the dishes are often modified to suit local preferences. The portions here are also incredibly generous, so be careful not to over-order—you’ll likely be taking some home! The restaurant was very busy, and we were offered to share a table, which speaks to its popularity. Overall, highly recommended.

note: this restaurant calls itself "Dong Ting Xian" I wish I took pictures but I'm more of a being present kind of person when I eat with others. I chose a grilled squid dish which had cumin, onions, and peppers. It was sooooo delicious! Very spicy, but perfect level for myself (warning to others: you'll likely find this extremely spicy unless you're used to it). I also wanted to try a lotus root dish which ended up having a texture like bamboo shoots since they were small roots rather than the big chunky ones I'm used to eating in other dishes. It's more the type of dish you eat a little bit of and share with a big group. This also had some peppers but not nearly as much as the squid dish. Finally, there was a stir fried beef dish (not the regular one （小炒牛肉）but another one that also had the same words but this one had a bunch of cilantro or parsley rather than onions. Not bad but also quite spicy with regular and pickled chili peppers. I want to come back to try other dishes since I absolutely love regional spicy Chinese foods.