A Review of the Hunan River Restaurant in Houston, Texas

The Hunan River Restaurant is also called Back Door Sushi. The Oriental restaurant has two separate entrances - one in the front for Chinese food, and one in the back for Japanese food. However, once you are inside, it is all the same restaurant. Silly, isn't it? I have had excellent Japanese food here before but I was not willing to give up my raw fish for egg fried rice in the past; but on Friday night I was willing to change. Actually I wanted to find out if their Chinese cuisine was as good as their Japanese.

We arrived around 8:15 PM and the restaurant was empty; but 30 minutes later, four other tables were filled. We were seated by large windows that showed off the small outdoor rock garden; however, we were also seated by a wall whose wallpaper was peeling off. The restaurant has sleek black décor, and is filled with recorded music of a pianist playing softly in the background. Huan River has a large aquarium which was filled with colorful fish and scenery, but the glass was in dire need of Windex. Get the feeling this place needs some TLC?

I had noticed that they changed their menu and overheard the waitress tell two other customers that they raised their prices slightly as well. I guess it is a necessary evil in today's times. I ordered hot jasmine green tea and a glass of cold water; my husband drank iced tea. The green tea arrived in a white ceramic tea pot which was hotter than hell, hence making it impossible to hold the handle long enough to pour the tea. I believe that they actually served me black tea based on the amount of tannin I saw on the tea cup, not to mention the fact that I was up the entire night; for a non-caffeine drinker, black tea is the devil.

For my appetizer, I ordered steamed vegetable dumplings which turned out to be a disaster. The dumplings were formed with too much dough, and were very undercooked. To make matters worse, they hardly had any filling. The dumplings were accompanied by soy sauce and a hot chili paste but even they couldn't save the dumplings. I only had one (as one rotten dumpling was more than enough), and did not have the heart to complain to the waitress so I let the her think I was just saving room for the rest of my meal, and asked her to put them in a to-go box. I know, what has gotten into me? Usually I'm the first to complain. I should have used the dumplings to throw at my neighbor's house when he started playing the drums at 2:00 AM, but instead, I threw them away the next day.

My husband ordered the sweet and sour soup which he enjoyed so much that he ate it all. Yeah, finally something good to report. He especially enjoyed the crispy wontons which he added to the soup. These are regularly provided in the northeast, but in Texas, I think they are rare. My husband also had a spring roll which was served with hot and sour sauce. My husband thought the spring roll was flavorless and should have been served with sweet chili sauce. I believe his exact words were: "the spring roll was retarded." See, why I'm the one writing the review?

Not being able to avoid the sushi, we also a California roll, one salmon nigiri and one tuna nigiri; however, the waitress only provided one small bowl (for the soy sauce and wasabi) and one set of chopsticks, so we had to share the old fashioned way: I had a piece of sushi then passed the chopsticks over to my husband, then he had a piece. We were like two very well behaved children in day care sharing our toys. The sushi was fantastic and the fish was fresh; I really think this restaurant should only be serving Japanese food since it is obviously their forte.

For my entrée I ordered the honey walnut shrimp; when it came out I saw that in addition to raising their prices, they also reduced their portions - very, very sneaky. The shrimp were not pan-fried for very long nor were they grilled; they were served with water chestnuts and lots of broccoli - obviously a filler - and a sauce that resembled hot and sour sauce (I was beginning to think that was the only sauce they had). The dish was OK, nothing special but it just did not have the flair that I was looking for. I was apathetic and blasé about it really. The only good thing is that it was served with steamed white rice which was made perfectly.

My husband ordered the sweet and sour chicken but what came out of the kitchen was something that was not very recognizable. It was obviously made fresh because the shapes that were on his plate could only be made by a real life person - not a factory. The chef must have been bored that night. The sauce was served on the side which I personally think ruins sweet and sour chicken; isn't the entire point of this dish to have the diced pineapples, and sweet and sour sauce mixed in with the deep fried battered chicken? My husband thought the chicken was very tender and the batter was crispy, so despite my not liking the way it looked, it was a hit. His meal was served with fried rice which he did not like because it was bland.

At the end we were served two fortune cookies and a check for $42.65. The restaurant is in the River Oaks Shopping Center so the location is great - although parking can be difficult - but for some reason this restaurant just does not get the business that others in the area do. Sushi is the only food they should be serving; I think the restaurant would be better off closing its Chinese front door since Chinese food is not something they can make well.

Hunan River is located at: 2015 West Gray Street, Houston, Texas, 77019. Their phone number is: 713-527-0200. They are open Monday-Saturday from 11 AM - 10 PM, and on Sundays they open at noon.