Hunan Spring: Solid, Sit-down Chinese

Hunan Spring may look like a diner from both the inside and out, but you won't find a bottomless cup of coffee or flapjacks of any kind on the menu. Green booths, a wall of mirrors and even the muzak filtered through overhead only add to the diner impression. But when you are presented with the food, you'll discover solid, sit-down Chinese that delivers across the board: large portions, fair prices and authentic Chinese-American flavors.

The large restaurant serves up lunch specials in three price points ($6.95, $7.50, and $7.95) that include a choice of rice (white, brown, or fried), soup (wonton, egg drop, hot and sour, chicken noodle, or chicken rice), and a main course. It's hard to go wrong with that much food plus table service at those prices.

Regardless of the time of day, complimentary fried wonton strips and a pot of hot tea is brought to the table, a traditional service which even some dim sum houses in Chinatown have sadly abandoned. And tradition is very much the theme at Hunan Spring, whose offerings don't stray from the usual suspects—the one exception being a Pad Thai entrée that somehow found its way onto the menu.

Like most Chinese restaurants, there are gobs of starter and main course choices: 188 to be exact, and that's not counting the daily specials. Almost all of the dishes can be ordered with any type of protein or level of heat (which is partly why the item count is so high). Most of their names are self-explanatory, although there are a few more enticing titles such as "Eight Treasures," "Sea Treasures in Bird's Nest," "Thousand Ants Climb a Tree" and my personal favorite, "Hacked Chicken."

Rather than go whole hog with the standard Chinese "classics," I opted for a slight mix-and-match adventure. Hunan Spring's egg roll ($1.75) was disappointing and primarily filled with cabbage. However, their spring roll (Shanghai style, $1.85) was a dime more and definitely better all around. The slimmer, more delicate fried roll was filled with large pieces of mushrooms. Off the specials menu, I found the bowl of seafood dumplings (Szechuan style, $4.95) truly delicious. The slippery, wonton-wrapped dumplings were steamed and then finished with a hot oil, soy sauce, and peanut sauce blend.

As I waited for the main courses to arrive, I saw several orders of pan fried scallion pancakes ($3.50), beef with broccoli ($11.50), General Tsao's chicken ($11.25), moo shu pork ($9.95), sweet and sour shrimp ($13.25), and lo mein ($7.75) go by. While some looked better than others, everybody seemed to be satisfied, and the dining room only got more crowded as the night wore on.

However, I can attest to Hunan Spring's shredded beef (Szechuan style, $11.50), which is a large, spicy dish that included just as much beef as, if not more than, its julienned carrots and sliced celery accompaniments. Also tasty is the sliced chicken with garlic sauce ($13.50), which is tossed with asparagus and seasoned in a ginger-brown sauce. And, last but not least, is Hunan Spring's pork mei fun ($8.95) which features a light, wok stir fry of thin rice noodles, mushrooms, red peppers, scallions, and bean sprouts. Most notable about all three dishes is the protein to vegetable/filler ratio, which is nicely weighted toward the protein side. I can't tell you how many Chinese meals I've eaten in which I've ended up saying, "where's the beef?" Hunan Spring does a superb job in plating well-balanced mains.

Service is adequate, and the Springfield Chinese BYO wisely doesn't try to push dessert on its customers. Chinese desserts are an acquired taste, and with each heaping dinner plate filled to the brim it's doubtful one would have any room for sweets anyway. Instead, the restaurant's free plate of oranges and fortune cookies is just the ticket to end a Chinese meal.

I have to admit, Hunan Spring's somewhat tacky, diner décor kind of grows on you—especially since their food is pretty solid. In a state riddled with mediocre, greasy, gloppy Chinese take-out joints, it's nice to find a restaurant that does the cuisine some justice, especially if you venture beyond the "classics" menu. Without a doubt, this is traditional Chinese food served humbly, without a lot of fuss or fanfare, at reasonable prices—and you don't have to pick up plastic utensils and tip the delivery person before you dig in.

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Hunan Spring

288 Morris Ave., Springfield

(973) 379-4994

Hours of Operation:

Monday through Thursday, 11:30 am-9:30 pm

Friday, 11:30 am-10:30 pm

Saturday, 12-10:30 pm

Sunday, 12-9:30 pm

BYO. Take out and private parties available.

All major credit cards accepted.