I first dined here with my boyfriend, and food was so good so I brought my parents here the following week. This is fairly popular so please expect a wait during peak hours. A few of the items we tried are - 夫妻肺片 sliced beef combination in spicy sauce (10/10 very flavorful and not too spicy) - Sauteed Eggplant W String Beans (9/10) - 梅菜扣肉 Steamed Pork Belly W Preserved Vegetables (8.5/10 the meat is not as fatty but flavors are good and the preserved vegetables are very good to eat with rice) - 辣椒炒小黄牛 Sauteed Sliced Beef & Peppers (9/10 very flavorful but peppers are pretty spicy and there are not a lot of meat pieces) - pork ribs with salted eggs (10/10 SO YUMMY please get this if you like salted eggs! the pork ribs are also seasoned perfectly and super juicy) Please keep in mind that most food options are spicy but I really appreciate how you can select the spice level when ordering. read more

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We've tried the spicy grilled fish, Hunan-style sautéed beef, Chongqing-style spicy chicken, sizzling fish fillet in Sichuan chili broth, and sautéed sliced beef with bamboo shoots and green peppers. Our favorite was the Chongqing-style chicken. It is lightly fried, crisp, and packed with flavor--delivering a balanced blend of spice, umami, and numbing mala that leaves your tongue tingling without overwhelming your taste buds. While both fish dishes feature similar chili broths, the grilled fish offers more substance thanks to its hearty toppings, including wood ear mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, lotus root, cabbage, sliced potatoes, and roasted peanuts. Both lean heavily on the spicy and numbing side, but you can customize the spice, numbing level, oiliness, and saltiness to your taste. As for the beef, both sautéed dishes were tender and remarkably flavorful. Service is fast, though the restaurant gets busy quickly, so be prepared for a wait during prime time! read more

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Overpriced, but good food. busy Saturday lunch. hunan beef was excellent, great flavor and texture chongqing chicken was too salty, poorly done read more

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Stopped in around 5:30pm on a Wednesday to grab dinner with friends. We ordered quite a lot of dishes but we were so hungry that we didn't grab pics. You order from the QR code at the table. The star of the show was the Sizzling Cumin Potato Slices. They truly came out sizzling. The flavor was reminiscent of the 5 spice seasoning used on skewers. The potato was so crispy with a soft interior. It came with slices of what looked like pork belly too. The dish was so tasty we devoured it and ordered a second order! The sautéed lotus root with chili peppers were flavorful, mildly spicy, and has the best texture from the lotus root. Most people come here for the Spicy Chicken. This is a very forward spice but it's very addicting. Don't forget to order a side of steamed rice to help offset the spice! The house special fried noodles were surprisingly flavorful and well balanced. I'd order this dish again. It uses the same chili peppers that the spicy chicken has. All in all this is a great place to stop in for dinner! Especially if you love spicy food! read more

Hunan Impression - 重庆辣子鸡 Chongqing Style Spicy Chicken - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Order every time when I am come here. This dish is so delicious! I order it every time I come here. The flavor is always great, and the staff is very friendly. Definitely one of my favorite dishes here! read more

Hunan Impression - 特别好吃！very delicious！ - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Organic cauliflower with pork cracker: 10/10 Sizzling yellow croaker with fried garlic: 9/10 Sizzling fish fillet in Szechuan chili broth: 8/10 Pork ribs with salted egg yolk: 8/10 Sauteed pork kidney and pork tripe: 7/10 Wok seared green beans with crispy pork: 7/10 Glutinous rice cakes with brown sugar: 7/10 Chongqing Style Spicy Chicken: 7/10, wish there was more chicken though House special fried rice with pickle and beef: 6/10 Poached Pea Shoots with broth: 6/10 Fried milk sticks: 5/10, did not finish Whole Sea Bass in House Fermented Chili Broth: 4/10 read more

Chicken gizzard is great! I also like the eggplants. The atmosphere is also good for having a casual talk.

Food pretty good. Very authentic Hunan cuisine. Definitely Recommend to go! 非常推荐的正宗湖南菜～ read more

Hunan Impression - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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If you are looking for some spicy Hunan food I recommend this restaurant. It's good for large parties When you are seated you scan and Order through your phone so no issue with language barriers. We go for lunch and it's usually packed. read more

Great food and fast service. Priced friendly. We especially liked their spicy and numbing boiled fish.

We were looking for yummy restaurants in the South Bay and came across a Reddit post mentioning Hunan Impression as one of the top eats in SJ. We came by 30 minutes before closing and got seated right away. We ordered the fish fillet in chili oil and shredded potatoes- the fish had so much favor but I wish the potatoes had more spice! I am looking to try mapo tofu and spicy fish pot next. Note: there's already an 18% gratitude added to the bill. read more

Hunan Impression - Shredded potato - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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This is my go-to spicy Chinese food restaurant in the Bay Area! Every dish I tried is delicious. I've been here 10+ times and it never disappoints me. Highly recommend read more

Hunan Impression - Pork rib - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

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Love the cold chicken. It's hard getting my friends to come with me here. little red book says there's a lot of car break-ins. I've been coming since they opened. Not onces has my car been broken into. read more

Pretty Delicious！！ Strong recommend its Grilled fish and Lofa! feeling like I was in Hometown. read more

Hunan Impression - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Best Chinese food I ever had in Bay Area! Very spicy but still very good! I try the spicy beef, , this is one of my favorite. Also , the chicken is very good! read more

Hunan Impression - Spicy chicken - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

The grilled fish here is absolutely delicious! It was packed with flavor, perfectly seasoned, and had just the right amount of kick. Highly recommend! read more

Hunan Impression - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

I ordered braised pork bone soup with lotus root with peanuts and braised red amaranth with broth, things I liked a lot while I was back home, things that I can't find easily here in Bay Area. They taste decent, and the portion was big enough to feed two hungry people. I'll follow up with services and ambiance when I get the chance to visit the place in person. read more

Always top choice when we have friends gathering! Recommended to try it out! Always top choice when we have friends gathering! Recommended to try it out! read more

Good environment and service. The food is also authentic. Tried the rib and pepper beef. Recommend!! read more

Hunan Impression - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California

Good food. Nice atmosphere authentic food. Come back soon. Next week. Going back. I'm coming

Always the go-to for spicy food. Outstanding service and friendly staff. The restaurant is pretty and well- designed. Very nice place, must try! read more

Really great Chinese restaurant in San Jose that my friend absolutely loves. They have a wide variety of great chinese dishes, and each of them are good! Their Suanchai Fish (Pickled Cabbage Fish Filet) was excellent, and not very spicy (which I enjoyed). Their fried rice was made quite well, and the Organic Cauliflower with Pork Crackling is a must get! The contrast between the cauliflower and the pork was wonderful. Their Pork Ribs with Salted Egg Yolk is also a must get! A very crispy exterior full of flavour. Service is usual, nothing too out of the ordinary. It always feels quite busy, but even without reservations you probably will still be able to get seated quite quickly. Prices are pretty reasonable! read more

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Very delicious food. Servers are very friendly. A great place to hang out with friends.

Great food, friendly service, and a really nice atmosphere. Everything we ordered was fresh and flavorful. Definitely a place I'd come back to! read more

the wait around 6pm on a saturday was only 14 min! this time continues to be a good window :p and this spot still hits. - sliced beef combo in spicy sauce: surprisingly large portion for an appetizer. despite how it looks, it wasn't overwhelmingly spicy. there was a bit of numbing flavor, but the balance was nice. - sautéed eggplant w/string beans: there were more eggplants than string beans but still garlicky and flavorful. - sautéed spicy beef brisket: soo spicy omg the heat level was no joke. the beef was rly tender yum - spicy grilled fish: the star of the night! the spice blend was excellent, and the heat level was perfect (pretty spicy but we have high tolerances hehe) read more

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Absolutely incredible. Great service, top tier food. Get there at opening or it'll be a long wait. They automatically add an 18% service fee which means you don't have to calculate tip. read more

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approved by my family friends from hunan so you know this is super authentic and yummy. no misses here on food so get what seems interesting to you. can feel a bit heavy and oily though so be prepared. this place always has a line every time i've been, so ambiance is very bustling and slightly loud. good spot for small group gatherings read more

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4 starts for the food and 5 stars for service, especially Michael the assistant manager. My friend and I love Szechuan food and is always looking for the most spicy and numbing level of spice. Lotus root: my favorite dish of all of the things we got, great flavor and s nice crunch Century egg: delish and can't go wrong Salted egg pork ribs: tasty. I prefer leaner pork dishes so this is good and oily goodness if you're into it Kung pao chicken: skip this. The flavor wasn't as good as other places and it's mostly peanuts and green scallion with little pieces of chicken read more

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One of my favorite Chinese restaurants in San Jose - Hunan Impression They specialize in Hunan cuisine, which is known for its spicy flavors. My spice tolerance is quite low, but I'm still addicted and keep going back for more. The meat was tender, the flavors were rich, the textures were diverse, and the service was very friendly. They don't take reservations, but for larger parties, you can call in advance--they'll prioritize your table when you check in. read more

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I definitely love it! Best spicy Chinese food in South Bay. Food is great and the service also great

yesterday a friend suggested we try this restaurant and overall the food was fine, but something about the dining experience was quite off putting we ordered the spicy chicken and fish fillet in chili oil, yet every time even a bit of chili or whatever oil appeared on our plates, a server would immediately come over to replace them for some reason?? another aspect that struck me as odd was the yellow cloth hanging from the servers. turns out, it's used for wiping down tables, and yet they would just leave it hanging off their aprons without being replaced at all from how long i've been watching them. kinda disgusting if im being honest. the tissues they pull out from the aprons are also funky smelling and crinkled : / read more

The dishes here were really spicy, yet they tasted amazing. I usually can only handle mildly spicy food; however, I couldn't stop eating because everything was so delicious, especially the grilled fish. The fish was extremely tender and flavorful, as were the vegetables soaked in the spicy soup. The portions were so large that we couldn't finish the dish and had to take the leftovers home. We'll definitely come back to try other signature dishes. read more

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Great spicy food, they can modify the spicy level to suit your needs. Always busy during weekends. Steamed fish filets with red and green peppers are great. Sautéed lotus root and Chong Qing spicy chicken are to die for. Food portion is huge. Service is great read more

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This restaurant is located in a small strip mall just off Bollinger Road in Cupertino. It is popular even for a Monday evening as customers seem to stream in and out while I was dining there. Unfortunately did all the ordering and I was unfamiliar with the actual names of the dishes however I will stay y best to describe them. One of the most popular dishes we ordered was the Chongqing style boneless spicy chicken. A lot of tables had this dish on them and it is simple fried chicken pieces with a whole bunch of chopped up dried chili peppers. Definitely not for the faint of heart and can be quite spicy. Personally I am not a fan of m as mala chili peppers because of the numbing effect and there was very little chicken in the dish. The next dish was the Organic Cauliflower with pork crackling. It is a very good and tasty dish. The last dish was the shredded cabbage with sliced pork which was also very tasty and good. Service itself is quite prompt and professional. We did not have to wait long for the food to show up. Also ordering using a QR code made things quite convenient. I would like to come by again to try some of the other dishes on the menu. read more

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This place will really satisfy your Hunan spice urges. The 'mala' spicy food compared quite well to the local Szechwan cuisine in China. The service was great - lazy Suzy worked very well. Lots of families enjoying the various delicacies. The noise level on the higher side. read more

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My favorite place. It's food if you can handle spicy. I think they have one of the best fried pig intestines in the area. The fry and the flavoring is sooo good. Also their chongqing style chicken. Lots of red peppers but the chicken is delicious. Mapo tofu is spicy but so good if you can handle the heat. The servers are nice and were able to tell when we needed more napkins or water. Wait can also be long too if you come during busy hours. We came close to closing time for lunch where they were able to seat us quickly but we've had to wait almost an hour before for lunch hours. read more

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Great restaurant with good food, service, and vibes. It's a casual restaurant so nothing too fancy but they were so accommodating to my friends and I sticking around for over 2 hours to chat. We ordered the spicy chicken, flame pork, and fish soup. All 3 were great but I would particularly recommend the chongquian style chicken!! I also highly recommend the sweet tea as a pair with the food because it's a great palate sweetener whenever a chili inevitably hits the back of your throat. I love spicy food and I wouldn't say anything was overwhelming, but the sweet tea was a great sip between each type of food too! read more

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I honestly love going to Hunan Impression. Their food is so good they don't even wait for your opinion -- they just auto-add that 15% tip like, "Yeah, sweetie, we already know we snapped." And honestly? Respect. The glow-up of the food is insane. It used to taste like "okay..." and now it tastes like the chef took a vacation to heaven, unlocked the DLC, and came back a changed person. The dishes aren't what they used to be -- they're what they wish they were. 100% recommended. Go eat and let them charge you before you even decide. They deserve it. Oh yeah ! read more

I went here on a week's lunch and had to wait a while. At least there's a boba shop nearby while I was waiting. The food is rather on the expensive side. Many of the dishes were quite spicy for my taste. read more

Mapo tofu extra spicy and the lotus root dish- only the real ones know. My husband and I crave for this place every so often and it usually never disappoints.... Except this last time... the mapo tofu didn't hit like it usually did.. and it wasn't as spicy. While we would probably still order from here, it just sucked that it wasn't consistent. I'd still recommend though, for sure. read more

Hunan Impression - Mapo tofu and smoked pork with bamboo - Chinese Near Me - San Jose, California