Hunan River Restaurant

10/10/07

A place to meet

by basye1 at Citysearch

Overall, recommended. Maybe it is a victory of comfort and habit merely, but my friends and I find ourselves meeting at this place. While there is nothing superbly great about it, it works as a package: location, convenience, ambience, service, food. The interior is sufficiently interesting and sophisticated (no cheap plastic dragons on the walls), the music is not too loud for conversation, the service is better than average (solicitous and fast, most of the time) and it is possible to get enough privacy if you need to have a business meeting or a private chat. While in principle I am not a fan of this trend, all-too-prevalent in Houston, of combining different and often incompatible cuisines in one establishment (exactly how do sushi and Chinese go together, except by some vague association of both being "eastern"?), in practice this ends up accommodating different tastes. Great martinis. The moo-shi pork at $5.50 is delicious and a bargain. Oh, and the parking. Half the time you can deposit your chariot within a few steps of one of the two entries to the restaurant.

• Pros: service, ambience, convenience, great place to talk
• Cons: occasionally average food; occasionally inexperienced wait staff