Best Chinese Restaurant

It doesn't attract much attention to itself in the large strip center in the 3800 block of Bellaire, but Hunan's food is worth coming back to -- again and again. Go before you're really hungry. You'll need the extra time to wade through the eight-page menu in the understated but elegant surroundings. Where to start? The vegetable dumplings ($5.25 for ten), stuffed with Chinese black mushrooms, hot bean curd, carrots, spinach and Chinese cabbage are a good place. The accompanying ginger sauce packs a punch and is the perfect complement to the fresh-steamed delicacies. From there, just choose what you're hungry for -- there's not a bad item on the menu. The most popular entrées are the shrimp and chicken with cashews ($8.50), the General Tso's chicken ($8.95), the scallops and shrimp with vegetables ($9.95), and the shrimp with chili sauce ($9.95), an intoxicating blend of secret family ingredients made fresh. Other notables are the crispy duck ($8.95), steamed ahead of time to rid it of extra fat, marinated in another secret family recipe, deep-fried and served with vegetables in a hoisin sauce; and the "volcano" crispy shrimp, fried in cornmeal, served on a bed of broccoli and with a bowl of the sweet but powerful volcano sauce, made fresh, on the side. You'll erupt in cheers.