A new Chinese fusion restaurant combing the spices of Hunan with the Spanish concept of tapas has opened its doors in Long Island City.
Hunan Tapas, located at 41-07 Crescent St., offers traditional Hunan dishes on small plates to share, much like at a Spanish tapas restaurant.
The fusion concept, launched by Chi Zhang, has taken over much of the space formerly occupied by ramen house Sansan Ramen, which Zhang also operated.
Seeing the changing demographics of Long Island City firsthand, Zhang opted to downsize Sansan to a takeout location and introduce a new Hunan-based concept honoring his own heritage.
The new space, which can seat around 80 guests, aims to redefine the American Chinese experience by adding Hunan spices.
Hunan, a mountainous province in southern China, is renowned for its spicy food, with Hunan cuisine often regarded as the spiciest of all Chinese food.
Hunan tapas boasts four levels of spice, ranging from mild to traditional Hunan spice, which features a variety of fresh chili such as bird’s eye chili and twisted chili peppers. Zhang added that staff at the restaurant will be happy to remake dishes at lower spice levels if guests find their orders to spicy to deal with, noting that even the “milder” dishes are still spicy by most American definitions.
The Hunan Tapas menu, meanwhile, offers a delicious blend of Hunan staples and other Chinese or American Chinese classics cooked in traditional Hunan spice.
Classic Hunan dishes served at the new restaurant include Hunan-style sauteed beef, stir-fried eggs with chilis and a “farmer’s treat,” including pork belly, scrambled eggs and peppers.
“Everything is from the backyard or farmland,” Zhang said in reference to the pork dish.
Hunan Tapas also offers a new take on several classics found in Chinese restaurants across the United States, including a Hunan-inspired General Tso’s Chicken and a variety of Chow Mein dishes infused with Hunan spices.
Meanwhile, the restaurant’s “Thunder Pepper Century Egg” – one of Zhang’s own inventions – blends Hunan chilis and spices with burrata to create a Hunan-Italian fusion dish.
The restaurant’s House Mei Fun is a reference to a popular noodle dish common enjoyed within Hunan, while American Chinese classics such as broccoli chicken and cashew chicken have been reinvented with Hunan spices.
Zhang said Long Island City represents the perfect location to open a Hunan-inspired restaurant, noting that the neighborhood boasts a growing population of young professionals. He also noted that younger generations tend to favor spicier dishes while recognizing recent trends that have seen customers pivot from sweeter dishes to spicier alternatives.
“Guests here are eating something unique,” Zhang said. “You don’t find those chilis at home.”
Zhang has also introduced lunch specials at the newly-opened restaurant, offering one entree served with rice or noodles and a soda for between $13 and $15.
He is also currently crafting a new drinks menu at the locations, offering a number of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages crafted using lime juice, which Zhang says is a common method of combatting the taste of spicy food in Hunan.
Hunan Tapas will open from 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day and Zhang believes the restaurant is ideally-situated to benefit from the continued development of Long Island City.
Zhang, who has opened several restaurants in Manhattan in the past, has also opened a brand-new location in Great Neck and plans to open another location near Flushing.
He said he is “excited” to introduce new customers to Hunan cuisine and believes the new Long Island City location will be a big hit in the local community.
