Two years ago, I conducted a historic competition that took place among three giants of the Georgetown Chinese delivery circuit: Kitchen No. 1, Best Hunan, and Hunan Peking. Scored on price, delivery time, taste, and texture, the judges based their decisions on three dishes: Orange Beef, General Tso’s Chicken, and Chicken Fried Rice. The winner? Hunan Peking, hands down, with Best Hunan a close second and Kitchen No. 1 more like Kitchen No. 3.
But these times, they are a-changin’. Hunan Peking has since closed its doors, and Best Hunan has changed its name and image to the posh Banana Leaves and Asian Restaurant. It was time for a do-over.
Basing their decisions on the same dishes and criteria as the Chinese Triathlon 2K6 panel, eight judges this year participated in a blind taste test of M Street’s Hunan Chinese Gourmet, Kitchen No. 1, and Banana Leaves Asian Restaurant to see whose eats couldn’t be beat.
With a price tag of $28.76, Hunan Gourmet was the first to arrive, squeaking in at under 19 minutes total for delivery time. Kitchen No. 1 caught second with their $31.60 order arriving in 36 minutes. The most expensive and slowest of the three, Banana Leaves’ deliveryman sauntered through the door after a nail-biting 43-minute wait and promptly left $32.34 richer.
Kitchen No. 1’s portions were larger than its competitors, but just as in the 2006 bout, less would have been more for the General Tso’s, due to questionable meat quality. Meat preparation was a problem for Hunan Gourmet as well, with meat the judges found “partially undercooked.”
Countering with better meat texture and superior chicken taste, Banana Leaves’ General Tso’s was the winner with four votes to Hunan Gourmet’s three (the judges recognized Hunan Gourmet’s superior taste in sauce and sizzling spiciness) and Kitchen No. 1’s solitary endorsement. The final count went 4-1-3. Round one to Banana Leaves.
Coming out fighting in round two, Banana Leaves swept the Orange Beef category. Flourishing a fuller, more pronounced orange taste and a superior texture, Banana Leaves left the competition behind, 8-0-0.
If one could say that Kitchen No. 1 failed most at any of the three categories it would have to be in their Chicken Fried Rice. Pallid, flavorless chicken sat amidst plastic bits of rice like a frightened, friendless child waits in the ball-pit at Chuck E. Cheese’s for better times.
In the other Chicken Fried Rice corners, however, vegetables abounded and flavors came out in full force. Bean sprouts were a big crowd-pleaser working in Hunan Gourmet’s favor and Banana Leaves produced a dish that “goes down easy” according to one judge, with an all-around smokier flavor as well as thinner sliced, more flavorful pieces of chicken.
After a heated debate, no consensus was reached and the count went 4-0-4 in a tie between Banana Leaves and Hunan Gourmet.
The big winner of the night was Hunan Chinese Gourmet with five out of the eight overall votes. Banana Leaves and Asian Restaurant came in second and Kitchen No. 1 reclaimed its title as Kitchen No. 3 with zero votes. Despite Banana Leaves’ winning of two of the three categories, the difference in quality wasn’t substantial enough to make up for the half hour of additional delivery time and higher price. Hunan Gourmet’s Tso’s sauce and rice were definitely their strong points, which impressed the judges for their time and monetary value. As for Kitchen No. 1? Put a chopstick in ‘em, they’re done.
Reign supreme with Michael at mhk9@georgetown.edu.
