Hunan L'Rose

Before eating at Hunan L'Rose (http://www.goldenfork.com/hunanl), located at 1131 Annapolis Road, I had already discussed what I thought were the best Chinese restaurants in the area. For the sake of my rankings, I dragged Eugene out there this past Monday night. We went around 8 pm, and found the restaurant to be rather full for a rainy Monday night, which I thought boded well for the food. Nonetheless, the rankings don't change after going to Hunan L'Rose. There wasn't anything really wrong with the food; it was just underwhelming. It could be that we didn't order the best dishes. Who knows? We started out with the steamed dumplings -- meat-filled with a nice ginger accent. They were tasty enough. Just a warning, though. Apparently, they take a really really long time to cook, as our server told us when she brought them to the table after quite awhile. This may be true, so if you're starved and looking for a fast appetizer, the dumplings are not the answer. Eugene ordered the beef chow fun, and I ordered the sesame chicken. The beef chow fun was good with nice pieces of quality, charred beef. The sesame chicken was not as good. While the sauce was tangy and flavorful, the quality of the meat was only so-so; it was mainly dark meat, and I found that the taste of the dark meat detracted from the sauce. The meal ended with a nice hot towel and a mini cup of orange sherbet. Overall, the food was okay, but with Kwong's right down the street from where we live, I see no reason to make a special trip out there. And the weird thing? No chopsticks! It's hard to call yourself a serious Asian restaurant if you don't at least put chopsticks on the table.