Sumiao Hunan Kitchen

Wow. It's fuffy high end Chinese, with a price to match. But it's DARN GOOD fuffy high end Chinese. (Think: $25 for lunch with tax/tip). I lived in Northern California for many years, and I know good Chinese is like. The food here is terrific. Some of the very best Chinese I've had in my years in Massachusetts (not a high bar, I know).Recommended! More...

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Shrimp fried rice and beef with pepper was good!

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Sumaio offers a refreshing modern take on Chinese cuisine. Can't miss favorites are Grandma's Pork, Lava Fish and Hunan Street Noodles, to name just a few. The waitress Bernadette and Johnny the bartender deserve special recognition for making dining at Sumaio truly a pleasure. More...

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Love it!! I will be back!

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Refreshingly different Chinese restaurant offering dishes from the Hunan region. Ranges from numbingly, but not painfully, spicy protein-rich dishes to balanced vegetarian options, and cooling drinks and cocktails that can aptly extinguish the fiery dishes on the menu.

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The Chinese food here is amazing! If it's slightly cheaper than now, i will be here every day.

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Amazing food and even better service from our waitress (Laura) who was brilliant.Will definitely be visiting again next time I'm in town.

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A little pricey but good Chinese food.

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Modern delicate Chinese dishes

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Amazing, apparently authentic food, really really delicious! And fantastic drinks! Highly recommended

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This place was fantastic. The person who greeted us was very friendly, and everyone was super great to my little one. The food was very spicy, though we ordered everything spicy. My only complaint is it was a little expensive, but worth it for a date night! More...

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I swear there's a systematic downward bias in asian restaurants. Ice cream shops and french restaurants are auto-5star. Shu Miao is surprisingly authentic with a gorgeous interior. This is an upscale Chinese restaurant that's clean and well executed. More...

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Epic authentic food, I want to try every dish here

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Good tasting food with fresh ingredient! Great service!

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Extremely delicious Hunan cuisine. Compared to other Hunan cuisine in the area, this one is better, faster, cleaner and enjoyable.

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Went there 4 times in 5 days, because it is that good.

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Delicious authentic cuisine!

Reviewed on Facebook

Great lunch spot. I've gone twice now and had a great meal and great service on both occasions. I expect this to work it's way into my regular lunch rotation. I'll definitely be visiting again.

Reviewed on Google Maps

Love the food and aesthetic.

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Spicy modern Chinese food. Pricey, but worth the price of admission.

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Food has always been great and staff is attentive to provide great service

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After hearing various reviews about this place for a long time, I finally got a chance to try it myself. The first impression of the atmosphere was more chic and upscale than I expected. When looking through the menu, some items immediately jumped out as things I would order and eat in Changsha which set the expectations high for authenticity. We ordered a good mix of Hunan dishes and general Chinese dishes and a few cocktails. First off, the baijiu cocktails were amazing and I've never thought you could mix them in cocktails so nicely but I really enjoyed them. The baijiu taste is pretty strong and not for everyone, but if you're a fan of baijiu like me, I'd highly recommend them, especially the Pyroclastic one (can't remember exact name).As for the food, I'm torn because the quality was all very good, but I still don't feel liked they tasted like Hunan dishes (though I did look up the restaurant again and I notice they claim to have modernized the flavors so it's understandable it doesn't taste traditional). In this aspect I'm a little disappointed, but the quality of the dishes were all excellent. I especially loved the stone pot cauliflower and the eel pot also. The tang you ba ba (gelatinous rice dessert) was also not quite the right flavor, but maaaybe my expectations were too high, might still be worth trying if you've never had though. I was hoping to finally have an authentic tasting Hunan restaurant, and while I feel that this isn't it, the food was still quite good and I'm definitely interested in trying some other things on the menu. Although another thing to watch out for is that the pricepoint was also way higher than I expected! More...

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Tasty food, if you like spicy

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Best Chinese restaurant in Boston... I have no idea why it's not a 4.8!

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Lunch is not that pricy, good spicy food.

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Nice rice noodles

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Delicious and elevated experience of Hunan chinese food in Cambridge.

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Absolutely delicious plates, nice to mix and match. The spicy fried tofu was very intense but rich and satisfying. The scallion pancakes were some of the best and softest I've seen. Would go again.

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The food is outstanding! Some of the best General Tso chicken I ever had. Also, The Steamed Pork Bao and Hunan Street Noodles were also very good. The service was the best. We will visit again before leaving. More...

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Food is Delicious!

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Reviewing high end Asian restaurants as a Chinese-American person is always tricky. How tasty is it? Is it tastier than Asian restaurants of similar cuisine? And if it's not tastier, then how much weight do you give to decor and service to justify its price point? There’s a feeling that Asian food (not including Japanese food here) should be cheap and tasty, and that some of its tastiness DERIVES from its affordability. But I believe that’s a dangerous construct, one that perpetuates the racism against minorities and upholds the idea that non-Western cuisine can’t be fancy, can’t be philosophical, can’t be expensive.Sumiao has an absolutely gorgeous interior: a riot of colors amidst an exposed ceiling and industrial-looking furniture. A long bar circles the restaurant; there is great contrast between the curved wooden high-tops and the more geometric square low-top tables. Service is mostly prompt and friendly; we ordered within 3-5 minutes of sitting down and got our food shortly thereafter.Was the food good? Sure. Was it the best Chinese food in the area? Maybe the best Hunan food, but definitely not the best Chinese food. The salted duck egg yolk corn was tasty ($18), although wasn’t quite as crispy as I would have liked and skewed sweet in my opinion. The sesame noodles ($12) were a bit oily but the noodles themselves had great mouthfeel. The mountain yam ($18) was my favorite: spicy, crunchy, a little gooey, with nice chunks of pork belly and garlic. The Hunan ½ duck ($36) was a little unwieldy and I wish there had been a crisp element (green onions or cucumbers for the soft buns) but the duck itself was cooked well, with great crispy skin and not too much fat. (Side note: like a good Asian, prior to the waiter coming to box up our leftovers I separated all the meat and skin from the fat and bones…but when they boxed it they threw away the skin! I was so sad.)Finally, how innovative is it? In many ways, innovation in Asian food is just not as much of a thing, perhaps because there’s so much local pride. Moreover, mixing flavors from Sichuan and Hunan and Shaanxi could be very innovative but for American audiences, it's all just "Chinese” – it doesn’t push the envelope in the same way as, say, a southern-style Dungeness crab & grits “pushes the envelope.” Sometimes, it feels like the only way to innovate in Asian food is to combine with Western cuisines (think Pagu or Little Donkey) and then you run the risk of being branded with the dubious term “fusion.” So Sumiao isn’t…innovative, exactly, except for maybe on their tropical / rice-wine inspired drink menu. But they offer up some dishes I truly haven’t seen outside China (osmanthus cakes, yam bao with lotus paste filling) and that I appreciate.Tl;rd: 4 stars. We spent $120 after tax and tip for 2 people: 1 drink, 4 dishes, with a good amount of leftovers. Service is great. Ambiance is fun. Pretty tasty. Value is decent. More...

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I love it!!!!! Incredible food, very authentic, love the atmosphere here! Recommend Beef Tongue!

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Chicken gizzards and five sense braised beef are really goodBut the braise pork is below average and not authentic

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Tasty and good food. Very pleasantly surprised.

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Amazing food. The best Chinese I've ever had.

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Authentic Chinese food, super delicious and spicy. Bamboo shot is a must have.

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They can turn most of the vegetable dishes into vegan ones. Quite spicy. Particularly liked the pumpkin desert.

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Loved the food and the environment

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Price is high but these dishes generally worth it. Really spicy which is a good thing for Chinese.

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Very good Chinese restaurant with nice decor. The water egg is delicious!- and they’ve removed the egg and changed the menu for the worse since my original review. One star removed.

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Great Hunan food! Happy with most dishes except for the dessert.

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very good.

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Enjoyed the eel tonight cooked in a traditional style in a clay pot with a subtly sweet bottle of Sake and amazing company.

Reviewed on Facebook

Great food and great service. The portions are really generous

Reviewed on Google Maps

Food was good but the service was pretty slow

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