Hunanese cuisine often takes a back seat to the Bay Area’s bumper crop of Cantonese and Sichuanese restaurants, so it’s no wonder that this hot spot has caught on with the area’s Chinese transplants seeking Hunan dishes. Expect a wait at peak meal hours—especially for large parties, as the dining room is compact. The boldly flavored dishes incorporate oodles of smoked, cured and fermented ingredients-from the bacon-like pork wok-tossed with leeks, garlic and soy, to the pungent pork, black bean and pickled chili mixture that tops those spicy, chewy, hand-cut Godfather's noodles. The whole chili-braised fish, fresh and flaky in its bath of bright red chili sauce flecked with scallions and garlic, is an absolute must.