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Chef Tan

4.3 (49 reviews)
Closed 11:00 am - 3:30 pm, 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM

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Recommended Reviews - Chef Tan

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Paul J.

Looking for a new, authentic Chinese food experience, we found Chef Tan in Danor Plaza, Vienna. Chef Tan's is straddling the new and the old - menus are on your phone via QR code on the table, and the servers have iPads to transmit your order to the kitchen. But the food is classic authentic. I got the Mapu Tofu, and the spices were brighter with a slightly different flavor profile than the typical Mapu Tofu from standard Chinese restaurants. My favorite was the Fish Griddled, tender thin filets of fried fish sauteed with vegetables and spices. Overall, a culinary taste adventure with authentic Chinese food. Give Chef Tan's a try!

Tofu Casserole
Elaine C.

This place is a little more upscale than the typical Chinese restaurant, but my family wasn't particularly impressed by the food. While it is authentic Hunan cuisine and flavorful for the most part, certain stylistic choices and the lack of vegetables did not reflect the diversity of Chinese cuisine. I was also slightly put off by the fact that three of our serving dishes were chipped, which felt inconsistent with the refined atmosphere this restaurant seems to be aiming for. The only dish I would wholeheartedly recommend is the glutinous rice cakes with brown sugar (found in the dessert section but served as an appetizer).

Dishes
Min Z.

Chef Tan offers authentic, spicy Hunan food. Service is casual but friendly from the waitstaff. Prices are reasonable and depend on your order. A few menu items were unavailable. Dish highlights: 5*Stir-Fried Pork Intestines - Delicious. 5*Minced Pork with Sour Pickled Bean - Excellent with rice. One of our favorite dishes. 4*Spicy Pepper Beef Tripe - Good, but can be chewy.

Lily H.

Chef Tan offers up authentic Hunan style options. You know the restaurant is legit when you walk in and almost every customer is Chinese. The food is good though the prices are quite high as compared to everywhere else. Understandably this is Vienna, but even within Vienna there are other legit Chinese restaurants with a lower price range. Still, we would come back as the flavors here are quite good.

Tasnia H.

Food: AUTHENTIC! AUTHENTIC! Authentic Hunan cuisine that you won't find in any other restaurants for chinese food. Foods include aorta, century eggplant, stinky tofu (REAL STINKY!!), and more. Service: super fast and if you pay cash you get a 12% discount off the price ;) Ambiance: perfect for first dates or large gatherings

P11 Salted Egg Yolk w. Shrimp
Ailun H.

Chef Tan is a Hunan restaurant in Vienna that opened up recently. My friends and I got dinner this past Thursday and had a great experience. The interior is pretty new and clean, and the service was very attentive. The food came out 10 minutes after we ordered online via Chowbus. Our server stopped by to check in on our group to make sure we enjoyed the food and joked around with us. P4 CHEF TAN FRESH FISH W. PICKLED VEGETABLES 老坛酸菜鱼 - 35.99 This is more of a Sichuan-classic, but a favorite within our group, so we had to order it. The portion size was large, but we've seen similar portions at other restaurants for a cheaper price. There was plenty of fish, which was soft and tender, soaking up the soup very well. The soup was creamy and not too spicy, which was warming and soothing. There was also plenty of pickled veggies and glass noodles to keep the flavors and textures interesting. Overall, this was a great choice, and we liked that the soup didn't taste overly oily or greasy. P11 SALTED EGG YOLK W. SHRIMP 咸蛋黄虾球 - 20.99 This is more of a Cantonese-origin Chinese dish that was very savory (from the salted egg yolk layer) and flavorful. The shrimp were perfectly fried and the amount of salted egg yolk in each one really seasoned it deliciously. The shrimp chips mixed in were a nice touch, but a bit stale. I really enjoyed the shrimp and salted egg yolk combination and would recommend giving it a try. J8 CLAY POT TOFU 砂锅豆腐 - 19.99 This was listed under the Hunan-style dishes, but I thought it was a pretty generic Chinese option. The tofu was seared nicely on the sides, super soft and soaked up the sauce well. There was bits of minced meat, too. One of my friends really liked the sauce (which I thought was a tad watery). Despite the simplicity, it was very flavorful. V6 SAUTEED STRING BEANS 干煸四季豆 - 15.99 This is a classic vegetable dish. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't exceptional. My friends liked this a lot more than me and think it's one of the best string beans (prepared in this style) they've had. Overall, you can't go wrong with this one, but I'd venture out to try something different next time. Overall, the food was very good and flavorful, but the pricing is what you'd expect in the area. I'd definitely come back for the dishes we ordered and would love to try other Hunan specialties in the future.

Lamb with Celery
Sharon L.

We dined here on a Saturday night as a party of 5 and had a wonderful experience. We didn't have a reservation, but we showed up when they opened (around 5pm) and we were seated promptly. We were seated in the back corner since we had a child. The staff was prompt and guided us to order using the QR code. We ordered: - hunan style stinky tofu (stinky, spicy, and colored black just like the one I've had in Changsha) - century egg with chili and eggplant (sooo good and different from anything I've had here. My mom said this is just like she's had in Hunan) - sautéed slice lamb in hunan style (good, but I thought I would like this more) - sliced pork with dried tofu (so good, a classic) - a stir fry pork belly with peppers Everything was sooo delicious, hot, and authentic and I absolutely can't wait to return with my family!

Jennifer H.

Food is authentic and really delicious! 2nd time here. Service is pretty prompt and nice. Ambiance is big clean setting; new authentic Chinese restaurant. Can't wait to come back tomorrow to try more dishes. Great find.

Pork knuckles savory with a hint of numbing oil
Keith A.

We decided to try out Chef Tan in Vienna for their Hunan dishes and we were very impressed with the food! My favorite was the lamb which was seasoned with cumin and was a little spicy. The lamb was sliced very thin and tender. The cubed chicken was very good also, and was seasoned very different than the lamb. The chicken was very savory, and even less spicy. The pork knuckles were also very good, savory with a bit of numbing oil that I could taste. The pork was tender and flavorful. The stinky tofu was the spiciest of all the dishes, crispy outside and like a fried/puff tofu inside. All the dishes are authentic Chinese dishes and all very well executed. The restaurant itself has an upscale feel and is very inviting. We will definitely be back when we want some really good authentic dishes in an upscale atmosphere!

J2 sautéed sliced lamb hunan style 小炒羊肉
Crystal X.

I brought my Chinese parents here for dinner and they both enjoyed it! Everything tasted flavorful without being too salty. Our favorite was the fresh fish with pickled vegetables; the fish was fresh and the broth wasn't too sour. Their sauteed lamb and Chinese mustard greens were also tasty and well prepared.

Elizabeth S.

Definitely one of my favorite Chinese places. It gets busy so you may want to make a reservation. Parking is free. Love to atmosphere and the service is really good for a Chinese restaurant. They sell stinky tofu which I'm not a fan of but my husband and his mom loves it. She even drinks the sauce. The green beans and cabbage were excellent. The ribs had a spicy kick with lots of flavor. I always get the fish.

Green onion pancake
Erica C.

Would recommend this Hunan Chinese restaurant! Came spontaneously for an early Friday night dinner. We were seated quickly but the restaurant was packed by the time we left around 7. All the dishes were great and had that Chinese authenticity that's missing at in the food at some other restaurants, and for this reason we would definitely come back! They have 2-3 large lazy Susan tables for larger parties and overall appreciated that even the 2 person tables had a lot of room.

Interior
Nancy R.

We were surprised and excited when looking at the menu at Chef Tan to see so many dishes we had never tried before. We had to give some a try so we mixed some familiar with some new. On this day, we opted for the acclaimed house specialty of stinky tofu, the steamed dumplings, pressure cooked pork belly, Hunan style fried tilapia whole fish and spicy and sour ribeye in pumpkin sauce. We placed our order using the QR code on the table and our server promptly came out of the kitchen to verify that we were ok with spicy, with the fact that the fish was whole and had bones and that the tofu was stinky, etc. We took this as gentle concern seeing that it was probable that we were new to several of these dishes. After triple checking that we liked spicy, our order was placed and arrived promptly. The dishes were spicy (and we do spicy) and they were very tasty. The stinky tofu did kind of smell like feet, but the tofu had such a wonderful consistency and the sauce was so tasty that we ordered extra rice to pour it over. Our favorite dish was the whole fish which was delicious. The restaurant was open and spacious and not too loud even when full of families. The service was great. Parking is easily available in the lot out front.

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9 months ago

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10 months ago

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8 months ago

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4 months ago

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5 months ago

For the price, I was hoping for larger portions. I felt that the taste of the food was just okay.

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10 months ago

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Ask the Community - Chef Tan

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I was in the area and came in for take out to enjoy for lunch the next day at home. I live in an…read morearea that doesn't have very much in the way of ethnic joints, so anytime I'm in the Northern VA area, I try to grab something to bring home and enjoy for dinner or lunch the next day. I used Toast to place my order and simply went in to pick it up and it was ready on time for my arrival. I re-heated what I got in the microwave oven and that didn't take long and it tasted great. I got their cumin beef and their long pepper chicken. Both had the correct, and diverse flavors I enjoy from "non-American-style" Chinese joints. The heat level was also perfect; nice & spicy!! The textures of the proteins were spot on. The amount of seasonings and everything were great too. Definitely would return!

I got recommended to this place by a fellow foodie friend, and I was impressed with the flavor! We…read morehave since come here four times, and will continue to come when we are craving Chinese food. So with no surprise, the food has a lot of chilis, but the spice is not overwhelming or the type to make you feel like your mouth is on fire. They have a decently sized menu and a few vegetarian option as well. They are transparent about what foods are gluten free, and the staff there are happy to go over those things with you and answer what questions you may have if you have certain allergies. Our favorite things to order here are the lazi chicken, and egg plant dish. We also enjoy the cauliflower. Their food comes with a personal size bowl of rice that is complimentary and does not cost extra. If you order to go, their food is done very quick, and a big majority of their orders are to go. The dining space is small, and can fit parties of 4 easily. It's not a vibey spot but if you're looking for good Chinese food, try this place out!

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Halal Hunan Cafe Tyson - Sesame Chicken with white rice; Spring rolls

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.We love Chinese food, but it's been hard to find authentic halal options nearby. We've passed…read moreHunan Cafe many times, but when we suddenly noticed a Halal sign, we decided to give it a try--and we absolutely do not regret it. This place is a hidden gem. It's small but clean, with friendly service and excellent food quality. Prices are what you'd expect for the area, but a big plus is that there's easy parking. Most importantly, the food tasted genuinely authentic. The vegetables and meat had that perfect crunch--fresh, well-cooked, and flavorful without being heavy or greasy. Everything was so tender it barely needed chewing. We ordered the crispy beef, Singapore rice (I think!), and a few other dishes, and everything was spot on. Highly recommended, especially if you're looking for authentic halal Chinese food. We'll definitely be back.

Usually this place has good food at reasonable prices. I should have known to stick to the basics…read moreand the dishes which usually hit the spot. I tried something new, their "Thai" D Drunken noodle with Hala Beef. I mean it tasted fine. But it was actually Chow-fun with some jalapenos & basil thrown in with some bell peppers for color. The beef was tender and good. BUT where's the spicy, sweet, salty, sour & thai basil flavor? This had none of that. No fish sauce. No palm sugar. No thai chili peppers. No Thai basil. It was basically stir -fried wide noodles with some veg. It wasn't even spicy. $16.50!!! Please stick to just Chinese/Chinese-American food and leave the Thai food to the Thai people. Fried rice and crab rangoon were good.

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Chef Tan - chinese - Updated May 2026

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