[REVIEW] Yao’s Diner, Centereach, New York

If it’s authentic Chinese food you’re after, Yao’s Diner fits the bill. If it’s a romantic setting or Americanized Chinese food, then definitely keep rolling.

It’s clearly not a place you’d go on a first date. Although there was a couple there who seemed to be on a first date. I don’t give her a good chance for a second date!

And, the bathroom is clearly there for emergencies only.

All that said, the staff was excellent and our waitress offered us suggestions as we searched for authentic Chinese food. And that is exactly what we have.

Yao’s Diner is definitely a hole-in-the-wall place, and if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re bound to walk past it (just ask Wandering Jew, err Mee Yong Joo…he finally arrived once the appetizers were on the table Maybe he knew what he was doing after all!).

Yao’s Diner is located at 2503 Middle Country Road, Centereach, NY 11720.

Even with the help of an address, if you rely on Google Maps on an Android phone, you might be better off looking for visual cues. Like this:

The restaurant was BYOB (at least we think it was… they didn’t speak much English there so we took the liberty). That always scores high with us. We know that if a restaurant is not dependent on alcoholic beverage revenue, it has to focus on the quality of the food.

So what do we ask for? Our waitress chose all the dishes we ordered with only a few requests from us. We start with some appetizers:

• Mixed Flavor Pork Ribs (These are NOT the typical pork ribs you’d expect to find at a Chinese restaurant. They were meaty and flavorful…not sweet)
• Szechuan Pork Dumplings

Next, we ordered some main dishes and a vegetable side dish:

• Sliced ​​base fish with silken tofu pot (that was a famous Szechuan dish (that’s what was on the menu… so it must be true!)
• Spicy Pot Chicken with Mixed Vegetables
• Pulled pork with small bamboo shoots
• Sautéed dried beans

I’m going to leave the detailed analysis to the other Mee who said they wanted to post a separate review. I’ll let them break the dishes.

Yao’s Diner now ranks first in our survey of Chinese restaurants on Long Island. We have many ways to go. Will Yao still be number 1? Time will tell.

As has become our tradition, here are the fortunes we received (spelling is correct):

• “Your adventure could lead you to happiness”
• “The kind of advice we don’t like to take often turns out to be the best”
• “The life of every woman or every man – her heart – is pure and holy joy”
• “The road is getting easier from here on out. Luck is helping”

Thank you, my friends, for allowing this Mee the opportunity to share my opinion with you.

— Lonnie Goldman aka Mee Magnum “Chop-Chop!”