BEST ASIAN BUFFET 2014 - YUMMY CHINA BUFFET, East Meadow, New York

It has been awhile since we have given a Best Asian Buffet award. We dine at many Asian buffets. It takes a very special one to really stand out and Yummy China Buffet in East Meadow, New York stands out. It is not a large restaurant and in fact, it is one of the smaller Asian buffets. It does not have rows and rows of buffet servers. It has one long server, a wall next to that with cold items, and a combination hibachi grill and sushi bar. What it has is outstanding food, prepared, and maintained better than any other Asian/Chinese buffet that we have been to.

We have been watching this buffet since it opened about two years ago. During its first year it was expensive for buffets in this area and, frankly, because of the price we did not go in. About a year ago, the owner decided to lower the price and to do this he removed the nightly lobster feature from the menu. That was fine as he brought the price down to where it could better compete with other local Asian buffets. During this past year, the price was lowered again - to $13.99 where it is priced just right, especially for the excellent food that he is serving. As our readers are aware, our criteria for a best or top buffet requires value and quality and with the lower price those two criteria were more than met. But we also look at consistency over time and that criteria was easily met as well. The criteria of good service has been very well met - both by the women who care for you at your table but also by the chef who is at the sushi bar and hibachi grill. The Asian gentleman at the grill who also doubles as the sushi chef does an excellent job and prepares your order perfectly to your request. We were realizing that we were in a "best" buffet about mid-year. We dined here several more times to be sure and we are very sure. We have written about this buffet during this past year and you can go back and read the reviews.Our most recent review was at the beginning of December.

One thing that is special about this buffet is that while they are serving the standard dishes that appear on many Asian buffets, they also are serving their special dishes. Every review we come back to one dish that is exceptional and that is their Yummy Pork. This is a slow cooked pork roast - with the skin in a thin sauce that compliments the meat well. You carve a piece off for yourself from the hot serving tray. Sometimes it just falls apart which is good. The meat is tender and moist. We have tried other similar pork dishes at other Asian buffets and there has been nothing like this one. The sign says "Ancient Recipe" and I am sure that it is - and no one else seems to have that recipe that tries to serve a similar dish.

There are many other excellent dishes that you will find here on the buffet. There is a very broad selection of seafood, beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, and vegetable dishes. If the name says "Yummy" try it, as these are their specialties.

The hibachi grill is small but has everything that you would want to have prepared hibachi style - an assortment of vegetables, noodles, chicken, beef, shrimp, and raw eggs in the shell. The chef will prepare it to your liking. What is different about this from other Asian buffets? This chef knows what he is doing. I really can't say that about many other Asian buffets. When this chef is not there, the owner takes over - and does just as excellent a job at cooking.

One very important thing about this buffet is that the owner is out in the dining room and around the buffet servers the whole time. He keeps an eye that everything is running just as it should be and we have seen him bring special things over to a table on request. As we have said so many times before, when the manager is hands on and involved - and in this case the owner - that is what is going to make a major difference in how good a buffet is. This combined with excellent workers and the difference is going to show and it certainly does.

We have found hidden gems in the past and Yummy China Buffet is certainly one of them. This is a must try. Try it for dinner. We have not been there for lunch and while I am sure that lunch is as excellent as dinner, you are going to get the experience that we have had so many times at dinner - and we have been to dinner here both weekends and mid-week.

This is a must try. And we are very happy to name Yummy China Buffet as BEST ASIAN BUFFET OF 2014!

The Yummy China Buffet and Sushi Restaurant is located at 398 Merrick Avenue, East Meadow, New York 11554. The telephone number is 516-486-2525. There is now a website that is linked at the side of this page.  (By the way that website right now  has a coupon for $5 off dinner on Mondays to Thursdays.) The restaurant is NOW open seven days a week from 11:30 am to 10:00 pm.