Yummy House in Ocala is our favorite Chinese restaurant without having to drive to Orlando. We live in The Villages, unfortunately there just aren't any authentic ethnic restaurants in The Villages. There are wanna be Chinese restaurants in The Villages but the food is Chinese-American and I would not even eat there or recommend them.
Yummy House in Ocala was actually referred to us by the owner of Square 1 Burgers in The Villages, another fantastic restaurant but that's another review.
Yummy House offers a variety of authentic Chinese dishes, and they also offer Dim Sum on weekends. The first time my spouse and I went there, we couldn't believe the choices. We used to always drive to Peter's Kitchen in Orlando but it was over an hour to drive there for us. Ocala was much closer and to be quite honest just as good as the restaurant in Orlando. Every dish I've ordered there has been out of this world. Which makes it so hard for me to choose my entrée.
I do have a favorite server at Yummy House. His name is Ming. So, when I dine at Yummy House, I always ask to be seated at Ming's area. I also golf in Ocala which friends, about 8 to 12 of us. After golf, we normally have lunch together too. So, Yummy House is at the top of the list for us. When we do, I call the restaurant ahead to make a reservation and ask them to assign Ming to us. Ming always provides excellent service and especially with me being Asian, he kind of knows what type of dish I like and when I order a dish he will normally make suggestions to add to the dish or cook a certain way that knows I would like. He also makes suggestions to each person in our group and sometimes he'll tell them to try a dish that he's sure they've never had before. He tries to take them out of their comfort zone. They've always been happy with his suggestion.
The restaurant itself reminds me of some of the Chinese restaurants I've been to that is not a fast-food restaurant. Very authentic inside. They also offer a beer called Lucky Buddha. I think everyone likes to order the beef because the bottle is in the shape of Buddha.
Yesterday, we met friends at Yummy House who are visiting from Boston. Unfortunately, Ming was off and another server took care of us. He was a good server but just not like Ming who really goes out of his way to talk to you, joke and laugh. However, he was not a bad server but he was just there to provide server and do his job. So, I cannot fault him for that. So overall the entire experience yesterday was good.
I highly recommend Yummy House if you are near the Ocala area and are craving for authentic Chinese food. read more