Yao Asian Cuisine — Restaurant in Higüey

Our first time and first night in Dominican Republic. We went to Yao by chance because the first few we tried were all closed (on a Sunday night). The menu is online (downside - no English version of the menu - but if you have Google Lens app like my kids do, it could translate images pretty well). We had ramen with pork belly RD$ 635, ramen with fish (pescado) RD$ 610 and Teriyaki pork rib with fried rice (costilitas de cerdo) RD$ 710. We are waiting for the flan quesillo $255 (too bad they do not have the fried ice-cream / helado fritos RD$ 295) and will update the photo. Portions are small (for the ramen), and it is not exactly ramen but udon noodle, overall this is Asian fusion rather than traditional Asian dishes but everything tastes very good. My fish even has a tiny bit of pink color where it is the thickest, which I like because fish and seafood retain tenderness and flavor that way. Would highly recommend. Worth the long wait. Oh and the restaurant is quite beautiful. The flan is a bit disappointing since we prefer the jiggly and smooth flan but this one is interesting in its own way. Overall, the meal was 4.6-4.7 and some other customer was right, the two extra taxes add quite a lot, 27% in our case. Like a generous tip of over 30% total then. US$ 56 for 3 main courses and 1 small dessert is a bit pricey considering we are in a country where my kids’ tickets to Christopher Columbus’ mansion were RD$ 20 or US$...

We enjoyed our meal. Everything was good, overall. We were seated quickly and asked if we wanted to order drinks. After checking the menu, we ordered drinks, appetizers and dinner. Apps: Ninja Roll. 4 out of 5. Could have been a 5 with just alittle less rice and maybe just a tad bigger. But the flavors were all great. Dinner: Ramen Nooddles with boiled egg. 4 out 5. The noodles were amazing. The broth was a mix... one person loved it, the other it was just ok. Had both chicken (which had a unique texture/flavor to it) and beef, veggies and the egg. Chicken and broccoli. 5 out of 5. Really enjoyed it. Tasty, and the brocolli tasted fresh, fried rice was great. Mongolian Beef. 4 out of 5. Tasty. Drinks: chinola - Great!!! Limon - so good!!! 5 out of 5. All in all... a good meal. The sushi came out pretty quickly, and then the main courses came out alittle after finishing the sushi. Our waiter wasn't overly attentive. Never came over to ask if we needed anything or if we wanted refills. Brought food, and took plates away. Pretty basic. (No, it wasn't busy, there were 2 other tables with people.) Price: a little expensive. And don't forget... there are 2 "taxes" charged. We ended up paying 507 pesos (alittle over $10USD) in the extra tax

Service wasn’t what me and my group expected. We did not do the hibachi, but we sat in the regular main dining. It took at least 40 minutes just to get the drinks after we ordered, and then once our main entrée came out two of my guests, food were cold and they did not like the way the food was seasoned. After speaking with the manager, my guest said that they did not want the food warmed up and have it returned. they would rather just skip on the meal and have it taken off the bill and we just paid for the rest of our food, but for some reason, the manager came and still charged them for the meals and the rest of the food without giving them the food back. So essentially they paid for food that they didn’t even eat or have the opportunity to take home. This restaurant was recommended to us from a friend, but I don’t think we will visit it again next time we come...