Mama Chan’s Chinese Restaurant Opens in Northport

There is almost nothing about Mama Chan’s that resembles a typical Chinese restaurant. The look of the place, sleek and understated with a large fireplace, says “chic cocktail bar,” and indeed this Northport storefront was Gin 45 from 2020 to 2023. The brief menu includes 16 dishes, but there are 15 wines as well as signature cocktails and craft beers. Instead of a line of round-bottomed woks, the small kitchen has mostly Western-style equipment and an executive chef, Michael Meehan, who has decades of experience in fine dining and gastropubs, but none with Chinese cuisine.

But Mama Chan’s heart and soul are unmistakably Chinese. They both belong to Li Li Chan. Chan and her husband, Wing, operated the Chinese mini-chain Tofu on Long Island in the ’80s and ’90s and their children, Diana and Justin Chan, were determined to honor their mother with a restaurant devoted to her homemade recipes.

“Our mother’s family was originally from Shanghai and later moved to Taiwan,” Diana said. “But most of these dishes aren’t strictly “traditional.” This is what she cooked for us when we were growing up.

The siblings insisted on Chan’s pan-fried rice cakes, noodles with scallion oil, pork and bok choy dumplings (steamed, pan-fried or in broth), beef noodles and fried rice (which can be topped with Taiwanese sausages and/or a fried egg).

Although the flavors are authentic, many dishes have been modified to reduce fat. These pork meatballs, for example, are made with ground tenderloin rather than shoulder; sesame noodles don’t sit in a puddle of sauce; the green beans are not fried twice but rather blanched and then sautéed to maintain a more al dente texture.

One dish that doesn’t adhere to this leaner diet is the majestic fried chicken sandwich, Justin’s brainchild: a big, fat marinated thigh is dredged in potato flour (Mom’s thing), fried until ‘to become crispy, slipped into a brioche bun and brushed with chili mayonnaise and pickled cucumbers. The same thigh, sliced, can be served over a bowl of rice. Braised pork belly also goes into the bowl treatment. Nothing on Mama Chan’s menu exceeds $18.

The bar here is Diana’s domain, and she’s selected Asian wines (including a junmai sake) and cocktails that make good use of plum wine, green tea, and shockingly blue butterfly pea tea. Diana, who recently left her corporate job to focus on the restaurant, had long wanted to try her hand at bartending. She contacted the owners of Gin 45 and started doing it once a week. This connection led to a series of Mama Chan pop-ups over the summer whose menus were run by all three Chans. Once they decided to open a restaurant, they knew they needed to hire a good chef and placed an ad on Craigslist.

And who should answer but Meehan, a seasoned chef whose decades-long resume includes Mill River Inn in Oyster Bay, Tupelo Honey in Sea Cliff, H2O in Smithtown and Vauxhall in Huntington. In recent years, he has opened and consulted for restaurants like Standard Rec in Patchogue, and he also fronts a roots music group, The Lucky Ones. “I was looking for something to do this winter,” he said. “Even though I’ve cooked a lot of Asian fusion dishes, I really enjoy the challenge of learning Chinese at home and translating it for restaurant cooking.”

Mama Chan’s, 1014 Fort Salonga Road, Northport, 631-205-6671, mamachanshouse.com. Open Tuesday to Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday.