By Miao Qing (Shanghai Star )
Updated: 2006-08-04 08:42

Main gate of Yao Restaurant and Bar in Houston at night

In February, 2004, the Yang Restaurant and Bar opened in Texas, in the United States. Thousands of diners swarmed there in the first month following the opening to try what was promoted by the restaurant as "the finest Chinese American food in Houston."

The real attraction of the Yao Restaurant and Bar seems to lie more in its special ties to a sports celebrity than its food. It is named after Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball star who plays for the Houston Rockets, and owned by a group of Chinese living in Houston, including Yao's parents but not Yao himself.

The Yao Restaurant, now the most popular and expensive Chinese restaurant in Houston, recently opened a new outlet-Yeeha-in Shanghai, the hoop star's hometown.

Eighty per cent of its menu features dishes similar to those in the original Yao Restaurant.

"Yeeha is a word many Texan cowboys usually shout out when they are lassoing horses with cords. It sounds cool and sporty," said Yu Di, Yeeha's vice-president and also a partner in the US-based Yao restaurant.He said most of the Yao Restaurant partners have invested in Yeeha. The restaurant is not named Yao since his parents are not involved in this venture.

What distinguishes the new venue from its American counterpart is not only the name.

The Yeeha Texas Barbecue Restaurant & Sports Bar is located near the Jing'an Temple, on two floors of an office building.

The first floor at Yeeha serves American-style Chinese cuisine which is mostly available in Houston's Yao Restaurant. But as smaller portions are typically served in the Shanghai restaurant compared to the one in the United States, the prices are also lower, said Yu.

For example, the most popular AmeriEast-2006can-style Chinese dish, "Minced shrimp with lettuce wrap" costs about 22 yuan (US$2.70) at Yeeha while it is usually more than 100 yuan (US$12.50) in the United States. Most dishes, also called "main courses" at Yeeha, can be ordered as a business lunch which includes rice and soup.

But the "Yao Mom's Home-made Wonton," a US$6 dish favoured by many Westerners at Yao Restaurant, is not found in Yeeha. "We are aware that in Shanghai there are a lot of restaurants better than us at making wonton," said Yu.

As a combination of the East and West, the American-style Chinese cuisine seems to emphasize meat much more than vegetables and the latter is more often treated as a garnish on the plate.

Soy sauce is always regarded by Westerners as the soul of Chinese cuisine, Yu said, and that might be why many dishes at his restaurant had a strong flavour.

One of the signature dishes at both Yeeha and Yao Restaurant-shrimp with onion in tomato sauce (36 yuan, US$4.5)-tasted thick, sweet and sour. It was presented in a chili-red dressing and garnished with broccoli,looking like a representative Ameri soupcan-style Chinese dish.

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