Best restaurants in Great Neck: Critics' picks

You might be tempted to order too much at this kosher Iranian restaurant. But it pays to be judicious here, because the friendly staff piles on extras, creating a blowout feast of Persian Jewish specialties. The table is likely to e a jigsaw puzzle of meats, colorful rice dishes, spicy sauces, pickles and the lush meat stews that Persian cuisine is known for. (The flatbreads had to go on another table, and eventually disappeared.) There's a true feeling of hospitality at this old-school white tablecloth restaurant. You're not doing it right if you skip the kebabs, which arrive on a wooden board strewn with onions, bell peppers and roasted whole tomatoes. The ground beef koobideh ($38.50) is especially great, but the beauty of this meal isn't about to any individual item. It's the feeling of abundance and the sharing.

Easily the most popular restaurant in the neighborhood for lunch, Great Neck Diner is the community hub where longtime residents pass around plates of cubed melon, political conversations play out in Spanish and groups of teenagers pig out on diner fries. While diners across Long Island have cut down on menu items and staff, this spot owned by Rorie Miller and her father Mike Wach, seems lively as ever. The menu is gigantic and kitchen puts together a mean turkey club sandwich with crispy sweet potato French fries ($19.50). Although the storied 1950s luncheonette got a revamp in 2007, it still retains some of its midcentury modern charm. 

Every meal at this compact grill house begins with a plate of pickled veggies, the way they do it in Israel. The tart flavors of the yellow cauliflower and the bitter cabbage salad get the palate zinging. They're also a nice contrast to the beautifully grilled meat kebabs that arrive still on their metal shanks. The room is casual enough that you can eat alone, but the food is so great and plentiful you'll wish you had someone to share it with. The mixed grill platter with three skewers and two sides ($37.95) is a hefty introduction, and comes with a beef kebab and two varieties of succulent chicken. Together with the fresh Israeli salad of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, plus some crispy French fries, it becomes a special occasion. 

This unassuming one-room pub makes some of the best smash burgers, and also, great Chinese dumplings. Half the menu is devoted to Chinese dishes and panfried pot stickers that are still connected by a diaphanous crispy shell on the bottom. Crack off each dumpling — the shrimp and egg with baby chives is a favorite — and marvel at how soft and supply steamed it is. Then turn to the burgers, with their thin patties of freshly ground beef, perfectly seared on the grill. The Kai Burger ($19.99) is a simple double cheeseburger on brioche, with the addition of Canadian bacon. Boy does it go well with soy sauce and a crisp Sierra Nevada beer.

"Two kosher hot dogs, well done ..." Kensington Kosher Deli is the kind of place where you'll still hear this request. With more than 40 years under its belt, the tiny wood-paneled deli harkens back to an earlier time of unfussy pastrami sandwiches and boulder-sized potato knishes ($5.15). Take a seat at the retro deli counter and start with the matzah ball soup, which is served in a paper bowl that's brimming with egg noodles and a fat fluffy ball. The meat for the pastrami sandwiches is steamed in-house, and the thinly-sliced brisket is made from scratch. You can get a stack of it on a couple slices of rye bread, but the move here is to order The Paulie special with brisket, horseradish and fried onions on a roll with a side of gravy for $18.50. 

Sichuan food is so popular, you'll find it at pretty much any Chinese restaurant these days. But Kitchen Melody is one of the few completely devoted to its unique homestyle dishes. Chef James Yang and his wife, Lisa Liu, hail from this province and prepare harder-to-find recipes, many of which have preserved egg yolk. The menu may cater to Chinese clientele but ingredients are clearly listed, like the minced pork with vermicelli ($13.95) also known as "ants climbing up a tree." A heap of ground meat clings to a sticky mound of bean-thread noodles, offering a satisfying mouthfeel of pure porkiness. Sichuan food is often thought of as searing and tongue tingling, but this intimate restaurant showcases its elegant side. 

On Newsday's list of Long Island's best Thai restaurants, JaydSiri showcases recipes from the northeastern Isan region of Thailand. A one-woman show, chef-owner Sirikanya Suworrapan isn't afraid to bring robust flavors into this casually chic dining room. Lao papaya salad roars with chili and pungent anchovy instead of the typical lime marinade. The Thai Ocean ($28), a sizzling stir-fry of calamari, plump shrimp and crispy battered fish with onions and bell pepper, has a floral note after being tossed with bundles of fresh green peppercorns. Another must-order from the Isan section is the Isan steak ($32), with juicy chunks of stir-fried rib eye in a sticky lemongrass glaze.

Global Israeli cuisine with an emphasis on vegetables ... Lola is the standard bearer for fine dining in Great Neck and has consistently been on Newsday's best restaurants lists. The darkly-lit dining room is still going strong with Chef Lenny Messina, who took over after founder Michael Ginor died in 2022. The pastry and bread program is outstanding, and no meal here is complete without a disk of flaky malawach flatbread, smattered with plump mushrooms and a luscious garlic cream ($23). Silky smooth hummus is another must, topped with mushrooms or chicken shawarma. Ingredients like chicken, duck and Hudson Valley Foie Gras are sourced from the Ginor family’s upstate poultry farm. And if it's on offer, seek out a glass of Lebanese wine for its earthy stone fruit flavors.

Northern Chinese food is a rarity on Long Island and there's no better place to get it than New Fu Run, currently on Newsday's Top 50 restaurants. The spacious dining room has served the cuisine of Dongbei since 2017. The northeastern style tends to be earthier than Cantonese and less fiery than Sichuan. Raw veggies are uncommon in Chinese food but "tiger vegetable" salad stands out with its crisp coriander herbs and spring onions. The showstopper is the country style green bean sheet jelly ($12.99), a fresh noodle salad that's stirred at the table with vegetables and strips of tofu skin. The north is a cold weather climate so there is also heartier fare like hot pot of stewed cabbage (sauerkraut) with pork and vermicelli noodles, and lamb chop ribs slicked with dried cumin.

Israeli kosher cuisine gets a glow-up at this rambunctious dinner spot on Bond Street. Chef Roni and David Zaken's hail from Jerusalem and crafted a menu that also draws on her Moroccan-Jewish heritage. Large parties dance in their seats to Israeli club music with glasses of arak, a milky spirit with an aniseed kick. Tables are packed with golden platters of salads and grilled meats on wooden boards, and colorful sauces. But the focus is on the sizable brick oven that pumps out a stunning array of Levantine flatbreads and rustic tagines, and icons like arays, soft patties of ground meat kebabs stuffed inside little triangle pita pockets. The must-order is shimdura ($38), a dome of charred flatbread that the server tears open at the table, revealing a steamy mix of ground meat kebabs and veggies in creamy tahini sauce.

There is no other steakhouse like Peter Luger, a venerable haunt that's served Great Neck since 1960. The offshoot of the original Brooklyn location is practically a museum for the American steakhouse, with its vaguely Medieval decor, searing grills and no-nonsense service. It's both charming and maddening: There are no credit cards and you have to call to make a reservation. But when that 44-ounce porterhouse arrives, hissing and sizzling on its hot plate, you'll swallow your doubts. Sides like German fried potatoes are also great, and desserts like the pecan pie are a treat. But nothing is more satisfying than dry-aged beef, which put this establishment on the map.

Great Neck Plaza has a large variety of sushi joints, like Tiger Sushi that caters to the kosher crowd, old-school Daruma and Chez Kama, a Japanese bistro. All are worth going to, but the minimalist Shoshaku stands out with an ambitious menu and an awesome deal. The Shoshaku set for two ($90) arrives on a large wooden tray with enough sushi rolls and sashimi to feed three. The quality of the fish here is generally high, so it's like ordering an omakase meal without the fanfare. There are also eight pieces of nigiri each dotted with a different flavorful sauce, as well as two portions of briny buttery sea urchin. Shoshaku is also one of the rare places to offer creamy udon, here laced with butter and mayo and topped with salty cod roe (in a mentaiku style).