Great Neck's Cho-Sen Village closes

One of Great Neck's beloved kosher Chinese restaurants has closed after 25 years.

Cho-Sen Village predates the latest wave of regional Chinese restaurants that have moved into Great Neck, making it Long Island's own Chinatown. With its cheeky name and loyal following, Cho-Sen Village had been a favorite for bar and bat mitzvahs and wedding parties since 2004. But owner Neil Wallin has decided to sell to another kosher restaurant owner, and he served his last sesame chicken on Wednesday. 

Wallin also owns Cho-Sen Island in the Five Towns, and Cho-Sen Garden in Forest Hills. He started working his first kosher Chinese gig while a student at Touro University when he was 17 years old, and wasn't looking to sell his third restaurant. But many of the opportunities he's gotten over the years have been given to him by the previous generation of restaurant owners, so when a younger man approached him with a deal, he said he decided to give back. 

"He has his own brand, his own concept of kosher Asian cuisine. I don't know if that's exactly what he's doing there, but I was very impressed with him as a young hard worker, and somebody who made it on his own," he said. "He said, 'I love your location, and I heard wonderful things, I've been to your restaurant many times. ... I would really like to have a restaurant in Great Neck.' " 

Wallin thought about it and realized he's getting older, and would enjoy spending more time with his wife and family and friends. With no obvious restaurant successors for his business, he thought it was a one-of-a-kind opportunity. 

Cho-Sen Village is the second kosher Chinese restaurant to close in Great Neck within the past few years, after Zen Garden on the corner of Great Neck Road and South Middle Neck Road closed last year. But unlike Zen Garden, Cho-Sen Village was not a vegan restaurant. It served chicken, lamb and veal under kosher supervision. Former Newsday food critic Joan Reminick visited the restaurant when it opened in 2004 and found that the barbecued spareribs made of beef were "meaty and tender, if a bit sweet." The restaurant was staffed by members of the Asian community, Wallin said. 

"The good news is, you still get to have your Cho-Sen. All you have to do is go to the Five Towns to have it," Wallin said. "We hope that [our followers] will support the new restaurant just as well, but in the meantime if they need their fix, they can go to one of our other restaurants. They're not that far away." 

Still open: Cho-Sen Island, 367 Central Ave., Lawrence, 516-374-1199, chosengarden.com. Cho-Sen Garden, 64-43 108th St., Forest Hills, 718-275-1300.

By Andi Berlin

andi.berlin@newsday.com

Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.