Ho Foods — Restaurant in New York

EDIT: While we still love their food, I'm downgrading to 3* because of the service and overall experience for the money. We went there for lunch for my husband's birthday and since they don't allow reservations for 2 people, we were ready to wait for a bit. We wanted to go earlier to avoid waiting too much, but we also didn't want to have his birthday lunch at 11am, so we went there around noon.

We were told the wait would be around 20min but it ended up being closer to 40min. Once sitting, the wait was another 15 minutes or so, because the kitchen just wasn't able to go any faster.

While we're waiting, we also saw some delivery workers waiting for too long and complaining, since time is literally money for them. I felt rally bad for those waiting over 15min to pick up the meal they were delivering.

Other than the wait, I just can't justify spending $50 each time we go there for just 2 bowls or beef noodle soup. Most other places we've had them for $30 total, and this is not a fancy place or anything like that... In fact, it's the most informal beef noodle soup restaurant I've been at...

So paying a premium for an underwhelming experience is hard to justify, even if the taste is on the top 3. In other restaurants of similar cost, when they realize it's your birthday they will also often have some detail with you, but here we didn't even get a happy birthday. (We didn't tell them because there was no reservation system, but I think it was obvious when we lit a candle on a small cake while waiting for the food).

-end of update-

We love this place! Their beef noodle soup is our favorite in the East Coast:

soup is very rich and flavorful (I got the rich version, which is also slightly spicy (+$1) and my husband got the spicy version (+1), only order this one if you like spicy Asian food, it was a bit too much for me, but just right for my husband).

noodles are fresh, we've ordered both the thin and thick, and we slightly enjoy the thin ones more because they absorb the soup better.

good quantity of meat

no veggies :( I don't eat cilantro nor green onion, so my bowl was just the broth, noodles and meat. Normally, it's nice to have a couple of bok choy or other leafy green. Would be great to have that!!

Service was prompt and attentive. Seating outside is humble.

They don't take reservations for 2 people, but if you go early, there's no problem. We got there before opening time but even by 6pm you can get a table for 2 normally.

They have both indoor and outdoor tables, outside ones being heated as well.

They have a tiny toilet inside the restaurant, smallest I've ever seen but who cares, it's...

First of all, I’m a Taiwanese who born and raised there for 18 years. I gotta say their fan tuan is quite authentic! The fried dough inside is very crisp but it’s quite small, I rarely see that size of fan tuan in Taiwan but here’s America so I’ll accept that. (Coz I know the ingredients are more difficult to find here)

We ordered a Taiwanese breakfast set for 2 and a beef noddles soup.

I think the breakfast set is worth a try, they really give you all standard Taiwanese breakfast food. Soy bean milk was pretty smooth but we ordered sweet and it tasted like plain, the waitress said coz they just switched to a new sugar so it’s less sweet. Turnip cake was ok, nothing very special, not super crisp but I’ll give it a 6/10. Scallion pancake was also ok to me but it’s quite close to the traditional Taiwanese style. My boyfriend who’s not Taiwanese really like it, overall we’ll give it a 7/10.

The beef noodle soup had four pieces of meat and they’re quite thick and ok tender (but I think this was my personal preference, my bf really liked their meat) we chose thick noodles and to me the noodles were too soft, felt like they cooked it for too long, not chewy enough but the broth was not bad. However I think $17 dollars for a bowl might be a little overpriced, just a little.

They only have outdoor dining now which is very limited and you’ll have to wait for way too long.(can fit probably around 12 people in total I think) and it’s freezing in the cold day because they don’t have enough warm lights to keep you warm.

Overall the food is not bad but I won’t go back again if there’s a wait, I’ll probably order fan tuan to go. However, if you’ve never had Taiwanese style breakfast before, I’ll highly recommend their breakfast set for 2 (only available in weekends 11am-3:30pm I think) and give it a try. Just remember, try to make a reservation online and don’t go in a cold day, otherwise you won’t feel your feet/legs after you...

I heard so many nice things about this spot; it had been on my list for a year. We set our expectations so high, and everything we had lived up to our expectations! The waiting time was 1.5 hours when we were there; we were debating quite a bit because we were hungry, eventually decided to walk to the cafe nearby to have some coffee and walked back when closer to our queue (you scan the QR code and joined the queue and it keeps on updating in there how long until your queue is up) We shared Savory Soy milk, Radish cake, and Pork floss Rice Rolls for appetizers. We loved the savory soy milk; it was nothing we had ever had. The soy milk's texture was so smooth and silky, and it was served warm with crusty fried dough that was super crunchy. We both agreed that we could eat this every morning for breakfast. Radish cake tastes similar to Singapore's carrot cake, but this version is even better; the starch is bouncy and goes beautifully with the dipping sauce. I shared Beef Noodles and Minced Pork Rice for the main. They both were delicious, especially the minced pork rice. I had this dish many times before in Asia, but the one we had here is the best. The space is stunning, and we got a table right by the window in the bar area, I love how humble and chic they decorated it. There are books, family pictures, and souvenirs I supposed from the owner displayed on the shelf behind the bench area emphasize the idea of home cook meals....