Ho Foods

Growing up, I never craved beef noodle soup, perhaps because it was so commonplace and simple, but since moving to New York, I've discovered there's a huge shortage of authentic regional Chinese and Taiwanese foods in Manhattan.  Thankfully, this is slowly changing, and Ho Foods is one example.  

Ho Foods is a specialty beef noodle soup restaurant, and I think it's definitely one of the best I've had in NYC.  That said, I think there's still potential for them to improve and be great.  

Broth: After reading some reviews that the broth was not that rich, I ordered mine extra rich and extra spicy, and my husband got his extra rich.  I quite enjoyed my broth and thought it had good depth and complexity to the flavor.  However, my husband's soup was too rich/oily, and you could see a visible separate layer of oil at the top.  

Beef: The beef shank was well-cooked and tender enough, but I think it could've had more flavor and been even softer/juicier (but I have high standards).  I was really excited to see tendon as an add-on option on the menu and think that every place should offer that, but the tendon was actually half meat/half tendon as opposed to full tendon, which is chewier.  

Noodles: I'm a fan of chewy noodles so ordered the thick noodles (as opposed to the wide).  Since they're not hand-pulled noodles, they still lacked the chewiness and were on the soft side.

Other food: I love that there's a huge helping of mustard greens on the side.  This should also be a staple everywhere!  The tofu with century egg was good and the most beautifully plated tofu with century egg I've had, but not sure it was really worth the $8 for me.

Service: Everyone was super nice and attentive!  

I'll definitely come back to try the beef noodle soup again; perhaps I'll get the regular broth next time to compare.  I also hear they are working on a daytime menu with a lot of my favorite breakfast items, so I can't wait to try those!