"Recently expanded Ho Foods now has a dining room bigger than a slip since it took over the next-door space. It’s open for longer hours and there’s more opportunity to sit down for its excellent chile wontons, radish cakes, and beef noodle soup for dinner. Or enjoy its breakfast with soy milk, you tiao (Chinese doughnuts), and scallion pancakes from Thursday to Sunday. Must order: Consider the beef noodle set for two, which comes with garlicky cucumbers, chile wontons, and lu ro fan for $68." - Emma Orlow
"“If you’re looking to take a night off from your own self-destructive emotional state, watch someone else’s in Tigertail. This new Netflix movie was written and directed by one of the creators of Master Of None (no, not that one), and tells the story of a Taiwanese man who moves to the US, dances in the moonlight, and falls in love with a woman who wears fantastic floral dresses - but not in that order. There’s a scene where two of the characters order fried fish and beef noodle soup at a restaurant and then run away without paying. As exhilarating as dining and dashing may seem, you shouldn’t and frankly can’t pull it off right now. Instead, order some spicy beef noodle soup from Ho Foods while you watch.” -HA" - hannah albertine, nikko duren, bryan kim, hillary reinsberg, arden shore
"Even if you get the Taiwanese beef noodle soup at Ho Foods with add-ons like extra marrow and double meat, you’ll only spend about $20. The soup and sides come out quickly, and there tend to be crowds of people looking through the storefront window waiting for any of the 10 seats, so don’t plan on spending much time here. Ask for your soup extra spicy along with a can of Taiwanese beer." - hannah albertine, matt tervooren
"What It Is: A 10-seat East Village spot specializing in Taiwanese beef noodle soup Perfect For: Dining Solo, Quick Eats After three previous attempts to get into Ho Foods and being quoted one to two hour waits early on weekday nights, we finally got into the 10-seat space after only 30 minutes (but were seated at a table sitting face-to-face with a stranger). The Taiwanese beef noodle soup is a 24-hour broth with wheat noodles and slices of beef, and we added tendon and extra marrow. If the crowds lessen a bit, this will be a solid addition to the quick and affordable dining options in the neighborhood, but until then, you don’t need to rush here and/or wait too long for this soup. The Verdict: This is very good soup, but it’s not worth an hours-long wait." - hannah albertine, bryan kim, katherine lewin, hillary reinsberg, chris stang, matt tervooren
"Opened in 2018, Ho Foods, along with the now defunct Baohaus, helped kick off the current Taiwanese-American restaurant wave, introducing many New Yorkers to refined, thoughtfully prepared takes on classic Taiwanese beef noodle soup, braised rice, and breakfast foods. Ho Foods continues to offer a signature noodle soup, but equally worthy are the other takes on hometown favorites like the egg-stuffed scallion pancake and the burrito-sized fan tuan, a homey rice roll stuffed with pork floss, sour pickles, and a fried savory cruller which provides a crunchy contrast to the soft, chewy shell of sticky rice." - John Tsung