Credit: Photo by John Anderson

Ho Ho Chinese BBQ

13000 N. I-35, Bldg. 6, 339-9088
www.hohochinesebbq.com
Sunday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-11pm

The folks at Ho Ho were the first Din Ho Chinese BBQ owners, so expect some similarities. Ho Ho took over the old Village Inn, tweaking it with Asian motifs to alter the original. You enter a foyer lined on the right with saltwater tanks of live sea creatures waiting for their final reward, and on the left, hanging lacquered ducks and barbecued meats. The menu is large, Cantonese, and heavy on seafood.

A couple of appetizers tempted us. Pan-fried dumplings ($5.50) ended up being deep-fried instead, but we received 10 dumplings, and the sauce was good. We doubted they were made in-house. We also tried the egg roll ($1.25): It has a predominately shredded cabbage filling, is made from many layers of rice paper, and was not the least bit greasy.

The shrimp with lobster sauce ($9.95) is rich and loaded with shrimp but less thickened than most versions. Szechuan bass fillet ($10.95) we loved: thinly battered and in a spicy chile-ginger sauce. The pepper steak flat noodle dish ($7.95) features wide, light-as-a-feather noodles; tender beef; and a rich black bean sauce. The quail in special salt ($8.50) disappointed: overcooked birds with a nonspecial breading. The black mushrooms with seasonal vegetables ($8.95) include rich, unctuous braised shiitake mushrooms with baby bok choy.

Another trip had us eating a superlative seafood pan-fried noodle dish ($8.95): crispy noodle cake topped with shrimp, squid, scallops, and imitation crab in a light and rich sauce. Ho Ho’s scallops and shrimp with garlic sauce ($9.95) is lighter than most versions, with slices of garlic and ginger. The bean curd with pork in szechuan hot sauce ($7.95) is one of the better plates of mapo doufu in town.

We sampled Ho Ho’s barbecue via the combo plate ($10.50). A large platter emerged with barbecue pork (lean, not gloppy and heavy like some, and kissed with honey and five-spice powder), roasted duck (crispy skin and succulent flesh), and marinated and roasted chicken (the moistest roast chicken we have ever eaten). On our next trip, we will have to try the roast pork – a chunk of crisp pork belly hanging on a hook. Great barbecue and fresh seafood cooked in a light style will have us going back to explore more facets of Ho Ho’s mega menu.

This article appears in January 29 • 2010.

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Mick Vann is a retired Austin chef who is a food writer and restaurant critic, cookbook author, restaurant consultant, and recipe developer. He moonlights as a University of Texas horticulturist with a propensity for ethnic eats and international food, particularly of the Asian persuasion, but he also knows his way around a plate of soul food or barbecue.