It was the lovely Kat's birthday and she organised for us to feast at the House of Ho in Soho owned by Bobby Chin.
Bobby is a Food Network regular for me with his boyish good looks and infectious love of food - super fun to watch. He's half Chinese, half Egyptian, grew up in the UK but has an American accent. House of Ho is one of his babies.The food was just as much of a mixed bag as he is.
When you book a large table, you have to pick from the set menu.
It looked really promising and we got to try every single dish for a fixed price which makes sorting the bill out that much simpler. I only got to capture a few of the dishes as the gang was pretty hungry.
I started off with a couple of jugs of green tea as I was recovering from a rubbish head cold (is there any other kind?) so alcohol was a nogo. Sad for me, great for my wallet.
The tea was loose leaf so couldn't really go wrong but by golly did it hit the spot. Why is it that on the rare occasion when you finally slow down for just a minute, you get sick? Bleurgh. Anyway. I topped up on nasal spray and prepared to chowed down.
We started with the rice noodle rolls. These were ok. I'm not really a fan of Vietnamese style rolls, the texture throws me off as does the cold temperature. I very much prefer mine deep fried when possible. You know, cos I'm sophisticated like that.
Next up were the crispy imperial rolls. Now this is more like it! These were delicious although I didn't understand the purpose of the noodles. Cleared the plate regardless, you guys know me!
Next came the crab and grapefruit salad which I couldn't eat due to allergies but the girls wolfed it down so must have been as good as it looked.
The chicken wings (no pictures sadly) were DELICIOUS even through the haze of my cold. So much flavour in those little bad boys!
Starters done, we moved on to the mains. Pictured in order of awesomeness from least to most.
The chicken potato curry.
The apple smoked pork belly.
And the best of the all, the "shaken beef" which basically means it was tossed about in the wok. Spectacular.
Truly a thing of beauty you guys. Definitely check it out if you get the chance to head down there.
Mains done, the birthday girl got her birthday surprise. The staff at the restaurant kindly let us bring our own dessert - cupcakes from the hummingbird bakery. Hence the big smile lol.
It was all very exciting.
I chose the red velvet cupcake but forgot to photograph it before I demolished it so here's someone else's chocolate one instead with sprinkles.
This is the way all birthday celebrations should end, with cupcakes. Friends take note :)
All in all, the food was ok with a couple of dishes standing well ahead of the pack. I'd probably prefer to go with a smaller group so we can pick from the full menu rather than the fixed one. Some of the other dishes on the other tables looked fab. If you do decide to check it out, their website is here.
On a side note, I know I haven't posted in a little while you guys but life has been a little crazy for me lately. I started a new job so time is now a precious commodity. I will try to post at least once a week until I'm settled at work. There will also be some cool travel posts coming up from the whirlwind year so stay tuned.
Don't forget, you can always follow me on Instagram or on my Facebook page if you need a bit of an escape.
Until next time!
xxs