House of Ho is a restaurant serving up Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai dishes in Central London. Located behind Oxford Street in the on Charlotte Street an area I know well, I used to work in a office a few buildings down for 4 years a couples of years back.
Anyway, I was invited to check out the menu and knowing that they serve halal chicken I decided to check it out. The venue is chic, cosy and modern, the main dining area is small but you don’t feel crammed in. Once seated I browsed the menu which featured a range of Japanese sushi and sashimi as well as different items like dumplings and food of the grill. I was given any 6 dishes to chose from, i knew one was going to be reserved for dessert so I had to pick 5 food options.
We started the evening with Mocktails.
NHA TRANG BREEZE / Mango Puree, Passion Juice, Mango Juice, Ginger Beer / £5.50
LEMONGRASS LEMONADE / Lemongrass Syrup, Lemon Juice, Soda Top. / £4.50
The lemongrass mocktail was great. A simple drink but the balance of flavours and sweetness was spot on.
I decided to go for a range of halal chicken dishes and some sea food items.
Starters
First up is the popcorn shrimp in a creamy spicy sauce. Those familiar with the popcorn shrimp from pf chang’s will like this, in fact I think these are better. A very large portion of deep fried shrimp which were soft and well cooked covered in a pleasant creamy and mild spicy sauce.
My choice of starter was the Grilled glazed chicken wings. Perfectly grilled chicken wings cooked and glazed with a sauce that’s similar to Hoi son. My only gripe is that the wings were small size wise but what they lacked in size they made up with flavour and taste. Highly recommended. £7
Sushi
Next up.. Sushi
Since there was a focus on sushi on the menu I decided to try out the sushi and sashimi platter coming in at £35. Yes, it’s on the expensive side but when in Rome..
The presentation of this platter has a wow factor and it’s very instagram worthy. A liquid ice smoking tray of sushi and sashimi on a platter of crushed ice. The platter came with tuna and sharmachi tartare, salmon, yellow tail, 3 sushi rolls and 3 dragon rolls. The fish was fresh as where all of the ingredients. I can’t claim to be a sushi connoisseur but I could really say that £35 price tag is justified when I get a sushi box from itsu that tastes similar. However, there’s definitely no comparison when it comes to the freshness of the fish.
Mains
For the main course I was recommended prior to eating here to check out the green curry, so I got that as a main as well as the chilean sea bass.
You tend to see chilean Sea Bass on the menu of upmarket restaurants as it carries a usual heavy price tag and is also know as Patagonian Toothfish in some areas. The grilled fish was served wrapped in a leaf and served with a glazing of plum sauce. For me this sauce didn’t work. I found overpowering and too sweet and didn’t add anything. The fish itself was perfectly cooked, soft and delicate to eat. £30
The chicken green curry (My pictures came out too dark and blurry)
I really like Thai food and the green and red curry is something I like cooking as well. What I like about Thai food is the usual use and presence of deep flavours and rich ingredients .
Sadly this green curry was really lacking in the taste department. There was very little taste of key ingredients like lemongrass or heat from chilies. In fact the overall depth of flavour where lacking from this curry and no pungency of the fresh and exciting ingredients you expect. The only positive thing was the chicken was well cooked, soft and tender.
The service started off well, we were welcomed and the menu and style of food was explained. Up until the sushi platter, once we finished I remained on the table for ages and there was a long wait between finishing this and getting the mains. However we were well looked after during the night and staff kept checking in on us.
Dessert
Lucky I left room for dessert and when you see the option for ordering a dessert platter that’s what you order. Costing £25 you get four items, ideal for a group of four.
Our favourite item was the banana crumble. A great sweet dish with good textures and balance of sweetness that complimented the fresh banana really well. Recommended.
The green tea fondant was different, I wasn’t expecting it to be sweet but it was. The fondant itself was soft and gooey and was nice dish. The other items where a selection of fresh exotic fruit and 3 scopes of different ice cream and sobres.
Overall, I think its great to see that House of Ho offer up halal items, even if its just a few items, The chicken wings were good and worth checking out. The sushi i think didn’t show value for money. I think, its a nice place for catching up with friends after work with a few drinks, chicken wings and desserts in a chic environment.
I was invited to review here and was given the choice of ordering 6 items and 2 drinks.
