Ho Foods

Verdict

Ho Foods has ranked on Opinionated About Dining's Cheap Eats in North America list two years running — #419 in 2025 and #409 in 2024 — which tells you most of what you need to know. This is a short-menu Taiwanese spot on East 7th Street in the East Village that earns its reputation through a focused, well-executed lineup rather than ambition for ambition's sake. Google reviewers back that up at 4.3 across 697 ratings. If you want Taiwanese comfort food done with care in a neighbourhood that has no shortage of options, book it. If you want a long tasting menu or a splashy occasion restaurant, look elsewhere.

About Ho Foods

The menu at Ho Foods is deliberately tight. That restraint is the point. A short menu at a Taiwanese spot in this price tier signals confidence in sourcing and preparation rather than a lack of ambition. The dishes OAD calls out specifically , radish cakes with crisp edges, fan tuan, housemade soy milk, and beef noodle soup , are the kind of preparations where the quality of the base ingredients is immediately apparent. Radish cakes that hold their shape and develop a proper crust at the edge require good daikon and careful technique. Housemade soy milk is a sourcing statement in itself: most spots in this category pour from cartons. The fact that Ho Foods makes it in-house signals a kitchen that cares about what goes into the food, not just what comes out on the plate.

Beef noodle soup is one of Taiwan's most scrutinised comfort dishes, and doing it well in New York means sourcing beef that can hold a long braise without turning chalky. OAD's characterisation , "soul-warming" and worthy of bathing in , is the kind of language that only lands when the broth is genuinely deep. That kind of depth comes from ingredients, time, and not cutting corners on either.

The hours split into daytime and evening service on most days, with Tuesday closed entirely. Thursday through Sunday offer both a morning-to-afternoon window and an evening sitting, making Ho Foods one of the more accessible Taiwanese options in Manhattan for either a weekend brunch or a weeknight dinner. The East Village address puts it within easy reach of the L and 6 trains.

For someone who has visited once, the practical advice is to work through the full menu on your next visit. The lineup is short enough that ordering broadly is both feasible and the right call. If you came for beef noodle soup the first time, add the radish cake and the soy milk. They are not sides that prop up a main event , they are separate reasons to return.

Ho Foods sits in a strong peer group for Taiwanese food in New York City. 886 in Midtown East runs a longer, more contemporary Taiwanese-American menu at a higher price point. Taiwanese Gourmet skews toward the older, family-style format and covers more regional breadth. Wenwen in Brooklyn brings a bar-forward, modern take on the cuisine. Ho Foods is none of those things: it is a focused, neighbourhood-anchored spot where the sourcing discipline shows up directly in the food. That is a different kind of value proposition, and for the right visit, it is the better one.

For context on how Taiwanese cooking at its most formal operates, Fujin Tree Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne (Songshan) and Golden Formosa in Taipei represent the high-end reference point. Ho Foods is operating in an entirely different tier and register, but knowing what the cuisine looks like at full stretch helps calibrate what makes the East Village version worth seeking out.

Ratings at a Glance

• Google Rating: 4.3 / 5 (697 reviews)
• Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats , North America: Ranked #419 (2025), #409 (2024)

Booking

Booking difficulty at Ho Foods is easy. No reservation system data is available in our records, so check directly at the restaurant or walk in, particularly for the daytime service windows. Evening sittings on weekends are more likely to fill, so arriving early or checking ahead is sensible for Friday and Saturday dinner. Tuesday is closed.

Hours

• Monday: 5–10 pm
• Tuesday: Closed
• Wednesday: 5–10 pm
• Thursday: 9 am–3 pm, 5–10 pm
• Friday: 9 am–3 pm, 5–10 pm
• Saturday: 10:30 am–3:30 pm, 5–10 pm
• Sunday: 10:30 am–3:30 pm, 5–9 pm

Practical Details

FAQs

• Is Ho Foods good for a special occasion? Not in the traditional sense. Ho Foods is a focused, budget-friendly Taiwanese spot , the kind of place you go for excellent food, not a formal celebration. If you want a landmark occasion dinner in New York City, Le Bernardin or Atomix are better fits. Ho Foods is the right call for a low-key meal where the food is the occasion in itself.
• What should I wear to Ho Foods? Casual. This is a neighbourhood Taiwanese spot in the East Village , there is no dress code, and showing up in anything beyond everyday clothes would be out of place. Comfort is the right call.
• What are alternatives to Ho Foods in New York City? For Taiwanese food in Manhattan, 886 runs a more contemporary, longer menu at a step up in price. Taiwanese Gourmet covers more regional ground in a family-style format. For a bar-forward, modern Taiwanese experience in Brooklyn, Wenwen is worth the trip. Each serves a different version of the cuisine and a different kind of evening.
• What should a first-timer know about Ho Foods? The menu is short by design , do not expect a sprawling list of options. That is a feature, not a limitation. Arrive knowing that the beef noodle soup, radish cakes, fan tuan, and housemade soy milk are the OAD-cited anchors of the menu. Tuesday is closed. Daytime service runs Thursday through Sunday if you prefer a brunch or lunch visit. Booking is easy, but weekend evenings are busier.
• What should I order at Ho Foods? According to Opinionated About Dining, the beef noodle soup, radish cakes, fan tuan, and housemade soy milk are the standouts. The menu is short enough that ordering across all of them on a single visit is practical. The soy milk is made in-house, which sets it apart from most spots at this price point , order it.

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