My friends and I were headed to a different Chinese restaurant in Marina, but saw Ho-Wah and entered it. Boy were we glad! We were greeted, told what are the specials and delighted to note that the chef is popular for his vegan cuisine. We had egg rolls busting with veggies and crisp edamames for appetizers. The stir fried asparagus was out of the world! Garlic eggplant was perfectly flavored. The Hong Kong noodles were pan fried and we didn't feel guilty eating it. The sesame bun dessert was out of this world good!!! The owner was very friendly and food was made fresh and served fast. Other notable thing was the cleanliness of the bathroom being exceptionally clean. Highly recommend this gem in Marina!
Lisa W.
Food is great, good portions, very fresh and service is good too. The ambience is straight out of the 80's. It's super old school but they use pretty fresh ingredients and it's not super salty and sweet like most other old school Americanized Chinese food. The sesame balls were fresh, crispy and hot. We had the wor wonton soup and it was packed with fresh veggies and protein, perfect on a rainy day. No MSG! Yay! I liked a lot because it wasn't super salty and smothered with sauces. Really fresh ingredients!
KEVIN CONLEY
Stopped by this little gem today while running errands. Don’t get me wrong, food was absolutely delicious, and quick, but the real reason for this review was a man named Tony who works here. Tony seemed to be a 1 man show for the most part outside of a gentleman helping clean and re set tables .This guy is seating people, taking orders, dropping off food, making change, answering phone calls, taking to go orders, and all while keeping mellow, thoughtful responses to questions on the menu. Seriously I don’t know what you are paying this guy, but give him a raise, for real! Feed the horse!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fred B.
No MSG! We have been going here since the late 90's! Little local restaurant great food .
allie w.
My girlfriend and I stumbled upon this cute restaurant and decided to try it. We're from out of town and didn't know many places in the area. We loved it so much!!! We were instantly greeted by the pleasant and friendly staff. Not to mention the food was delicious! Will be coming back here when we come to town!!!
Angelique M.
Super yummy. My family loves this place! If you have not tried, it, do yourself a favor and stop by you will not be disappointed.
Marine Lagrave
Had a great time here! I've always driven by the restaurant but finally decided to give it a try and I was not disappointed. Some of the best Chinese food I've had in a long time. The staff is great and makes you feel so welcomed. I got the Hong Kong Chef's Wors Wonton soup and it was delicious! Will definitely be coming back often! And please do yourself a favor and order the crab puffs!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wings, Orange Chicken, Soup
Tanya W.
Good food, good service. The only problem with this restaurant is that sometimes they get unexpectedly busy, and service speed suffers.
Sabina P.
Always a pleasure ordering food from here. I love their orange chicken especially! The people are always so nice as well!
Larry H.
Under new ownership for a while now. And wow. What an awesome menu. Loving the orange chicken. Best in Monterey! You can't go wrong here. Such fresh veggie dishes too. My go to Chinese fix!
Great place to eat or takeout. We have eaten here several times and are never disappointed. They are our go to when life gets busy. The food is ALWAYS fresh and slightly different. We have tried many items on the menu and can recommend the salt and pepper anything (tofu, wings, chicken it’s all great). Also their green bean special is amazing. All of their soups are delicious too. Highly recommend.Vegetarian options: They can make any dish vegetarian and their pan fried tofu is not breaded so it’s gluten free too. They don’t use soy sauce on everything so some of their dishes are cooked gluten free too all you have to do is ask for no soy sauce or etc.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wings, Pepper, Wonton Soup, Salt and Pepper Wings, Fried, Soup
Keily F.
Our family found this place on a trip to Monterey. The food was so good. The staff was very friendly. We will definitely be returning
W B.
First time trying this restaurant. We read all of the mostly positive reviews and wanted to give it a try. We will be back. We ordered food to go and it was ready on time. The lady working the front desk was nice and polite. We ordered cashew chicken, beef broccoli, rice with BBQ pork, chicken chow mein and the walnut shrimp. The cashew chicken was fresh. Just the right amount of seasoning. The celery was sweet and still a little crispy. The chicken was tender and plentiful. I like it when the cashew is on top and you can stir it up. The cashew don't get all soft and chewy. The beef broccoli was great. Plenty of tender beef and broccoli. Again, just the right amount of flavor. The rice was not dry like to had been sitting around for a while. The pork was plentiful and tender. It had small and big chunks of pork. The chicken chow mein was not slimy like at some places. Could have used a more chicken. This was the one item that was lacking , definitely did not have enough chicken. This why it hit 4 stars. The walnut shrimp was great. The shrimp was tender and had great flavor. It came was a ton of fresh broccoli. Another negative is the price, but show me a restaurant that hasn't gone up in price lately. We will be back but I hope the chow mein will be better.
Sierra S.
The service is amazing and the owner is so sweet. The orange chicken is so good! Great place to get lunch with friends and by yourself. Best place for Chinese food in Marina / Monterey area.
JLibre H.
Underwhelming for a $90 bill. I will say that everything did taste fresh, but just completely lacking in flavor. Here's our breakdown. -1x large hot and sour soup (bland and definitely missing that hot & sour punch that makes your nose runny. Disappointing considering the rainy cold weather today.) -2x egg rolls (extremely greasy with some of it saturating all the way through to the interior. The interior of vegetables was ok, missing seasoning) -2x chicken chow mien (unseasoned, bland with a few pieces of chicken) -1x broccoli beef (the meat was fairly tender and fresh, but taste was subtle) -1x Mongolian beef (NOT spicy at all, decent flavor that was mainly attributed to the amount of onions in the dish). Unfortunately, we will not be returning given the lack of seasoning, costly, underwhelming experience and desire to try other restaurants.
My friends and I were headed to a different Chinese restaurant in Marina, but saw Ho-Wah and entered it. Boy were we glad! We were greeted, told what are the specials and delighted to note that the chef is popular for his vegan cuisine. We had egg rolls busting with veggies and crisp edamames for appetizers. The stir fried asparagus was out of the world! Garlic eggplant was perfectly flavored. The Hong Kong noodles were pan fried and we didn't feel guilty eating it. The sesame bun dessert was out of this world good!!! The owner was very friendly and food was made fresh and served fast. Other notable thing was the cleanliness of the bathroom being exceptionally clean. Highly recommend this gem in Marina!
Food is great, good portions, very fresh and service is good too. The ambience is straight out of the 80's. It's super old school but they use pretty fresh ingredients and it's not super salty and sweet like most other old school Americanized Chinese food. The sesame balls were fresh, crispy and hot. We had the wor wonton soup and it was packed with fresh veggies and protein, perfect on a rainy day. No MSG! Yay! I liked a lot because it wasn't super salty and smothered with sauces. Really fresh ingredients!
Stopped by this little gem today while running errands. Don’t get me wrong, food was absolutely delicious, and quick, but the real reason for this review was a man named Tony who works here. Tony seemed to be a 1 man show for the most part outside of a gentleman helping clean and re set tables .This guy is seating people, taking orders, dropping off food, making change, answering phone calls, taking to go orders, and all while keeping mellow, thoughtful responses to questions on the menu. Seriously I don’t know what you are paying this guy, but give him a raise, for real! Feed the horse!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
No MSG! We have been going here since the late 90's! Little local restaurant great food .
My girlfriend and I stumbled upon this cute restaurant and decided to try it. We're from out of town and didn't know many places in the area. We loved it so much!!! We were instantly greeted by the pleasant and friendly staff. Not to mention the food was delicious! Will be coming back here when we come to town!!!
Super yummy. My family loves this place! If you have not tried, it, do yourself a favor and stop by you will not be disappointed.
Had a great time here! I've always driven by the restaurant but finally decided to give it a try and I was not disappointed. Some of the best Chinese food I've had in a long time. The staff is great and makes you feel so welcomed. I got the Hong Kong Chef's Wors Wonton soup and it was delicious! Will definitely be coming back often! And please do yourself a favor and order the crab puffs!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wings, Orange Chicken, Soup
Good food, good service. The only problem with this restaurant is that sometimes they get unexpectedly busy, and service speed suffers.
Always a pleasure ordering food from here. I love their orange chicken especially! The people are always so nice as well!
Under new ownership for a while now. And wow. What an awesome menu. Loving the orange chicken. Best in Monterey! You can't go wrong here. Such fresh veggie dishes too. My go to Chinese fix!
Restaurantji Recommends
Great place to eat or takeout. We have eaten here several times and are never disappointed. They are our go to when life gets busy. The food is ALWAYS fresh and slightly different. We have tried many items on the menu and can recommend the salt and pepper anything (tofu, wings, chicken it’s all great). Also their green bean special is amazing. All of their soups are delicious too. Highly recommend.Vegetarian options: They can make any dish vegetarian and their pan fried tofu is not breaded so it’s gluten free too. They don’t use soy sauce on everything so some of their dishes are cooked gluten free too all you have to do is ask for no soy sauce or etc.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wings, Pepper, Wonton Soup, Salt and Pepper Wings, Fried, Soup
Our family found this place on a trip to Monterey. The food was so good. The staff was very friendly. We will definitely be returning
First time trying this restaurant. We read all of the mostly positive reviews and wanted to give it a try. We will be back. We ordered food to go and it was ready on time. The lady working the front desk was nice and polite. We ordered cashew chicken, beef broccoli, rice with BBQ pork, chicken chow mein and the walnut shrimp. The cashew chicken was fresh. Just the right amount of seasoning. The celery was sweet and still a little crispy. The chicken was tender and plentiful. I like it when the cashew is on top and you can stir it up. The cashew don't get all soft and chewy. The beef broccoli was great. Plenty of tender beef and broccoli. Again, just the right amount of flavor. The rice was not dry like to had been sitting around for a while. The pork was plentiful and tender. It had small and big chunks of pork. The chicken chow mein was not slimy like at some places. Could have used a more chicken. This was the one item that was lacking , definitely did not have enough chicken. This why it hit 4 stars. The walnut shrimp was great. The shrimp was tender and had great flavor. It came was a ton of fresh broccoli. Another negative is the price, but show me a restaurant that hasn't gone up in price lately. We will be back but I hope the chow mein will be better.
The service is amazing and the owner is so sweet. The orange chicken is so good! Great place to get lunch with friends and by yourself. Best place for Chinese food in Marina / Monterey area.
Underwhelming for a $90 bill. I will say that everything did taste fresh, but just completely lacking in flavor. Here's our breakdown. -1x large hot and sour soup (bland and definitely missing that hot & sour punch that makes your nose runny. Disappointing considering the rainy cold weather today.) -2x egg rolls (extremely greasy with some of it saturating all the way through to the interior. The interior of vegetables was ok, missing seasoning) -2x chicken chow mien (unseasoned, bland with a few pieces of chicken) -1x broccoli beef (the meat was fairly tender and fresh, but taste was subtle) -1x Mongolian beef (NOT spicy at all, decent flavor that was mainly attributed to the amount of onions in the dish). Unfortunately, we will not be returning given the lack of seasoning, costly, underwhelming experience and desire to try other restaurants.