The House of Ho

I came here on Sunday with 12 friends to try 'Bobby's Rock'n'Roll Brunch'. Its ain't what it says on the tin! It was made bearable by the bottomless Prosecco!!

The table was booked for a 2-4pm slot. When we arrived there were not many diners in the main restaurant area. We were ushed into an area at the back of the restaurant, where we were the only ones there. The website says that you will be welcomed with a Lychee Bellini on arrival. Ten minutes in and still no sign of our welcome drink. It aslo sais there would be Edamame and crackers for the table. I couldn't see any. The website also said that 'The £29 menu will allow guests to choose an unlimited selection of sharing plates and three signature HO dishes'. We were told we could chose 3 of the sharing plates each and one signature dish.

It looked like the one guy in the back section serving us, was responsible for taking the food and dink orders and doing the drinks as well. Once we had ordered or sharing dishes, our welcome drink arrived (we were only here 25 minutes at this stage).

In fairness the dishes I picked were quite good. I went for the Imeprial Rolls, Duck Pho Cuon and the Chicken Salad. For the mainI went for the 'Shaking Beef' dish (£6 supplement). It was very tastey. It's just a shame that my side of Jasmine rice came out 10 minutes after the beef, by which time the beef was cold. I felt for the waiter, as he was left to being left to his own resources. The Edamame and crackers that should have been there on our arrival turned up after the sharing dishes arrived.

For dessert we had the Chef's Special (it was the only choice). A really nice Creme Brulee was served up. It's a shame that the ramekin was the smallest I've ever seen. It must have been 2 inches square and no more than an inch deep.

We had to keep asking for top ups of the Prosecco, and told the waiter that as it was over 30 minutes into our 2 hour slot before we had our first, that we wanted it extended, as we were there for almost 2 hours 40 in the end, as the service was lacking on the speed front.

I gave this place 2 stars, unlike the current 1 star trend, purely because I was in good company, and we enjoyed our afternoon in spite of everything. They really should update their website though to truly reflect what the customer should honestly expect. It also says that the brunch is in conjuction with TimeOut. Not a good reflection on what lots of visitors to London use as a point reference.

Came to house if Ho before our theatre show. It's very close to the prince Edward theatre. We sat down and advised the waitress we only had 30 minutes to eat. She recommended the summer rolls and advised she will let her kitchen staff know to rush the orders.
We ordered the summer prawn roll, it was good and fresh.
As well for the mains we ordered the pork belly and the chicken curry. The pork belly was very small order. And the chicken curry was very average. They had some small onions in it which was interesting and new.
We ordered 1 rice and tried the singha beer. The rice was a bit hard... Not sure why maybe was old or recooked. For portion wise another order of noodle would be perfect, but we were in a rush. The food came very fast which was great! Service was great too.
For the price it is on the pricey side. Our meal together was £39 and it was not enough for 2 people.

Went in here over the weekend for a friend's birthday party. The deco is nice and they put us in a gangsta style VIP table at the back, which we thought was a nice touch as we did not booked before coming in.

We then proceeded to ask the waitress what's the specialty of the restaurant. She told us everything is good. Thanks for nothing.

We ordered about 10 different dishes to share between 6 of us. The portions are really small but tasty though if you're looking to eat authentic Vietnamese, this is not the place to go to.

Overall, the food is average. Expect long wait for the the food to arrive and not in the right order either. Best about The House of Ho are their desert. I've tasted every single one on the menu and they were all gooood.

I received an email inviting me to an enticing complimentary bowl of pho, so thought it was high time we tried the place. How disappointing it was.

As a PR and marketing exercise it sucks! We were presented with half a bowl of noodle and a side plate that was no bigger than a teacup saucer holding a morsel of meat, a handful of beansprouts and some mint leaves. Nothing like their promotional photo. And to cap it, it was nothing special.

As I love Vietnamese summer rolls, I ordered a plate and also a plate of the morning glory as I love the Malaysian dish to compare this Asian fusion. The portion sizes are more than tiny, they were minute. The summer rolls were even smaller than the prawn or meat dumplings in dim sum, 6 bite size pieces, at £5 a pop, and the plate of morning glory was even more disappointing, a handful of strands that did not even fill the tiny saucer size plate, with half a lime filling the other half of the tiny plate at £6, seems extortionate. Needless, to say we left hungry and poorer for our next appointment, and had to grab something else to eat en route. A waste of time and a fare.

It's a shame their Sunday brunch at £29 looks good value as unlimited sharing plates, unlimited prosecco and wine, however, if you read the small print, there is a 2 hour turnaround, so if the service is slow, this limits how much you can eat and drink!

I will not be going back, as I do not have any confidence in their advertising, and I do not want to spend an average of £20-£25 and still feel hungry.

Bobby Chinn is the brain before the newly opened Vietnamese modern cuisine restaurant in the heart of Soho. With two successful restaurants in Vietnam until his belt, I was very excited to try House of Ho.

The place was difficult to find, as the door was plain and seem hidden on the busy street of Old Compton Street. Once opened you were transported from the busy world of London and greeted with dark brown decor and a modern restaurant and bar setting and greeted with friendly smiles, perhaps the plain looking door seemed fitting for this transformation. Or, some might think it was over doing it!

The menu was short, with 6 starters and 6 mains. So on a table of 4, we decided to order to share to enjoy a variety of dishes (and as you often do with Asian cuisine). The most anticipating dish of the evening was the apple braised pork belly!

My heart sank when I saw the pork belly, succulent with a translucent layer of fat and crispy pork skin, being brought out in a small pot (£14), in a 10cm x 10cm cube, militarily placed inside the pot infront of me. I looked at the rather small portion- not willing to share it with my dining companions.

The unforgiving portion sizes made me wondered what was all the hype about?

House of Ho located in the centre of Soho serves modern fusion Vietnamese cuisine. Most of the dishes we ordered were quite tasty though portion sizes were rather small. The best dish was the apple smoked pork belly.

The drinks menu has a large selection of cocktails, the staff are willing to make customised cocktails too!

Man! Another 1-star place!

What's wrong with London? It's like standards are dropping everywhere!

Here we have what looks like a fancy place and then you go inside only to find it's basically an expensive Asian tapas place.

What does that mean? It means you pay more here for a tiny dish of flavourless nothing than you pay for a large main course at any one of a multitude of places in the area. Just pick any other place. No really, anywhere. Even Subway.

I had a summer roll. It tasted nothing like summer. It did taste a lot like nothing though. In fact it exactly tasted of nothing. And it cost £6.

And then I went for lobster. It looks like a bargain at £18 until they tell you it's only half a lobster. And then you get it and it's actually more like half a crawfish, in glass noodles that taste like salt.

What an absolute rip off. I am so disappointed :(

Went for a quick pho fix. I was not really impressed with their pho -- lacking in flavour and personality. Their broth tasted a bit funny too. Not authentic but more of a fusion.

Ambience was good. Much more sophisticated than, say, the Pho chain. Could be good for either casual or slightly fancier meals. I liked how the table areas were relatively spacious.

Service was generally good and prompt. Our food came out on time, and they were quick enough to bring our bills/etc when requested.

All in all, a fine place -- but I just wish their pho were better.

Came here for the free Pho bowl that was advertised on their website. I'm thankful for the free bowl they offered, and should be happy that it was free, but I wish it wasn't free so I wouldn't have been lured in. The broth was not good. It was like water with salt...nothing "broth" about it. The other reviews rave about this place..maybe for the other things on the menu...DO NOT order the Pho here.

I like Vietnam. Halong Bay was a bit rubbish though, if you go from Hanoi. I wouldn't recommend it. Go to Cat Ba Island instead, it's way better, and you can get a boat from there! And go to the Mekong Delta instead of HCMC.

They have Vietnamese food in Vietnam and House of Ho too!