I finally gave this place a try on the urging of my friend who was hungry and didn't want to drive anywhere else after studying at the next door Caribou coffee shop.
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Upon entering... the place smelled like one of those cheap Chinese buffet restaurants. Not a good sign. But as they say... don't judge a restaurant by its smell.
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I let my friend do the ordering this time... he chose the Moo Goo Gai Pan and the Mu Shu Pork. We also got hot and sour soup as appetizer. The soup was disappointing... not tasty at all.... Oh well, that's just the soup. The other 2 dishes come out in <5 minutes (that's good or bad depending on how you look at it). Both of them are absolutely nasty. Super salty. The mushroom still had that canned taste to them. Can't they afford to buy fresh mushrooms? Or at least wash the canned mushrooms a little bit before tossing them in the wok? In fact, both dishes are much worse than the dishes made at the Chopsticks Chinese take-out place on Case Western campus (we're both students, so that's why we go there sometimes). At Chopsticks, the price is <$5 for the same dishes; plus they taste much better!!
Given the expensive price tag, I expected at least the same quality as a cheap $5 per dish take out place. So instead we pay $12 per dish for something that tastes awful.
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And YES I have had authentic Chinese food (in Beijing, Shanghai, and those hole-in-the-wall places in San Francisco or New York City comes close). And NO I do not expect to find anything close to that in Cleveland, but I expect something halfway decent. There are numerous other places I would recommend over Ho-Wah. Chopsticks on Case Western campus has better tasting food at less than half the price (their service is kinda rude, but that's fine b/c it's a take out place). Otherwise... a few decent places include Li Wah, Siam Cafe, Bo Loong (those are all Chinese Restaurants in ""chinatown"", near 36th Street and Payne area towards downtown Cleveland).
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It's hard to believe that the 2 reviewers below ate at the same place that I did. However, I think it's possible that the chef changed and that's the cause for the sudden plummeting in quality over a few months period.
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I would never eat at Ho-Wah again unless someone can explain why it was so nasty (a substitute chef was in that day?) and would treat me to a free meal there. (hard to say no to free food when you're a student).
Pros: location... nice shopping center
Cons: disgusting dishes, expensive prices
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