We went to Ho won for lunch and absolutely loved it. Their portions are huge and food tasted amazing. We’ll definitely. E going back soon! We had the special fried rice and beef chow fun.
It’s a small world. It turns out Bottlenick knows the daughter of the chef at Ho Won, aka the flash-fried squid magician. If you don’t recall my fake news blunder on Reddit, you can read it here. Bottlenick, L and I decided to visit for dinner when the Magician was working. Pro-tip – you can bring your own wine for a small corkage fee. Bottlenick said he would bring a bottle of bubbly.
Tried the fried prawn, calamari and spring rolls it was really Delicious, you should definitely try it. Excellent service. I would love to try other dishes!
Ho Won has been around forever. This place is famous for salt and pepper squid. The dish is a little spicier because they add in chilli peppers. It has just the right amount of batter so when you bite into it you'll hear a crunch. Compared to other places the Chinese food is average, nothing too special. The prices are a couple dollars cheaper per dish than other places. The portions per dish are bigger too. The service is not great and your food could take 20 to 30 mins to come out. Food is what you pay for and not the service.
The service isn't the greatest but the food is great. The salt and pepper squid is really good. A popular spot for lunch. Highly recommend. The portions given are a great value for the price.
I've been a regular of Ho Won for over a decade. This is a old school joint that has been around for a very long time. Don't let the older interior fool you, Ho Won has been around for a long time for its consistency, quality and great price.
Good select dim sum (get the siu mai / pork dumplings, beef tendon, beef stomach). The salt and pepper deep fried squid is what they are known for. They also have a very good fish broth soup, which is not available at any other dim sum restaurants. The owner makes a limited batch everyday and once they are gone, they're gone.
For dinner, go for the 3 or 4 course fish (cod) meal, which is amazing. It comes with a snow pea leaf fish soup, steamed fish with scallions, a braised deep fried fish and another vegetable (gailan) with fish dish. Very tasty, healthy and great value.
Some of the best chinese food in Calgary. Probably the best dimsum as well. Some of the worst service imaginable (but the food is worth it, just don't go there expecting excellent service). This is a restaurant that also has a "chinese menu" aka it's cheaper if you're chinese... But despite the few negatives, they have the best dishes in the city including the Salt & Pepper Squid and Wor Wonton Soup.
A constant go-to for dinner. A good variety of chinese cuisine dishes, with a couple of delicious signature dishes like no other, including the calamari (Peppered fried squid) and fried oysters.
Come here for the deep fried squid. Nothing else. If you don't mind seeing crawling critters this is the place to go. Has excellent late night snacks too.
Ho Won is a pretty decent Chinese restaurant to some people. There are many mixed opinions on it. I usually eat dinner there with a large group of people and they almost never fail to satisfy us. The price is right!
i have probably been here every week with my family for soooo long... their food is decent and i think its a good price since my parents always come here LOL. the cream lobster is the best! sweet and sour pork is also good and their crispy shrimp fried in onions and peppers is sooo yummmy i like that they give oranges at the end LOL.
Salt and pepper squid!. As the title suggests, I love the salt and pepper squid here. Probably their best dish. Decor is kind of old, but other than that not bad.
Fantastic Salt and Pepper Squid. They are well known for their salt and pepper squid. Delicious. The service is hit and miss, but you can't find larger plates of food anywhere for the price.
Fantastic for the price. Great authentic Chinese food, service & atmosphere below grade. But if all you are looking for is good food & not wanting to spend a lot of $, try this place.
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Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives - this place is a Dive. Dive : when someone mentions an eating establishment is a dive, thoughts of dark, dingy, and smelly come to mind.
To me, Ho Won definitely fits that definition, it is a dive but in a good sort of way.
Went there for dim sum on a Sat., around 11:30 am, and the place wasn't particularly busy. There were people there, but it wasn't bustling or anything; my only conclusion is Sat. day time parking isn't free.
Ironically, Ho Won was quite clean; old yes, decor and interior - after all these years - has remained unchanged. I was quite shocked that it was relatively clean. That being said, the interior could still use an update.
Dim sum items ordered :
beef stomach - good, not mushy but a tad still 'chewy', lovely ! I found it was a tad heavy on the black pepper, but I'm not complaining as I tend to favour a more peppery taste in my meals.
beef tendon - cooked to a good consistency; not overly mushy or soft but still a wee bit of firmness to it. Only place I know that has potatoes with the tendon.
beef tripe - not good, it was bland and lukewarm.
lo bok gow - delicious. Freshly pan fried, good flavour throughout. Large chunks of lo bok,
har gow - very good. I found the sizing to be on the small side, but it was extremely moist, shrimp was tender, and a wonderful shrimp flavouring throughout. The outer wrapper was thin, not too doughy and sticky, 2 thumbs up !
salt and pepper squid - rumours has it that this is Ho Won's signature dish. It was excellent ! Came out piping hot, good sized pieces of squid, deep fried perfectly to a light golden yellow, exterior was crunchy yet progressing through the squid was soft and tender. Nice sprinkling of chili seeds. My only complaint was the garnish - onion, red/green pepper - was salty, and ironically the squid itself wasn't salty.
shredded pork fried noodles - wonderful ! The bean sprouts was cooked well so it didn't leave a nasty fishy smell/taste, generous amount of shredded pork, and the noodles was deep fried so it had a nice crunchy exterior yet a semi soft interior.
pork/chive dumpling - like the har gow, the outer wrapper was good. Filling tasted fresh (consisting of chives, shrimp) and the chives had a nice green vibrant colour to it.
Pricing was affordable, dim sum was $2.95/dish, fried noodles was $7.95, and the squid was $11.95. Good value for the money.
Service wise, it was ok, there was ample wait staff around. I found the dim sum ladies were kind and pleasant.
Overall, good food and value !
The service sucks but the food is good, they're spicy squid and seafood is good as well .. My family likes it really spicy and that's what they give us.. I would go back if my family decides to eat there
We went today after the Chinese New Years festivities DT. It was busy but they were able to accommodate 9 of us right away. First time having dim sum along with some westernized Chinese dishes. I found the service not bad for how busy the place was. We were the only Caucasian table in the entire place and trying to get a description of some of the food items was difficult. I found everything ok. Nothing really stands out as awesome and worth coming back but it wasn't bad either. See photos of a few dishes.
All Dim Sum $2.99!. All Dim Sum $2.99, the cheapest in Calgary! The quality is good, not great nor is it bad either. I go there mainly for Dim Sum craving since it cheap, but beware the service is slow. They lack enough staff, but the staff works hard expect the older man who just does the cashier. Try to avoid going here past 1 PM as most of the carts pushed are mostly leftover and they stop making new dishes. As for dinner, it's okay. The prices are decent along with the food. Service is slow for my liking.
Very good, maybe in best Chinatown. The "sizzling rice with beef+vegetables" and "palace style chicken" are outstanding. The portions are huge, 1 dish per adult is almost too much food. The decore is just ok and the service is slow, but the food is always great.
Squidcellent. Ho Won has consistently been the place to go whenever I have a salt and pepper squid craving. For me its the jewel of the meal, which is supported by a large variety of other chinese dishes. I cannot 100% say they are all amazing on the menu, but most that I have tried have been pretty good. My preferred dessert has always been the Sweet Almond Soup (I may be getting the name wrong, but its the last item on the dessert menu).
Service is on-par, definitely not as attentive as mainstream restaurants, but that may be because of a small language barrier. Still friendly and efficient with the bringing of food though, so definitely on standard.
Overall, I recommend this place for a easy going night with no plans and just eating and hanging out. And of course, if you're craving salt and pepper squid!
Great group lunch. A co-worker suggested this place as THE place to have salt and pepper squid, and they delivered. We shared quite a few dishes - s & p squid, ginger beef, a noodle dish, cashew chicken and mushroom veggies. They were all outstanding with ginger beef and s & p squid being obliterated first. The cashew chicken was forgettable, but the veggies were super fresh and a good foil, the thick noodles perfectly cooked and sauced and the service was quick although erratic. I'd totally go here for lunch again.
Salt and pepper squid is a must have. Large portions for a great price but still good quality. Only thing lacking wouldbe the service but that squid is worth the wait
Great Chinese Chowdown. Food: 4/5 - Doesn't have the best chow mein but the Salt and Pepper Squid and 3 Seafoods in Cream Sauce is absolutely dynamite.
Service: 3/5 - It all depends on the grasp of the English language the server has.
Decor: 2.5/5 - Large dining room means that they can accommodate any size table. Nice adornments on the back wall but nothing to emulate the great old Dynasties.
Ambiance: 3/5 - The feel of the restaurant is solely based on the company you surround yourself with. There isn't a need for anything else when you're having Chinese.
Bang for $: 4/5 - As with most Chinese restaurants in the city, there is great value compared to quality. As long as the seasonal price for top seafood isn't a killer, the bill will hopefully be as pleasing as the fortune in the cracker.
Classic Chinese food. In more ways than one. Place is outdated and kind of a dive. Food is delish and service can leave a lot to be desired. If you speak their language, you get good service. Enough said. The seven of us ordered dishes to share. A couple of plates of salt and pepper squid, half a crispy duck, mixed vegetables with noodles, chicken, ginger and pineapple stir fry, pea shoots with garlic sauce and steamed rice. All the food was good, except I did not try the duck. I don’t eat duck. I still think their jiew yim sin yau is the best in town. Service was slow, but I suppose that gave us more time to chat and enjoy the food. They were accommodating in heating up one of the babies’ food.
If you want the best salt and pepper squid, Ho Won's has to be on your bucket list every time you go to Calgary. We've been missing great Chinese food since moving out of Calgary, so we try to stop whenever we make a trip back. The squid is a must and by a must I mean, get 2 dishes worth as you will not want to share. The ginger beef is also crispy and sweet, but could use a little more heat and the almond sui gai is crispy and tender and the gravy adds another layer of flavour. The gravy could be a little more almondy (is that a word) flavour, but overall not bad.
But the star of every meal at Ho Won's is the salt and pepper squid. Parking can be a bit of an issue during dinner service but if the weather is warm, you can find plenty parking at Eau Claire market a few blocks away.
My family has been going here for over a decade. You can get the best salt and pepper squid here. The food is so tasty and the portions are very worth the price!
Come here for Salt & Pepper squid and ginger beef. You can pick and choose 4 dishes for under $60 or set Dinner for 4 for under $100 with seafood. Can’t go wrong at this price point. Service is what you would expect at a busy Chinese restaurant and don’t expect much for ambiance either. But this place has been around forever.
A good old school style chinese restaurant that is more authentic than westernized. Dont expect amazing or stand out decor as thats not the focus of this place. Pricing is good and food comes in large portions. Lots of food options and not too oily. Salt and pepper squid here is definitely their staple bc its freshly deep fried, large portioned and tastes fairly good.
My husband and I love eating in this restaurant. The special fried rice and the salt pepper squid are the best. Come and check out the reasonable price and you will leave the place with a smile.
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