New Ho Ho's Chinese - 4871 Telegraph Ave

After Tanjia, my PIC and I were really excited to finally, at long last, be at Dona Tomas.

Problem is that we weren't there yet. There's a bank of little hole-in-the-walls we'd never noticed at the 48th block of Telegraph, and so we resigned ourselves to practicing self-discipline and getting them over with so that when we get to the big DT we can feel good about it.

The first of these hole-in-the-walls is New HoHo's Chinese restaurant. The name made us laugh; the view of the interior made us want to run straight away to Dona Tomas. However, we bravely entered and figured that it couldn't be worse than Louisiana Fish 'n Chips. Seriously.

What we ordered: Hot and Sour soup, mu shu tofu, egg rolls, something we can't remember - I think it was veggie fried rice.
Service: overtly friendly and enthusiastic. I thought the counter lady might invite me home for tea and fortune cookies. This might freak some people out; we liked her.
Atmo: Chinese prison cafeteria. With an overly-friendly lunchlady and lots of Chinese newspapers to read.
Crowd: What crowd?
Spent: This place is cheap - it was around $20
Overall rating: 2.5 sporks

The weird thing about New HoHo's is that they have a counter buffet-type display where you can get pre-prepared food as well as a menu. They also mention dry-fried ribs, which we almost ordered but just weren't in the mood for the KFC flavor.

The buffet scared us and so did the thought of the meat source, so we went vegetarian. I have to say, the food wasn't as bad as we thought it would be and actually had some good points. The hot 'n sour soup was actually sour, which has been a problem with other Chinese establishments on Telegraph. The egg rolls were the usual deep fried version and had a really thick wrapper.

The MuShu tofu was quite good - they made it to order and it wasn't particularly greasy. I can't remember the other entree, but I think I remember not being overwhelmed with it. Since we can't remember, we're settling on a 2.5 given that the cleanliness and atmo have something to be desired - being afraid to eat somewhere due to the visuals has to discount a restaurant rating no matter how good the food is (and in this case, it was just OK).

Would I go back here? Unlikely - Yang Chow is by far my favorite delivery Chinese in the area. But if it's in walking distance to your house and you're broke and hung over, go for it. Just order smart - the buffet looks scary. Asking for "light oil" might also be a good idea here.