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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, February 20, 2005

BACKPAGE STORY
Owner reels in crowd with crunchy crablegs

Chef and co-owner Sony Chan adds these flash-fried salt-and-pepper crablegs to the dinner buffets.

Photo by Randy T. Fujimori

HO HO Chinese Cuisine

Where: The Marketplace at Kapolei, 590 Farrington Hwy.

Call: 692-9880

Hours: Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays

Note: Take-out dim sum is available from 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

Private parties can be accommodated.

Shaking his head and laughing, HO HO co-owner Sonny Chan said the restaurant's name has nothing to do with Santa Claus.

"In Cantonese, the word ho means good," he said. "So, we're doubly good."

Since taking over HO HO last August, Chan has turned business around at this Kapolei Marketplace establishment.

A steady lunch crowd last week proved this. Even at 2 p.m. — a time when most area restaurants start slowing down — Chan was still replenishing the lunch buffet line.

At $7.95, it's a bargain, considering that an a la carte order of chow funn or fried noodles cost just as much as this buffet.

"Here, customers have a lot of choices," Chan said, while pointing to a row of chafing dishes that were filled with beef broccoli, kau yuk, mapo tofu, cold ginger chicken and kung pao chicken. "There's even various desserts and fresh salad toppings."

In the evening, Chan adds crablegs and more hot items to the lineup, justifying the price increase to $11.95 Mondays through Thursdays, and $14.95 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. (A Saturday and Sunday dim sum brunch buffet from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. is also available for $10.95.)

"During the weeknights, we go through a 100 pounds of crablegs," Chan said. "But on the weekends, we easily go through 250 pounds. My business partner tells me to stay in the kitchen and not to worry about how much they eat."

The popularity of these crablegs probably stems from the fact that Chan doesn't only steam them. He flash fries them with salt and pepper, giving the legs a lot more flavor and crunch.

"Nothing beats the taste of the food here," gushes server Lisa Lemafa. "This is what all our customers tell us."

The buffets and their affordable price tags may well be HO HO's biggest draws, but Chan's a la carte menu and dim sum items shouldn't be ignored. (Both are available even during the buffets.)

The homemade pork hash, and steamed and baked manapua are exceptional. And the roast duck and the roast pork — which are hung on long metal hooks in the display case — compare to the best that money can buy in Chinatown. But, this is Kapolei, as Chan was quick to point out.

"Now locals from Ewa Beach, Pearlridge, Waianae and Mililani no longer have to drive into town to get good Chinese food," he said. "They can just come here."

HO HO may be "doubly good" at the moment, but another ho would be well deserved. And then again, "HO HO HO" ... hmmm ... sounds even more like Santa Claus.