Ho Ho’s, Rathmines
With a sign promoting a €5 sweet and sour chicken special, I decided to ignore my inner monologue that screamed suggestions like ‘Run, now, and very quickly’ and ‘Don’t do this, if you care for your life’ and walked inside this infamous Rathmines take-away. I don’t know what it is about this place that turns people away, but I have only received negative reviews of Ho Ho’s, and was willing to put my stomach on the line to see what all the talk was about.
First impressions of Ho Ho’s were not favourable. The dim lighting, blaring ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, and uncleared dishes gave the place an unmistakably seedy feel, and I had the distinct impression that if I sat there for too long I might catch something nasty. However, when I squinted through the faint light, I could see that the décor was actually quite tasteful and that the exposed kitchen appeared to be clean and well organised. When my sweet and sour chicken dish arrived, the portion was remarkably large and the sauce was an exciting shade of pink, yet the flavour of the dish was surprisingly pleasing. The sweet and sour sauce was tangy, but not overwhelming, and the vegetables in the sauce were clearly very fresh, so I felt that I was getting some nutritious benefits out of this meal, a feeling that is usually absent from the average Chinese take-away experience.
The fried chicken was crispy and top of the range, well, top of the range of those oddities lovingly and distressingly named ‘chicken balls’ that are so prevalent in Chinese take-aways. Ho Ho’s seems to be ‘you get what you pay for’ exemplified. If you’re looking for an inexpensive and speedy Chinese take-away fix, Ho Ho’s may just be the place for you.
Diep At Home
The Diep take-away and delivery service is one of my many guilty secrets. It seems far too luxurious and expensive for a college student like me, but every time I feel like indulging myself with a guaranteed good meal, Diep is who I call. While it took over 45 minutes for my Red Chicken Curry to arrive, and including delivery charge and extra 50 cent for boiled rice totalled €15, the delicious dish that arrived was worth both the wait and the money.
The food arrives in little white cardboard containers that are visually appealing and an environmentally-friendly alternative to the usual plastic boxes, a detail that makes the meal all the more worth the money.
As for the actual food, this is none of this authentic ‘take-away’ style Asian food that most delivery services present us with: Diep offers the real deal. The flavour of the sauce managed to be delicate, yet complex and spicy, and each bite revealed new possible exotic ingredients in the dish, such as lime and lemongrass, which made the meal not only very very tasty, but interesting to eat too. The chicken and the vegetables in the curry were fresh and perfectly cooked, and the rice had the perfect sticky consistency that is almost impossible to replicate at home.
The only complaint I would have about the whole Diep at Home experience is the cost, but if you’re looking for a treat, I can almost guarantee that you’ll be thanking me when you choose Diep.
Charlies Four
Charlies is famous for their post-club 3 in 1 (chips, fried rice, and curry sauce for the Charlies-ignorant), but what about the rest of their extensive menu? Should we stick to the drunken 3 in 1 or are we overlooking something wonderful? My experience there one afternoon certainly helped me make my mind up.
While the restaurant itself is quite pleasant and relaxing, the meal I ate there had quite the opposite effect on me. ‘Shredded Crispy Chicken’ (€9.80) is a dish with a name that consists of 3 of the most appetising words I know, so I thought this was a good place to start. The chicken was more soft and chewy than crispy and shredded, and was covered with a very odd sauce that was tomato based yet so spicy it was almost impossible to taste anything at all.
I was not impressed with my ‘Shredded Crispy Chicken’ and so decided to move on to a Wan Ton soup (€3.70) to give my taste buds a break. I soon realised this was not a good decision, as the flavour of the soup was too peppery to be pleasant, and the Wan Ton’s themselves looked so unappetising with their limp noodles and reddish meat paste that I had to force myself to eat one, again a bad decision on my part. I was disappointed; I had really hoped that Charlies would impress me and that I wouldn’t have to say the following sentence: stick to the 3 in 1’s guys!
