Ho Wan Chinese Restaurant Review - Richmond Hill NY

4.0/5 Stars

Ho Wan Chinese Restaurant! At least that's what I think they're shouting at us after a long search for the restaurant's location.

40 years old Ho Wan Restaurant was hidden under the A train station. Nothing special to look at from the outside, but this restaurant was rather big and appealing on the inside.

I come to this restaurant because of the good reviews we found online, so I told myself, why not give it a try. When we walked in, the service was good, we were escorted to our table, sat down, and my waiter was nice enough to do a briefing of allege menu and kind enough to tell us what to order and what not to order because it might taste less than ideal.

I ordered some food while we enjoyed the (complimentary) olong tea. Our drinks arrived quickly as did 2 complimentary hot soup with green onion. Bonus! Satisfaction!

Finished with the healthy stuff for the moment, I ordered the deep-fried fish with sweet and sour sauce. Arriving a lovely golden brown and piping hot, I immediately put the fish sauce in my mouth! It wasn't greasy aftertaste, the fish was fresh and tasty.

And we had a combination veggie plate, It was “fresh, fresh, fresh.” The veggies were cooked to perfection, with a crisp snap indicating freshness as we ate them.

Lingering over our last dish, our complimentary homemade ice cream arrived. Green tea with almond crunch ice cream, I was surprised by the taste of it, refreshing and fulfilling!

The service was excellent and clean bathroom (that matters a lot to me) I'll come back again for the fish and try something new.

Overall I give it 4/5 stars.

Ho Wan Restaurant
111-05 Liberty Ave
Richmond Hill, NY 11419
Neighborhood: Ozone Park
(718) 843-3288

www.howanrestaurant.com

Nearest Transit: 111 St (A) Ozone Park - Lefferts Blvd (A) 104 St (A)

The Winter City

Wintertime has been a breeze so far here in New York City. It has been a mild one with little snow for the season, despite I hope for another snow storm will come .....

Summer in Washington D.C and Maryland

Over the summer I went down to Washington DC to spent the July 4th weekend with Elena and Vic. Vic had been to Washington a number of times, but it been at least a few years and he hadn’t actually looked around in a while. So we took the car and drove down in the morning and we spent the better part of Friday afternoon from lunch in DC Chinatown, Ford's Theatre, Spy Museum and hotel in Maryland.

Monuments, museums and statues, oh my! The thought of Washington, DC probably brings images of one of these to mind. The District of Columbia is all about politics and power. History, too, plays a big role in why visitors choose the area as a travel destination every year.
Along the way we made a number of stops along the way at places like the White House, Washington Monument, downtown D.C, Treasury Building, Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial as well.

We took some time to visit the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. While there I saw the Hope Diamond and amazing displays on dinosaurs, gems, and planetary evolution. Of course another great museum would be the Air Space Craft Museum! Awesome!

The trip to Washington D.C left me inspired and motivated, especially most of the memorials seemed to reach out to me. I know we can do more to help shape our great nation for generations to come if we only follow the example set by our forefathers, and in particular these two great men! Kudos to Lincoln!

Life in State University of New York, Cobleskill

Meeting new people from around the world is just one of the many advantages of studying in upstate New York. I’ve been leaving Cobleskill for over few years, and now I miss Coby a lot, here's the few things I miss about it.

1. Winter

I know what you’re thinking: how can anyone love a season where temperatures can dip below 10F, snow is almost a meter thick? That’s precisely why I love winter in upstate: it’s so different than what I had been previously used to. In NYC, winter is less remarkable than everywhere else.

2. The people

This one comes as a no-brainer. Life isn’t just about what you do: it’s about who you meet. And in Coby, I’ve met some amazing people such as my host family and close friends to fellow Japanese exchange students who’ve helped me broaden my horizons and taught me a lot about myself, too. If it wasn’t for this motley cast of characters, there’s no way my time abroad would have been as magical as it was.

3. Pajama in class

You can't beat this. Wearing pajama in class in NYC are not acceptable and people would think you're crazy.

4. My host family

Host families are a fantastic way to live a country life, and I had a great time with mine. From going to Six Flags, to barbecues, to fishing, I will miss them greatly.

5. The summer

If Coby winter is spectacular, then the summer is even more so. Temperatures around 75F, clear skies, large moon, meteor shower, shooting star, summer romance, midsummer… what could be better?

6. Nature

Cobleskill have a special connection to nature, and it’s easy to see why. Never in my life have I seen a country as green as Cobleskill is. From the forests to the meadows to the numbers of lakes, it’s hard to imagine more beautiful scenery anywhere else on earth.

7. Party

Sure I miss the parties. We called it thirsty Thursday, Friday laid day and hangover Sunday. I had lots of fun. Partying in upstate are mostly house party, which mean you'll see a girl stripping on the dining table and guys would played beer pong, in the city, mostly bar or club with restriction.

Here's some pictures I'll share with you from my last semester in Cobleskill, NY

So, what do you miss about yours?

Resorts World Casino, Adequate Buffet Review - Queens NY

2.5/5 Stars

I'm a foodie who love to dig for delicious food in the city. One day after a strong recommendation from a friend on mine, I decided to try out the newly open casino buffet in town. I've been to Las Vegas for several times, I tried variety buffets from different hotel such as Golden Nugget (I liked the least), Wynn, Hilton, Planet Hollywood, MGM, Paris, Aria and Bellagio. I would say I like the buffet in Aria the most. So I came to Aqueduct Buffet at Resorts World with such a high expectation.

At first I stopped by around 8pm on Saturday night, the waiting list for the buffet was 2 hours, so I left. Few days later me and V ate here on a Wednesday night at $25 per person. It was early and it wasn't very busy.

Our first impression of the buffet was favorable but when we sat down to eat our first round and at one point V and I who were eating the same meat selection said, "this is cold" as well as other "hot" items such as chicken masala, sausage pepper and vegetables. Willing to give it another round we went to try new foods and notice the many items not available or at best a spoonful left.

How disapponting! The service was adequate, but the food overall was not very good. The prime rib was tough and very chewy. Some of the food was not labeled and a number of food items were left in place too long causing them to dry up. Examples included the Grilled Chicken, New York Sirloin Steak, Lamb Gyro and Steak Fajita.

Nothing there impressed me except the fried dumpling and fried chicken, which is sad! Certainly not worth the $59 plus tax for 2.

Over cooked mussels, vegetables and bad looking pizzas.

Tiny shrimp instead of large shrimp. The rice taste like fried rice from where you get your lunch combo from Chinese take out.

Many of the selections were not kept at a proper temperature. The food was cold instead of hot.The peel and eat shrimp were small and there was none any kind of pasta, lagsana, stuffed mushroom, snow crab, oyster, clams, turkey and calamari on the menu. The Asian and Italian menu was less than okay.

Desserts was decent but I expected a really good buffet for the money we spent. I don't think I will be back again.

Overall I gave it 2.5/5 stars.
1 for the services
1 for the interior
.5 for the food
Casino? I prefer Las Vegas better.

Aqueduct Buffet at Resorts World New York City
110-00 Rockaway Blvd.
Jamaica, NY

www.rwnewyork.com (a fairly bad website that did not list prices and hours of operation )