Pineapple Shrimp makes for a colorful dinner entree at Ho Ho. A half pineapple shell serves as a bowl to a sweet and savory mix of shrimp and vegetables.

HO HO CHINA BISTRO Location: 1742 Lombardy Circle Phone: 704-376-0807 Fax: 704-376-8123 Details: : Take out, delivery within a 3-mile radius, private dining room, full bar, corkage fee, $5. Prices: : Lunch combination - $4.95-$6.50. Dinner entrees - $6.95-$14.95. Hours: Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner: Seven days a week, 5-10 p.m.

Plan to take a break from your Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings and check out one of Charlotte's newest Chinese restaurants.

In the Queen City's original restaurant row off East Boulevard, Ho Ho China Bistro has been open for four months. The Lombardy Circle location in the Dilworth Cooperative behind East Boulevard Bar and Grill is the former home of Chez Daniel and more recently KoKo Chinese restaurant.

The name Ho Ho isn't a takeoff on the building's former tenants, KoKo. The word "Ho" in the Cantonese dialect of the Chinese language means good. When the word is followed by an additional "ho" it means excellent, and that is what the four owners of Ho Ho want to offer - excellent food and service in an excellent venue. They have succeeded on all counts.

Jason Chen and his wife, Carol Yang, own and operate Ho Ho, along with Carol's sister Tracy Yang and her husband, Qing Lin. The four were all born and raised in China in the Fu Jian and Hu Peh provinces, but they actually met in Charlotte while working at Boading in the Sharon Corners Shopping Center. A culinary school graduate in his native China, Lin cooked at Boading for five years while Jason, Tracy and Carol all worked in the front of the house. The two couples eventually married and together decided to venture out and try their own restaurant.

Lin still cooks and offers many original recipes on the Ho Ho menu. While Carol is home taking care of her newborn daughter, Jason and Tracy handle everything from restaurant host and hostess and waitstaff to delivery staff and dishwashers. It is a small, family run operation, but you'll find big flavors on the menu.

"We started out with a very small, simple menu of traditional Szechuan and Hunan recipes," Chen explained. But as the restaurant develops a following, they have found customers requesting more Americanized Chinese favorites. "We are happy to make beef with broccoli or sesame chicken, if that is what people want, but there is so much more to try. We encourage our customers to taste something new," Chen said.

And that is definitely what you should do the next time you visit Ho Ho for lunch or dinner. Leave the standards for now and try any one of the Ho Ho specialties on the menu - there isn't one I wouldn't highly recommend.

RATING SCALE Excellent, a must try. Above average, worth consideration. Average, but nothing spectacular. Just okay. Poor, not recommended.

Start out with an array of appetizers like the seaweed salad, salt and pepper soft shell crab and the stuffed lettuce with chicken or shrimp. You'll often find seaweed salad featured in Japanese restaurants and sushi bars, lightly dressed with sesame oil and sesame seeds. At Ho Ho, Lin prepares it in a similar manner but serves it atop a bed of shaved lettuce, garnished with thin strips of red bell pepper, offering an unusual and refreshing crunch to the mix. The soft shell crabs are also offered as an entree at Ho Ho, but the appetizersized portion features three crabs and makes for a nice start for sharing and trying a variety of items for dinner. The crabs are well-seasoned, then pan fried, tender inside with a slightly crispy crunch on the salt and pepper crust. The lettuce wrap is also very nice and perhaps, for many, an easier step into the world of traditional Chinese cuisine. Here rounds of iceberg lettuce are filled with a slightly sweet stir-fry of either minced chicken or shrimp, carrots and water chestnuts in a sweet garlic sauce mixed with crispy rice noodles. This dish makes for a light and tasty way to start the evening or a satisfying lunch entree accompanied by a cup of hot and sour, wonton or velvet corn soup.

The best and perhaps most popular seafood specialty is the Ho Ho Shrimp. Here, quite large but incredibly tender shrimp are stir fried in a sweet, sour and slightly spicy sauce spiked with a splash of Grand Marnier. The shrimp are served with a mix of stir-fried vegetables like zucchini, yellow squash, carrot and broccoli on the side, and the entree comes with a choice of steamed white or brown rice. There is really nothing better, although several other selections come in as a close second.

If seafood is your love, try the Plum Shrimp, served in a unusually good but mild plum sauce or the pineapple shrimp, elegantly served in a half pineapple with a colorful mix of vegetables and a slightly sweet but still savory sauce.

The Sancy Beef is one dish Chen recommends. Here, thin strips of beef are cooked quickly over high heat and served with a mix of stir-fried bell peppers and onions. There is not really sauce to speak of, just the juices of the meat and vegetables blended with a tasty array of savory spices and a hint of orange. The dish is garnished with orange slices, and Lin suggests that for the fullest flavor you eat a slice of orange or two after the meat.

One thing I have really enjoyed about the several meals I have had at Ho Ho is the variety of flavor. This is not quick take-out Chinese with a choice of brown or white sauce. On the contrary, dish is seasoned with spices and madeto- order sauces to highlight the flavors of the meat, poultry or seafood. Each dish has its own unique flavor and that keeps the menu interesting.

Another don't-miss Ho Ho specialty is Amber Scallops. This is a recipe Lin pulled out of the recipe files from his culinary school days. It is superb - right up there with his Ho Ho Shrimp. In this dish, large scallops are lightly breaded and deep fried to a nice crunch then dressed with a warm, well-seasoned brown sauce. Like the shrimp dishes, the stir-fry vegetables come on the side.

In China, Hunan cuisine and Schezuan cuisine both have a slightly spicy edge while the cuisine of the province of Canton, that is Cantonese cuisine, provides a milder taste and texture. Ho Ho offers the very best of all three regions.

In addition to Lin's specialties, traditional American-Chinese favorites like Moo Goo Guy Pan, Moo Shu Chicken and Flower Shrimp are featured, along with fried rice dishes, Lo Mein or noodle dishes, and several steamed and vegetarian offerings. Everything is cooked to order, so special requests are no problem.

There is a nice wine list with a $5 corkage fee. A private dining room seats 8-10 people. Besides lunch and dinner, Ho Ho offers delivery within a 3-mile radius of the restaurant if things are not too busy in the dining room. You can call in or fax in take-out orders for pick up. Lunch combination orders come with sides of white or brown rice and a spring roll, while dinner orders come with a choice of rice and, of course, fortune cookies.

Reservations for dinner are not required, but with Ho Ho's limited seating, they're a good idea on weekends.

Ho Ho Shrimp is the signature dish, featuring large stir-fried shrimp dressed in a savory Grand Marnier sauce.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Edidin writes "South Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@southcharlotteweekly.com.

SCW photos by Sean Busher.

This article first appeared in "South Charlotte Weekly" on November 28, 2003. "South Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in South Charlotte and Uptown.

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