Ho Sai Gai

Now closed. So very sad.

After moving to a new neighborhood you need to find two things: where you’re gonna get your pizza, and where you’re gonna get your Chinese. After many attempts we finally found Ho Sai Gai. This place is GREAT! We’ve been sampling a whole bunch of things from the menu and haven’t been let down once. The pineapple coconut chicken, the orange chicken, the beef and scallions, the ho fun, the moo shu pork… it’s all been good! The only thing I haven’t liked was the egg drop soup. The consistency was a little too gelatenous for me. Other than that, great!

First tried this place when I moved into this hood from South Philly and tried the orange chicken lunch combo. Awesome amount of food for the price (comes with egg roll and soup) and very tasty. Have gone back 3 or 4 times since (both take out and dining in) and haven’t been disappointed at all!

Staff and mgmt are always friendly and patient. Food is okay but the fact that they’re so nice and clean (says a lot for dining in C-​town) keeps me coming back when I have late night hunger pangs.

Okay, so I didn’t read the reviews before ordering here… My husband and I did our american thing by voting and thought maybe we would do a chinese thing for dinner! since we are new in the area of Port richmond/​fishtown area, we have been enjoying trying new cafes and restaurants. Well here is a quick thought on Ho Sai Gai ~ DO NOT BOTHER! I got the dinner combo #6 Shrimp chicken beef & pork with mixed vegetables. ugh! the fried rice was flavorless with hardly no egg or veggies in it, No green onions or onion at all it seemed. And needed salt to make it edible to me. Even cheap chinese places can usually make fried rice ok… but this was expensive and still not good! The veggies were cooked ok, and I will say the meat seemed good. the chicken had a slightly funny taste, but the beef and pork were tender and good. the shrimp were average size, but again bland, not much to brag about.
the brown liquid it was in tasted like the brown gravy I put over mashed potatoes. It was very odd to eat chinese food and it not have any garlic or onion flavor. My husband got the dinner combo#7 Shrimp in Lobster sauce with ground pork. My husband opened it and it was a plate of gelatin like goo with a few shrimp and no ground pork that he could see or taste. He had the same fried rice too… yuk! So we decided to try the egg role, but gain… don’t bother. Touch to chew, bland inside again and just not anything I would want to eat again. I didn’t even touch the soup at that point as I couldn’t bear another disapointment.
Ok, so… next time, we will go into chinatown — it’s not worth spending that money for take out — I can go downtown and have it better for that price.

When I first moved to the area, this was my first Chinese takeout experience and I have to say I loved it. .. at first bite. I tried 3 of their soups (as usual) and they were all really good. I liked that they had some different soup options, besides just wonton. Their crab rangoons are very unusual, but they quickly won me over by their size and taste. They are overstuffed with a mixture which seems to include different seafood and different seasonings. That was about a year ago.
I’ve been back a few times since then for takeout and not only has it been bad, but it’s been terrible. Their soups were way salty and greasy, the same soups I used to like. The egg roll was soggy and wet inside and they have forgotten the sauce or forgotten something every time I’ve ordered since. The crab rangoons are still good, but everything else has gone downhill. I’m not sure what happened, but it has made me not want to order from here ever again.

DON’T GET: The veg hot and sour soup or the general’s tofu. Stay away from all the tofu/​bean curd.
DO GET: The rice noodles with vegetables.
Everyone is very nice. I would say that eating there is the best. Like, if you’re in a pinch while waiting for your laundry across the parking lot.
I had the worst chinese food experience of my life here, but my roommate swears by the place. Go figure.

While more expensive than I expected, i thought the food was amazing and I HATE chinese food. My only complaint is that their spring rolls are more like egg rolls.

First of all, don’t eat *there*. It was probably nice 20 years ago but it isn’t now. Picking up there can be quite fun besides… if you are waiting for your order, you can sit at the bar and watch bad TV or watch interestingly young patrons buy beer there.
But alas, when you get the food, it’s pretty good for chinese take-out…better than what you’d expect out of a strip mall in Port Fishington – about how you’d expect Chinese food to taste when the products where purchased from the dubious Thriftway there (not saying they are – just saying they taste like it.)
I’ve learned you have to be careful when ordering Chinese – most of what we eat is garbage and in a Chinese food restaurant, this definitely holds true. I’ve heard time and time again that what we call Chinese food Chinese people in China wouldn’t eat. So I always steer clear of the «fried» and lean towards the steamed items and preferably, the vegetable items.
Two knock-​outs: the mushroom, bean curd and seaweed soup. Enough for 2 meals as a main dish or 3 as a side… and it’s around $ 5. The steamed veggie dumplings. Perfect. Can’t get any better.
The tofu dishes are usually pretty good — I’ve found I like fried tofu way more than steamed so if I’m feeling sinful, I’ll ask the person IN PERSON (over the phone is just terrible speaking to anyone in any language other than their native language) if each dish features steamed or fried tofu and they’re helpful in wading you through.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, they buy quality fortune cookies. That’s right – I actually read the fortunes and eat the cookies. They’re good and one actually helped me win $ 500. Okay, lying about the money but still – they’re in complete sentences and pertinent. Very important.

I was in the mood for late night Chinese take-​out, and despite some negative reviews, I decided to give Ho Sai Gai a try. I ordered the Fresh Pork with Garlic, Scallion, Celery, and Black Bean Sauce. It was pretty tasty. My only complaint is that there was a lot more celery than pork. It is a bit pricier than your average strip mall Chinese joint and perhaps not much better, so those complaints may be valid. I would be willing to get take-​out from Ho Sai Gai again though. It is probably one of the best late night take-​out options you will find in Fishtown/​Port Richmond.

Way too pricey. The food isn’t great. The interior is cheap like a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant. Wish I could say something better.

On our first night in fishtown after moving and unpacking boxes and all that goes with that mess, we needed some good easy cheap grub. This place is a good three out of those four. What it is not is cheap. Service was great and portion size is excellent, but you’ll be surprised to find it much more expensive than other local Chinese restaurants.

This is a real simple one. The food just sucks. Sorry but it’s true, it’s really bad. Don’t even think about it!!!
Not even a half of a Star good.

Fairly mediocre. Typical cheap Chinese restaurant décor, stale crunchy noodles left out on the table (and somehow they have the foulest tasting duck sauce — I didn’t know you could mess up duck sauce), average-​tasting food. But you can’t really expect gourmet food in the Araming Shopping Center, can you? ;)
The service is great, though. They are quick and nice and always at your table to refill water/​tea before you have a chance to take a sip. And I haven’t found another sit-​down Chinese restaurant in Fishtown… so maybe they win by default?

Ho Sai Gai is the Mc Donalds of Chinese food. With so many other choices why would anyone but tourists eat here? (at the china town location) Here in Fishtown in cheesteak land maybe Ho Sai Gai is a breath of fresh air to the locals.