Ho Kong, Woonsocket , RI (restaurant)

Name:Ho Kong
Type:restaurant
Street:366 Cumberland St
City:Woonsocket
State:RI
Zip:02895-4716
country:USA
Phone:(401) 765-3064
Status:operational

Description:

WGS 84 Datum
N 42 00.085'
W 071 29.662'

[Edited by hanford to add in the address.]

[ Edited by: hanford_lemoore on 2004-03-21 16:08 ]

Those coordinates place this restaurant in Woonsocket, RI.

Until we have an actual address for a location, this does not belong in the Locating Tiki section. I'm sorry but GPS coords don't count :)

~Hanford

According to my secret sources at Switchboard.com:

Ho Kong Chinese Restaurant
366 Cumberland St
Woonsocket, RI 02895-4716
Phone: (401) 765-3064

EDIT:
Hanford, this might've thrown Batiki:

"A forum to catalog, review, and discuss Tiki locations across the world, both past and present. Bars, hotels, buildings and anything else that has a latitude and a longitude." :D

[ Edited by: Kono on 2004-03-21 16:03 ]

i'd feel really piratey trying to find that place using a clock and a sextant. but i guess there's an address now.

Batiki,

I love that restaurant. An absolutely classic example of a Chinese restaurant that added a Polynesian feel in the 1960s (I assume), then stayed that way.

Have you ever been inside? Can you tell us anything about the decor and the food?

Sabu

"Have you ever been inside? Can you tell us anything about the decor and the food? "

This is a pretty neat place. Seems like a mix of half Chinese and half Polynesian flavors. In the restaurant section, the main booths are covered by a grass awning with shell lanterns overhead. The bar is pretty neat, one large tiki mask on the rattan wall.The place has a nice big fishtank. It looks like a place where time stood still for 40 years. They make a mean tiki bowl. The food is pretty typical, overall it is very good for what you're ordering. If I can figure out how to post pictures of the place, I will, but my first attempt failed miserably. The drinks, unfortunately, are a bit pricey, but they make watching the Red Sox in the bar much more tolerable.

I had lunch there today. A mix of Polynesian and Chinese. Each booth has a different light over it. Shells, stained glass/resin, starfish etc. The main dining area is a 30 year time warp. The bar looked pretty plain; although I only got a quick glimpse.

I finally made it over to Ho Kong this past Saturday. I was joined by pappythesailor (a fellow TCer), his wife and my friend Keith. We had a good time checking out the Ho Kong and knocking back a few "tiki" drinks in the process.

So how was the food? I had sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, and boneless ribs. The sauce on the chicken was lacking so there was almost no sweet or sour to be found. The ribs weren't bad and the lo mein average. Also had some crab rangoons that were excellent. Seems like the kind of place that has some good and bad plates.

Ahh, now for the drinks - you will not find anything truly authentic here. Started with a Mai Tai - decent color but it ended there. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty, but not even close to the real thing.

Next up, a Zombie - hmm, was this Hawaiian Punch and gin? or maybe vodka? Again, not even close to the real deal and weak. The chimney glass it was served in was cool but it ended there.

After Pappy and the Mrs. left we hit the bar one last time. This time a Scorpion bowl was in order. Certainly not authentic but decent strength and good taste. Kind of a pineapple orange flavor.

Lastly another Mai Tai to top off the night.

Drinks overall were just ok.

Lastly the atmosphere was just as described in this topic already. Still nothing has changed in this place and it shows. I though for sure the thatching would be gone after the RI nightclub fire in Feb 2003 - guess it's still up to code? Plus I doubt they see any dangerous crowd levels seeing there were tons of tables open on a Saturday night.

The bottom line: If you're in the Providence area and are dying for some kind of tiki, this is the only place you'll get even close in RI. Its probably worth a trip for the nostalgia, but that's all.

Here's some pics of the interior:

Sign outside

Two shots of the front entrance (tiki above the door)

Pineapple lamp

Shell lamp (these were sweet)

Bar area (two tiki masks on the wall)

[ Edited by: johnman 2005-11-28 21:10 ]

Here's my two:

This guy was pretty mad at me after I popped the flash off. I tried this one in "fireworks" mode with the camera steadied on my Zombie.

This second shot was lightened 80% so you could see the detail. The Ho Kong is OK in my book. Please patronize it whenever you can.

Don't know what happened to some of the pics on here (please fix them if possible), but thanks for sharing the photos that are still on the board. It seems like there was a huge amount of Polynesian pop in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area, so it is nice to see one of the originals is still around. Great find.
KG