Ho Lee Fook

The best-selling dish out of this converted newsagent hatch is a pork tonkatsu sando that Lee Chung says takes three days to make.

Why go

Lee and Johnny Chung are married, both were born to Hong Kong parents, and both "grew up in hospitality as 'takeaway kids'" before running their own fish and chip shop in Airdrie (GlasgowWorld). In the summer of 2023 they gutted a former newsagent hatch on the corner of McFarlane Street and the Gallowgate, opposite the Barrowland Ballroom, and started cooking their parents' food out of a space the size of a shed. Lee Chung sets out the range plainly: "Our mums and dads are both from Hong Kong so some of the disheas are from there. We've travelled around Southeast Asia so there are Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese influences." The chilli oil, the curry paste and the yum yum sauce are all made here and sold in bottles off the venue's own shop, which tells you where the labor goes. Two years later the couple took the unit at 239 London Road for Fook Mei, a sit-down room, so this hatch is the original and not the offshoot.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the pork tonkatsu sando, brined and braised pork belly in panko with kewpie mayo and tonkatsu sauce. Lee Chung on why it is the one people know: "That's the one that you probably see on TikTok. It takes three days to make, so it's a labour of love" ref. Then the biang biang noodles, GBP 7 in 2023, which Peter Simpson called "a chewy, savoury, umami-packed treat, loaded with pickled cabbage and spring onions and coated in an excellent in-house garlic chilli oil" ref. The chicken karaage at GBP 6 is the chip-shop training showing through, and Paul Trainer's own default order is the king prawns in light crisp batter.
• Avoid: finishing on the Hong Kong egg custard tart if you want it precise. Simpson found the dan tat "enormous, possibly a touch under-baked, but impressively wobbly so we'll let it off." Also avoid treating this as lunch you can sit down for. There are pavement tables, a queue, and Glasgow Green a short walk away.

What locals & experts say

• The Skinny (Peter Simpson, July 2023): the verdict on a kiosk six days old was "a bit wild, slightly unpredictable, and a bit chaotic, but well worth a visit," with "dishes from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong all running side-by-side." ref
• GlasgowWorld (Paul Trainer, July 2024): headlined "Ho Lee Fook: I found the best street food in Glasgow at The Barras," a year after opening. ref
• The Skinny, on the frying: "in a past life, Lee and Johnny ran a fish and chip shop, and you can tell." ref
• Johnny Chung, on the name: "it means good, wealth, and luck. And it also means what you think it means." ref
• The Herald (Sarah Campbell, May 2025): she reviewed it under the line "Looking for the best street food in Glasgow? Head to The Barras," per The Glasgow Wrap's weekly record. The Herald piece was not reachable this pass, so nothing is quoted from it. ref
• Local rec: Jeff's save, his note below. REAL.

Good to know

• Timing: as published in July 2023, Thursday noon to 2.30pm and Friday through Sunday noon to 3.30pm then 5pm to 7.30pm. Check @holeefook before travelling, because the Chungs opened Fook Mei in September 2025 and Johnny now cooks there while Lee runs this counter.
• Booking: none taken. It is a hatch with a queue.
• Where: 1/3 McFarlane Street, the corner off the Gallowgate opposite the Barrowland Ballroom. The G4 postcode reads as city centre on a map, but this is the Barras, in the East End.
• The sibling: Fook Mei, 239 London Road, is the sit-down room the same couple opened in September 2025, a few minutes' walk away. It has its own entry.
• Take home: the house chilli oil, curry paste, yum yum sauce and salt-and-chilli shaker are sold as products, which is the cheapest way to get the flavor into your own kitchen.
• Hygiene: the Food Hygiene Information Scheme rates the address a Pass, inspected 28 November 2024. ref

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: "Chinese save"

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — Two people who grew up as takeaway kids and then ran a chip shop in Airdrie gutted a newsagent hatch on the Gallowgate and started cooking their parents' food out of it. The top seller is a pork tonkatsu sando that Lee Chung says takes three days, and the chilli oil on the hand-cut noodles is made in house and sold in bottles. Peter Simpson reviewed it six days after it opened and called the noodles a 'chewy, savoury, umami-packed treat'; Paul Trainer went back a year later and put 'the best street food in Glasgow' in his headline. Dishes ran GBP 5.50 to GBP 7. It stays off the top rung because it is a hatch open four days a week with the food eaten standing up or in the park.