The Honey Paw

Ate lunch here today. Everything was amazing but I really enjoyed the pork belly rice bowl. It had so much flavor and spice. I’d comeback just for that.

Just finished dinner with 6 of us and everyone had a fantastic time and wonderful food!!! Started with a number of Apps to share. We each ordered a main course with an order of fried chicken/​corn bread. There was a bit leftover but not much… Some very very very full bellies! We are planning to return to try desserts soon.
There are six recommendations on the food and the atmosphere! It’s a must to stop and try.

This is a true fusion Asian restaurant complete with hipster servers and bartenders. The menu is an eclectic mix of traditional and casual Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian dishes, but the atmosphere and décor feels more like a boutique café that feels more like Starbucks than an Asian restaurant. I’m not sure I’d come back here as a regular however. It’s expensive for the quality and portion of these dishes you could normally get it for the fraction of the price at actual Asian restaurants. But for an occasion, I think it’s a cool spot.
I tried Mapo tofu, Phở, and Bahn Mi sandwich. Mapo tofu was pretty good. Well seasoned but it didn’t taste like traditional Mapo tofu, which is typically super spicy. This was mostly soy sauce flavor with maybe a little too much red onions. Phở was our least favorite. The broth that should be the star, was overpowered with lime. I couldn’t even drink it like I’d normally would with Phở. Bahn Mi was passable. It was missing some flavor and tasted bland.
Overall, this is a good spot to have lunch or dinner with friends but if you’re craving good Asian food, this is not a great place. But what do you expect from any fusion Asian restaurant?

The Honey Paw is a decent little Asian Fusion place with great service.
I went here with a big group of friends on a whim for lunch and found it to be a solid experience. The location is small but well designed in a sort of hipster way. The appetizers I tried — the bar snacks, fry bread, and fritters — were tasty but not particularly interesting or Asian. Thankfully, my entrée — a noodle dish with lamb weirdly not mentioned on their website — was better but not particularly impressive in any specific way.
Despite the somewhat unsurprising fare, service here was phenomenal. Our waitress was pleasant and quick and made the process exponentially faster than it would have been anywhere else. That alone warrants a higher star review in my opinion.
I can’t say anything here stood out except for the service, but I was nonetheless pleased.

Good draught beer selection and really liked the seating arrangement. We only got drinks but the menu looked innovative. Young, hip crowd and fun décor, like other spots in East Bayside.

Honey Paw Honey Paw Honey Paw everyone starts talking about the Honey Paw in the space of a week I heard Honey Paw everywhere. Colleagues are getting gift certificates to the Honey Paw my boy took his girl to the Honey Paw for an anniversary treat and you haven’t been to the Honey Paw yet not even heard of it yet? Goes to show how Kennebunkport is on the other side of the country…
I had been told that this joint is really heavy on the meat side, from a vegetarian colleague who does not frequent the Honey Paw, the only dude in Portland who does not like the Honey Paw. So I decided to go for one of the very few items that clearly bore only veggies. When I asked for the Mapo Dofu, the guy gave me this once over and asked «Are you familiar with this dish?», so I said «Nope, but I hope you are gonna familiarize me, buddy». He then went on to say, cryptically, that it was the dish that gave the name to «Mala». Well, that sounded bad, but since this is an Asian fusion kind of place, I figured that «Mala» was probably not a Latinate kind of word, so I stuck with my choice. Turns out I had a good hunch, because Mala is actually a good thing, a really good thing. It’s so good, if you go to the Honey Paw, this is something that you have to try. Just order a bowl and slam it around the table and make everyone take a bite (unless they are super spice-​hating French folk, but then they should simply not go to the Honey Paw). This «mala» concept, well I guess everybody but me knows about it. It is a «numbing spice», and the active ingredient is hydroxy-​alpha-​sanshool, found in Sichuan peppers that has an overlapping but different effect than capsaicin, familiar to those fans of the «hot spicy» pepper. Man this is one super funky incredible experience. It is not in fact «sharp spicy», but spreads out over your mouth and feels like someone has wrapped a fur blanket around your tongue, and your tongue is rolling down the highway in a 2016 S Class sedan. This is definitely a dish to get when you are already drunk, which I was not, unfortunately. Total mind trip!
Here are some other things that we tried. Too bad we were there just before dinner started. Would have loved to try their Korean Fried Chicken or the whole fried bass.
Wok Fried Yaki Soba
— This dish was basically a distillation of umami into a bowl, so intense that it left us all craving for a palette cleanser. So intense that a side of «Warm Lomo» looked it might be a good palette cleanser. So intense that I feared that next tiny bite of mushroom would not fit inside the psychic space of my oral cavity. This place should seriously consider a citrus sorbet to serve as needed, just to allow the customers to keep on eating their unbelievably concentrated concoctions.
Smoked Lamb Khao Soi
— This dish had lamb, really delightfully gamey lamb, coupled with a suppurating sweetness and a heavenly sharp spiciness (it’s not sufficient at this joint to simply talk about the spicy-​not-​spicy axis, you gotta talk about the «spice web», a whole field of spice orientations with at least two, probably three, Cartesian coordinates).
Wok Fried Rice Noodle
— One of my kids got this, and it turned out to be my favorite dish, only because the level of flavor intensity was limited to simple random oddball pairings, like leek against orange, the sausage against the mushroom. Although the portions at this restaurant are not crazy big, this was the single thing ordered that I felt I could actually make it through without having to visit the fabled Vomitorium, in order to proceed with my dish.
Wow, what an experience! This place is so innovative, so fascinating, and the décor is so just-​so, with beautiful massive windows and a modernist ethic of big light, simplicity, yet cozy and comfortable. Oh, and they spin vinyl, hipster clichéd but still very cool. Strange, though, I am not eager to come back. I think I will either go run a 10K, one that ends at the Honey Paw, or I will starve myself for two days, then run to the Honey Paw. Then I will get drunk on their fine selection of unusual beers and order the Mapo Dofu, as a first course!

We were waiting to get into DuckFat and decided to grab a drink. At first walking by, I thought this was a coffee place but soon discovered it was not.
Our bartender was very attentive and great with suggestions. They offered a lot of specialty cocktails and beers on tap. The bartender was wonderful and really took the time to know what we liked before making suggestions.
We each enjoyed a cocktail or a beer; the space is very open with some nice people watching views! Plenty of seats at the bar and plenty of tables to choose from.
Can’t wait to come back and try their food!

I had the pleasure of coming in here with a large-​ish group of coworkers one evening. The bad thing about that? No where for us to all sit together in this small space with no reservation. The good thing? We tried just about every thing on the menu. Belly-​up to the long window bar, we passed dishes back and forth and, well, it did not disappoint.
Standout items included the charred brussels sprouts (kind of an old standby of «new american,» but a fave for a reason), crab fritters and the AMAZING soft serve ice cream with honeycomb. I’d come back here just for that dessert.
For the main portion of my meal I got a buckwheat noodle dish with all manner of salty, creamy, fishy toppings (think roe and crème fresh). It was weird in a good way, which is becoming one of my favorite food genres. Part Italian, part Japanese.
Looking beyond my immediate plate, I saw dining room with great style — vinyl and turntables on one wall, graphic print on another — and friendly staff. The Honey Paw is the complete package, innovative, interesting and of-​the-​moment. A bit loud and bright for small children or a romantic date, but just right for a lively bite with friends or yes… even coworkers. Providing they are willing to share.

This place is really cool! Prompt service and really good vibes :) we went there with my four year old who ordered the egg noodle with butter sauce and cheese with chicken meatball and he ate the whole thing!
The menu is awesome ! I wanted everything but went for their lobster option and was not disappointed at all. Very beautiful. If you’re super hungry, however i would recommend the Vietnamese soup bowl which was awesome.
My husband ordered the pancake pork dish was just short of my favorite food ever.
All around amazing and i cant wait to go back!

I haven’t had a bad meal here yet! My favorite description is tapas meets dim sum. Its not quite dim sum but it truly reminds me of what you would get if you had asian tapas!
The noodles are great and the specials are always fun. Im always surprised by the taps as well. There aren’t many beers on tap but there’s always one that sparks my interest! Hugo’s pricing? NO! Its actually fairly priced, especially when you consider eventide and hugos! Never super crazy busy here which is unfortunate for them and super fortunate for me! I think that this will change and it will become quite the hot spot in time!

I can’t help but feel like the Honey Paw is not really as advertised.
The food is really good, don’t get me wrong. It was outright delicious. But when the tag line is «non-​denominational noodle bar» that serves «pastas from around the world», am I crazy to be a bit disappointed to pick up the menu and find a straight up Asian fusion restaurant?
To quote their own website some more, I was led to believe that there might be «stir-​fried noodles, rustic bigoli, savory dumplings, plump agnolotti, and pillowy potato gnocchi». In fact, the biggest departure from Asian food on the menu was also the only disappointment of the night. The country ham wontons were ok, but pretty bland and certainly not worth 14 dollars. And putting some shredded ham in a a wonton, and adding some Parmesan to the dashi broth doesn’t really qualify as globe trotting to me.
Anyway, the yaki soba with bbq pork, the brussels sprouts with kimchi and the vietnamese meatball soup were all awesome. I’ll totally go back again, maybe at lunch to catch the Banh Mi. But they either need to add some stamps to their passports, or change their copy to better reflect the food.

Love this place! The food is much better than it sounds on the menu– everything I have tried is delicious! And the drinks are awesome — pick the bartender’s brains and challenge them to make the drink you truly want — they are up to the test!
Everybody is super nice there too. Only downside is that it gets a little loud. But that’s what happens when people are having a great time! So get to the Honey Paw and check it out — just sit a little closer to your Sweetie or pals so you can hear them! Lol

Big Fan!
My favorite thing is the wok fried brussel sprouts with kimchi dressing.
IF these are still on the menu, ORDER THEM.
Another winner, the Lobster Tartine, like everyone else has said, delicious.
A piece of toast served with lobster/​scallop mousse, poached lobster, radishes, not only excellent also one of the prettiest dishes, I’ve ever eaten.
Wok Fried Rice Noodle with mussels, squid and Chinese sausage (no idea what that is), but it was very good.
Wok Fried Yaki Soba, was good, a little too rich. Lots of different flavors going on.
My least favorite, that I wouldn’t order again… the Crab & Tofu Fritters… think I’m in the
minority here, based on other Unilocal reviews, but they were just ok, I even shared them with the guy at the bar next to me and he wasn’t a big fan either.

Came here for a quick bite before duck fat. We sat on the bar stools facing the window. We ordered beer and a cucumber cocktail. We wanted some light bites so went with the lobster wonton and the head cheese croquette. I thought the lobster wonton was sort of bland. The hot flavor somewhat over powered the lobster meat. The croquette was good. Cocktail was yummy. If I had more time I would have tried more dishes but we were pregaming for duck fat.

We went to The Honey Paw for lunch as the place looked pretty quiet.
And we were in for a treat! We had the daily special croquette and handmade noodle dishes: Wok Fried noodle and Lobster noodle. Those handmade noodles are the best we had in the US. They were appropriately chewy and full of flavors. Will definitely be back when we are in town.

My first visit here with my son. The décor is sleek and eclectically modern. The seating is funky… large communal table… side window seating… and a large bar. We did the bar, which is my standard preference in most good food places. The menu changes daily, with specials on a side board that is semi translucent, and not readable for me without leaving my seat and viewing it up in front of it… a minor nit pick. From there… it’s all positive.
The food style is noodle based fusion… Asian, Italian, and all other regions. A really eclectic mix of food styles that really left you wanting to try many things on the menu. This is an app, small plate, and small entrée format. It’s a very interesting array of options to try.
Our meal… my son and I split the following… artisan beer, and cold saki for me. Appetizers… we had the Lamb mortadella Ruben… very small two bite plate of deliciousness… funky Asian sauce… pickles, Asian slaw… it was excellent. We then split the Asian wings… a great flavor mix of spicy sambal chili, curry, and green herbs… it was very good.
I had a lobster chili noodle dish, it had clams, lobster, whitefish, with a brown lobster sauce that was chili spiced, with fresh thin Asian noodles… delicious. My son had a pappardelle style Asian noodle dish with sausage, clams, squid, and white fish… with a flavorful sauce… again, delicious.
The food prep and originality was excellent. Two beers for my son, a saki for me, the food above…$ 110 including a 20+ % tip… which was very fair value for the high culinary skill…
The small plate/​portion format is becoming the high end Portland food norm… I get it… but I’m never quite full and satisfied and it prevents my 5 star review here… that said… I’m a foodie… and this is great food… I’m back without question.
Solid 4 stars… recommend

The lobster tartine was tasty and interesting, and the Nori soba was very good, though a bit heavy on the garlic, but like its sister establishment, this has quickly become a hectic trap of both tourists looking for local buzz and local 20-​somethings desperate for what feels new and ‘edgy’ to them.
I’m sure the intentions of the owners are good, but I’m also sure they must want desperately to be a ‘cool/​hip/​happening’ spot, even more so than to be loved and respected by local foodies and folks who don’t want to feel as though we’re conducting hand-​to-​hand combat to eat here.
The staff was friendly but anxious and obviously overwhelmed. The space is cramped and you leave here feeling as though you’ve begged like a pauper just to be allowed inside; and all for food that, despite being tasty felt a bit cold to me both times and incredibly over priced.
I like new. I like hip, and even edgy. But Honey Paw, like its neighbors seems to try too hard, and is a bit too desperate to be the cool kid on a small playground, and you pay painfully for it. Cramped, uncomfortable and hectic dining atmosphere and a price that may leave you sobbing as you walk away.

My bestie and I decided to take a road trip
to Portland on a national holiday and somehow thought we could walk in and eat right away at Eventide. Since the wait was 2 hours and we had sat in traffic for 5, we decided to try Honey Paw instead. It is a small restaurant with a bar, communal table, and seating around the windows. They were spinning Elvis Costello records so I was instantly happy. The hostess quickly seated us and the servers were helpful and easily answered all of our questions.
The menu is small, seasonal, and not too pricey. We ordered the meat snacks, crab and tofu fritters, lobster tartine, rice noodles, and two pear ciders. As other reviewers noted, the portions are tapas sized. Everything was delicious, but what stood out was the lobster tartine, which was served with pickled radishes, celery leaves, and fresh lobster on a buttery, fried bread. It was divine.
So even though I didn’t get to eat at its illustrious neighbor, I had a wonderful experience at Honey Paw. With time, I think that this restaurant will develop its own foodie cred.

I’ve been eager to check this place out ever since it opened, and the opportunity finally presented itself on a Monday evening.
I love how clean and well-​lit this place is. It’s almost a little bit too well-​lit, as the giant windows could probably use drapes or blinds as the sun is setting. My big fear in reading the other reviews is the communal seating (which I HATE HATE HATE), but it seems easy enough to get seated elsewhere — you can enjoy a little bit of privacy and intimacy while seated at the bar or at the window counters. If you sit at the window counters, you can people watch as you chomp on noodles — but don’t forget that they can watch you as well!
I just want to say that the dish I ordered — The Wok Fried Wide Rice Noodles — was a little piece of amazing. A perfect blend of sausage, squid, noodles, and a few other things I never knew existed AND could be delicious. And it was plated in a delightful ornate bowl. I emphasize ‘little’ because this seems closer to a dinner appetizer size. As good as it was, for the portion I received I would tout these dishes as a lunch option in the $ 10 or $ 11 range rather than $ 15. My expectations in this regard certainly weren’t met, because I’m used to getting endless bowls of soup and/​or noodles for practically nothing whenever I go to a traditional Korean, Vietnamese, or Thai restaurant. I realize this is a bit more upscale, but c’mon, I was hungry again 2 hours later! The value $ 3 Coors Banquet Beer I used to wash everything down almost made up for the tragic price disparity.
The service was friendly, helpful and knowledgable. My friend ordered a dish that had an unexpected spice kick and the server offered to send it back. Our server was also very accommodating and proactively offered to have the kitchen make her another one, sans spice. It seems like a lot of this food can easily be modified for vegetarians.
I am so happy that Portland has this delightful new addition to the food landscape. I would certainly come back again to try a few other creative dishes — I just hope the prices get adjusted OR the portions get bigger.

Last night we decided to be a little adventurous and try the new non-​denominational noodle house, Honey Paw (located in the old Pepper Club spot). The interior is very bright and the hostess was super friendly. We were seated right away and even asked if we had a preference between the window seating or the bar seating. All seating is bar stool, just to tell you up front, so it might not be the best spot for little kids.
We skimmed the menu and after a couple minutes we were greeted by an exuberant waiter. I asked for his recommendations because we were on the fence about a couple of items. His answers were very helpful and you could tell he was very passionate about the menu. We opted not to get it, but right now they’re doing a family style dinner that feeds two. The couple next to us got it as we were leaving and it definitely looked worth it — I think it was $ 37.
What we did decide on was the pork shoulder appetizer. It came with almost rice cake consistency flakes on top (reminiscent of seaweed?) with a dipping sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly.
For my entrée I ordered the udon dish. The udon noodles aren’t your standard udon — they are thicker noodles, sort of like the ones you’d find in a pad see ew or drunken noodle dish. This dish very much reminded me of a drunken noodle dish actually, it was topped with fresh cilantro and had pork jowel mixed in (softer pork more like pulled pork). It was a bit spicy, just to let you mild lovers know! There was also a small carrot salad on top which mixed up the consistency of the dish.
My counter part got the buckwheat soba noodles with dried mackerel flakes, caviar, fish sauce, and a couple other good ingredients int here. Definitely don’t shy away from this because it has fish sauce. It was worth it all the way — very subtle. I recommend it.
Then the grand finale was dessert. The honey ice cream was definitely the icing on top! It was soft serve with a subtle finish of honey, magic chocolate shell, and carmelized bits mixed it. Oh man oh man was it good!
This is definitely a great take on how Americans do a noodle house. Bravo Honey Paw.
p. s. I’d be surprised if they couldn’t custom make an order for certain folks out there. My udon dish could have easily been made without meat in my opinion. Our server was so nice that I’m sure he could try to accommodate you.