Honeysuckle

I never write reviews but since I found this on Unilocal I thought I should repay the favor. Had the foie gras and goat and they were amazing. Staff was friendly and fun. So if you are on the fence, do it.

My husband and I debated whether to give this restaurant a 3 or a 4. We really wanted to like it, but, alas we will not be going back. Overall we found the food to be overly salty.
We started with sweetbreads and waffle, which was especially salty. For entrees, my husband ordered the rib eye and it was quite fatty. The presentation was lovely but it was not a remarkable dish. I ordered the seared scallops and found them acceptable but, again, not remarkable. The side of asparagus was overdone and dressed with a white substance with the consistency of cream cheese.
I don’t generally comment on service unless it’s outstanding, so let me just say, meh.

innovative, fabulous food and drink, solid service. look forward to my next visit!

The food was absolutely amazing. I cannot tell you how fantastic each dish was. The remainder of the evening however, left much to be desired. I wish I had the ability to rate food and service separately, if i could it would be 5 stars for food and 1 for service. I understand that customer service can be a tricky thing and everyone can have an off day, but there was just too many things wrong in one dinner.
We had called a few hours ahead to change our reservation, adding one person, they asked if it would be alright to push our time up a bit, no problem. However when we arrived no one seemed to have any idea of the changes made, leaving us to wait awkwardly in the large chilly hallway for 15 minutes. This was an especially puzzling situation when there were clearly many open tables that remained unseated for the duration of our dinner. That being said this is likely something I would have normally forgotten about had the rest of the service not gone downhill from there.
The manager did promptly come greet us, though he failed to apologize for the wait. Our server was also prompt with her greeting, in fact she was very present throughout our meal, that is however, the only positive thing I can say about her. While I feel extremely uncomfortable saying this I also feel it is a big issue that speaks extremely poorly to the staff as a whole since it was not addressed before we arrived: our server had a distinct and undeniable odor of cat urine. I understand that accidents happen, but first of all there is no way that no one else noticed it, what baffles me is that no one sent her home to grab a clean shirt. This also made the rest of her disheveled appearance less acceptable, she looked like she just got back from SXSW (tight yet stretched out flannel shirt with extremely unkempt hair). Moreover I could and likely would have chalked the whole thing up to her just having the most off day ever had it not been for her lack of menu knowledge, and complete lack of professionalism in customer service.
When taking our drink order she rightly asked what type of vodka my friend would like in her drink, my friend asked what the options were, our server responded «kettle one» and then paused with a blank stare until my friend finally and kindly offered «Kettle will be great.» If you don’t recall what types of vodka you have, don’t ask what type the customer would like until you run back to the bar to refresh your memory, that’s just common sense. Further when she took our appetizer order she pulled out a diner style order pad, which just doesn’t look good when paired with everything else. Use of a check book to house orders and notes so as to look clean and professional is a better choice. While eating our amazing appetizers 2 very unacceptable things occurred first, I asked what the foie gras was sitting atop, her response «I don’t know.» First off if I am spending over $ 20 on a couple ounces of food, my server should know what is in it, second one of the first rules of customer service (after knowing your product) is never say «I don’t know,» third if you don’t know, you go find out. For example my go to line is, «you know chef actually likes to change that sometimes so let me run double check, I’d hate to give you an incorrect answer.» Her second major mistake was to condescend my friend. When she asked how we enjoyed the appetizers, my friend offered the little embarrassing truth that she had thought the sweet breads were going to actually be a bread. Our server responded by casually saying «yeah, that tricks a lot of children.» She’d do better to watch what she says or at least offer an apology.
The last few things as isolated events would have been no big deal but once again with everything else, they seemed big. When taking our entre order, our server must have forgotten her tattered diner pad somewhere because she wrote it down on her hand. I’m sorry but the menu was extremely small and at that price point I expect a server seasoned enough to not need to write down the order at all but if you do need to, do NOT write it on your HAND that is GROSSLY unprofessional. During our entrees she once again did not know what part of one of the dishes was and did not offer to find out. Finally when she brought our check she accidentally gave us someone else’s. If she had taken 2 seconds to look at the bill and check it like a professional server does, she would have noticed it was over double what it should have been. It took over 15 minutes to correct the problem, even though there were only 2 other tables seated on the entire floor, and we were again offered no apologies for the mistake or the wait.
Overall the food was so amazing that I considered not leaving a review of service for fear that it would scare people away. On further contemplation however I decided that the restaurant and chef should be aware of how grossly mismatched the food is to the service and how desperately this problem needs to be rectified.

Very mixed feelings about our experience here. First of all the staff seems like that rolled out of bed and came to work. A little more polish, even if it is a «pop up» restaurant. The cocktail was unimpressive; it was called smoke and fire, with bourbon, Lafroig whiskey and habenaro bitters, but the taste was a watered down Manhattan. Thankfully the food was better. Started with grilled asparagus. I had the oyster stew which was fabulous, and my husband the burger which he raved about. Can pop up restaurants train the staff better, even if they won’t be there for a career? And put more effort into the cocktails. One star for service and bar. Four stars for food.

Being a huge supporter of Vidalia in the past, I knew I’d have to try Honeysuckle after hearing about Chef Johnson’s involvement.
My partner and I decided to go all savory for the night, starting with the crisp veal sweetbreads and the foie gras. The sweetbreads were super crunchy, and served with some brussel sprout leaves I believe (?) on top of a cornbread fondue, red pepper jam, and a side of red eye jus that we poured all over. The foie gras though stole the show. A bite into the foie served on top of some sort of bread was truly a savory flavor explosion. As my partner best put it, «I think I just orgasmed.» It was served with some cherries on the side (I think?) and was gorgeously presented. True art on a plate. For our entrees, we got the steak and lamb. Both served perfectly medium rare, with the steak outshining the lamb for its tenderness and being better seasoned.
Overall, an amazing dining experience with plates of food that were tastefully thought out in terms of flavor and looks. We’d come back again for sure!

The food was great. Everything else was not. We were asked to change our reservation to an earlier time, then we show up and they weren’t even busy. I feel like at this price point there should be some kind of dress code for the servers (like clean? Put together?), but our server looked very unprofessional, like she didn’t even care. More so than looking a mess, the server didn’t know what was in one of the dishes when we asked. There’s a very limited menu, so that just seemed unacceptable. When we got our check and it was double what it should have been, then it took a good 15 minutes to get the corrected one. I wish I had better things to say. The Brussels sprouts were pretty amazing.

Arrived for Valentine’s Day dinner, before a play at Fords Theater, and were moved through a four course meal at a brisk pace, per request. Food was unique, well balanced and portioned, artfully presented, and left my wife and I unsure of which dish was our favorite. Very nice experience, wish the Chef well on getting up and running on his own! Prequel was a great venue and we enjoyed the wine.

Exceptional food that is beautifully crafted. I can tell that everything is made with great care and love. Perfect place to celebrate a birthday or anniversary as the food is high end and is sure to impress.

Had the special menu they run for Restaurant Week. The food was amazing, and the service was great. As someone mentioned below DC isn’t exactly known for its stellar food scene, so this place stands out even more. Will be back!

Oh, Honeysuckle. I am torn. If we’re rating entirely on food alone, hands down 5 stars. Honeysuckle is a place that puts the DC food scene on the map and rivals even the best NYC and San Francisco has to offer. My wife and I ordered the brussel sprouts (best in all of DC), the oyster soup (wow, so creamy and amazing flavor) and the scallops (The best and most unique I’ve had in DC and they come up in three big pieces so it’s more filling than other scallop dishes). The cocktails were really good too and obviously crafted by an actual mixologist. If Unilocal gave out a golden 6 star rating, Honeysuckle’s food would take the cake.
But sadly, Unilocal isn’t all about just the food. It’s about atmosphere and service as well. That’s what separates a 5 star restaurant from a 4 star restaurant and Honeysuckle is a 4 star restaurant. There’s one medium sized room in the front of Prequel (the food incubator Honeysuckle is part of) with 7 – 8 tables. It’s very sterile and the lighting is off putting (It’s too bright giving it a cheaper feel to it). The service was attentive, but our waitress didn’t seem to take her job as seriously as she could have.
That being said, it’s still a restaurant you must go to for the food. The other factors they can easily change.

People say DC isn’t a great food town and, while I don’t agree, I get what they mean. They’re comparing it to NYC, SF, LA etc. and it’s just not like those places. Innovative food isn’t the norm here, but I have a feeling that’s changing…
Enter Honeysuckle. Holy sh**.
You probably haven’t heard of Honeysuckle. You probably haven’t heard of Prequel (the crazy cool space that constantly hosts new, up-​and-​coming pop-​up bakeries and restos). You’ve also probably never heard of Chef Hamilton Johnson. Change that now.
I have the extreme luck to be close with a friend of Chef Hamilton so we took a few hours out of our Saturday evening to make it rain at Honeysuckle. Best. Decision. Ever.
Started with two cocktails, a manhattan and an old fashion, from their impressive cocktail program. Boozy but delicious. (Speakeasy bar Brick&Morter downstairs is also bomb.)
Next up was dinner: a 6 course tasting menu of what kind of seems like elevated and modernized southern food… sort of. The menu is extremely decadent and each item sounds better than the one before. We also did a wine pairing. Here is the breakdown (minus the wine):
— MD crab roulade with smoked trout roe and generous shaved black truffles (possible favorite)
— Oyster chowder with crispy chicken skin (other possible favorite)
— Fois gras duo, seared and panna cotta with banana bread, prosciutto chips, candied kumquat, and shaved chocolate
— Seared rockfish over bechamel grits and tellicherry pepper jus
— Seared duck with duck fat powder and vanilla braised fennel
— Chocolate textures (brownie, fudge, nutella ice cream, chocolate covered pop rocks) with chartreuse reduction
I mean, come on. It’s criminal. It would also be criminal to not get in there and try it out, even just for appetizers and cocktails.
Oh, and if it wasn’t obvious, don’t even bother going if you have any sort of dietary restrictions. Only for the fat kids at heart.
You’re welcome.

This chef/​restaurant concept is truly a gem. Start to finish, everything was fantastic. I actually met Hamilton and his personality and point of view really translate to his food. I had the sweetbreads (which blew my mind) and the lamb neck. The lamb neck was so tender and had a delicate flavor compared to normal lamb meat. I can’t wait to take my brother and friends here! Amazing.

Everything was exquisite – the salad, the trout, the Brussels sprouts, the lamb, and both desserts. I can’t recommend this place enough. The staff was great and the drinks were strong. What else do you need?

Let me start of by saying I’m not a huge Unilocal guy, but I had to take a second and show some respect towards how amazing chef Hamilton Johnson and his new restaurant are.
I loved Vidalia, so I was excited to try his new place. This takes food to another level. I have been to many restaurants in DC and thought no one could ever top what Michel Richard did at Citronelle, but I was wrong. This was the experience of a lifetime and the food was the best I have ever had in DC. Chef johnsons attention to detail is like no other, his originality is beyond impressive.
The whole vibe was awesome. It was very high end food yet the place was so cool and laid back, you don’t get that stuffy feeling of being surrounded by senators in 3 piece suits, for lack of better words it’s just such a cool place.
I can’t wait to go back! Also I want to give a shout out to the amazing front of the house and the service they provided.
Please do yourself a favor and try this food! I seriously wish I could give it more stars!

You can really tell that chef Hamilton Johnson has taken what he started at Vidalia and built upon it. From the appetizer to dessert everything was prepared to absolute perfection. The cocktails were expertly crafted and makes this a place I’ll definitely return to either for dinner or just for a drink. Five stars aren’t enough to really describe it. Can’t wait to come back to eat and drink again.
P. S. a major bonus is a handsome young man in a bow tie who came into the dining room from time to time