Thursday, January 28, 2010

Honey - NE Mpls

I was able to get a super special trip to the my old 'hood last weekend, and I've been wanting to hit up Honey pretty bad. For those of you who are curious - Honey is the old Jitters, beneath the new Ginger Hop (and the old Times) in Ne Mpls. The space, like Ginger Hop, is quite similar to the old Jitters but with some new twists. After walking down the flight of stairs, you're met with a wall of candles. They painted the walls bright colors and texturized them as well. There's art hung around, and a crazy metal chandelier thing that hangs really low above a flat cushion-bench, running the length of some opposing booths and tables. Overall, it's a slightly cramped space, but they've done well with the remodel.

When we arrived, the plan was to check it out and have a drink. I was hungry, and heard they have small plates, so I wanted to try at least one. It was pretty packed, and the bar doesn't have any seating. Fortunately, we found a small round table and tucked away in the booth area behind it. They were playing hip hop music (I heard A LOT of Q-Tip) and the crowd overall was your typical trendy crowd. It was too dark to get any pictures, which is a bummer, but I like dark places. As we perused the drink and food menu, and I found a lot of things that interested me. I was somewhat on a budget (when am I not??) so I couldn't get one of their signature cocktails (they are anywhere from $8 and up.) Instead I ordered a vodka pineapple-7-up. The food menu has a small selection of some small plate type things, and a few entree's good until 9 or 10 PM. Some selections are: bruschetta, red beet salad, and a chocolate flight! They also have different individual chocolate truffles as well. I can't remember the exact flavors and I couldn't take a pic, but it sounded DIVINE, and I'll be sure to try it on my next visit to Honey.

Since it was busy, the wait was a little lengthy - but after about 10 minutes, I got my drink. It was fantastic. I don't know why. Maybe it was because I was thirsty. But it tasted wonderful. I opted to order the crostini (with goat cheese, olive pate and tomato jam- around $7), and I couldn't resist getting the fries (with truffle salt, and red pepper aioli - about $5.) We waited approx 15 minutes, and the food (and my next drink) finally came. The crostini plate is an appropriate size for a small plate, There are 6 crostini, and 3 dabs of each spread right on the plate. There was nothing I didn't like about this. It was gorgeous. The olive pate was luscious, sweet and salty. The tomato jam is unlike anything I've tasted, but was also delicious. A tangy tomato taste, with the sweetness of jam and hint of basil. The goat cheese was just that, in all it's glory! My biggest praise however, will go to the crostini. They were toasty, but NOT HARD or crusty at all! My mouth incurred no injuries, and I found myself mixing all the ingredients together quite often.

The fries were of a generous portion, but really just look like McDonalds fries; skinny and limp. Regardless, I ate a mess of them! They were so good, but I'm not quite sure why. I really liked the red pepper aioli. It was kind of mayonaise-y, but the red pepper flavor came through well, as did garlic. The fries were hot, salty, and just really good. I've never had truffles, and I don't know that truffle salt is, but I feel this added a depth of flavor that "Mcdonalds fries" lack.

Overall, I liked it and will defintiely go back, even if for the crostini plate alone!

Great things:
- Crostini plate
-The fries
-The cool wall o' candles

Not so greats
-The atmosphere is kind of trendy
-Lots of loud hip hop (not really my thing)
-No seating at the bar!

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