The Honey Paw

A Pawful of Honey After a Long Winter Hibernation

“Having just awoken from a long winter hibernation a bear scoops a pawful of sweet honeycomb from a wild beehive. Despite the thick cloud of bees swarming about its head, the bear languidly feasts on the delicious honey, as content as can be.”  

This is the founding premise of the Honey Paw restaurant located at 78 Middle Street, Portland. Owners of Eventide Oyster Co. and Hugo’s (both a big part of Portland’s Foodie scene) created this modern pan-Asian experience. After a morning photoshoot for a new listing, my photographer and I decided to give The Honey Paw a try. We were intrigued about the Honey Soft Serve Ice Cream that they serve as a sweet treat, made all the more sweeter by being encased with a chocolate shell and topped with crunchy honeycomb. The ice cream was truly the-nectar-of-the-Gods delicious. 

We began with the Lobster Toast. This was an amazing dish with lobster and scallop mousse, radish, cilantro, tarragon aioli, and fresno pepper served on toast. You could really taste the lobster. Even better than the dish alone, The Honey Paw donates $1.00 to Stop AAPI Hate for every Lobster Toast sold. Next we tried the Napa Cabbage Salad made with Chinese mustard, thinly sliced apples, peanuts, radish, and pickled red onion. The Chinese mustard gave the salad a kick with every mouthful. It was spicy and so addictive. To round out the meal we had the Broiled Halibut Skirt (one of the specials) with shio koji, chanterelles, ramp, and pickled radish. Each morsel melted in your mouth. Wished we had each ordered our own plate and hadn’t shared just one. 

On our next trip to The Honey Paw, oh definitely we will be returning with more friends in tow, I will be ordering the fried wings that we saw being ordered by the other tables and the tuna tartare. For your visit, please note that Middle Street is now one way heading west between India Street and Franklin Street to allow for outdoor seating. 

The Honey Paw is enjoying covered outdoor dining on the newly created patio area. Seating is communal on large picnic tables and take-out is offered. Indoor dining is temporarily suspended as interior renovations are being completed. Please be sure to stop by for East-meets-New England dishes, and don’t forget to save room for the Honey Ice Cream. It lives up to its buzz.