With locations in Annandale and Centreville, VA and Ellicott City, MD, Honey Pig is open 24 hours a day and offers affordable, quality food for people from all different walks of life. Known for its fun, vibrant mixing bowl of all ages and cultures, people can come together to enjoy the finest Korean BBQ in a friendly, techno-beat atmosphere.
Keith and I went out to Annandale, aka Koreatown, for a late lunch to use my
LivingSocial coupon at Honey Pig. Keith is a big fan of barbecued meats, so I knew this place would be fun and to his liking. I was expecting a modern Americanized Korean restaurant, but as soon as we walked in, I felt transported to an underground secret Korean joint with fliers plastered all over the walls and Korean pop bands performing live on TV. Club music - both American and Korean - was blaring through the speakers. The staff were each wearing a bright primary colored T-shirt featuring the cute Honey Pig logo. We were escorted to one of the tables with a large cook top grill in the center, and were immediately brought a sampling of the traditional Korean side dishes. The menu featured various cuts of meats and a few side dishes including dumplings, seafood pancakes, and some soups and noodle dishes.
I was not very hungry, and with the temperatures so hot outside, I did not really want any hot grilled meat. I was happy to see they had the chilled version of a
buckwheat noodle soup that my mother loves, so I decided to order that for my main dish. Keith decided to try the
spicy pork and
kalbi - which was an expensive cut of boneless beef short ribs. With it came white rice and lettuce, to make your own wraps with. We also ordered fried dumplings, or
mandu, to start and they were larger than normal, clearly homemade with plenty of fresh pork and vegetable stuffing. What's fun about Honey Pig is that your server will cook the meat for you at your table. We watched as she first seasoned the grill with a nice pile of spicy
kim chee (pickled cabbage) and
kong na mul (spicy soybean sprouts). I've never seen this done before. Then she placed the meat on the grill and turned them over with a pair of tongs. She left for a few minutes to tend to other tables, then returned to flip the meat again. Eventually, she cut the meat into little strips with her scissors and announced, "it's ready!" to cue Keith that he could begin eating.
Keith enjoyed the meat and all the little sauces and sides that came with it. I also really enjoyed my cold noodle soup. It was very refreshing and had nice flavor from the cucumber and radish. We had plenty of food left over and they were happy to box it up for us to take home. Honey Pig is a fun place that serves traditional Korean food and would be great for groups.
Total Rating:
3.75
Food: 4, Price: 3, Service: 3.5, Ambience: 4, Accessibility: 4
What I ate:
Mandu
Chilled Buckwheat Noodle Soup
Plus Keith ate:
Kalbi and Spicy Pork
