Think Chipotle, but with stir fry noodles and salad. Philly fast casual eatery Honeygrow will open their first Brooklyn outpost next week, and we were lucky enough to get a sneak peek of the goods. And what can we say? Well, April 3 can’t come soon enough.
We joined several dozen notable foodies for dinner at the Brooklyn Foodworks for a night of wine, good conversation, and, most importantly, food dished out by the chef and founder behind Honeygrow, one of the nation’s fastest growing fast casual restaurants.
Honeygrow already has 15+ locations in the northeast and mid Atlantic and it’s easy to see why the company raised money to grow last fall.
We began with the ‘Make it Grain’ salad, one of the chain’s most popular salads. With wheat berries, red quinoa, arugula, grapes, roasted carrots, feta, and roasted cashews, it was much more than a simple starter.
And that’s what it seems like the locally grown resto aims for. Other salads on the menu include the Walnut St. Noodle with walnut dressing over whole wheat noodles, arugula, cauliflower and arugula, and the Winter Harvest, a gluten-free seasonal special full of kale, baby spinach, roasted yams, roasted Brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, local goat cheese, and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Next up was the stir fry. We tried a duo of noodles — Shanghai style with uni sauce and slow cooked cherry tomato scallion and wide noodles with red miso sauce and pork shoulder. And while neither will be on Brooklyn’s menu, the dishes were reminiscent of what patrons can expect from the stir fry bar.
Popular noodle dishes include the Sour Cherry BBQ with egg white noodles, roast pork, green beans, and bell peppers, and the Sweet Soy Five Spice, ogarashi spiced turkey, green beans, red onions, and sesame seeds all over brown rice.
But the Honeybar, and our dessert, was really where Honeygrow shines. Patrons can create their own dessert (or snack) with fruit, yogurt, and local honey.
We had organic vanilla yogurt with caramelized bananas, chocolate tahini, orange blossom honey, and toasted sesame. While being incredibly healthy, the dish also satiated our sweet tooth.
Honeygrow opens April 3. Find them at 194 Joralemon St, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
