Friday, April 2, 2010

Honey Pig In Ellicott City: What Did You Think?

Honey Pig Gooldaegee Korean BBQ opened its new Ellicott City location on April 1, 2010.  Have you been?  What did you think?  How long was the wait?  I'm gearing up for a visit, and I want to know what we should order.

If you're going to try Honey Pig, save a little room and enjoy either an ice cream at Soft Stuff or frozen yogurt at Tutti Frutti.

The first comment came in before I even posted this from Mr. Dai, who seems satisfied.  


Definitely check out Arthur K's Yelp review, which starts with "Honeypig has just upped the ante for Korean restaurants in Howard County. My solemn duty as a Korean man required me to visit Honeypig as soon as possible. I got the opportunity to go opening day and I was not dissapointed. The wait was reasonable, 25 minutes; though it was Thursday and earlier in the dinner rush (we arrived at about 6)"

8 comments:

Brian Grogan said...

I went with a few friends last night and it was both a crazy and a crazy good experience.

The line for the place led outside and while we had to wait to get in, it wasn't too long until we were seated. The music alternated between Lady Gaga and some equally weird K-Pop. Some guy dressed as a pig danced outside next to the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man.

As the 2009 Washingtonian award on the wall suggests, it was a great value. $13 for a ton of meat. Koreans sure do know how to barbecue. Don't take a vegetarian there.

I can definitely see going back. The only down side was with so much garlic in my mouth I couldn't taste the Soft Stuff I had afterward.

Katie said...

I went to a Korean BBQ place in Baltimore a few years back. The menu was all in Korean and the wait staff did not speak English very well. Thank goodness my Korean speaking friend came with. Brian, what was the menu and staff like at Honey Pig?

Unknown said...

I went April 2nd with a friend, it was so much fun! We went late after work, around 12:30-1 AM and it was packed! The staff immediately set down some sides and salad for us. We ordered the tender beef which they cook right in front of you at the table. Tasty sauce! Great imported beer! Fun Korean dance music! Open 24 hours! I felt like I was in another country!

Brian Grogan said...

Katie, everything was translated into English on the menus except for the type of meal you were getting. The top section is the expect barbecue part, but I wasn't sure about the other sections (some were perhaps soup?).

So, yes, even this place needs some work on that area.

agussman_work said...

This sounds like a cool place, but I'm completely unfamiliar with Korean BBQ. Does anyone have recommendations what to try?

Katie said...

HowChow, I saw you were mentioned in the April 7th Baltimore Sun in their section about Honey Pig opening. Congrats!

Eric said...

I went last week and it was my first time at a Korean restaurant. Pretty cool interior and everything is still shiny and new. I didn't realize that all meat was cooked at the table, so that was cool.

I sat down and immediately received a glass of water and a salad with a bunch of side dishes, which I didn't have much of a clue about. I think one was Kim-Chi (very garlicy) and one was broccoli with some sort of read sauce). The salad was tasty with the light dressing they provided. I ate the whole thing and waited. And waited. And waited. No one came to take my order.

Finally one of the older ladies flagged down a younger waitress and pointed to me saying something in Korean. My guess is, "someone needs to wait on this new guy, and you are the unlucky one"

My sister-in-law is Korean and she told me to get the Galbi (I've seen it spelled "Kolbi" on this blog, but on the menu it was Galbi). Well when I looked at the menu, I saw something called "LA Galbi" so I ordered that - having no idea what LA stood for.

Another older lady came over and tried to explain that I would get cold noodles with this and some sort of stew. Her English was so-so, but I heard enough to tell her no on the cold noodles and yes on the stew.

So what did I get? First they brought out the raw meet and sliced it up. I was expecting beef ribs on a bone, but I got sliced beef. Evidently LA means sliced? And they also brought out the stew - which was tofu and vegetables in someone spicy red sauce. I don't like tofu, but ate half of it to be polite. And it wasn't too bad.

They also brought me a small bowl of sticky rice, which was excellent with the sliced beef. But there was a lot of small bones with the beef, so not a lot of actual beef to eat.

The beef I did eat was very good. Funny thing was another older lady (lots of older ladies there) came up to me and said "you like?" I said yes. She said "Next time get the Galbi on bone, much better"

I laughed to myself and thought that was exactly what I was trying to order in the first place! But I'll go back and get it another go.

All in all, a fun, different experience.

AlPal3 said...

I had a late lunch here a week or two ago and I was happy to be one of only six or seven tables. Sadly I had to go by myself so I couldn't order as much as I would have liked. Maybe it was because it wasn't very busy, but I had no problem getting refills on the side plates without even asking. The sides were good, but small so if they didn't refill them I could understand being disappointed. English was an issue, but the busboy spoke English and stopped by often to see if I needed anything. I don't usually worry about service unless it's horrendous or I'm paying premium prices at a place that's selling exceptional service so the service seemed fine to me. I ordered the Galbi and the Spicy Pork Belly. I liked the Galbi, but I was surprised to find that I didn't like the belly. Maybe I just don't know how to eat it or I let it cook too long, but it was too fatty and had kind of an odd flavor or smell. Couldn't quite place what I didn't like besides the fat. I would go again for drinks late night or with a group, but I'll probably stick with HanSung or try one of the other Korean places with more sides and the hot stone bowls.