The Honey Pot

Honey Pot is now closed.

With the exception of the high price vs serving size that many have mentioned, it was a nice option for high end dining on Fourth Street. They did many things right.

Sorry to see them closed.

Second visit here, and one additional star (up from 3). Was disappointed last time but made some bad choices. This is "modern southern" food, so no more ordering ramen like last time (which was off the menu this time) or lamb vindaloo (on the menu now). We told our waiter we were taking it "straight down the middle": grit puppies, pork chops, and fried chicken.

Each of these dishes was good. Were the $8 grit puppies worth $1/each? Not really, but they were tasty -- like what you can get at Bib's for much less.

The chicken was good, but as my southern wife said, "If you are going to charge me $20 for fried yard bird, it better be damn good." It wasn't damn good. The spicy sauce they serve with it was, though. Too bad they didn't include that in our doggy bag. The mac and cheese was yummy, too. Possibly the highlight of that plate.

The pork chop was the best. Juicy and delicious and on top of tasty (mostly, but for a couple of uncooked chunks) mashed potatoes.

About the service: hit and miss. Hit: When we arrived for our 8:45p Saturday Open Table reservation, there wasn't a table available, so the hostess showed us over to Tate's next door (same owners) for a cocktail while we waited. That's a nice bar to wait for a table at. She checked back with us a couple of times to make sure we knew she hadn't forgotten about us. When she finally came to get us to seat us around 9:15p, she offered to comp us a dessert, which she remembered to do.

Miss: Our waiter was sometimes there, sometimes not. Other than bringing the food, he hardly checked on us. We had to refill our champagne glasses and water glasses one each. We are not too precious to do that, but if you are going to charge as much as Honey Pot does, I expect better. Perhaps he was rushing to get his other work done so he could leave, because as we left out the front of the restaurant, we saw him leaving out the back.

Now that I think about it, I guess I'm really saying this is 3.5 stars, but will round up to 4 in hopes of incremental improvement next time I go.

Upgraded rating to 5 stars. New chef. The same gorgeous, helpful wait staff. Vegetarian plate was a work of art, not 3-4 veggies thrown on a plate, cafeteria style. Drank a Planters Punch, made with shaved ice, that was so intensely divine that I sipped it slowly, like fine wine. Not sure WS deserves a restaurant this good.

I wasn't prepared to like this restaurant so much. I had visited a couple of times before, and there was always some glitch that made me grumpy, either wait staff far too interested in talking amongst themselves, or too-long waits for the food. I totally understand bad reviews of this place, but I agree with the good reviews. This place isn't perfect, but by Winston-Salem standards, it's a top 10. That says more about the lousy restaurants in Winston-Salem than it does about the Honey Pot. Honey Pot gets my vote because of EFFORT. Maybe not everything is perfect, but the effort for perfection is made, which is rare here.
My most recent visit started out a little rough. It was cold and rainy, which makes visiting any restaurant on Fourth Street a pain in the ass, because parking is blocks away. A parking deck is in the block behind the restaurant, between Marshall and Cherry, but the elevators are slow, the deck is creepy and you still have to walk a long way.
When the hostess seated us, I put my hand down on the seat as I scooted into the booth and felt crumbs. Gross. I don't want to sit on someone's "leftovers." Someone should explain to the staff what a whisk broom is for.
Another annoying thing about this restaurant and most others is how little thought they put into non-alcoholic drinks. If I'm having a meal that a chef spent a lot of time on, I would like a beverage that shows a little thought, too. How about a flavored iced tea, or a house-made ginger ale?
Wine by the glass is on the back of the menu. If you want a bottle, you have to look through a "book." There's one for white and one for red. Honey Pot is a small restaurant, and I wish their wine list was more carefully curated. I came to eat, not to read. Give me a selection of 10, not 40 wines. I'll be OK, I promise. The wines are fantastic, nothing typical, so I'm not complaining about the selection, I just wish I didn't have to wade through so many choices.
Nothing on the menu looked good to me. I pouted. Judging from the four main courses that were delivered to our table, there was plenty that was delicious. It was my preconceived notion of expecting to see chicken, seafood and steak. Everything is just a little different, so try something out of your comfort zone. Give your taste buds a VIP upgrade.
I chose the Korean BBQ Atlantic Salmon, with grilled leek, edamame and soba noodles. The meal arrived with a few edamame IN the noodles, which I didn't like at all. The salmon tasted fresh. The leek, which took up a good portion of the plate, had a nice grilled flavor, but it was tough and chewy, and I could only manage a couple of bites. The sauces are where the kitchen reigns. My Korean BBQ and my date's Jamaican jerk sauce on his place, were knockouts. The mac and cheese side was exceptional, too. One order was enough for 3 of us to share, and damn, it was good!! Not too "wet," not too bland, a perfect comfort food for a rainy night. Someone else at my table had the vegetarian plate. She loves vegetables more than anyone I know. One of the vegetables was 3-4 different mushrooms. One ended up in her napkin. 3 out of 4 ain't bad. It was nice to see innovative vegetable selections, not the same old broccoli.
The wait staff is a lot more professional now, and I imagine that memorizing daily specials and menu changes isn't easy. I like their enthusiasm for the food. You can tell they share a pride in the food. And the front of the house staff is totally handsome/beautiful, and you know, that matters to me.
Even though not everything on my plate was awesome, I enjoyed the "something different" aspect. I finished every bite of the salmon.
I had some coconut/chocolate ice cream thing for dessert. By that time, my tummy was completely happy, so I wasn't paying too much attention to details. The other couple at our table ordered doughnuts, four fried balls that were more like cake, like a sweet hush puppy. A liquid jelly for pouring over or dipping was served on the side. That jelly should be served by the glass!
I guarantee more crumbs were on the booth when I left.

I rate this place A-ok.
Will I think about it from afar? No.

What to expect:
I had really good service while coming here from both the bar and the hostess who was kind enough to wait for me and direct me where to park as a visitor In town dealing with construction. The owner was also very welcoming and kind.


Really good music tastes!

Good food - think Asian fusion. Like all spectrums of Asian (mostly Japanese) with either southern or something else mixed in. I will say I admire the creativity and ingenuity. I was talking with the the bartender and apparently the chef comes from the high end Asian fusion restaurant in Charleston. His love for cooking shows with the options given.


I had the okonomiyaki which to be honest, tasted off with too much sauce and a slight bitter unfamiliar tang. This dampened my review as I've had okonomiyaki. I will be back to try this place but with hesitation.

Ambiance - romantic, intimate, extremely dim lighting, and hip. Definitely a date night type of place of some seats for outdoors

Farm to table - everything is locally sourced

I will give a caveat that for how much you're paying, you are paying for uniqueness in cuisine, ambiance, and semi - small portion sizes just as an FYI.

They do have a very well stocked bar along with interesting drink options! So make sure to check out their drinks menu

Highly recommend this place. I also love their bar.

Duck breast: Amazing. I had this last time, but it's so good I had it again. Meat is perfectly cooked, medium rare.

Grilled octopus salad: highly recommend this. Octopus was soft, not too stringy, not over cooked.

Okonomiyaki: (Japanese cabbage pancake). Very good. It's savory cabbage pancake with pouched egg. It was nothing like okonomiyaki you will have in Japan but it was good.

Spicy shrimp with fried green tomatoes and kimchi: loved it!!!

Dim light, staff was very friendly and attentive.

I have been back to the Honey Pot several times since their opening weekend and I have definetely had mixed experiences. Sometimes I head in and it is great and sometimes I head in and end up with a huge bill for food I wasn't that impressed by. I think the mac and cheese and fried chicken is always a winner. I've never had a single guest complain about that dish. Last time I went in and got a watermelon salad that had so much dressing on it you couldn't even taste anything else. My friends got the mushroom gnocchi and they barely touched it. The wine list is pretty extensive but also pretty high end. I ended up ordering a wine I didn't like and the waitress swapped it for something else without even batting an eye. The atmosphere is great and I have had good experiences with the service as well which is what keeps me coming back. That and the mac and cheese.

So finally we get a night out in the town in Winston Salem! Being from Los Angeles, I wanted to see what kind of food this place has to offer.

After checking Yelp, we found this place! Great ratings. I made a reservation on OpenTable.

We show up 30 minutes early. There are empty tables.... But since we were early our table was not available. But since there was seating at the communal table, we opted to sit there.

The menu is simple. I ordered the THP Winter Ramen. And they are out... Ok.

Pork Shoulder it is. Not bad. The meat is tender. Good flavoring. I wish I was more unique but it was very very tender. The kale salad that came with it was interesting. The cheesy grits was good. The best was the fried onions.

My friend got the Buttermilk Quail. Kind of like fried chicken but different flavors. The sauce that came with it was amazing! Get this!

Poutine fries- not so amazing. Kind of a waste of calories.

Overall, good experience. Nothing to rave about. It was just good. Service was attentive but not very engaging.

Thinking they're trying to be more hipster than necessary and are overreaching. The drinks are way too strong / sour / bitter. And no vodka drinks at all. Strange.
They're rushing the food out and this is evidenced by remnants of cellophane in the dishes. The flank steak was bland and the scallops were 'ok' but not phenomenal. It way be that patrons are starved for a quality restaurant in the area and give it high ratings in comparison to others nearby. Not impressed.

Omgods! To be fair, this may be one of the best dinners I have ever had. To start, imagine a small craft-gourmet shop that become popular a few years ago; and then imagine Southern dishes prepared by the French!

And what I mean by that, is that the chicken fried buttermilk quail was done to perfection. It was not overly greasy--it was just perfectly battered and fried. And the mac & cheese was so wonderfully flavorful without any extra salt or oily cheese sauce.

The house-made cocktails were delectable! They know what they are doing behind the bar. They even chisel the giant ice cubes so it's the purest water.

To top it off, the server was a young 20-something, but he impressed us within the first 30 seconds knowing to tell us that the cheese on the charcuterie was all pasteurized (after my wife mentioned she is expecting). He knew a pregnant woman shouldn't be consuming unpasteurized cheeses! I didn't know that when I was 20-something! Kudos to you, sir!

5th time here and the experience is consistent. Although the portions for the price is a little steep the quality is good and the execution of presentation, menu change ups, drink selections, and ambience is fantastic.

I'm not giving 5 stars because of a few reasons. The prices are ok but the portions I would like to see bigger. Our server forgot an appetizer, so for your business, they lose revenue and tips for the server. Also, we never got once asked how the food was during the course, but when we finished we were asked. This isn't a big deal, however, attention is in the details. It is all about details down to the napkin placement, the lights, everything.

Again, the food was good, the drink options great, and obviously I will be back again.