Honey & Co

Maybe it was my own fault for spending the past week cooking recipes by Ottolenghi and Claudia Roden but so utterly disappointed was I by Honey & Co that I feel the need to write my first ever review. I just don't understand what made Timeout, AA Gill and the Guardian lavish such praise. Maybe it was the Ottolonghi pedigree, or the cute husband-and-wife-open-bijou-restaurant story but to me, the meal was completely uninspiring and overpriced. We ordered two starters, two mains, a dessert, a glass of wine, coffee, herb tea and an iced tea and, for what is essentially a very budget experience, it came to a unjustified £62.50 I had booked two weeks ahead and was really looking forward to bold, vibrant, exciting flavours. I left feeling completely despondent, complaining about the injustice of it all for the entire duration of our two-hour journey home (sorry boyfriend). So many of the other less favourable reviews hit the nail on the head, I don't know why I didn't listen to them. The falafel was just falafel, the meatballs lacked any kind of punch, and the aubergine was, well, boring. Ok, so the cheesecake was nice, but just nice, not mind-blowing. The peach and rose tea was lovely but essentially just very sweet peach juice. The staff are sweet but perhaps cloyingly so. They were overeager to explain (what was) a very undemanding menu. This does give the impression that the vast majority of people eating here are unlikely to have tried anything close to this type of food before. Like other reviewers, I also picked up on the fact that the restaurant attracts a very specific demographic. If you want this type of food in a cafe-style atmosphere, at least go to someplace like Comptoir Libanais, which also charges cafe-style prices. If not, do yourselves a favour by finding some Middle Eastern recipes, buying the inexpensive ingredients from one of the many grocers across London, and cook up some food that will really make your taste buds sing but will unfortunately also highlight the mediocrity of Honey & Co.

Maybe it was my own fault for spending the past week cooking recipes by Ottolenghi and Claudia Roden but so utterly disappointed was I by Honey & Co that I feel the need to write my first ever review. I just don't understand what made Timeout, AA Gill and the Guardian lavish such praise. Maybe it was the Ottolonghi pedigree, or the cute husband-and-wife-open-bijou-restaurant story but to me, the meal was completely uninspiring and overpriced. We ordered two starters, two mains, a dessert, a glass of wine, coffee, herb tea and an iced tea and, for what is essentially a very budget experience, it came to a unjustified £62.50 I had booked two weeks ahead and was really looking forward to bold, vibrant, exciting flavours. I left feeling completely despondent, complaining about the injustice of it all for the entire duration of our two-hour journey home (sorry boyfriend). So many of the other less favourable reviews hit the nail on the head, I don't know why I didn't listen to them. The falafel was just falafel, the meatballs lacked any kind of punch, and the aubergine was, well, boring. Ok, so the cheesecake was nice, but just nice, not mind-blowing. The peach and rose tea was lovely but essentially just very sweet peach juice. The staff are sweet but perhaps cloyingly so. They were overeager to explain (what was) a very undemanding menu. This does give the impression that the vast majority of people eating here are unlikely to have tried anything close to this type of food before. Like other reviewers, I also picked up on the fact that the restaurant attracts a very specific demographic. If you want this type of food in a cafe-style atmosphere, at least go to someplace like Comptoir Libanais, which also charges cafe-style prices. If not, do yourselves a favour by finding some Middle Eastern recipes, buying the inexpensive ingredients from one of the many grocers across London, and cook up some food that will really make your taste buds sing but will unfortunately also highlight the mediocrity of Honey & Co.

Maybe it was my own fault for spending the past week cooking recipes by Ottolenghi and Claudia Roden but so utterly disappointed was I by Honey & Co that I feel the need to write my first ever review. I just don't understand what made Timeout, AA Gill and the Guardian lavish such praise. Maybe it was the Ottolonghi pedigree, or the cute husband-and-wife-open-bijou-restaurant story but to me, the meal was completely uninspiring and overpriced. We ordered two starters, two mains, a dessert, a glass of wine, coffee, herb tea and an iced tea and, for what is essentially a very budget experience, it came to a unjustified £62.50 I had booked two weeks ahead and was really looking forward to bold, vibrant, exciting flavours. I left feeling completely despondent, complaining about the injustice of it all for the entire duration of our two-hour journey home (sorry boyfriend). So many of the other less favourable reviews hit the nail on the head, I don't know why I didn't listen to them. The falafel was just falafel, the meatballs lacked any kind of punch, and the aubergine was, well, boring. Ok, so the cheesecake was nice, but just nice, not mind-blowing. The peach and rose tea was lovely but essentially just very sweet peach juice. The staff are sweet but perhaps cloyingly so. They were overeager to explain (what was) a very undemanding menu. This does give the impression that the vast majority of people eating here are unlikely to have tried anything close to this type of food before. Like other reviewers, I also picked up on the fact that the restaurant attracts a very specific demographic. If you want this type of food in a cafe-style atmosphere, at least go to someplace like Comptoir Libanais, which also charges cafe-style prices. If not, do yourselves a favour by finding some Middle Eastern recipes, buying the inexpensive ingredients from one of the many grocers across London, and cook up some food that will really make your taste buds sing but will unfortunately also highlight the mediocrity of Honey & Co.

went last saturday night with 2 friends after reading so many great reviews and we were sorely disappointed...firstly, we had booked but when we arrived the table was not ready which is fine but the staff were not all that courteous about it and made us feel that we were the imposition - waiting as we did awkwardly in the middle of the dining room for our table to be cleared. to be brief we found the food meanly portioned, very bland and really quite expensive - it is not difficult to eat really great middle eastern food in london and cheaply at that - perhaps this restaurant is targeted to those who dont know that but there was not a single dish that stood out in any way. the mezze starter was very average, the flavours all very dull without clarity or definition - the falafel were especially dry and bland. Similarly, of the mains, the lamb stew was tasty but the meatballs were off-puttingly large and dry, the tomato sauce too acidic, the chicken was fine but really nothing to write home about, the potatoes it came with were flaccid and tasteless. we ordered two cakes for desert, both were very small portions with a scant application of creme fraiche, they were very plain and barely distinguishable from each other in that they were each vaguely sweet and dense. yes we ate, but nothing stood out at all in the memory or palate. there was none of the refinement, exquisite spicing or delicate touch the reviews had us expecting in evidence. the wine was good but we were more or less forced to have one of the more expensive whites since the cheaper 2 were unavailable which does seem like a bit of an oversight if you are only offering 4 white wines, the staff were hardly concerned about this. given all the reviews we had really expected warm service but it was quite frosty and for some reason we were made to feel really quite inadequate and as though we didnt belong or fit their demographic. the food just was not all that good, by comparative standards but especially given the amount they are charging. we had gone in with the promise of food that would sing and dance on our tastebuds but it was all so flat from start to finish what a a disappointment!

The food here is so fresh and interesting it dances off the plate! And the home-made drinks are also wonderful (though if you definitely don't have a sweet tooth you might like to sample a bit first). Staff are welcoming and friendly. i have eaten here several times with friends and on my own and always had a great experience.

What a huge disappointment! This is not a restaurant but a snack bar and a very expesnive one at that. It advertises vegan food but I couldn't find anything on the menu that was suitable for vegans so opted for the mezze. This was supposed to be for 2 people but was barely enough for one. My friend ordered the pitta bread, aubergine and some sort of egg - which was just a tarted up version of egg on toast, and a very miniscule version at that. We complained to the waitress who said she was sure the kitchen would "take our comments on board". We were not even offered a coffee on the house to make up for a great disappointment. Honey & Co - you won't be fleecing us again.

I have been to Honey and Co four times with different friends and each time leave with another convert to this small but wonderfully atmospheric and friendly restaurant. It serves tasty, delicious, nutritous food, beautifully prepared. I wanted to lick each plate clean and then start on those of other diners. The main problem for me is that I want everything on the menu. I will just have to keep going and work my way through it.

I'm a foodie. I'm also Jewish. I am obsessed with cooking from Ottolenghi cookbooks. Every dish I make is always oooohed and aahhhed over at dinner parties. So when I heard about Honey & Co, I had to check it out on a recent trip to London. I cannot rave enough about this restaurant - everything from the leftie style mezze to the home made hummous and pitta to the fig and goats cheese salad (WOW) to the perfect falafel and tahini to the homemade lemonade and did I mention the middle eastern take on cheesecake which will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF. Superb. Go there. Best new place to eat in town. I live in Sydney and I'm gutted I can't go there every week for lunch.

Not sure what the hype is all about, been to several better middle eastern restaurants in london, i get the feeling most people most people who go to this place dont tend to try Arabic restaurants so find the food really exotic

The cheesecake is like all the most beautiful celebrities having sex inside of my mouth. Also the beef was a similar, if more savoury, sensation.