I think Honey & Co cemented itself in my mind after a
joyous review by Grace Dent back in May 2013. Being under the mistaken
impression that it was no-bookings, the more it garnered love and attention, the less I was inclined to try to go; I knew it was a very small restaurant and imagined there would be queues round the block. But I ended up there on the
eve of New Year’s Eve after trying to have a curry at Ragam only to find it closed. Honey & Co was more or less round the corner, and figuring that we
were in the dead time twixt Christmas and New Year, I thought we would get in
easily. Well, I was wrong, because it does take reservations and the place was
fully booked. The only place they have for walk-ins is five seats at the window
and they were all full. If I’d only known they take reservations, I would have booked myself in
there ages ago! One group, however, seemed to be nearing the end of their meal...
Our waitress guesstimated it would be about 20 minutes and
we went to the really nice pub next door to wait. They said they’d call when
space became available. But we were soon starving and had finished our drink
without knowing whether to get another, so after half an hour we decided to call it quits. No sooner had we set off did they phone so we did an about-turn and settled in.
And I can confirm, Honey & Co is worth every bit of love
it has been showered with. It was a bit of a slow burner but by the time I
finished their notorious cheesecake I was certain that I was bewitched.
As it was a post-Christmas/New Year treat we
decided to get the special set menu for £29.50 – a starter of nine mezzes plus a
main each, and a dessert each. You choose your main and dessert from the a la
carte menu but the mezze selection is set.
Although none of the dishes are what I would describe as
basic, without the final two plates we had, it would be a fairly typical
selection of cold mezzes – the sort you might find in many a Levantine or Middle Eastern restaurant. You get falafel, hummus, olives and pickles, some lovely bread (especially the potato bread), some tabbouleh and labeneh with Turkish pepper puree. But the truly unique dishes of pumpkin and pickled apple, and quince
with curds and honeyed hazelnuts made all the difference. The pumpkin for
certain was our favourite. I’ve never had pumpkin before but I would most definitely
seek out its earthy and slightly sweet flavours again.
 |
| Pumpkin |
 |
| Quince and curds |
I was surprisingly full after these little dishes. Eating in
such a manner is so good at tricking the stomach. But we had our mains to come
and I valiantly ate all of mine. It didn’t look a huge amount compared to
Stephen’s tower of quail, but it was quite the hunk of meat. It was cooked
to a perfect tenderness, with a nice bit of fat preventing it from being dry. The beef came with quince and potatoes. Having only had quince in jam form before, I enjoyed trying it
as a fruit itself (twice in one meal!). It was similar to pear in its texture but a more interesting
alternative.
I gave in to food envy when Stephen’s main arrived. It looked magnificent and tasted it too. The quail was cooked beautifully – crisp on the outside, the right hit of seasoning, and lots of lovely white bean
hummus and crispy onions, of which I stole several. There was perhaps a bit too
much on the plate in fact. I would say we could have done with some extra bread
to make use of all the remaining hummus but, truth be told, if we’d eaten more
bread, dessert may not have been on the cards. And that would have been a travesty.
After the customary debate about whether to have one, or if
we have one, whether to share, we went the whole hog and ordered one apiece. I
had this masterpiece of a cheesecake, which has gained quite the notoriety for
itself. Whatever you have read is true. It is unlike any cheesecake I’ve ever
had, so creamy it’s almost like eating gelato. And forget your boring old
biscuit base, this has a nest of finely shredded filo pastry called kadaif
looking a bit like uncooked packet noodles. It is bloody delicious –
crunchy and sweet. Each rich, sweet, crunchy mouthful was better than the last.
Best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted.
Stephen’s dessert however, was no less impressive. The apple
and pear pie he ordered was like an insanely good McDonald’s apple pie – warm
fruit completely encased in a delicate, crisp pastry parcel with custard for dipping on the
side. While being in love with my cheesecake I could still appreciate the understated splendour of this dessert.
I would heartily recommend this restaurant to anyone for any
course, but they really do reserve something that little bit special for their
desserts so worth coming here for those alone.
Chicken wings, while I remember enjoying them, were rather in the shadow of the lamb and I'd probably go for something else instead another time. 
Likewise, the chicken shish was a tasty version - coming with cardamom, honey and green chilli, but could have been a bit spicier, and well, another shish for your dollar (they were £10) wouldn't have gone amiss!
I blame the salad for filling me up too much to try dessert, although there was nothing which shouted out to me to try it despite my fullness. I certainly enjoyed my meal here and would happily return though out of the three places mentioned at the start, it was probably the one I least fell in love with. 
