Where Everyone Should Bee

Hey everyone!  So today I am going to be bringing you quite the intriguing post where not only did I have a sumptuous brunch, but I also hit up what might be my new favorite summer hangout.  Definitely worthy of my 90th post! First, there is the Honey Bowl.  You can get to it by going to Hapjeong station and leaving exit 4.  Head straight and take the first left by the bike shop.  The street will split, so take the left path.  Walk for about 10 minutes, and you will see it on your right hand side.  You will pass a CU and a 7-11 on your way there in that order.  Here is their Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Honey-Bowl/263651367034499.

So when I got there to meet up with two friends, we thankfully didn’t have to wait too long in the blazing sun, but once we got inside, we saw that the small eatery was tastefully decorated like the inside of a beehive minus the gross beeswax and scary killer bees.  Their menu is quite comprehensive for a country that doesn’t really believe in the idea of breakfast, and it has all of your Western favorites like eggs and bacon, hash browns, sausage, and french toast.  However, I was really craving some pancakes, so I went with the chocolate fudge pancakes (7,000 W).  One of my main complaints with the restaurant was their water service.  They gave us very small cups, and it was very hot out.  Ergo, we were going to need a lot of water to stay hydrated.  In other places operated by Koreans, like in my other post about Taco Cielo, they gave the table a large pitcher of water to save themselves the trip of constantly giving out refills.  Not in the Honey Bowl.  This key error negatively impacted the flow of the restaurant since the wait staff spent so much time filling water which then made orders come in slower for the cooks which then made the wait time longer for your food.  However, I was glad I waited because these pancakes were light, fluffy flapjacks sent down from Paul Bunyan Jesus.  He crafted them in his divine skillet in the sky, and then baptized them in the name of deliciousness by submerging them in the holy chocolate sauce that was just the right viscosity, i.e. not too runny and not too thick like cake frosting.   The whip cream with chocolate chips on top were just gilding the rose, but at that point, I didn’t care.  They sadly weren’t gigantic pancakes for someone like me with a Paul Bunyan appetite, so I also tried the Honey Bowl’s single plate of cheese potato (6,500 W).  It was a very simple dish of potato wedges smothered in cheddar and mozzarella cheese along with pieces of American bacon.  Surprisingly, it was not greasy at all, and the potatoes were neither soggy nor drowned out by the suffocating richness of the salty bacon and cheese.  It also came with a side of sweet and sour sauce that had a chili pepper base that gave this mound of carbs and fat a bit of a spicy kick.  After those two small items, it was time to hit up Fell and Cole again for some funkier ice cream flavors.

Today they had the type of ice cream that I was expecting from the Cali transplant.  I got a double with a scoop of perilla or sesame leaf ( 깻잎) leaf ice cream and then a scoop of All Black which was a mix of Guinness and chocolate.

Why is mediocrity always on top of greatness?

The perilla leaf came first, and I can definitely say I prefer them deep fried instead of in ice cream form.  If they’re eaten deep fried or in ssam bap form (raw), they have a strong, almost peppery flavor, but this dairy version made it taste like I was eating frozen sharp cheddar.  I do love my cheese, but it is a bit unexpected and almost unwanted when you’re eating it as ice cream.  Once I soldiered my way through that pastel green semi-abomination, I once again stumbled on buried treasure.  Just like in my last post, Nosh Pit, the alcohol infused ice cream was better not just because it had a bit of alcohol in it.  I love Guinness beer to begin with, so I might be biased.  Nevertheless, the bold, black coffee cloak of the Irish classic enveloped the milk chocolate which somehow made my tastebuds do a Riverdance of joy.  It was like a run-of-the mill chocolate ice cream that had a boosting agent that both complimented and intensified the cocoa element of the creation.  If they ever have the All Black flavor, get it and you will thank your Lucky Charms you tried it.  Well, that’s all for me on my end, so try Honey Bowl if you’re missing some delicious Western breakfast food.  You won’t bee sorry.