The Honey Paw

78 Middle Street
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-8538
Website

On a recent trip to Maine, I had some of the most innovative and delicious Asian style food I can remember. It made me long for a Honey Paw in Philly. Alas, I will have to head back up north to get my fix.

A small but bright and airy corner space. with loads of windows, it was inviting and though parked next door to the famous Eventide Oyster Company, the food here made it a destination on its own.

The scallion pancakes were first, deep fried to a perfectly airy, crunchy, light, salty miracle. These were hands down the best I have had, and I have eaten quite a few.

Look at the texture on these. I am drooling thinking about them.

In keeping with my carb-tastic snack course, I had some fry bread with Thai butter. My god. I don't remember having a better fry bread either. Again, the texture and airy pockets of dough were perfection. Sliced hot peppers and chives, with the rich butter just made this one for the books.

The kimchi. I mean, it's kimchi. It's always pretty good. Like pizza. But this kimchi was again, everything it should be. Spicy. Tart. Crunchy. I would have bought this in a five gallon jar if offered, and likely eaten it before getting back to the car. Can you die from eating 18.9271 liters of kimchi? I am certainly willing to try.

Next? Oh just an AGED BEEF CORN DOG. Did I mention I like sauces? Meat? Food on a stick? Fried meat on a stick covered in sauce? Be still my (slowing) heart.

The slight funk of the aged beef let you know it was there, unlike most corndogs where you taste breading and only breading.

If you are familiar with Dan Dan Noodles, do I have a dish for you. Look at the balance on this.

ALMOST too good to eat.

Bok choy, with ground pork, noodles, nuts, and scallions. Spicy, rich and satisfying.

Starting to slow down, but no where near the finish line, I moved on to the fried chicken sandwich. Can we also take a moment to admire the house made chips? They are sprinkled with some sort of heavenly dust (peanut dust?). Stuffed in this roll was napa kimchi, iceberg, mayonnaise, AND american cheese. I love the play on po'boys.

Perfectly fried, on a great slightly crusty roll, with more kimchi. Yes please.

I obviously had to sample the banh mi, right? Sporting chicken liver mousse, fish sauce caramel, cucumber, jalapeño, pickles, cilantro and served on another of these perfect rolls. Maine sure does know bread.

Last but hardly least. I had to sample the house made noodles. Here is the mushroom udon, with miso, bok choy, togarashi oil, and tempura crunch. The ability to control your crunch with the side of tempura was key. Otherwise you would be eating soggy tempura.

The smooth warming miso broth was packed with umami, and filled with earthy mushrooms. Soul soothing indeed.

The bar was also no slouch, and a couple of fancy cocktails never hurts to punctuate the meal.

Tom's Dim Sum

13 E State Street
Media, PA 19063
(610) 566-6688
Website

Media PA, also known as "Everybody's Hometown" is a sleeper of a town for the food scene. There are always new openings and closings, and a variety of choices not seen in most Main Line area towns. For instance, you can eat some of the best Isreali food around at Desert Rose and get some killer hoagies and cheesesteaks at low key Wayside Market , not to mention a number of other places where you'll find French/Thai and (delicious) White Guy's Mexican. It also has one of the best walkable main streets in the area, and lots of shops. It is a hidden gem of Delco. When I heard they were getting Dim Sum, it meant another option for soup dumplings without having to drive all the way to Chinatown.

This is Tom's second location, the first one is under the convention center where the original Dim Sum Garden used to be. Confusing, I know. They offer the standard sauce options (dumpling, soy, vinegar, chili oil). It's a BYOB and they take cards. All things to like so far.

One of my staples is cold cucumbers. Although I prefer the cukes to be seeded, these had a better sauce than usual (though I suspect it is either a variation of the dumpling sauce or the actual sauce itself). I love bites of cilantro in with my cucumbers.

Sweet, tangy and salty, just missing a little heat.

I always add a couple spoons of chili oil to the mix and it plays very well together.

Another go-to is the scallion pancake. A flaky dipping vessel for leftover cucumber liquid, these slices generally get a nice bath while I eat a soup dumpling and then when they're fully saturated and sopping with sauce, they get scarfed down.

The flaky layers have just enough glutenous chew, coupled with a crispy, browned outside. They are simple and delicious. They can be a bit greasy at times, but when you do the aforementioned ginger soy bath, you'll tend not to notice.

Now to the star. If you have never had soup dumplings, I can't recommend them enough. Forget everything else on the menu. Steamed wrappers filled with a delectable pork meatball that is swimming in fatty broth. Take the dumpling by the balloon knot on top, put it into a soup spoon, and slightly tear the top open. The lets the HOT liquid inside cool slightly and allows you to add in any additional sauces you may want. I generally do a little dumpling sauce and chili oil right into the top to add the unctuousness of the broth inside. Be careful not to spill it out.

At this point you have two choices – bite through the skin and take half of the meatball inside, slurp the broth, or take the whole shebang (make sure its cool enough) in one go. I go with route number two because I am both fat, and I want the full flavor experience. Plus this means that while the suckers you are eating with are trying to save droppings of broth and juggle the spoon, you are reaching for your next victim.

I was here when they first opened, and they RAN OUT of soup dumplings. This was a tragedy. I only got one order, and was then informed of the misstep. Out of my mind, I ordered some Shanghai dumplings (at the waiter's request) but knew they would not be the same. Or even close. I forgive them this error, only because I have revisited several times, and on each of those consecutive trips the service and food has been great.

These sweet and sticky dumplings were good, but lacked the soupy goodness of my favorites. A couple of dips in dumpling sauce made for a salty contrast to the sweet porky rice inside.

When you go, skip the soups and Americanized entrees, and just order the hell out of the soup dumplings. You can thank me later.