Honeysuckle

We had a wonderful evening for my wife's birthday. Complimentary champagne to start and outstanding and knowledgeable service throughout the evening. I'd highly recommend Honeysuckle and certainly plan to come back again.

The beef short ribs are inspired. The culinary experience was fantastic. We had no trouble getting a table short notice on a Friday night (7:30) and were seated immediately. The staff were prompt and polite. The food was delicious. I have no complaints and will be returning.

Awesome! Everything was great!

Excellent scallops elegantly presented. Very lovely and cozy setting. Noise volume very low and conducive for a brainstorming business luncheon. Very attentive and sensitive wait staff!

Group of 7 thoroughly enjoyed dinner on a Monday night. It was great for quiet conversation (though maybe because it was Monday) but had a good vibe. The staff were helpful and attentive, ambiance intriguing and food was quite good. Might be nice to have more non-seafood options. Cocktails were good and everyone would go back.

What an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. Truly one of the best of my life. Turkey, gravy and brussel sprouts were the stars (I do not generally like brussel sprouts). Bread pudding was delicious.

Everything here was delicious. Everything. We shared the beet salad, the brussel sprouts, and the short ribs. The portions are modest, which I appreciate. The bread they brought out (three different kinds) was all amazing. Our server talked to us about how they make it in house every morning. We're not really bread eaters, but we ate all of it. The cocktails were interesting and delicious. It was a Monday, so it wasn't very busy. It was fairly quiet, so it was a good place to talk with my wife (on her birthday). Between us, we got three cocktails and the above mentioned dishes, and our bill was still under $100. Cannot recommend highly enough!

Disappointment throughout. First, the interior makes no sense. Not sure if they are trying to be a upscale restaurant or a sport bar? Football game was playing at dinner time, the light are too bright and eclectic decor poorly chosen and executed. The food was extremely pretentious and expensive without being anything memorable. All dishes were served in deep grey plates, which were quite unpractical to cut or eat from. The appetizer were ok but the 3 main dishes we tried were all mediocre. A shortrib dish braised in cider was overly sweet, the duck breast dish was not seasoned and this weird cinnamon sauce not good. Finally, the scallops were just not good, i wonder if they were seared in advance to end up slightly rubbery in a blend sauce. For the price they are way better restaurants in DC

I loved the food and the feel of the restaurant. The service was horrendous! We had the server that I read about in other reviews. He was surly and curt. He was unhelpful when you asked a question. He threw the desert menus at us. He poured tap water into our paid for sparkling water. He didn’t know that we received dessert (and ate) and brought us another one. The other waitstaff was amazing and I enjoyed them much more than our own waiter. I won’t go back. It is too bad because the food was excellent.

This is a fun space with eclectic artwork and a nice vibe. The bread basket was delicious. We had the duck and short rib and they were both delicious. Very good service and a lovely night out.

The food was delicious! The sweetbreads were outstanding and the octopus was divine.

We were a little disappointed by the service--we heard our waiter describe the elements of each dish to the table next to ours, yet did not explain a single dish that came to our table, even if he was the one to deliver it. Additionally, we had to ask for serving spoons and for plate changes at each course, which left us staring at our meals as we waited for proper place settings.

Overall, our experience was great and we will definitely return.

While the food was quite good, the quantity was poor for the prices charged. The server hovered around our table of four seemingly intent on getting our order while we were having our cocktails. The options on the menu, while varied, were paltry and the dessert menu left a great deal to be desired. As a resident of this neighborhood (20037), I was expecting much more from Honeysuckle.

My colleagues and I were looking forward to dining at this restaurant as we had read good reviews and it was recommended by the concierge of the hotel we were staying at. Although the food was nice, perhaps a touch too rich for my taste, the experience was really marred by the terrible attitude of our server. He was surly from the beginning; there was no smiles or attempt to be hospitable, a brusque, curt tone the entire time and an attitude that was borderline angry. I don't believe it was anything personal to our group but no one appreciates having plates of food abruptly put down in front of them and being asked in a terse tone "what to drink?" and looking visibly annoyed when asked to have a beverage menu first.

My husband and I have eaten at Honeysuckle twice and both times it lived up to or exceeded expectations. Great seasonal menu with a range of choices - we each ordered fish for our main courses both times (halibut, then rainbow trout). Creative cocktails, wine list, and other courses were equally good; also the warm atmosphere and excellent service. One of Honeysuckle's biggest attributes is that you can actually engage in cozy conversation there on a busy Saturday night. This is likely due to the subterranean location as well as other sound-absorbing features such as wood and oriental carpeting that grace the interior. We will definitely go back!

Really enjoyed our time there and the great atmosphere. The service was excellent, and the food was amazing... The only reason for four stars there was the dessert...it was lacking (we got the cheesecake tort with truffle ice cream and it just wasn't good), but everything else was superb...especially the service.

Saturday at 8pm, and the restaurant was empty! only 3 or 4 tables were occupied out of 25 or so. It was hard to cut loose and relax when everything we said was echoing across the room.

We had scallops, Icelandic cod, and beet salad. There was also a complimentary treat from the chef and a bread basket for the table. Everything we ate was delicious. We felt a little ignored by our waiter but it wasn’t too bad. There was a large party in another room so maybe he was busy. Not sure if that’s an ordinary occurrence either. I would eat at this restaurant again.

No vegan options on the lunch menu although the cook was able to pull together a great tasting vegan meal. My buddy’sfood came out very salty. he wasn’t happy with his order and it was his birthday.

The service at this restaurant baffles me. I frequent often for business meals and the last three occasions have been awful. I have had the same server and he is always rude. I am moving on to find a new restaurant for business lunches.

Who knew a Nordic restaurant existed in the District?! If you want a spot that offers quality food and creative food combinations, this is a great place. We opted to visit for restaurant week and loved every course. Will definitely visit again, likely with some out-of-town guests looking for something unique.

Having visited -- and much enjoyed -- Iceland several times over the years, I was delighted to find a number of Icelandic dishes on Honeysuckle's Summer Restaurant Week menu. I tried to reserve ahead, but it was fully booked. So I just showed up and asked if they could squeeze me in. They did. I got a seat at the bar.

The Icelandic dishes I sampled -- cured Arctic char with potato salad, Icelandic rye and smoked roe, Icelandic cod with barley risotto and roe butter emulsion, and Bia Kornblemst blue cheese with peach bourbon jam, candied pecans and lava bread -- were unquestionably the best Icelandic food I've ever eaten outside the country, and equal to the best restaurants inside it. The service was also superb. Not to mention the value for the money; those three dishes combined cost less than $40. Adding to the pleasure was the guy I discovered seated next to me at the bar, Sigardull Hull, long-time host of Iceland's "top chef" TV program, who had hand-carried the cod from Iceland for Honeysuckle's Restaurant Week promotion. He even shared his Icelandic dessert of skyr (similar to yogurt, but richer) and berries with me. We were later joined by the Honeysuckle's guest chefs from Iceland, Steiner Magnusson and Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson, with whom we shared toasts of brennevin, Iceland's aquavit-like national liqueur. It was a truly great evening.

I was very lucky to have gotten in, to have been seated where I was, to have had the fantastic food I did, and to have met the wonderful people I did. But honestly, most diners visiting Honeysuckle can expect the same level of food and service, the same value for the money, and the same convivial atmosphere, (if not all the visiting chefs).

Is there any way to give the place six stars?

The meal and service was excellent, and the reception was welcoming.
We were inspired to return soon.

We went to Honeysuckle for restaurant week dinner, and the menu was awesome! They had guest Icelandic chefs for the week, which was really cool (and tasty). Our service was great, as well - will definitely go back again for their regular menu.

We went for restaurant week and absolutely loved it. Honeysuckle meets the class and high service expectations without the pretension. It’s a great place for happy hour especially if you actually want to hear what your friends are saying.

Loved the icelandic fusion <3. Quirky ambiance and artwork was charming in the strangest ways - awesome happy hour!

Great food for restaurant week! The service and space between meals was a little slow.

The food is fantastic. The noise level nice and low. The decir has been pleasantly updated. Not flashy, but understated with a few modern touches, some contemporary art and some unfinished wooden communal tables at the bar to contrast the more elegant tables settings in the main part of the restaurant. I love how the bread basket at the beginning of the meal was banana bread with honey butter and fruit compote.

The food was lovely and the waiter was very knowledgeable. I will definitely go back

I was not really impressed with the food. It was a different experience, with it being Icelandic food, so I am grateful for the experience, but I will most likely not be returning. The portions are very small, and I left still feeling hungry.

Restaurant week had some interesting options. Apparently they had 2 guest chefs from Iceland who introduced some of their dishes which were quite different from Hobeysuckle’s standards. I thought the cod entree was a little too mayonnaise-y for me, but the fish was perfectly cooked nonetheless. The “Arctic pancake” dessert (a crepe) was very good. Nice value for $22.

Food here is really gooood. You can tell that the chef is devoted to it. The dishes are not only delicious but good-looking.

Wonderful food and excellent service. I’ll be back for dinner, can’t wait to try the menu

Honeysuckle is one of my favorites in DC. I highly recommend it and think it is fantastic all around.

Wait staff was nice. Service was good but I was not the biggest fan of the food. It looked great but taste was okay.

Service was abysmal

Food was fantastic. This popular restaurant was a little empty for a Saturday at 7:30pm - likely because it was mid-August in DC, and everyone in this city goes on vacation. However between the lack of a crowd and the fact that there was not any music, the place seemed oddly quiet at times. Food presentation was also excellent, and the wine we had was top-notch. Our server was very professional, but not at all friendly. It almost seemed like he thought that smiling or being warm might not be as professional or might be too informal? Regardless, it did not come across well.

The food was outstanding and the ambiance was very cool. The only drawback was the service. It was not that our water glasses were not always full (which is always a good sign) but the waiter was very short with us (and it was a slow evening) and seemed to be annoyed we were even there. He also seemed to not understand something as simple as pairing wines with a meal. Not that I am a snob by any means, but in a place like this that should be a simple request. So everything else was great. Too bad our waiter was a grouch.

The food was imaginative and delicious! There was no music or sound which was odd but overall I’d go back.

Food was excellent but the service was very disappointing.

Good food. Great chairs. Awesome ambience