Honey Pig Izakaya

I wouldn’t recommend this place to my close friends. Food is alright, but could find much better alternatives in Annandale.

NOT A KOREAN BBQ. While their signage doesnt say korean bbq, groupon advertised this place as being kbbq. That said, the food is average for a korean restaurant, the side dishes suck, and the portion sizes are tiny even compared to other honeypigs.
Not sure what they are trying to do here but there are tons of real kbbq in annandale and even if this place isnt kbbq they shouldnt advertise it as such nor should they use the same honeypig name.
Also not once during our meal did anyone stop by to offer refills or ask us how everything was.

Had a bad experience here and i dont think i will be coming back until changes are made. Food was less than subpar but what annoyed me most was the service. A friend and i wanted to get some drinks after work so we went to the bar and took a seat. My friend had come across the groupon for honeypig, which he purchased and even though we sat down at a table, we asked the server if we could move to the bar. I personally preferred sitting at the bar rather than table and the server said that it was fine. As soon as we sat down at the bar, the bartender did greet or acknowledge us in any way, had her arms crossed then pointed her finger at us rudely, asking the server in informal korean, «what are they?» as if we were some kinda trash. For those of you who are not korean and reading this, informal korean is very rude and condescending especially to customers, elders and people youve just met.
I dont see what the difference is whether or not we had a groupon and its not like I wasnt goning to drink. I usually drink high end scotch n beer as a chaser and i leave a more than generous tip when at the bar. But whatever, I would still could understand as maybe their policy is no groupons at bar. However, what upset me was their condescending demeanor/​attitude. The bartender could have easily told us that it was their policy and we would need to sit at a table if we want to use the groupon nicely. Instead, she had her arms crossed and gave us attitude about it.
I guess the bartender had no idea that i was korean or maybe she did and didnt care.
Regardless, you dont treat your customers like that. Im in the service industry as well even worked as a bartender myself for 3+ years. It was apparent the bartenders there thought they were some hot shit. Sorry to diappoint but both looked wretched as hell, not even slightly attractive. Their personality made it even worse if thats even possible.
We ended up sitting at a table, didnt even feel like ordering my scotch anymore so i had one beer, we ate and left. I did however leave the server a hefty tip (slightly more than half the bill). He was at least genuinely nice, and our bill was cheap becuase of groupon but most of all, I felt bad for him that he has to work with such girls with low class.
I might come back to sit at a table but definitely never the bar.

I just read a bad review about the menu you get with their groupons. We have used that groupon multiple times and it never disappointed. This is a lot of food for the price. You get a miso soup. We chose the tempura. Got the big Sushi boat and bulgogi.
The sushi boat is a great variaty! A recommend this place. Without the groupon a little pricy.

Went here excuse I had a Groupon. The food was okay, nothing really impressed my taste buds. The presentation was nice. I would definitely suggest going with a Groupon, without it I would’ve hated life. The I’ll minus the Groupon was $ 90, we ordered mango soju and the prix fixe menu. Parking sucks so get there early!

We used the groupon. The restaurant blasted Korean hip hop music and had a nice atmosphere. It was mostly empty with only 2 – 3 other tables there. The service was decent and food came out quickly. I liked the miso soup and salad. Sushi didn’t taste too fresh and the gyoza was lackluster. The bulgogi and honey mayo shrimp were tasty, but not memorable. This place would be good for drunken late nights.

I came here with my brother and cousin because I got a groupon for a prix fixe dinner. I read the reviews and prepared myself mentally but oh boy, this place is worse than I could have imagined. For the records, we had gyoza, sushi boat, and spicy porkbelly. We also ordered okonomiyaki and soft shell crabs (which is super duper tiny for $ 10).
After the meal, we pretty much all agreed that this is by far the worst Korean-​owned Japanese restaurant in the DMV area. Not only the food isn’t authentic but they also taste HORRIBLE! As a Japanese food lover, i felt insulted by what they did to the food. It was almost like the chef and owner of this place have a deep resentment towards Japanese cuisine to the point that they felt the need to make everyone else hate Japanese food. The gyoza was frozen — a 2mins trip to a nearby H Mart is a much better option here. Okonomiyaki has very little cabbage and was very greasy. We ended up leaving half the pancake uneaten. Sushi was mediocre at best. The best dish was the pork bbq which is not very surprising considering the owner also owns Honey Pig Bbq. Soft shell crab was a joke. It was tiny, tasteless, and (again) obviously came out of a frozen package.
Service-​wise, just like everyone else said, it was slow and the servers obviously didnt care. I was in customer service before and i know that not every day is rosie but come on, at least have some decency to PRETEND that you care about your job. I will not come back here and will NEVER recommend this place to anyone!

Disappointed. Wrong honey pig. Groupon was not worth small morsels of meat. Wont go to this one anymore.

Good food, open late. Hard to find parking on weekends or Friday nights because the parking lot is not big.
They sell cute shirts there. The staff wears them too. They have benches to sit on to wait and they will not go outside to call you in. The self serve tea by the register is not free!
Be prepared to wait if you go on nights when everyone else comes out. You may also run into people you know.
The pork belly is good here! My favorite. I also like the side dishes and tofu soups. Best part is cooking your own at the table!
Since they’re so busy, they don’t have time to give good service… It’s also cold there in the autumn and winter. You will leave smelling of the food too.
Oh, if you go very late, you may also witness people getting into fights in the parking lot…

Honey Pig Izakaya is the forgotten sister of Honey Pig Korean BBQ that they’re known for, where they offer Korean dishes to order, sushi and various gotcha menus. But if you order the right stuff, you’ll notice the sister’s actual beauty.
What are gotcha menus? It’s when you use a Groupon or decide to opt into their All-​You-​can-​Eat sushi, except you have very limited choices (and there are certain days you can’t do the promotion).
However I still rate Honey Pig Izakaya 4 stars because it’s all about the soup. Seeing their hot pot look-​alike posters all over the place, we wondered if they were as amazing as the photoshopped marketing pictures, so we had to find out. Enter the fish cake soup (large) and beef intestine soup. They were both super delish and enough to feed 4 adults between the two of them.
Their seafood pancake and soy chicken wings were also pretty good, albeit a little pricey.
So don’t know anything about their sushi, BBQ or gazillion other items on the menu. I just know their soup, seafood pancake and chicken wings were all super good.

Isn’t the purpose of using groupon so new customers can discover your business? And then hope that these new customers will return or even spend additional money at your business?
Yes I used the groupon. Food was decent. Nothing noteworthy, but definitely a good deal for the money and I now discovered a cute restaurant I had never been to that i learned also has ramen, takoyaki, and seafood pancakes. All things I would love to try there!
So today I used my groupon deal. I also ordered additional rice and the seafood pancake.
All I got was the meal from the groupon. It came in waves so I assumed the rice a pancake would follow.
Never did.
We were 1 of 3 tables there on a Friday night. I would think we’d get just a little more attention.
Guess you didn’t want my money. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I got the Groupon deal, $ 35 for an appetizer, 3 rolls, and a KBBQ dish.
I ordered the gyoza and our server asked us if we wanted pan fried or steamed, and I ordered pan fried, but we got steamed gyoza instead… it wasn’t even busy, we were her first table.
The spicy pork belly was great, I don’t have much to say about it.
The rolls on the other hand… horrible. I picked a piece up with my chopsticks and it broke in half. The fish didn’t even stick to the rice for the nigiri. All I tasted was sesame oil in the rolls.
The service was okay.

We came here because of a Groupon offer. After trying the food, we understood why they needed to put up an offer on Groupon. The food was very average. If you are used to the regular Honey Pig, this place is very different from what the regular Honey Pig offers. We tried the sushi boat, it was not very fresh.

Amazing food and great value. I had the sashimi salad. It was perfect from portion size to flavor to presentation. Def getting it again.

3.5 stars.
Honey Pig Izakaya is Honey Pig’s Japanese sister restaurant and bar. Two floors and multiple bars, it’s meant to attract much of the young Koreans in the area.
The groupon deal here is good. Miso soups for all, salad appetizer, your choice of appetizer, your choice of Korean BBQ, and a boat full of sushi. Literally, a BOAT of sushi (see picture). Just go for the novelty of it.
This place is a bar, so going during the day time feels awkward. You’re surrounded by dark walls, and loud Korean pop music. I went during the day, but I would try it out at night if I was in the area.

I’ve been holding off on this review because I have been debating the stars… While it was OK I have certainly experienced better and I am not sure if we will be back even though it is close. As people have noted the set-​up is strange and the stairs are unpleasant (& not skirt friendly…).
The sushi was fine and the boat was kind of fun. The miso soup was basic and the ‘salad’ was comical with too much 1000 Island dressing over lettuce. I think the Korean style meat was the best item but if that is what they are trying to sell there are other places really close by where you can experience better. I don’t really understand the purpose of the board which appears to be guarding the tables from view…
The music was interesting and at times they were projecting scenes onto the wall near the stairs. Based on others reviews about service I am glad we got something that arrived all together. I have an odd curiosity about the all you can eat made to order sushi but based on service experiences I can’t imagine it would be a pleasant. Although I had planned to get a drink the waiter did not seem interested and so I just stock with the meal.

Despite the reviews about this restaurant, I decided to try it out with a Groupon deal that seemed too good to pass up. It included a choice of appetizer, three orders of sushi, 3 maki rolls, and one meat dish. It also comes with a salad and miso soup. I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of food that came out all at once, but it’s not a bad thing. The bulgogi was well marinated and flavorful. The sushi had a very thick rice layer but tasted fresh. There were some other items on the menu that looked interesting so I would come back to try.
Service was pretty good compared to the reviews that I’ve read. Then again we were the only one in the restaurant for a while. However, the server asked if we wanted rice and did not mention that there was an extra fee associated with it. Even though it was only $ 3, I would rather know up front. You can also check-​in on Unilocal and get free ice cream at the end of your meal.

The vibe is still fun though sleazy, but that’s probably the only reason to come here. The upper level had this damp towel smell, which wasn’t too pleasant. And everything seemed really grimy. Perhaps expected for a prime watering hole, but Honeypig Izakaya was certainly more dank and dirtier than I remembered.
Our main server was nice enough, a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, but this other staff member left much to be desired. As with other Korean establishments, they have a button at each table, which you push for service.
I got udon noodle soup, mom got soondubu, and hubby got ramen, but we weren’t given any spoons so we pushed the button, ding. A baby-​faced guy with a mop of blonde hair (bad K-​pop shag) came strolling over nonchalantly,
We asked him for spoons and got three silver stainless steel spoons. I understand that the Koreans use these spoons for many soups, including soondubu, but ramen and udon, too? So we called him back again. He gave us a blank smile, shrugged his shoulders, and walked away. If they call themselves an «izakaya» and serve dishes of Japanese origin like ramen and udon, then they should have Japanese or Chinese style soup spoons on hand. I don’t get it. This server’s response was quite annoying.
The quality of the food has also declined:
*Takoyaki was soggy and the fish skins were barely moving.
*Udon noodle soup had two pieces of fish cake and nothing else but noodles and broth. Are you serious? Paying $ 10 for this? Me thinks not. The broth was also overly salty.
*Soondubu was too oily.
*Fried seaweed and noodles dumplings were decent…
*Tonkatsu ramen looked right, but tasted only okay.
So with the busy and anxious woman server trying to bus tables and take orders simultaneously; the clueless busboy/​staff, whose sole job it seemed was to bring the food to the table; and the pretty boy who was pretty much useless; we received pretty crappy service. One person was too busy to focus and remember things like eating utensils. Another person had no idea what he was doing. And the last, the most idle, refused to be helpful.
Part of the problem is that the kitchen is downstairs so the poor server has to carry all items up a flight of stairs. Anyway, management has some learning to do, or is nonexistent.
We will not be returning.

I have to agree with other Unilocalers. The service here is terrible, you literally have to ask for every single thing. They might also give you an attitude. And The place doesn’t feel clean at all. The experience you get It’s like you are in some tribe in Korea. They have authentic Korean BBQ but they have no idea what’s customer service is!
the food I order is delicious! I always get the same thing. Kimchi, bulgogi and seafood omelet.

Feels like you are in Asia when you step inside here… the only difference is that it’s more spacious than any izakaya I’ve seen in Japan or Korea. The menu is extensive and has a lot of good options. We got okonomiyaki and it was great and reasonably priced at $ 8.
Atmosphere and music are great and upstairs there are many private karaōke rooms. They told us it gets pretty crowded on the weekends so a reservation is a good idea. Hope to come back here soon!