As I approached the restaurant The Honey Paw, I immediately noticed the fancy modern tables and chairs set up outside. The chairs were a pale oak in a shape similar to a honeycomb, which is the theme the restaurant is based on. On the glass of the building are Grey Poupon-colored yellow lines curving up and down. The Honey Paw is a fairly expensive Asian noodle bar that serves lunch and dinner.

When I sat down, one of the staff came out and described the three dessert options in a mannerly way. Once I placed my order, he disappeared back into the restaurant. After about 10 minutes, he came back out with my (and 14 other campers’) dessert, Nutella hazelnut butter cream layer cake.

As soon as I took a fork full of the cake, the taste of chocolate was so overpowering, all I wanted to do was have a glass of cold milk to quell the sweetness of the icing. The menu lists it as Nutella, but it lacks the hazelnut taste, so it tastes more like Hershey’s chocolate. While the frosting was enjoyably light and fluffy, I wanted the cake to even out the sweetness of the frosting. I was disappointed that the inside was very dry and nutty and hard to eat on its own without the chocolate frosting. After the bill came, the total was $7. For a $7 piece of cake, I expected better.

Overall, this cake doesn’t scream, “try this again” to me, but I would go back again for another meal some time. I think the building was spot on, but the cake was not as savory as Whole Food’s cakes, or even Hannaford’s. You can find The Honey Paw at 78 Middle St, Portland.

Andrew Miller, 11, is from Cape Elizabeth.


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