Are you tired of reading reviews that start with, "I went here because I had a Groupon I wanted to use . . . "? Â I'm not, but I thought some of you might be. Â So, anyway, I had this Groupon and I went to the Honey Bee Asian Bistro to make use of it . . . Â I had read the pretty decent reviews and thought is might not be a bad idea to pick up a deal in this part of town. Â We showed up about 1:30pm on a Friday afternoon. Â There were only two other sets of customers in the restaurant. Â The hostess immediately greeted and seated us. Â She dropped off water and menus and we proceeded to wait for our server. Â I took a little longer than I would expected, and when she did come out, she took the order of a customer who had come in after us first. Â But, other than that, the service was pretty good. Â Using the Groupon was a tad more complicated than usual, but not terribly so.
They were offering a special where if you send them a text, you get a free beverage with your meal. Â That was kind of nice. Â We ordered the Mongolian Beef, the Lettuce Wraps with Chicken, and the Tom Kha Gai soup. Â I had a diet Coke, and my friend had a beer. Â The Lettuce Wraps (Chicken, green peas, carrots, and bibb lettuce--enough for 4 of them) were probably the best part of the meal. Â The lettuce was nice and crisp and was the right shape for the task. Â The chicken and veggies were nicely seasoned. Â This may not have been the best lettuce wraps I have had, but they were quite good. Â The Mongolian Beef (w/ hoisin sauce, green & yellow onions) looked great, and was a generous serving. It had tons of onions and came with fried rice at no extra charge. Â The sauce was pretty good, but much of the beef was on the fatty side, and this was rather off-putting. Â The Tom Kha Gai soup was some of the worst I have ever had. Â The paper menu said "Tom Kha Gai", but I see the online menu calls is "Chicken Coconut Soup" (Chicken, mushrooms and onions in a Thai styled coconut milk based soup). Â This is probably more accurate. Â I would call it "Thai inspired" if I were being generous. Â It was not very authentic in flavor. Â It had no heat and no sourness to it. Â It was very bland and was 90% milky broth with some chicken, onions and mushrooms. Â Its only positive aspect is that it was a rather large serving, Â The irony, to me, was that from where I sat looking out the window of Honey Bee, I could see the Pearl of Siam in the distance, and found myself wishing I were eating there instead.
This place is blocks from my house we eat there more then I would like to admit. Sadly there food isn't always great some days it is out of this world good some times meh. I eat there all the time. I will continue to do so. I just wish they could keep things as good as they normally are. If you think it was a one time meh meal think again I would say maybe 25% of the time meh the rest really good.
Review Source:This was such a nice restaurant with an interesting menu. It doesn't have many of your typical Chinese dishes. There are a lot of dishes that I would like to try someday. The service was very good. I am only giving it 3 stars because the food did not come out hot and it had a better appeal on the menu than it did on our table. I would like to give this place a second chance though.
Review Source:Been here once to dine with family on christmas eve and the food was great. Try the hong kong style noodles if you want to try something new. Ordered takeout with the bf last night and it was good but not great. Disappointed with their mapo tofu. I do like how their food doesn't taste overly salty.
Review Source:This was our first visit for lunch using a $20 Groupon. Â It was located a few doors down from The Movie Tavern in Aurora. Â Almost all of the booths were occupied. Â A gentleman came out from the kitchen and seated us in a booth. Â The cloth napkins were folded in the water glasses.
The interior of the restaurant wasn't very attractive. Â They had live and artificial plants all over, a little "office area" near the coke refrigerator towards the back of the restaurant with nick nacks.
The food was 5 star (at least my food)!!!  We started  with an order of Potstickers.  I knew by the photo off the internet menu that I would like them.  They were made with a thick dough, not a thin wonton wrapper like a lot of places use.  The potstickers were perfectly browned on one side.  The meat inside was generous, moist and well seasoned.  The dipping sauce was served in a heart-shaped bowl.  I would come back just for the Potstickers!
My husband ordered the Thai Peanut Chicken with Fried Rice and Egg Roll ($6.95). Â The chicken was all while meat slices stir-fried with snow peas, carrots, and potatoes. Â It was like a light sweet and sour sauce. Â No peanuts, just a hint of peanut flavor. Â
The Fried Rice was very plain and bland with a few bits of egg and scallions. Â
The Egg Roll was the standard vegetarian version with a side of sweet and sour sauce.
My Panang Chicken Curry Thai Hot came out in a beautiful ceramic bowl with 2 red chilis on top (see posted photo). Â It had generous slices of white meat chicken, green and red bell pepper, snow peas, potatoes, and broccoli in a thick sauce. Â I would definitely order this again. Â The server asked how the heat was on the curry and I said, not Thai Hot. Â So maybe next time she'll remember me and tell the chef to really make it Thai Hot.
My husband also ordered a 16 ounce Taro Smoothie with Boba ($3.99). Â It came in a plastic cup with a melted on plastic lid that a lot of Boba places use. Â They also had a 20 ounce size for ($4.99) which I thought was a little pricey.
Most of their lunch entrees were $5.95-7.95 which included an Egg Roll and rice. Â Dinner prices were a few dollars more. Â My husband usually likes to order the Pad Thai, but it wasn't on the lunch menu. Â He could have ordered the dinner portion for $9.95 but he wouln't have gotten the Egg Roll.
On our way out, I asked for a To Go menu. Â I may have to order more of those Potstickers!
I had a Groupon to Honey Bee and the wife and I decided to try it out on a Wednesday night. I have driven by this place several times because we shop at quite a few of the stores in this area. Honestly, I didn't even know it was there. Overall, it was a good experience, the service was good the food was good, the servings were hearty, but when you stack it up against some of the other Asian restaurants in the area, it didn't have the "X-Factor" I was looking for. Â
I can't honestly say that I would go out of my way to eat here again.
If you want great Chinese food and friendly service, this is the place! We visited for dinner and were pleasantly surprised by the fast, attentive waitstaff and large portions. The restaurant's Groupon went a long way toward the family dinner, which allowed us to enjoy an appetizer combo, two soups, two entrees, and a dessert.
For the appetizer combo, the egg rolls, coconut shrimps, and crab cheese wantons were all hot and crispy. The accompanying dipping sauces (which included hot mustard, sweet and sour, and ginger soy) added zest and variety to the appetizers and to the entrees as well. The egg drop soups were the perfect temperature and weren't too salty, as is sometimes the case at other restaurants. The entrees were HUGE and afforded enough leftovers for another three to four meals EACH. We tried the kung pao tofu and the double mushroom pork. Both were very tasty and definitely worth a try. For dessert we tried sesame balls for the first time. The outside was nice and crispy and the inside was savory and soft. Definite do over!
Now, I don't know about you, but there are many, many days when I simply don't know what the Heckyl-n-Jeckyl I want to eat. At times like these, I'm thankful for the plethora of options at Honey Bee Asian Bistro here in Aurora.
Good Lord, I could spend ages just on the Appetizer section alone! Healthy Edamame (young soybeans still in the pod) with sea salt? Cha Siu Bao (steamed buns with barbecued pork)? Egg rolls? Spring rolls? Two, count 'em, two, types of cheese wontons (one with cool avocado, the other with zingy jalapeño)? Should I just order them all, and let the lipids fall where they may?
Wait, let me compose and collect myself. I still need to think about my main course. Ooh, that Thai Sriracha dish sounds chili-hot but intriguing. But now that I think about it, I was always kind of partial to to the dried-fish-and-garlic sauce called Sa Cha too. Mango? Mushroom? Orange? Broccoli? And now you're telling me I have to choose between chicken, pork, or beef too? Ooh boy, I may be here a while.
Oops, I didn't even see this part of the menu. Thai curries (panang, red, green, pineapple)? Egg noodles with my favorite vegetable-protein-based flavor enhancer, Maggi sauce? Tomato fried rice? Sesame tofu? String beans with garlic? Yikes!
Well, since I've looked at everything else, I might as well see what they have for dessert. Sugar donuts? Hmm, that's interesting. Almond cookies? Well, yea, those sound pretty tasty. Maybe a smoothie with a variety of flavors and add-ins (we like the boba... the boba that goes "pop")? Wow, they even have a variation of Patbingsu (Korean shaved ice with fresh fruit).
Hmph. Apparently, I may be here all day. Hopefully you're not as indecisive as I am. But no matter what your finger points to, you can't go wrong with the varied vittles at Honey Bee Asian Bistro.
We went to Honey Bee for dinner. We ordered the "dinner for two or more" which was a planned type of meal and it was really good. I liked the appetizer plate and the sesame tofu. The service was good tonight. I decided to upgrade my rating.
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Older review:
Honey Bee has much better food than the previous Chinese restaurant that was at this same location. So if you used to not like Yangs, give this place another try since it is not the same.
I live nearby and have always did a pick up instead of eat in. Today I actually ate in the restaurant. I have always had a good meal here. Normally my favorite dish is the Tropical Fried Rice and my wife likes the Pad Thai. Today I went with a different dish, I ordered the Thai Peanut Pork. My food was good, but the peanut sauce was a bit sweet and syrupy for my taste, and is not something I think I will order again. Don't let this dissuade you if that is what you want, since the sauce was good enough, just not my taste. My sister ordered the teriyaki chicken. I tasted the teriyaki and I thought it was a bit salty. Still, everything was cooked correctly and had good flavor. The rice was good. They added an eggroll to the meal that was a bit greasy. The portions seemed a bit smaller than what you get with takeout (however I did order off the lunch menu, so it may have been smaller due to that instead).
One thing I have consistently noticed with this place is that the food is fairly good, but it does take a long time to get it. I notice this more when I have done pick up and have always had to wait even after giving them 20 minutes before even going over there. Today was not as bad, however there was only a few people in the place (maybe 5). If you are on a lunch break from work you would really be taking a risk going here due to the slow nature. Our service was good, but the waitress thought that Mr. Pibb and rootbeer were interchangeable drinks, we had to explain that Mr. Pibb is similar to Dr. Pepper and not rootbeer. There was also a mix up in the tea, where they served unsweetened tea and then refilled with sweet tea and so that had to be replaced, but they were very gracious about it.
Also a note the lunch items were mostly priced around $7.
I've been coming to this location for awhile (before it was Honey Bee), and in the past the food was mediocre, not the best not the worst. Â
I just went here this evening and was very pleasantly surprised with the food. Â Coming from San Francisco one of my favorite dishes out there was Tomato Beef Chow Mein (more of a Cantonese dish, and almost impossible to find out here). Â Honey Bee however had a 'Tomato Fried Rice', and simple change to make that Tomato Beef Lo Mein and I was set! Â Not quite the best I've had, but more than satisfied a long overdue craving. Â On top of that, had their yummy scallion pancakes and a boba tea. Â
The decor and music are nice, tasteful, and very welcoming- not the new 'fusion' style, and not the dark and dingy feel either, just warm and classy. Â
The waitstaff is pretty quiet with broken english (wouldn't have it any other way), and our food was brought out of order, and our check came quick too.
The tables had butcher paper with some crayons on the side...regardless of age, Â I'll still take the opportunity to play some 'dots' when I can!
All in all it made for a fantastic meal, will definitely be coming back again.
They have a lot of vegetarian option which I love. I got the sesame tofu which of course what I always get. Theirs was good. It was hard on the outside, with firm tofu. I wish there would have been more sesame sauce and vegetables included.
There are a bit more expensive for Chinese then other places that I have gone to. But the meal was good and there was a huge helping. I got extra rice for $1.50. They also have some vegetarian apps but I did not try any.
if in the area I will go there again.
Don't be fooled by the unassuming outside, the restaurant was clean and had a very welcoming appearance once inside. We were seated quickly, the service was quick, friendly and efficient. The food was good, we had 3 family dinners which came with a combo appetizer platter, the appetizers were good, crab cheese wontons and egg rolls tasted like they were fresh out of the fryer, the chicken satay was cooked perfectly, nice and brown yet juicy, the only downside was the coconut shrimp were a bit overcooked and tough but still good enough to finish them off. We loved the peanut satay and coconut sauces. We tried both the hot and sour soup and egg drop soup, both were better than some others we've tried. For our entrees we had mongolian beef (good), general tso's chicken (good texture, tasted very fresh, a little too sweet and not spicy enough for me but we fixed that with chili oil and sriracha), sesame chicken (good texture, tasted very fresh) and then the sugar donuts and cheesecake for dessert, both were on par (the kids loved the donuts, tasted one and they tasted freshly fried as well). We'll be back.
Review Source:We have been looking for a decent Chinese place close to our house and had been disappointed by the one closest to our house. Â We recieved the menu for Honey Bee in the mail and decided to try it. Â The food was delivered in a reasonable time and was freshly made. Â The chicken fried rice was a big hit with the kids. Â The crab cheese wontons were crisp and did not give the impression they had been pullled from under a heat lamp. Â The lemon chicken was ok, Â I felt the sauce didn't pack enough lemon flavor. Â The sesame chicken was a better dish, a bit sweet with a little bite. Â The Mongolian beef was a good proportion of beef to veggies. Â The price is a touch higher than the other resturant, but the food was a much better quality. Â Will definately order from them again.
Review Source:One thing that is not short in Aurora is Ma/Pop Asian restaurants, it's just a matter of finding the ones that stand out from the others. Honeybee Asian Bistro off of Tower Rd and Hampden is one of those places.  They serve  Asian Fusion, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. So needless to say, there is bound to be something that everyone will find to their liking.
As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with a smile and a hello. The décor is very relaxing with little whimsical items like a ceramic lettuce with wheels scattered through the place. They do have a small bar for those that would like to have to have a few drinks while they wait for a table.
My husband and I love our appetizers. Honeybee actually has a number of appetizers that range from the standard Egg Roll to Edamame. We picked our usual, Crab Cheese Wontons and Pot Stickers. Â Our Waitress brought our the Crab Cheese Wontons first and let us know that the Pot Stickers were still being cooked. The Crab Cheese Wontons were perfect, nice and hot and without the left over oil. They were a nice golden color and not over cooked, served with a thick sweet sauce. Â The Pot Stickers were just as good. They were meat stuffed with just a hint of cabbage in them, pan fried to the perfect crispiness. Like the Crab Cheese Wontons, they weren't served with left over oil.
My husband ordered the Singapore Rice Noodles, with eggs, chicken, tofu, and vegetables in a curry sauce. The dish was pan fried with the curry sauce, making the chicken and tofu nice a crispy. It was spicy enough to clear the sinuses but not over spicy that makes you reach for a drink after every bite, so it would be good for those that don't have a very high spicy threshold. Â
I ordered the Thai Mango Chicken. You have your choice of chicken, pork or beef. I love beef but mango didn't sound like it would go with it very well so I picked the chicken. I've never had a Thai Mango dish before so I wasn't sure what to expect. When it arrived it was large mango sliced mixed in with green, red and yellow peppers and chicken. Â The sauce was a sweet sauce, like the one served with the Crab Cheese Wontons. Â The mango melted in my mouth and the peppers countered the sweetness of the sauce. One thing that drives me crazy is that there are a lot of places that will have more veggies than meat in their dishes to save on costs. Honeybee didn't do that. There was enough chicken mixed in with it to have it with the mango and pepper slices. Â I asked for white rice and mixed it in. Â I had asked for their lunch size and it turned out to be perfect for me. As I got full, the sweetness of the sauce started to get to me. However, my husband and I ordered Iced Milked Tea with Boba and it helped me clear my pallet of the sweetness.
For a dessert we ordered smoothies with boba. My husband ordered a Avocado smoothy with a hint of sweetness that he wasn't expecting. Now this isn't something that is on the menu so if this sounds good, you'll have to ask for it. I requested a raspberry one and it had just the perfect blend of tartness and sweetness. We had asked what they did to find the balance in both drinks and our waitress said it was just a certain amount of sweetener and asked if we like them as she could add more sweetener if we wanted. We both loved  what she made.
Honeybee Asian Bistro offers something that is different and we recommend going. They really don't have a kids menu so we recommend only going with kids that aren't very picky eaters. The prices are fairly reasonable for the portion size that is given. They offer take-out and delivery services for everything on their menu.
I LOVED this place. The prices were good and so was the food. However, the past four times I have ordered from them the food was terrible. Each time it was worse and worse. Last Thursday I ordered from them one final time, hoping that maybe I had been catching them on an off day or something but I was wrong. I ordered Tso's chicken and my husband had the Singapore noodles. We also had some won tons. The chicken was over cooked and hard like candy, and the rice was mushy! The noodles were OK, but the veg was overcooked too.Our won-tons were raw and chewy. The only edible thing was the one egg roll I had. I emailed them and gave them a chance to fix the situation but no one responded. There going down hill and seems to be making there food cheaper just to fill the box....sad.
Review Source:well, i still enjoy this place. although i would agree now that the food just seems better dining in or take out.
i started getting delivery a couple times. the good part is it's pretty quick. however, they have botched my order a couple times. and its pretty much too late for them to go back, get it right, then come back. oh well. at least theyre nice about it.
I have been going to this restaurant for several years now. Â Why we love the owners and staff, always attentive friendly and before they even had Pho on the menu they would make it for us. Â Now they have it and it is the real deal. Not made from bullion powder mix, but whole chicken cooked all day long. Â I swear by it, if I feel a cold or like I might be getting sick, I hop over to Honey Bee get a good helping of their chicken pho and what ever ailment that was looming is gone the next day. Better than moms chicken soup, really!
Review Source:Well, there's good and there's bad. Â I'll just start with the bad. Â As far as delivery goes, this place isn't so great. Â We had food delivered and it wasn't as good as in the restaurant. Â Soggy jalapeno wontons, no mayo sauce like in the restaurant and the flavors just seemed bland.
However, we returned again for dinner and it was very good. Â I had their lettuce wraps appetizer as my dinner. Â It was very tasty! Â They also offer health plates and vegetarian options. Â Great stuff right here! Â A gem in the neighborhood if you're looking to get out of the house for an hour or so! Â The service is pretty good, not fantastic, but the decor and atmosphere is laid back and quiet.
I'll be back again for more! Â Guaranteed!
I love Honey Bee Bistro! The owner Helen is really sweet and always very accommodating.
I think you have to ask them to cook your food the "authentic Chinese way" if you don't want Americanized Chinese food. We always ask for that and it always tastes great. I would say it is one of the top Chinese restaurants I have eaten in Denver. Â
I would recommend their Thai Basil Fried Rice and Beef Chow Fun- remember to ask them to cook it the Chinese way!
The lettuce wraps, honey bbq spare ribs, and lemon chicken are also really good. Oh, and they also have thai iced tea!
Got take out from here. Â First, let me say that it arrived rather quickly! Â We ordered an appetizer of avocado cheese wontons. Â Didn't see a SPECK of avocado. They were decent, but still..no avocado to be seen.
For our meals, we ordered Kung Pao Chicken, Sesame Chicken, and Orange Chicken. Â All of our meals were good. Â To be fair, it really was decent chinese food. It was not "WOW", but it wasn't bad either. We probably will order from here again.
Finally ate inside the restaurant vs just getting take-out; in fact we had both a lunch and a dinner at Honey Bee.
I really like the restaurant itself. The booths are super comfy, where are other fav Asian Restaurants are Uncomfortable !!!
Hate eating on hard chairs-- Yes, I'm turning into my Mother.
The restaurant also has a liquor license -- Yeah, but before you get too happy, the Vodka is Gordon's if that tells you anything.
Although I hate beer, I stick to a TsingTao here.
I find the prices about on par...maybe a buck or 2 more, but not crazy high.
I also find portions a bit smaller, and no soup with lunch, but you'll get more meat vs filler here, so it depends if you like more protein ( me) or filler ( hubby).
It's more like a 3.5 for food, but the comfy booths up it to a solid 4.
Nice addition to the 7 hills !!
My husband and I have gone here multiple times since it's close to the house. The first few times were pretty good. We always get the steamed dumplings. The first couple of times I ordered fried rice. Then I realized they had pad thai. Love Pad Thai! Their portions are huge... especially when you get it to go. It's practically 3 meals worth of Pad Thai. I would give this place 4 stars, if it weren't for our most recent visit.
We took my husband's mom and step-dad to eat here. Service was terrible. Our waitress ended up taking another tables order before ours, even though we were ready and were seated long before the other table. She said she was going back to get paper and a pen, but went to the other table instead. Nothing irks me more than when someone says one thing and does the complete opposite. She should have told the other table that she would be over in a minute. On a positive, I ordered cashew chicken and thought it was probably the best dish I've had there. I would order it again, but don't think we'll be back. We'll go to Pearl of Siam from this point forward (even though it's a different cuisine). Or maybe even The Golden Wok at Chambers and Hampden.
As far as the food goes, it's basically mediocre. We ordered the beef and broccoli, which my wife liked, but I thought was somewhat rubbery. The orange chicken was super fried and you didn't even taste the chicken, just the fried batter and orange sauce, which was decent orange sauce. We also had pad thai which was the best part of the meal. It wasn't great pad thai but it was good enough to like. I'm not sure I would go here again unless I was desperate for some pad thai and wanted it delivered.
As far as the service goes, our waitress was awesome. Very friendly and she answered all of our questions. We did have to wait for about 30 minutes for our food, which was ridiculous. Luckily I have an awesome wife to make the time fly by. I wouldn't recommend dining-in to anybody not married to my wife.
If you want chinese food and you aren't in a time crunch, go check out Blue Bay Asian Cafe. Tell them Noel S. sent you. When they look at you funny, say never mind, and then just order. You won't regret it.
I was extremely confused while looking for a decent Chinese delivery place near home. Â I did the Yelp! thing and came up with Yangs. Â I could never find this place, and gave up twice. Â Come to find out, Yangs is no longer Yangs. Â As of early 2009, this place is now called Honey Bee Asian Bistro.
So far I cannot comment on the dine in experience, but the delivery one was great. Â The food was delivered promptly and as ordered. Â It beat the pants of off certain other nearby chinese places.
If your in the mood for chinese but don't wanna leave the house, this is the place for you!
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