Eat Clean and Think Green at honeygrow in King of Prussia, PA’s Town Center

The eatery’s façade of brown, vertical and wooden planks exudes an all-natural vibe.

Story, photos by Sharon Kozden

My dietary habits at times leave something to be desired. While I continue to progress toward healthful eating, all that’s often needed is the siren call of buffalo wings, Chinese takeaway and fried chicken for the temptation to be too great, and I cave. When invited to try honeygrow in King of Prussia‘s Town Center, my curiosity trumped any hesitancy. Would honeygrow be my culinary nightmare of only nutritious food? Since I’ve graduated from sugary carbs to scrambled eggs or yogurt for breakfast, I felt significantly prepared to take my work-in-progress self on the road to attempt this business of clean-eating.

The restaurant’s façade, with its cylindrical shape and tiers of vertical brown slats, makes locating it easy. It actually resembles a massive chocolate cake with vanilla icing between layers … at least that’s what I envision. Since they don’t offer desserts, it makes sense to have it-or a facsimile thereof-somewhere. But seriously, there’s more to honeygrow than initially meets the eye, namely a focus on all things environmentally conscious. In fact, the name itself is derived from a blend of “honest eating” and “growing local.” Speaking of the exterior, there’s a patio option as well. As the day of my visit was temperate, I elected outdoor seating.

Inside, the decor is modern, spare, functional and very clean. Honeygrow promotes sustainability, landfill decluttering, recycling, reducing carbon emissions and the like. In other words and when I met the General Manager, I didn’t ask for a cozy and romantic table “far from the madding crowd.” Signage states, “Our chairs are each made from 75% waste polypropylene and 15% reclaimed wood fiber from scraps that would normally be swept into the trash-turned into trash rather than landfill clutter.” You can learn more about pretty much everything (and I do mean everything), including artwork, fixtures, equipment and insulation factors. I discovered that the chalkboards “are made of 90% FSC-certified MIX reclaimed wood waste and are GREENGUARD certified to emit no VOX.” Say, huh? I really must get my green on. So much exposure to “just the facts” was increasing had my appetite aroused, my internal dinner-time bell ringing.

Not surprisingly, honeygrow’s comprehensive and extensive environmental commitment extends to their menu-again simple, fresh, green and clean. Divided between stir fry or salad, there are multiple varieties and create-your-own combos of either. Keep it simple and order as if from the menu, or add and subtract your preferred choices. Honeygrow uses up-to-the-minute touch-screen machines the size of large laptops (or small televisions) with which to accommodate user-friendly and efficient ordering. Listed on the screens are groupings … a protein, a base, add-ons, garnishes and sauces. I began with a Philly Roast Pork stir fry, nixing the red onions and adding snow peas. Check the breakdown: fresh egg white noodles as the base, pork as protein, snow peas, mushrooms and broccoli were add-ons, grated parmesan and chili flakes made for a spicy garnish kick and, lastly, a brew au jus sauce topped my meal. The mix was superb. I especially enjoyed the slinky egg white noodles that were oh-so-minimally al dente, my preference. The veggies were done to perfection, and the portion size was more than adequate. The sauce was tasty and unique, the icing on the cake, if I can use that word! You won’t find a freezer on site because all sauces and dressings are freshly made daily. Calorie counts for each dish are listed on the menu. That way and, if you’re wandering through the myriad of shops and other fooderies in the Town Center, you can better determine if a dessert is in the offing.

Despite my sated belly, I wasn’t leaving without a takeaway salad for next day’s lunch. I opted for the Cobb Salad, which was as delicious, bountiful and bursting with freshness (as was the stir fry) throughout. Same with its dressing. Complementing the meal was a piece of focaccia bread that was so tasty it needed nothing to dip in or spread atop. My accompanying drink was a bottle of honeygrow’s “green is good” juice.

I’m fairly certain that, on leaving, I positively glowed, having ingested in a single sitting more vitamins and minerals than is typical for me. I had so much energy, I could’ve done all of my Christmas shopping right in the Town Center and probably even wrapped the gifts that night as well.

Did I mention the King of Prussia store of this 2012 Philadelphia start-up just happens to be the 12th one overall and the sixth in Philly‘s metro area? We are what we eat, indeed. Honeygrow is where I’d like to eat more often.

Whether grabbing a lunch or dinner on the quick, or dining casually, the patio offers no fuss, no muss seating.

The establishment’s interior is modern, clean, neat and orderly.

Ordering begins at a touch-screen menus as large as some television screens. Patron-friendly and efficient … even your specifications are easily accommodated.