An iced cafe latte from Honey Honey Dessert Cafe. Photo by Sydney Stumpf.
BY CHRISTINA APPIGNANI & SYDNEY STUMPF
In January, Malden welcomed its newest sweet shop. Honey Honey Dessert Cafe, located at 480 Main Street. It is owned by Stacey Zhang and Karen Lei, who have dreamed of opening a dessert shop for years. The shop serves a variety of beverages, breakfast foods, sandwiches and desserts, but offers healthier options such as salads and tea.
Christina’s POV:
The cafe has a really easygoing, cute atmosphere. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the music. The cafe doesn’t play typical pop music that you’d expect, it played covers of softer, quieter songs from both popular and indie artists. For example, I heard covers of “Let Her Go” by Passenger, “Clean” by Taylor Swift and “Riptide” by Vance Joy. The music really made it feel like a cafe to do homework, read and talk with friends.
The service was exceptional. When I walked in, we were greeted very politely and were told to take our time ordering. The cashier also asked us if we were looking were jobs because they have been looking to hiring teens in the Malden area
When I went, I ordered a chocolate chip muffin. The muffin was really well baked and was a pretty good size as well. The Cafe offers multiple kinds of muffins, including blueberry, raisin bran and lemon crumb. A lot of the bakery goods were on display under the counter, which easily persuaded me to try the muffin.
Along with that, I also shared an order of popcorn chicken with Sydney. It was the best popcorn chicken I’ve ever tasted. Unlike most types of popcorn chicken where it’s frozen first and then defrosted, this popcorn chicken was actually cooked. The smell of it was alluring and the taste was mouthwatering.
Because of my good experience here, I’ll definitely be coming back again soon. I’ll probably order the popcorn chicken again, but I’d also like to try one of their breakfast sandwiches and hot tea. I’d definitely recommend this cafe to a friend, and I’ll be bringing some friends there soon. Honey Honey is a great place to eat, hang out with friends or do homework in a quiet, friendly environment.
Sydney’s POV:
When I went to the cafe with Christina, I was immediately excited. The cafe was perfectly decorated with modern tables and chairs. The woman at the counter was very nice, and made suggestions. I ordered a vanilla iced latte, like I do at Dunkin Donuts every morning. I also ordered the popcorn chicken. The latte was $4.25 and the chicken, $4.95. It was all reasonably priced, and within my tiny budget.
My latte was made quickly, which was wonderful, because I really needed some coffee. It was a little small, like the lattes you would order at a place like the Thinking Cup in Boston, or any other independent coffee shop. It was really good. I wish I didn’t drink it so fast, but like I said, I was about to fall asleep in my chair.
While I waited for my chicken, I wasn’t bored or uncomfortable, thanks to both Christina and the charming atmosphere of the cafe. The chicken came out in a to-go box, with a stick. I don’t know if I was supposed to use the single stick to pick up the chicken, but that’s what I did. It was a good portion of chicken and it tasted really good. We ate the whole thing very quickly and I debated getting another order to take home. I don’t know how to describe popcorn chicken, it was just really, really, good.
I will definitely be going back there.
