Honey Moon Spirit Lounge — Restaurant in Austin

Holy Moly Batman! I guess I’ve been living under a rock (Hutto) but I didn’t realize my Valentine’s dinner was going to be such an incredible treat.

We had a reservation for 5pm and were able to park on the street right in front of the building. Parking is kinda limited by the restaurant but there’s a lot near by. The exterior of the building is absolutely beautiful. I love their bright logo signage out front.

The staff were so wonderful from the hosts to the wait staff and the chefs. We were seated right away at a great table. The interior is intimate and there’s so much cool texture, art, and lighting. The bathrooms are decorated beautifully as well and kept very clean.

Now to the two main reasons to come back: the amazing service and the unpredictably, fabulous food!

Jace was an absolute treat of a server. He was so wonderful from the time we got there until we were checking out. It was like seeing an old friend. Chef Raul and chef Felix were also so kind to come introduce themselves. Some of the best service I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

The food was other worldly. The heirloom tomato burrata was so tasty. The pesto and aromatics really make this dish stand out. The bread for this dish was really soft with a great crust. So good. This dish I’d on their happy hour too from 4-6pm.

The fancy sliders are so good! Like seriously, one of the best sliders ever! Bacon onion jam, whiskey cheddar, wagyu beef, etc… everything about this thing is great. Also on the happy hour menu.

As part of their Valentines menu we were able to get their Lover’s Kiss app, a lightly fried oyster served in shell with crème fraiche, lemon zest, beluga caviar, gold flake, chive. It’s insanely good. I could eat a tray of these things!

Our main dishes were the Red Thai Curry Mussels, the Cider Glazed Crispy Pork Belly, and the Valentine’s main dish a very tender steak with scallops and baked polenta with a beautiful white wine sauce. Every bite of these dishes were amazing. I cannot express how tender that steak was! It was really incredible. The scallops and polenta together are a match made in heaven. The mussels had just enough spice but not over the top and the squid ink pasta topped with crispy rice noodles was just so wonderful. The pork belly was so good even my fiancé who’s not a fan of pork really enjoyed it. Don’t sleep on brown sugar apples.

We finished off dinner with a baked banana pudding and the pot de creme. Both an absolute delight and I’d order both again… and again… and again.

Their six grape port is one of the best red ports I’ve ever had. Their spicy margarita was very tasty and the ruby slippers looked great if you like gin and bubbles. My fiancé really liked it.

Overall, this was one of the best nights I’ve had eating out in a while. Go give these guys your money! They work very hard to create memorable and exciting dishes while providing...

Our group of 4 came to Honey Moon Spirit Lounge for a Friday happy hour. Overall, it was a pleasant experience with a couple of small snags. I'd be interested to check out their brunch next, but here's my summary.

The four of us split the Honey Moon Biscuits, Grilled Brassicas, and East Coast Oysters for our appetizer course. This was a really solid start. The biscuits had a great texture and the beetroot butter that accompanied them was fantastic. The brassicas had a solid savory flavor and were cooked really well - not too crunchy, not too mushy. The oysters were my favorite of the entire meal. The flavors they meshed together (yerba mate smoke, lemon grass mignonette, micro cilantro, and shallot ash) were something truly special.

For dinner, we each had a different dish. I had the Heirloom Tomato and Burrata. That dish was really light and flavorful. I would definitely recommend it. My boyfriend had the Steamed Halibut and Clams. The fish and veggies were overcooked and there were elements listed on the menu that we're pretty sure weren't in the dish (demi butter/red wine). He was disappointed considering it was $44 and he initially wanted the prawns (listed on the menu online, but the online menu is old). Our friends had the Honey Moon Burger & Frites and the Seoul Hot Fried Mushrooms. The burger was a pretty typical wagyu smash burger. Good for the happy hour price. The fried mushrooms were excellent. They do a flavorful batter on Lion's Mane Mushrooms then drizzle it with a really tasty sauce. I think that was my second favorite of the night.

Our group also had a cocktail (all really good) and a glass of wine (also good).

Our server was attentive and helpful when we had questions about the drinks and food.

The restaurant itself is really cute. I don't know how to describe it. Bohemian chic...

Firstly it was so difficult to make the reservation. Most of the time when I called I got an operator saying the line was disconnected. The online reservation thing wouldn't let me do a party over 5. The email process for making a large party reservation was a joke. It took 5 days for them to reply to my first email then no confirmation or follow up email was offered. I had to call, which I already stated was very frustrating. I got a text the day before my reservation, but the option to confirm was denied by a message saying "We're sorry, we don't recognize that response. Please try again." So that's messed up. I did receive a call 3 hours before my reservation, and that was pleasant, I belive it was with Maddie.

Our service was clumsy and we weren't offered dessert. I mean, do they not have dessert?! The server was either new or burned out. At times he was awkward or perhaps rude, it was hard to tell if it was intentional or if he was just unaware. He blamed us for the check being messy because we had to move when the sun was so harshly in our eyes some of us couldn't join in the conversation.

The fries were stale and tasteless, almost inedible. Everything else was good and some things were down right delicious.

Lastly even though I stated that this was a bridal shower in my online reservation, to the manager I spoke with when I was finally able to confirm the reservation, the hostess the day off the reservation, the wait staff who greeted us and the person who brought our waters, everyone still thought it was a birthday party and wrote the bride a happy birthday card. We thought it was funny(ish), but also very dissapointing that no one listened to us when we mentioned over and over it was a bridal shower.

So my review is "meh". I might give them another chance, but ugh, what a chore it was to patronize...