This might be the first restaurant that I found by visiting a bakery. Usually the flow of information is the other way around: I've identified many local purveyors by perusing the point-of-purchase display at neighborhood restaurants, and at markets, too. (Even when items are unlabeled, often it's possible to learn something about the people behind them.) I knew of Honey Bee's only from a distribution list on the website of the Nigerian bakery Naira Bread. The online list has been removed, but, when a dining buddy and I visited Honey Bee's for lunch, we found a rack of cushy Naira loaves leaning against the refrigerator case.
Shown above: ayamase sauce, more of a chunky stew fattened with "assorted meat," stockfish, and a hardboiled egg. At odds with the restaurant's motto, "ounje dun bi oyin" — Yoruba for "food is sweet like honey" — ayamase has a very spicy reputation. After we'd placed our order, the chef-owner sent the waitress back to caution us; despite our assurances, our serving probably contained a higher-than-usual proportion of bell pepper to habanero. Traditionally ayamase is served with ofada rice, a heritage blend not available this day; we made do with white.
Also at our table: peppered snail; a suya amuse-bouche; gizdodo; gbegiri and ewedu with amala and croaker.
Honey Bee's Kitchen
9322 Ave. L (East 93rd-East 94th Sts.), Canarsie, Brooklyn
718-975-2006
www.Facebook.com/HoneyBeesKitchen
