The latest venture from the guys behind Hugo’s and Eventide Oyster Co. next door, this lively joint uses the bold, bright, and totally addictive flavors of Asia for inspiration.

Black-and-white photos of Italian noodle-makers and vintage menus from Hong Kong dim sum parlors decorate the Honey Paw, billed as a “nondenominational” noodle joint and the latest relatably cool restaurant from one of Portland’s most winning chef-restaurateur teams, Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley. Along with their managing partner Arlin Smith, they had already colonized a stretch of Middle Street, near the Old Port, with the critical favorites Hugo’s and Eventide Oyster Co. When the Honey Paw opened next door in April 2015, it quickly delivered on the expectation of success . . .

Chef Thomas Pisha-Duffly and his team from The Honey Paw in Portland, Maine won the triple crown at the Boston Lamb Jam, taking home: “Best in Show”, “Best Asian” and “People’s Choice” awards for their Smoked Lamb Khao Soi.

Nine Maine restaurants, chefs and brewmasters are among this year’s semifinalists for James Beard Awards, considered the most prestigious in the American food world.

The Honey Paw in Portland is a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category, which is given to a restaurant opened in 2015 that “already displays excellence … and is likely to make a significant impact in years to come.”

A new restaurant from the Eventide Oyster Co. (which we included here in 2013) team, The Honey Paw uses regional ingredients in their riffs on delicious Asian food.

The Honey Paw struck me as a restaurant that will be deeply useful to its community, a place to stop in solo for a lunchtime lobster tartine (beautiful with its blanket of radishes and hijiki seaweed and celery leaves) or for sharing bowls of Thai khao soi (potent with smoked lamb, coconut curry broth, fermented greens, and fried noodles) when winter descends. The lists of craft beer and unusual wines come off as skillfully calibrated as the food.

Chef de cuisine Thomas Pisha-Duffly, who was a runner-up for 2015's Chef of the Year, shared with Eater the process of preparing one of his most iconic dishes, the Coconut Chicken Curry with the intriguing inclusion of fermented rice noodles.

One of the restaurant’s most popular appetizers is the lobster tartine, a highly elevated version of the shrimp toast you find in Chinese restaurants. A thin slice of bread is spread with lobster and scallop mousse, deep fried, and topped with more lobster, sliced of radish, celery leaves and hijiki.

In its fifth month, The Honey Paw already feels like an old friend of the neighborhood. It doesn’t hurt to be owned by James Beard-nominated restaurateurs, nor does it hurt to be next-door neighbors with Eventide, arguably one of the more popular places to eat in southern Maine. But like any tenacious third born, The Honey Paw seemed to blend in with its own unique character and agenda.

Grab a quick bite at the Honey Paw, a newly opened downtown spot focused on noodles from around the globe. The menu crosses cultures with ease: Think internationally influenced bowls like ramen with boat-noodle broth. . .

A chef once told me that restaurants are a lot like relatives. There are those you visit frequently and always enjoy, a few you see only on special occasions, and several you tolerate. If you’re lucky, though, there are one or two you want to know better. Sure, they have a few quirks, but they’re bright, creative, known for their good taste, and filled with such energy that you look forward to your next encounter.

The Honey Paw is that last kind of restaurant. The latest venture from Andrew Taylor, Mike Wiley and Arlin Smith, who also own Hugo’s and Eventide Oyster Co. . .

Honey Paw seems willing to try anything, certain they have the talent to pull it off.  The menu has a lot of noodles, and the flavors lean toward Asia. But these serve as basic ideas, not rigid constraints, and many of the dishes pleasantly surprise you with unexpected combinations of approaches, textures and ingredients.

The owners of Eventide Oyster Co. and Hugo’s have hit it out of the park again with their third restaurant, billed as a “non-denominational noodle bar.” The menu is deliberately all over the culinary map, with Asian and Mediterranean flavors well-represented and combined in novel ways.

The Honey Paw is like no other restaurant I know. The new Portland restaurant’s unique personality completely defies any attempts to group it into traditional restaurant categories or even vague ones like “contemporary American” or “fusion.” Its menu and ambience unapologetically combine a staggering number of elements into a streamlined dining experience while circumventing any kind of identity crisis by keeping the offerings as concise as possible.

Last year was a big one for the Maine restaurant scene, with plenty of openings and some sad closures, as well. It doesn't look like things will slow down in 2015 either, so here's a guide to what's on the radar in spring.

Law and academia lost out to oysters and fine dining for the two chefs and part-owners of Hugo's, Eventide and soon, Honey Paw.

Co-owners Arlin Smith, Mike Wiley, and Andrew Taylor are once again working with local design firm Might & Main for the branding of their new restaurant, The Honey Paw.

There was a line of people waiting to nab a precious seat and a basket of fries at Duckfat. At Eventide, a handsome, square-jawed photographer from Travel + Leisure magazine shot lobster rolls as the lunch crowd slurped oysters. Later that night, there wasn’t a seat to be found at Central Provisions as diners grazed on small plates of bluefin tuna crudo.