Restaurant Review - Moonchine Asian Bistro
A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from a girl I had never met asking me if I had ever been to Moonchine Asian Bistro in the MiMo district (MiMo refers to the Miami Modern style of architecture that became popular in the post-war era). When I replied that I hadn’t and that I hadn’t even heard of it, Kelley - their Marketing Coordinator - invited me to check it out. After a couple of messages back and forth we agreed that my husband and I would go the following Sunday for brunch.
So Sunday morning Hubby and I were there at 11:00 a.m. We parked in the attended parking lot behind the restaurant on the corner of Biscayne and 71st street and walked towards the back door. Well, the “back” is where the restaurant has their Garden 71 Lounge, which is really nice and open for the brunch - in fact except for August there’s live music for the brunch between 1 and 3 p.m. - but it was way too hot for eating outdoors so we made our way inside.
The space is small and a bit crowded, but not uncomfortable. It has a funky, quasi-industrial look with a sushi bar and a full liquor bar and both regular tables as well as table and couch combos. Service, while friendly, was spotty with staff not really knowledgeable about what was available and what was included with the brunch. Later, however, the Manager and Co-Owner who everyone calls Apple came by to introduce herself and explained the menu a bit more. I even got to meet the chef who everyone calls Chef Moo! They were both very nice and answered all my silly questions - that's them in the picture.
The price for the brunch, officially called “Brunch and Beats” (except for August which is “beatless”), is $15.95 and does not include any beverages. The food however is varied, unique and plentiful. We started with what can be considered appetizers. Between my husband and I we tried them all - tuna and salmon sushi which were good and fresh; Gyoza or dumplings - both steamed and fried - the fried were fine, but the steamed were fantastic; fried spring rolls which were good and Vietnamese spring rolls with all kinds of good stuff wrapped in rice paper which were amazing; and what they called Sushi Salad that tasted like a really good and tangy ceviche. They mentioned that soup was available, but it was too hot to even look for it. I’ll check it out next time.
There weren’t really any breakfast items, except maybe the omelet, but the entrée options were great. I tried them all - the sacrifices I make for you people! In order to get a taste of everything I placed a scoop of white rice in the center of the plate and proceeded to put a bit of each item around the rice making little rice barriers between them - a veritable feat of food engineering.
I started off with the Pad Prig Kingfish - the fish was perfectly tender with a slightly spicy sauce and a hint of citrus that I later found out was lime leaf. Then I had the Cashew Chicken which was very good, not too spicy. As soon as I saw the Vegetable Pad Thai I went for it - I love Pad Thai and I’ve eaten it everywhere I could - this may be the best I’ve had. The chopped peanuts contrasted beautifully with the slightly sweet flavor and the veggies were fresh and crisp. But then…I tried the Green Curry Chicken. OH. MY. GOD. I could eat a bucket of this stuff - seriously one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. The dish consists of tender pieces of chicken, not overdone at all, chunked Chinese eggplant, pieces of green bell pepper in coconut milk with a generous amount of fresh basil. The smell was amazing but that taste was sublime. For the brunch they only had chicken, but the menu indicates you can get the Green Curry with your choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu and for an additional charge, shrimp. The Green Curry alone is worth the trip.
After I got over my green curry bliss I had to focus on dessert. There were only three options: fresh fruit, Greek-style yogurt to which you could add fresh fruit and cereal or a Thai dessert called Sakoo which is a tapioca and coconut milk pudding. The sakoo was good, but I had to deal with the consistency of the tapioca pearls - once I got over that I really liked it. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been chilled, but it is correct to serve it room temperature as well. Of course “room temperature” in Miami in August is probably warmer than what the recipe considers.
Apple joined us again after our meal and offered us their house-made Ginger liqueur served in chilled shot glasses. She explained that she takes ginger root and lets it sit in vodka for 45 days and then chills it. It was so smooth, no strong flavor just nice and refreshing. She explained that the ginger helps after dinner when you feel full and just helps digestion in general. She calls the liqueur Moonchine like the restaurant but pronounces it “moonshyne” - and it actually looks like moonshine - but it sure doesn’t hurt like moonshine! The bar makes a Moonchine Martini with it which sounds delicious…
We will definitely return to Moonchine to try the regular menu, but I’m going to wait till it gets cooler so we can sit outside. I must have more of that Green Curry!
Labels: MiMo, Moonchine Asian Bistro, restaurant reviews
posted by Hilda at
8/19/2009
5 Comments:
Interesting. I live a few blocks away and was wondering about the brunch. I usually am in the mood for breakfast food though at hit Jimmy's Eastside Diner across the street. But I do know their pad see-ew is fantastic!
You should mention that their sister restaurant is Indochine, which is right next to Tobacco Road. It has the same menu (except for the brunch) I believe
Did they bring you samples of all the entrées or was this more of a steam table/salad bar situation? Are the manager and chef usually out and about compensating for the waitstaff's shortcomings or was that just for your benefit? The place sounds intriguing, but I'm not at all clear on what's normal and what special treatment you got as an invited reviewer.
Bill...
It's a buffet where you serve yourself. I don't know whether or not the manager normally walks around or not - I think she probably does - but she did know I was there and came to introduce herself and chat. I would guess the chef doesn't come out routinely.
If you're intrigued why not check it out yourself Bill? The food's good and available to all regardless of whether the manager chats with you. Don't forget to try the green curry!
Enjoy!
Let me start by saying the first issues that occured would have been no big deal if it wasn't part of an overall terrible dining experience.
I live around the corner and have eaten here many times in the past, but it had been about 6 months since I last ate here. I arrived and was told to sit anywhere and the girl appeared to point at a large table for six (we were a party of 3). We sat down and she told us the table was too big, and tried to move us to a much smaller table that was wedged against a wall, with one side being claustrophobicly close to that wall.
We decided to instead eat at a table outside. The waitress led us out and opened the fairly large heavy front door, but did not hold it for us, and it closed and hit my mother pretty hard.
Already our experience was not going well. We ordered and there was a discrepancy about a drink i wanted. I told them last time i was here I had their house moonchine with ginger. She said its a moonchine martini with vodka. I debated that I didn't believe the drink I had contained vodka, but she insisted it was the same. I ordered it, and the originaly drink i had most definitely did not contain vodka.
I ordered a tuna tataki appetizer and pad thai for main course, my mother a wok dish for her entree. They brought her dinner out at the same time as my appetizer. She tried to eat slow, but the food was lukewarm when it came out, so she didn't want to let it get even colder.
My pad thai finally came long after my mother had finished eating. I took one bite and was disgusted. The noodles were way overcooked and extremely mushy. It also had a strange artificial taste that was similar to when you microwave food in a styrofoam container and the styrofoam melts. The whole thing was very oily and the chicken tasted like it was boiled in plain water, flavorless. I tried to take a few more bites but it was beginning to make my stomach hurt.
Thai is one of my favorite types of food and I have eaten a TON of it in my life. I have had pad thai at many places, including this one, and it was definitely one of the worst I've had. The waitress never came back once after we recieved our food to see how it was. It was about 30 minutes before we finally flagged her down to come back to the table. At this point I told her all the issues. The first response from the waitress was "Would you like to take it home?" I said of course not, its terrible. She went to speak to the manager, then came back and said the manager can't do anything about it. I asked for the manager who came out and said there's nothing wrong with the pad thai. She explained that herself, the waitress and the chef all tried it and said it tasted fine, so she offered for me to take it home if I liked. The same dish that her and two of her staff apparently just ate out of, she offered me to take it home. Of course this was unacceptable. Her repetitious response was continually "that is how it is supposed to taste." She did also inform me that they have a new chef, so maybe he is just a crappy chef compared to the previous one.
I guess what is most unfortunate about this, is that the manager had no interest in standing behind the quality of her food. She had a customer that was clearly dissatisfied with a poor dish and she had absolutely no interest in making even the slightest attempt at amends. I was very polite through the whole thing and was not rude in any way. I simply told her that as a local resident of the area, if she could not stand behind the quality of her food, there was not a chance of me ever returning. She was absolutely fine with that.
Clearly, I won't be returning.
You will definitely return to Moon chine to try the regular menu, but You are going to wait till it gets cooler so You can sit outside. You must have more of that Green Curry!
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