Downtown Lunch: Mooncake Foods
Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.) I’ve heard mixed things about Mooncake Foods, which also has a just out of boundaries Midtown location (on 30th btw. 7+8th). Some people swear by their typical-diner-food-with-an-Asian-twist, but I’ve always been slightly skeptical that it was overpriced and would just leave me wanting some straight up Asian food. Here’s Daniel’s take on the Downtown location.
Mooncake Foods has inventive, tasty food at a reasonable price. I checked out the downtown location of this small restaurant this week with a friend and was impressed with my Anise & Beer Braised Beef Shins plate, served with soft tortillas. A huge pile of tender beef is slapped onto a bed of greens and it comes with a cup of jus.
I didn’t think it would be enough food since there was no accompanying side dish, but it turned out to be such a nice portion of beef I was pretty filled afterward. I’m not sure if they put extra pieces of beef in the cup of jus/gravy but I think I found a few pieces in there so it’s worth a looksee (it’s like the prize in the cracker jack box… well not really but you know what I mean).
I did also have a few bites of the spicy hoisin fish tacos, served with roasted pine nut hoisin sauce, and liked that dish equally. At $8.80 a dish I have to say for the neighborhood and what you get, this is a good deal.
They offer plates at the same price that come with rice and salad with offerings such as Steak Kebabs w/curry peanut sauce and a miso glazed salmon. For a clean sit-down lunch spot downtown I think this is a really nice joint to check out. The entire menu is available all day long and they have a few dinner specials (twice the price of all the lunch specials though).
Mooncake Foods, 28 Watts Street (btw. Thompson+6th Ave), 212-219-8888
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:00 am, April 24th, 2009 under Chinese, Mooncake Foods, Soho.
14 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
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14 Comments
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i agree, the salmon is the best. the chicken wings are good too.
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The sliced steak with cilantro and ginger is tasty too.
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^word!
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Basically my advice with Mooncake is don’t order the traditional chinese dishes- they’re a little disappointing. The more standard diner food with an asian twist is where I find they really do their best work.
And the 30th street location will deliver to midtown offices, but I think they have like a 30 dollar minimum if it’s beyond 10 blocks so you have to go in with some co-workers.
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Yay Mooncake, see Zach, I told you it was delicious and well worth it for a sit down lunch!
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I tried to go here once and now I’m sad that it wasn’t open yet. That looks SLAMMIN’. Too far to stalk though.
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I just tried the Mooncake at the 30th Street location, since it’s near my office. I had the Steak Kebabs w/curry peanut sauce — two kebabs, a tangy curry sauce, and plenty of brown rice. It was quite tasty and filling for $8.80, especially given the dearth of decent places to eat around tourist-ridden Penn/Garden/Macy’s.
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Yeah, this is really a good find given how barren your other choices in this neighborhood are. Great value if you want a sit-down lunch.
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8.80 for miso glazed salmon or Short Ribs? I know where I’m going next time I’m in the city!
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Their pork sandwich is awesome too! Tons of food for a great price.
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I order from Mooncake more than anyplace else – I probably get the chicken wings (with a side of slaw, green beans or edamame) and the steak sandwich (with cheese) once a week each. So good
i love Mooncake. Salmon is the best dish I think.