- Rating:★★★★
- Cuisine: Steak, American
- Price Range: Mid-Range
- Address: 1 Yuyuan Lu near Changde Lu, Shanghai, China Tel: (021) 6288-9984
- Website: www.moonssteakhouse.com
The number of steakhouse has increased exponentially over the last couple of years. Most of them have received praise and great reviews, which are all in line for fattoro’s quest for the best steak. Therefore I’m pretty reluctant to visit a steakhouse that’s been in Shanghai for quite some time. I was pretty sure that they are behind the competitive herd with their old ways, lousy service and sub-par quality steak since there was no competition a couple years back. If it wasn’t for a discount voucher I would have never visited Moon Steakhouse.
We were already impressed when walking towards the front entrance. You’re immediately escorted by one of the waiters through a small waterfall on the left. As we walk further we get to see the dry-aged process and a New York style dark-wood bar on the right. Then finally we reached to the brown-themed high celling dining room.The menu has a more modern take with the likes of foie gras trio and salmon three ways for appetizers. No seared scallops with beats, no cocktail shrimps or lobster bisque. The wine starts at 320 rmb per bottle and the steaks begin just south of 300 rmb. These steaks are very well priced, below the norm of high-end steakhouse around town, let’s just hope it isn’t the same for quality..
steakhouse bar
dry aging process
dining hall
The Seafood Chowder was perfect, arrived piping hot inside a bread bowl. The chowder wasn’t overly thick or bland it was perfectly balance with the right seasoning. The seafood chowder, served with a giant lump of mussel, shrimp, crab meat and scallop. Nothing short of quality, Moon steakhouse is off to a good start!
seafood chowder
The presentation of Salmon Three Ways, slow baked herb salmon, smoked cured salmon and salmon mousse looks like I’ve taken a trip down to El Bulli. The plating is so wacky or molecular gastronomy looks like an abstract painting by a painter whose been smoking a little too much. Thankfully the taste is what we were accustomed to. The cured salmon tasted pretty normal, the salmon mousse was a bit different conceptually but taste was a bit too boring. The baked herb salmon roll on the side was pretty delicious, the flavors were intact. Overall not so bad, but not so good either
salmom sampler
My Foie Gras Trio consist of a pan seared, terrine and parfait performed much better. The foie gras mousse went perfectly with the crouton. The size and quality of the seared foie gras in middle was very nice, but again how can you possibly go wrong with foie gras? The foie gras parfait we could care less. The spotlight was taken by the other two, and there was no bread to serve with our foie gras parfait? The trio was a good choice, delicious, well thought out and more importantly it was a nice transition to our mains.
foie gras trio
foie gras mousse, 1 of 3
seared foie gras, 2 of 3
foie gras parfait, 3 of 3
My 10oz Medium Rare 15 day Dry Aged Rib Eye had less char than my previous steak quest. The thickness was okay, but again I prefer my steaks a bit thicker. I’m not sure why the waiters asked us what sauce we wanted. We had a selection of four sauces to choose from. A true steakhouse should not offer ANY sauce. Steaks should be eaten without sauce, because it ruins the natural flavor of the steak, and the true quality and flavor becomes diluted.
10z Grilled Rib Eye
I cut my steak in half to inspect how well evenly cooked it was. Damn, it was truly medium rare. That pinkish red spread evenly throughout the entire steak top to bottom, right to left. I think it was because they oven roast a bit longer and seared it a bit less. After my first bite I noticed a difference than the usual taste. I think it’s the type of pepper that they used. However, the unfamiliar peppery taste worked well. I’ve never thought much about the rating system given by local magazines but Shanghai Tatler was right about this one. It won restaurant of the year for two years in a row, and I can understand why.
perfect medium rare
The grilled asparagus, great quality and lightly seasoned with a touch of acid.
grilled asparagus
The Australian Wagyu (marble score of 5+) was less exciting. Perhaps the oven roast made it taste more like pork than steak. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t bad, but the flavor was not what I was expecting.
Australian Wagyu 5+
The rustic atmosphere and setting really made me felt like I was out of Shanghai for a moment. The service was up to par with the food, waiters came by once in a while to check up how we were doing and if the steak met our expectations (which they did!).
Last Note: I could not believe it took me 5 years to discover this place. I’m a little bit disappointed in myself that it took so long. There’s great value in Moon Steakhouse you’re paying 30 percent less for the same quality of steak elsewhere in town. When I mean elsewhere you probably know which places I’m referring to, since not many steakhouse in town can meet Fattoro’s expectation. We will definitely be back to Moon for our steak craving days.
fattoro 