Mooncusser

Mooncusser is a Boston seafood prix-fixe restaurant that has seasonal course tasting menus. It’s located in an upstairs area above its sibling restaurant Moon Bar. I stumbled onto this restaurant because I was looking for something seafood centric and would not hurt the wallet too much. This restaurant seemed like it had its good days in the past, and the crowd has kind of moved on but hasn’t left it entirely. I was able to make a reservation for this a month in advance for a 6:30 PM reservation. We actually arrived early, and they were able to accommodate us thankfully.

Ambiance & Service

Unlike many New York City dining areas, Mooncusser had a very nice, spacious feel. It wasn’t as spacious as some of the high end French restaurant, but for the price point, it was close enough. The noise level wasn’t too loud, and it was easy to have conversations with my partner. We saw a lot of couples going out celebrating their evening out on this cold, wintry Saturday evening.

The service was quite good. They kept our waters filled, and they asked what was our preference. I’ve never seen any server asked if I preferred to know the history of each wine or to just enjoy it. I opted for the latter since the wine pairings were already listed on the menu.

The restaurant menu pricing seemed decent at $120 for the winter menu and $65 for optional wine pairing. Do keep in mind there is an automatic 3% kitchen administration fee added to the bill.

Food

The non-alcoholic grapefruit drink ($12) came with grapefruit, lemon, ras el hanout, and soda. This was very refreshing.

The Riesling+, Stirm ‘Calcite’ came from Cienega Valley 2023, and it was served to pair with the below sea urchin appetizer. This tasted like a very typical riesling, where it was sweet and had some minerality.

The Sea Urchin Bavarois came with local bay scallops, tangerine, and sesame. This was surprisingly pretty balanced and good. It had the techniques and taste of nicely assembled raw mix of seafood and citrus flavors.

The Chenin Blanc, Brendan Stater-West came from Saumur 2023, and it was served to pair with the below crudo. This chenin blanc was surprisingly very mild and tame compared to other chenin blancs that I’ve had. I definitely tasted the brightness and the minerality, but the flavors just seemed subdued.

The Yellowfin Tuna Crudo came with Korean pear, miso, and shiitake mushroom. I gave most of the mushrooms away to my partner, but the rest of the dish tasted exactly how it sounds. The sliced greens were shiso leaves.

The Erbaluce, Barbaglia ‘Lucino’ came from Colline Novaresi 2022, and it was served to pair with the below bread. I have not had this Northern Italian wine before. This was dry with some notable minerality and citrus and floral flavors.

The House Made Whole Wheat Milk Bread came with duck liver parfait, membrillo, and purple mustard. Membrillo is a sweet, firm paste made from quince fruit which resembles an apple. The warm bread as expected was delicious, and the mustard was a nice condiment to spread around. The parfait was very delicious too.

The Primitivo, Regina Viarum ‘Zero05’ from Ferlano del Massico 2022 was served to pair with the potato and celery root crepinette. This was a bolder red wine with darker colors, yet was dry and soft. It had some interesting earthy and red fruit notes to it.

The Potato and Celery Root Crepinette came with red wine oxtail and pork ragout, house-made bacon, and black truffle. The oxtail and pork ragout was quite rich, and the sauce was definitely decadent and punchy. Even though this had black truffles, this only gave it some more earthiness to it, and not the typical truffle oil-like aromas.

The Macomber Turnip Au Poivre came with royal red shrimp, cognac, and green peppercorn. This definitely had noticeable kick to it, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly.

The Cinsault, Martin Texier ‘La Boutanche’ came from VDF 2023, and it was served to pair with the below skate. This French red wine was light on tannins and had a lot of dark fruit notes to it.

The Spiced Local Skate came with yellow split pea dal, saffron, cauliflower, and chorizo oil. The sauce definitely had a kick to it, which reminded me a bit of Thai sauces. The skate was firm and meaty. The split pea dal reminded me of grainy mashed beans.

The Roasted Grass Fed Ribeye came with braised red cabbage, guajillo chili, and pepitas. The sauce for this also had a kick, and the ribeye was very tender.

The pre-dessert was a Coconut Tapioca with Mandarin Granita. The mandarin granita tasted basically like crushed ice with a citrus syrup. Below the granita was the coconut tapioca.

The PX Sherry, Valdespino ‘El Candado’ came from Spain. This was my least favorite wine for the night. I wasn’t a fan of the caramel texture with intense dried and dark fruit flavors. It just tasted a bit too syrupy to me.

The Choux Au Craquelin came with allspice ice cream, fried plantain, and chocolate sauce. This dessert was pretty good. The allspice ice cream had interesting flavors to it, and who doesn’t like chocolate sauce? The bun reminded me a little of a profiterole, but it was more crumbly.

The Spiced Cranberry Cake came with candied pecan and butterscotch ice cream. This was straightforward and also tasted great. It wasn’t too sweet for me.

Final Verdict

Mooncusser is a very straightforward restaurant with good value for a tasting menu. The wine pairings aren’t anything to be super excited about, but for the price, it’s cool to have a small glass of wine with every course. The food was consistent, but nothing that screamed food techniques above and beyond. If you’re looking for a tasting experience, this could be a nice restaurant to try out.

Yelp Jabs

Usually 2 items per course so if you go with a friend you can try everything.

There were only 2 courses for us this evening where we had a choice. Nonetheless, we basically sampled everything on the menu, and it seemed like the menu was intentional to be like that. Do note that your wine pairing may differ between what option is selected for the courses.

Each dish was also pretty spicy. We had everything from fried oysters, to beef carpaccio, to lamb meatballs, to pannacotta. I would recommend for an adventurous eater.

There were some dishes that definitely had a kick to it, but it was not the lingering kick. This may seem adventurous to those who don’t really go out to these types of restaurants, but we found the food all very accessible since we have eaten abundantly these ingredients.

Revisions

1. Jan 4, 2025 - Initial revision.