Conscious Choice Seattle: Central Cooking

July 2005 | Local Food

Central Cooking

Just east of the International District are Vietnamese spots worth a culinary detour

By Nora West

In the Central District (and an extension of the official International District border) are tucked away quite a few little jewels. They may not sparkle with the dazzle of upscale downtown places, but they shine in their own way.

Moonlight Restaurant is one such place. It is not fancy, yet it’s comfortable enough to enjoy the delicious, well-prepared Vietnamese food. Think strip-mall coffee shop meets late-night lounge, complete with a karaoke setup for the vocally inspired and a serviceable, open dining area for the eating-inspired.

The menu is daunting. Entrées alone include more than 40 choices. This does not even account for the more than a dozen soups such as pho, plus appetizers, rice dishes, chow mein and cold noodle choices. Although this menu is predominantly Vietnamese, there were a few Asian crossover picks such as fried egg rolls, sweet-and-sour options, General Tso’s chicken and fried rice.

One of the most amazing things about Moonlight is the vegan menu. I counted 49 items mostly named for beef, chicken, fish, etc. that are 100 percent vegetarian. I tried the sesame “beef”($9.95) served with rice. It was delicious. The texture, flavor and consistency would fool a meat lover, but this was Bo Rang Me beef in name only. The sprinkling of sesame seeds and vegetables only added to its authenticity.

The chef has perfected her skill of taking a vegetarian choice and creating not only a scrumptious dish but an artful one. The vegetarian “lobster tail”with tomato sauce ($8.95) is so clever. It is a filo-dough coating shaped in the form of a lobster tail filled with a tofu-veggie combination, right down to the indentations along the crust to simulate the spiny scale of the lobster. Ingenious.

On the meat side of the menu are many traditional favorites such as lemongrass chicken ($7.95), catfish hot pot ($7.95), Vietnamese udon noodle soup ($6.25) and several varieties of the aforementioned pho ($6.50 to $7.25). I tried the ginger chicken with onion ($7.95), which was very good, fresh and balanced with just the right amount of ginger flavor.

It would take many trips to make a dent in Moonlight’s prolific menu, but it would be fun trying.

This visit was on a beautiful sunny day. I haven’t even started on the cornucopia of soups yet.

There is a long list of hot noodle soups: four pho offerings, a seafood rice noodle soup, duck noodle soup (weekends only), ground shrimp noodle soup, wonton noodle soup, spicy tofu noodle soup and many more.

This would be a perfect foray saved for the proverbial rainy day.

The cold vermicelli dishes sound inviting too. Vermicelli is available with shredded tofu or an assortment of meats, such as grilled pork or lemongrass chicken and beef.

There are a good number of seafood items ranging from fish with ginger sauce; halibut with a tangy, nicely prepared tomato sauce; salted fried shrimp or calamari; scallops several ways and even a few stir-fry choices.

As I mentioned, the menu is ambitious enough to offer something that would please a diverse gathering.

I am not usually motivated to save room for dessert in Asian restaurants, and Moonlight is no exception. I noticed a few choices that sounded unusual (such as a combination of red and mung beans with jelly and coconut milk), but we didn’t partake.

Moonlight has fresh Vietnamese lemonade and Vietnamese coffee with or without condensed milk, hot or iced. Also in the beverage department are fresh-squeezed orange juice, a soybean drink (served hot or cold), beer, wine and sake.

Nora West is Evergreen Monthly’s dining critic. She lives and eats with pleasure in the Puget Sound area.

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