Under the Moon - Bordentown, NJ

Once again it has taken us far too long to get back to Under the Moon in Bordentown, for no good reason at all. It has also been way too long since we have gotten together with Chowhound and Wine Board friends tom246 and his lovely bride DW. But with the snow apocalypse on the horizon, we decided to brave the elements for a little get together at Under the Moon, and as always, we left with happy belly's, and had a wonderful evening. Under the Moon is still one of the treasures in downtown Bordentown. It is a quaint little place on the main drag of Farnsworth Avenue, and us just so friendly and cozy. From the great family and friends who work their, to the dishes made with love and great flavors, you just cannot go wrong. . We arrived at Under the Moon steps behind our friends, and said hello to Mama's crew! Mama is actually on her way back from Argentina as I type this, but her son Santiago had the kitchen well under control, and did a great job. We sat and caught up with tom246 and DW while we were trying to decide on the wine selection. They brought an '03 Richioli pinot noir, as well as an '03 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel, while I brought a selection ranging from an '05 Kistler chardonnay, '03 Fiddlehead pinot noir 728, '05 Sea Smoke pinot noir Southing, and an '07 Stefania Haut Tubee. We finally decided on going with the Sea Smoke and the Tablas Creek. Feel free to read those tasting notes below once I get them posted! Before ordering, Santiago came over and sat with us for a few minutes, talking about their new menu that they are going to debut next Tuesday, February 9th, as well as their new take out menu, delivery services, etc. Let me say that the new menu looks great, and is also very ambitious in my opinion. There will be many dishes on the new menu, including some of Mama's staples! One thing that I am really looking forward to is the Beef Wellington, and we are also really looking forward to the new guacamole addition to the appetizers! YUM! Regardless, we are wishing them the best on the premier of their new menu! I think it is going to be fabulous! So on to appetizers, tom246 ordered the soup, which I think was a white and black bean soup, and Zelda opted for the Tempura Cauliflower. In the mean time, out came the toasted signature bread and mama's chimichuri, and we just enjoyed some great wine and conversation while catching up. A bit later the apps came out, and the soup looked really nice, as did Zelda's cauliflower, smothered in melted cheese, with a nice breading and topped with tomato sauce. I will say that I am not a big fan of cauliflower, but bread anything and top it in cheese and I will eat it! It was nice and tasty, and a massive portion! Needless to say we didn't finish it all as we had to save room for dinner, and I was determined to save room for dessert tonight as well! For entrees tonight, Zelda opted for the homemade Lobster Ravioli, and I opted for Silvi's Short Ribs. Other dishes at the table included Paella, as well as Joel's Chicken. Dinner came out in what seemed like no time as we were all busy catching up. The paella and Joel's chicken looked fabulous, and as usual, looked like massive dishes! It looked as though there was 2 pounds of paella on DW's plate, formed from a bowl in a large mound, and topped with a gorgeous orange puree of some sort. Tom246's chicken was covered in a beautiful, thick, and chunky fresh tomato salsa, and too was a heaping helping of Argentinean hospitality that can be seen above. Zelda's lobster ravioli looked fabulous, and is there really anything better than homemade, handmade pasta? This was served with a beautiful creamy tomato sauce, that was nice and light in color, garnished with some roasted red peppers. Upon cutting into the ravioli, Zelda pointed out a gorgeous chunk of what looked liked lobster clam meet. WOW! I have never seen such a large chunk of lobster meet stuffed inside of ravioli, but this was incredible. This was not pureed with a bunch of cheese and filler, this was chunks of lobster heaven with some cheese. This is how every restaurant should make lobster ravioli, and was absolutely delectable! Out came my short ribs, and again, another massive portion! Two giant short ribs on the bone, smothered in a sauce that had some mushroom, served over a bed of ginger mashed potatoes, and some Julienne vegetables consisting of carrots and other veggies. These were as tender and fat free as can be, and cooked very nicely. All of the fat had been burned off, and these could be cut with a fork...no knife needed here. The flavors we awesome, and the textured of the short ribs was perfect. The portion was huge, and I couldn't have eaten another bite without killing my appetite for dessert. The ginger mash paired nicely, and were seasoned perfectly. I was a little hesitant about the ginger element, but it was a nice combination. As we finished the bottoms of our bottles of vino, we ordered dessert. I am a huge fan of Santiago's bread pudding, and the apple bread pudding was fresh out of the oven tonight. Really nice chunks of fresh apple, with a nice breading and smothered in a homemade caramel sauce. It again was huge, and I couldn't finish it all. Tom246 and DW went for the lemon meringue pie, another Santiago staple, and it too looked great. Santiago also sent out a piece of his chocolate peanut butter cheesecake for the table to share, and it too was great. . All in all, what can we say other than the fact that we had another great night at Under the Moon with great friends, food, and service. Santiago did a great job as always, and the service from Sarah was once again fabulous! Great job from the Under the Moon family, and as always, we look forward to our next visit! I'll clean this up and make some more comments after doing some snow shoveling! Cheers!