After a great night visiting friends in Bordentown City, NJ last night, we couldn't help but take a ride back to Bordentown to visit our other favorite BYOB on Farnsworth Avenue. I tell ya, between Under the Moon and Oliver-A Bistro, I don't know that I could pick a favorite if I had to, as they both have great food, and they are both run by such great people. Regardless, what a great weekend being able to hit them both on back to back nights! Make sure you check out last nights review of
Oliver-A Bistro HERE.
What else can you say about Bordentown City other than charming? This is small town America at it's finest, and straight out of Mayberry! It is a great little town, with a few great BYOB's, some other good restaurants, and some great shops, ranging from women's boutiques, to art galleries, to coffee shops, to a great little second hand shop. Bordentown screams charm, are we love to visit and stroll up and down Farnsworth Avenue!
I made reservations for 7:30PM tonight, and we were greeted as always by the great family who runs the restaurant. Owned and operated by a great, local Bordentown family, Mom Estella AKA "Mama," and father Luigi, while son Santiago and daughter Silvi work hard in the kitchen as well. The four of them work together in unison with their other employees, and they are some of the nicest people you will ever visit with. Mama and Luigi actually took the night off, so hopefully they had a nice evening sharing each others company.
Santiago and Silvi were working tonight, along with Sarah, Fawn, and a few other members of the Under the Moon family. We were seated in a table in the back side of the restaurant against the wall. We had a nice two top, with a round glass top, situated on top of an old sewing machine stand, which is what most of their tables are composed of. This is a nice touch, and adds some nice charm to the restaurant.
Sarah was our server tonight, and she is always a sweetheart. I pulled our Riedel Sommelier Series Burgundy glasses from the carrier, she immediate handed Sarah our 2006 Kosta Browne Russian River pinot noir. She came back moments later, and I poured us both a glass. A few swirls, and a cheer, and we were on our way to a wonderfully romantic evening. Feel free to read to the review on the Kosta Browne below. Sadly, this bottle didn't perform nearly as well as past bottles we have had, and I think that this wine just needs another year or so in the cellar to come together. We will definitely find out in time as we have 3 more of these in our cellar.
This was our first look at the new fixed menu, and there were quite a few things worth looking at! This was our first trip in a few weeks, and our first visit where they have their new "set" menu in place. In past visits, their menu has changed nightly, which is not a bad thing in the least, however, now I can find all of my favorites on the menu, ranging from Mama's Pork, to the Seafood Enchiladas, to the Under the Moon Chicken, to Santiago's crab cakes.
Tonight, we started off with the Oaxaca Guacamole and chips. This was a great serving of fresh guacamole and fresh salsa. The guacamole had a great texture to it, with nice large chunks of avocado worked in, with some onion, tomato, and seasoning. The salsa was nice and fresh, and had a nice rich texture to it, with nice tomato, some pepper, and just the right amount of seasoning again. This is great salsa, and it is served with a in house fried flour tortilla chip that has a really nice crunch to it. What a great serving this is, and like all of their dishes, it is more than enough for two people.
For entrees tonight, we both had a hard time deciding on what we were going to have. I was a bit surprised that Zelda decided to have the vodka rigatoni with grilled chicken. As usual, this came out and was a monster of a portion. Nice pasta with a gorgeous vodka sauce, and the chicken was grilled with a nice char on it. The chicken was nicely seasoned, and the flavors as usual were delicious. This is some of the best homemade cooking you are going to find in the area. This was then finished with some fresh mozzarella cheese, and shaved Parmesan cheese. Like every other time we have visited Under the Moon, Zelda ended up boxing up what was left, and it will be the perfect portion for lunch tomorrow.
For me tonight, I was excited tonight to try the Beef Wellington, which I first noticed when we stopped in a few weeks ago when we got a preview of the new set menu. There is something about Beef Wellington that I love! But in all actually, what I think it comes down to is the puffed pastry, and quite frankly, you could probably wrap a shoe in puffed pastry, bake it, and I would eat it.
My entree came out served over a nice gravy, over a bed of mashed potatoes. Upon cutting into the Wellington, with my fork mind you, I discovered some gorgeous beef, cooked nicely, with a nice gravy, some diced carrots, and mushroom. The first bite was reminiscent of the best pot roast your mom had every cooked for you. I mean that in the greatest way possible, and some of you are probably shaking your head and saying"pot roast?" Call me crazy, but I absolutely love pot roast, which is surprising as I used to dread pot roast night as a kid.
This was also served with a mound of julienned vegetables, consisting of onion, red and green peppers, and a whole plethora of other sauteed vegetables. By the time I got to the bottom of my Wellington, I was pleasantly stuffed, with no room for dessert.
We spent the next 1/2 our or so talking with Sarah and Fawn, and checking out the buzz through out the restaurant, while browsing the antiques that are on display and for sale around the restaurant.
As always, it is great to look around this restaurant and seeing every table full, along with every seat in the window side bar full. We have been coming here for years now, and we are glad to see that Under the Moons hard work has established them a great reputation as one of the best restaurants in Central New Jersey.
In closing, what is there to say other than awesome? As always, the Orosco Family and their Under the Moon Family took great care of us, while making food that is to die for! My name is F. Scott Fitz, and I am a member of the Under the Moon Fan Club! Cheers!
What’s there to say about a chilly Friday October night in New Jersey? Well, with the Spirit Walk going on in Bordentown this weekend, we decided to take a stroll out that way, and the cold weather was calling for some good warm noodles, so Tsukasa was out spot!
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