Moon Rabbit by Kevin Tien

Very welcoming people and aesthetic. Everyone who came to our table took their time and held space for our questions and compliments, even the chef himself! Everyone came by to wish my husband a Happy Birthday. Definitely start with a cocktail. Their innovative cocktail program opens the palette and sets the tone for the meal. We did the chef's tasting menu and were thrilled with the flavor nuance and ease of finding that "best bite" we're always searching for. Our eyes widened after that perfect bite. The textures and flavors were spot on. The chef's tasting menu was a terrific value. And then there were the desserts. The desserts were so delicate yet so powerful. Clearly a master is at work here. Congratulations, Team Moon Rabbit, thank you for sharing your spark with us!

Moon Rabbit is a highly-regarded Vietnamese restaurant that recently relocated from the Wharf to Penn Quarter, boasting a revamped menu that showcases more sophisticated, well-plated, and modern Vietnamese dishes. The restaurant’s move and menu update have been met with acclaim, evidenced by the challenge of securing reservations, which is often seen as a positive sign of a restaurant’s popularity. Led by Chef Kevin Tien, Moon Rabbit draws inspiration from the virtuous rabbit depicted in the Buddhist Jataka tale, embodying an innovative approach to Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant’s menu is expected to change seasonally, offering guests a dynamic culinary experience. While I hope for the return of the chef’s signature duck dish, I praise the Stuffed Leaf (Bò Lá Lốt) with waygu beef, perilla leaves, labne, fermented honey, and pickled shallots, which evoke flavors reminiscent of Levantine grape leaves. I would like to also highlight the exceptional service at Moon Rabbit, the hostess, manager, staff, and bartender were top-notch, friendly, courteous, accommodating, engaging, and well-versed in the menu. Dishes like the Spring Roll (Gỏi Cuốn) with daikon, hearts of palm, spring vegetables, sprouts, and house peanut sauce, as well as the Squash (Bí) with lodi squash, fermented red curry, crispy seeds, and curry leaves, were enjoyed. The Shrimp Agnolotti (Sủi Cảo) with shrimp Agnolotti, consommé, radish, and lime leaf oil left a lasting impression.

I really preferred the Moon Rabbit location at The Wharf. Personally I thought the food was better there. However, the service and cocktail program are better here. My favorite thing I had was the vegetarian dumplings with gochujang that I had during restaurant week. I also love the cucumber and sesame oil cocktail and the mango dessert. I would like to see the vegetarian dishes improved. One thing my friend and I feel is that some of the things that come out cold would be better hot. We prefer sunchokes hot rather than cold. The rice cake would have been better hot and we also thought it would be more like ttebbboki but it’s more like a cold pancake noodle. The thing is has great flavors. But not a fan of it in its current form. The squash is better now that it’s a different kind than at restaurant week, but it needs more of the red curry sauce bc that sauce is gold. I preferred the squash dish with the red curry at the old location. I know it’s early on in their opening, so I hope with time I can get back to being as excited to go to MR as I had been at The Wharf. Again, props to the fantastic wait staff for being so attentive.

We were a bit nervous after reading some of the early reviews but our experience at the new Moon Rabbit was incredible! The food, service, and experience were all top notch. The cucumber cocktail was a standout. For the food, the beef wrapped leaf, cumin lamb, and (perhaps best of all) the squash were so delicious. The seaweed dessert was great, such an interesting flavor combo and it really worked. We will definitely be back, another home run from Kevin Tien.

After a year of regretting never getting to visit Moon Rabbit while it was at The Wharf, I was ecstatic when I saw the news that they were reopening in downtown DC! I rushed over a few days after their grand (re)opening during Restaurant Week, and...well...while the food, service, and ambiance were all solid, it didn't quite live up to all the hype or their price point. However, I also want to give them the benefit of the doubt, given they had just opened and had a different menu for Restaurant Week. The meal started with a duck fat brioche dinner roll for each guest, which was rich, yet fluffy, and had a great hit of flavor from the duck fat. It paired wonderfully with the whipped condensed milk butter, which was lightly sweet and had a great airy texture. For the first course, I opted for their Soda Chanh Crudo, a delightful cured scallop dish topped with Meyer lemon kosho and shiso leaves. The scallops were nice and springy, and they paired wonderfully with the light, herby, citrusy sauce and crunchy sesame crackers. All in all, this was a fantastic start to the meal. My friend chose their Bo La Lot, which seemed like a fusion between the traditional Vietnamese dish and its Mediterranean friend, dolma. The star of the dish was the tender wagyu beef wrapped in perilla leaves, and then it was served with labne, fermented honey, and pickled shallots. It was a tasty dish with a creative fusion flair -- although be warned that the perilla leaf heavily dominates the dish. For the second course, I went for the Ca Vien, which included a fillet of BBQ rockfish wrapped in collard greens and served with a coconut broth, mung beans, and okra. The rockfish was incredibly tender and flaky; if it weren't for the collard green wrap, it probably would have completely disintegrated the second my fork touched it. From that, I have a sneaking suspicion that the collard green's purpose was more functional than flavorful, as its lightly bitter undertones didn't pair particularly well with the other elements of the dish. The coconut broth, however, was fantastic -- it was rich and creamy, but not too overwhelming, and I loved the little pops of texture from the mung beans. My friend ordered their Ga Kho To, or soy caramel chicken with crispy chicken fat rice. She loved the rice, which lived up to its name with its perfectly crispy exterior and deep, chicken fat-infused flavor. However, she found the chicken a bit disappointing, as it was still uncomfortably pink in the center, and didn't quite have the soy caramel punch that she was looking for. The real star of the meal was the dessert course; my friend and I ordered and split both of their options. The first, Ca Ri, was a green curry-infused sponge cake served with a rich, creamy avocado sorbet, fish sauce caramel, and lime. It sounds like an impossibly weird combination, but they did a fantastic job -- none of the flavors were overwhelming, and the dessert struck the perfect balance between savory and sweet. The sponge cake was light and airy, which went perfectly with its heavier accompaniments, like the sorbet, coconut cream, and caramel sauce. Their second dessert option was the Xoai, another unique-sounding dish with a rich, milk chocolate cremeux, fresh mango, bird's eye chili chamoy, toasted rice noodles, and perilla foam. Despite the exciting dish description, I found this to be the much "safer" and standard of the two desserts -- it honestly just tasted like a chocolate mousse with mango. The chamoy provided a great spicy kick, but there was only enough to add it to 1-2 bites, and the perilla foam, while beautiful, didn't provide a ton of perilla flavor. The toasted rice noodles also got a bit lost in the dish, which ended up making the entire bowl feel a bit one-note both flavor and texture-wise. All in all, while I had a great experience at Moon Rabbit, it's hard to justify their price point when the dishes weren't anything to write home about. Even so, I hope to visit again once they've launched their full menu and have settled in.