The Brothers Moon, Hopewell

Thanks to Mike I was able to obtain ALLLLL of my old pictures (and documents, and music, and videos) off of the old crashed computer, so the next few posts will be from a while ago. My appologies if my memory is at all hazy (but since Mike rules so hard I also have my notes.. so I should be ok!)

Matt and I had been hearing about The Brothers Moon for a while, but since it was a little pricier than normal 'week day' restaurants we had to wait for an excuse to go (any old excuse would do.... we didn't have to wait TOO long!) It's located in an adorable town called Hopewell, which has a seriously cute downtown area with little shops and stores and restaurants. The Brothers Moon tries to use all local, sustainable ingredients, which is awesome, and always appreciated by Matt and me. We couldn't wait to go.

When we were first seated our waiter kindly brought out some bread and it was..... terrible. It was awful. It tasted like it had been sitting on a cold counter for hours, it was stale and bland and for the first time, possibly in my life, I said something to the waiter. It was THAT bad. He appologized profusely, brought out the amuse bouche (which was a delightful crab salad over a veggie slaw) and got us new bread. Now THIS is what I was talking about. The new batch was buttery and flakey and warm and delightful, but I was still confused as to how the 'yuck-o' bread could have made it out to a customer at all.

Anyyyyyyway. To start Matt ordered the tomato soup, made with (what else?) fresh Jersey tomatoes. The consistency was beautiful, almost creamy, but not at all heavy. It was super super tomato-y, and tasted really fresh (like plucked right out of a garden fresh), but it wasn't seasoned well. It was fresh, but bland. Once he hit it with some salt and pepper it was a lot better, but it should have had a hint of seasoning in the first place.
My appetizer was a crab quesadilla. This thing was HUGE... when I ordered it I expected an appetizer size quesadilla, but no no, my friends... I got a dinner plate sized masterpiece. This was very good. The filling was pretty simple, really, just fresh crab meat and cheese. Not spiced, not saucy, just fresh and tasty. They threw some lettuce and tomato on the plate, in case I wanted to spruce it up my very own self, but the crab meat really carried the flavor. This was very filling and very good. Yum. Crab meat... never dissapoints. For dinner Matt ordered the roasted chicken (not surprising, huh?) It was served over a bed of delicious autumnal salad.... it had roasted fennel and onion and corn and all sorts of warm and happy things. For me the salad was better than the chicken, but I am sure that doesn't surprise anyone, either. The texture was soft but not mushy, the corn was sweet, the fennel was nice and anise-y. Matt really liked the chicken... he said he skin had a nice crunch and the meat was tender and juicy. Again, a bit light on the seasoning, but nothing that he couldn't solve with salt and pepper. It was good but didn't crack our top ten for roasted chicken.

My dinner was deeeeeelicious. I ordered the beef tenderloin and it was outrageous. It was topped with stilton cheese and grilled onions. The meat itself was cooked perfectly medium rare, just like I wanted it. It was pink and juicy and buttery and every delightful thing that a good cut of meat should be. The cheese was tart and creamy and rich and the onions were sweet and soft and the combination of them and the tenderloin made for a very happy mouth. The mashed potatoes were really good, super creamy and whipped (I usually like a little chunk in my spuds, but these were certainly acceptable, too!). The veggies were fresh with a nice bite. It was overall the best thing that we had the whole night.

I am not sure if The Brothers Moon would be my first choice the next time we are looking to go out for a nice dinner. While the rest of the meal made up for the bread incident, it doesn't mean it was forgotten. Plus the lack of seasoning in 2 out of 4 dishes (poor Matt can't catch a break) seemed odd for a restaurant we had heard such great things about. The service was very good, and I can understand that the prices are on the higher end because all of the ingredients are very fresh, and the majority are local. The food just wasn't great... it was good... especially the steak (YUMMMMM steak) but it wasn't mind blowing or spectacular.

The Brothers Moon

http://www.brothersmoon.com/

7 W Broad Street

Hopewell- 08525

609- 333-1330