Moonstruck, Asbury Park

[=Mark]

I know I should have checked the place out as it's been open almost a year now, but I confess I've been a cheap, lazy sack and have not.

So, that being said, has anyone else here dined there? Comments?

[Rosie]

About a year ago. I'd try it again but I liked the food better when they were in Ocean Grove. They have a full bar now also.

[=Mark]

I had heard mixed reviews about the service but these comments were within a few weeks of the opening. Was wondering if things had gotten smoothed out in the intervening months.

[Rosie]

Had no problem with the service. Have any other restaurants opened in AP?

[=Mark]

The place is pretty amazing at the moment, driving down Cookman Ave there are dumpsters like every hundred feet as buildings are being renovated. there is Sonny's Southern cuisine and Harry's Road House on Cookman. A new Portugese place, Bistro Olé is opening this month, and a classic New Orleans style bistro, Clementines is set to open in May. Also scheduled to open soon is Insano, an Italian place (Just what the Jersey shore needs )

Folks have been awaiting the beachfront redevelopment for 25 years to drive the rennaissance of AP, but business folks eventually said WTF and started on the downtown about 3 years ago. Now large tracts between the downtown and the beach are being flattened and the developers have mega $$$ in their eyes. Many other little coffee shops, delis, galleries and antique stores are springing up, driven in large part to the influx of a large contingent of the Manhattan gay community buying up and renovating residential property.

A similar situation though not as stark a contrast is happening in Long Branch.

[Rosie]

Thanks =Mark for the update.

[Oceangroveguy]

Had dinner at Moonstruck on New Year's Eve, one of the few nights a year they take reservations. The food was good, but not as memorable as in Ocean Grove, and although our waiter was both warm and professional, every one else was pretty dour, and the whole evening seemed sort of perfunctory.

I know it's not entirely fair to draw any conclusions based on New Year's Eve. We walked over there one Sunday night in October, asked about the wait and the guy at the desk - Luke? - didn't even look up when he told us it was an hour and a half. He didn't suggest we have a drink in the bar and wait, either. He didn't seem to care one way or another. We'd been to the OG place a few times in the past year or so, maybe not enough to be regulars or be recognized, but were always treated with a lot more warmth.

In talking to some of the other folks I know in town, my experience seems pretty typical - I think Moonstruck in the off season used to depend on the locals, but now is drawing most of its crowd from Deal/Red Bank/Rumson. They now have an attitude, and almost everyone I talk to thinks the food is down a notch since the move.

I agree with Mark's take on the dining scene (and the development scene), but note that Harry's is insanely busy on weekends and seems to be drawing the same crowd as Moonstruck, although it is a hangout for the Cookman Ave merchants and other Asbury residents during the week. Frank's Deli on Main in Asbury has been there forever and remains a great place for breakfast and lunch. Sunset Landing - on Sunset - makes great pancakes and omelets.

[rozrapp]

I think we've been down this road before, but I was underwhelmed by the food at Moonstruck when it was in OG. I went with a group of 8 people early (6 p.m.) in the middle of the week in the off-season, so there was no wait, and we did have a waitress who was super.

My days of waiting an hour or an hour and a half to eat at a restaurant are long gone. (Not enough years left in my life to waste time that way! ) No restaurant is worth it. And from what Oceangroveguy says here about attitude problems and decline in food, well, I've struck Moonstruck from my dining list.