Mojave Grille

[Curlz]

Had dinner tonight at Mojave Grille, and I was surprised to find that there wasn't already a topic on eG about the restaurant; I know that it has been mentioned in other threads, but I thought I'd start one specifically on MG.

It's been 1 1/2 years since my last meal here--only because it's just not close or even in the middle of where my friends and I live. But I had a surprise dinner invitation as thanks for a successful trip to the Wine Library (a whole other topic!), so this is where we ended up.

The food is southwestern--think terrific fresh guacamole, black bean soup, salads with charred corn, blue cornbread in the bread basket, etc. We shared an arugula salad with charred corn and goat cheese, and there was more than enough for the two of us. And then we did the unthinkable--we each ordered the same entree! GASP!! Lime braised pork served over rice and beans with maduros (sweet plantains). YUUUUM! Ordinarily, I'd protest or even change my order so we could try another dish, but having had this one before, I knew I wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered (definitely).

My friend had never ordered the dish on his previous visits to MG because, in his words, "Pork to me means dry, tasteless pork chops--like my mom used to make when I was a kid." I assured him that this dish was NOTHING like mom used to make! It's a very generous tube-formed tower of (from the bottom up) rice, beans, pulled pork (carnitas style), fresh tomatoes, and a sprinkling of what I assume was queso fresca. Topped with a sprig of cilantro and a piece of lime, and accompanied by two small warm, folded tortillas, a hearty dollop of that wonderful guac, and a few slightly undercooked (for my taste) maduros, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a party on a plate! And the great part is, I brought home enough leftovers to have it again for lunch tomorrow!

The place is pretty, but we both commented on the fact that you're led to the back of the restaurant (it's a long, somewhat narrow space in the front), and there's no natural light in the main room. If you sit up front, you feel like you're a little too in the middle of everyone and the front of the house. But the atmosphere is nice--don't get me wrong. The terra cotta/pumpkin-ish colored walls are beautiful. Service was fine, but I was irritated to be seated at a tight table for two when the restaurant was almost empty upon our arrival. Perhaps they wanted to give us an intimate table for two, but when the server can't figure out how to make room for our salad + 2 small plates, the bread basket, 2 glasses of water, 2 of wine, and the wine bottle, don't you agree that someone should pull another 2-top over? Esp when there is one right next to us that's unoccupied? Just a peeve. Oh, and by the time we left, that room was about 80% full--on a Monday night. Tells you how much the locals enjoy it!

We skipped dessert, mostly because everything on the dessert menu sounded so autumnal to us! Warm apple tarts and pies, chocolate stuff, caramel sauces, and ice cream. When the waitress asked if anything 'tempted' us, we said no and I told her that I was surprised by the 'warmth' of the dessert menu. She sort of shrugged as she agreed with my question of "Where are the berries, citrus, sorbets, etc.? It's AUGUST!" Maybe she took that comment to the manager or to the kitchen, maybe not. But of course, I have to share the comment here!!

Well worth a try--even if it's off your usual beaten path...

Mojave Grille

235 North Avenue

Westfield

908-233-7772

www.mojavegrille.com

Note: I grabbed a card on my way out--their ADDRESS isn't on it!! They're too busy highlighting crowding the card with the logo of their other restaurant (Theresa's--Italian), which is about two blocks away. And fwiw, their area code is listed as 408 on their web page. Sloppy, sloppy... SIGH.

[Rosie]

Thanks for reminding me about this restaurant. Always loved the food there. Checked my notes and the last time I was there was in 1999. Time to go back.

[emmaline]

Glad to hear some else has tumbled to the joys of Mohave. Charlie and I think it has

one of the most innovative menus. The corn bread is to die for and the fried plantains

also. Charlie had the same pork and loved it last month when we ate there. I had

dinner on appetizers, namely the tomato soup and the artichoke quesadilla.

There are very few decent options for eating out on Monday night , and MG is one of

them. Another bonus is that Trader Joes is only l/2 a mile away, and that means

a bottle of 3-buck-Chuck syrah to round out an excellent meal.

[Rosie]

NJ restaurants that are open on Monday are listed here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=8096&hl=

[Cook456]

Anyone been here lately?

[Rosie]

Information on new location of Mojave Grill is here:

http://www.njmonthly.com/rosie/openclose.html

[Curlz]

Interesting. Any idea of why they moved, Rosie (or anyone else)??? Their former space was lovely and the place was always full...

[Cook456]

Mojave Grille has relocated to a larger space, just around the corner to 35 Elm Street.

They still do not take reservations for parties under 5 people. Being a party of 3, we called a half hour ahead and they put us on the waiting list. When we arrived we had just a short wait for our table.

They also now have tables outside on the sidewalk, and as it was such a beautiful evening, all were filled.

For starters we ordered the tortilla chips with fire roasted salsa and avacado. The salsa has a nice slightly smoky flavor , but could have used a bit more kick. Chips were nice and fresh tasting.

We were just starting on our chips, when the waiter brought over our salads. I asked him if he would hold our salads for a liitle bit, and he graciously complied.

We ordered three different salads, and all were winners: The mixed field greens, with toasted pumpkin seeds and a Margarita vinaigrette, the warm hazelnut crusted goat cheese salad, with mango, jicama, dried cranberries in a sweet balsamic vinaigrette, and the southwestern lime caesar salad, with spiced croutons, and cotija cheese.

For entrees, my friends chose the Grilled filet mignon , in a port wine sauce, with garlic mashed potatoes, topped with their wonderful crispy cayanne onions. The filet was ordered med rare and was cooked perfectly.

My entree was the jalapeno gnocchi, with shitake mushrooms, cojita cheese in an avacado tomatillo sauce. It was scrumptious with just a bit of spiciness. The only negative was that it was drowning in a little too much sauce.

For dessert, we shared a chocalate pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. We expected this to be like a pecan pie, but it was more like a brownie pie. Good, but not what we expected.

Lattes and cappuccinos were good.

Tab came to $160, including tip.

[Curlz]

I was SO looking forward to a return to Mojave Grill this weekend, since I’ve enjoyed other meals there in the past, and I wanted to see their new space (see upthread). While it wasn’t all bad, I have to say that it was disappointing.

I won’t go in to all of the details here, but I will send the management a note (and no, I'm not looking for anything). To wit: directions on their web site are to the old location. Kids (and I mean KIDS) who don’t seem to understand customers or service appeared to be running the place—or at least, that’s what we saw on Saturday night. Let’s just say that they weren’t exactly welcoming. The menus contained a computer printed list of specials—none of which had prices listed (GRRR). Same goes for their hard copies of the coffee/cappuccino menus—not a price to be seen. Ditto on the recited dessert specials. Oh, and there’s a $1 charge for chip refills. Way to make customers feel they're at Baja Fresh. Yeesh.

The salsa was FABULOUS. Seriously. The guacamole was also great, but served ICE cold. As in, most of us took our first bites, and were looking at one another like “Is it me?” Why, why WHY?!? Once it came to room temp, we were really able to taste the flavors. This is semi-fresh (if it’s that cold, they didn’t JUST make it) and really good guacamole. Salads, as usual, were terrific and they’re huge, which compensates for the $8.95-10.95 (iirc) you’ll pay for them. Definitely worth sharing one, though. We had a few of them—the roasted pears/blue cheese/spiced pecans, the chipotle ranch, and one more that I’m forgetting. The veg black bean soup is also a huge portion, and always gets raves, and Saturday was no exception.

Then 11 people ordered 5 dishes. Unbeknownst to the rest of us, 7 of them ordered the red snapper special; pecan-crusted filets with a red pepper coulis, tomato salsa, and cilantro mashed potatoes. Remember—no price listed. Turns out they were $24.95 each. I decided to forego my usual favorite at MG (the lime braised pork) and ordered the chipotle-dusted pork chops, which came with a pineapple chutney and aforementioned cilantro mashed. Nice balance of flavors on the plate, but the chops didn’t knock me out, and I was wishing I had stuck to the other dish. The friend who did have it declared that it wasn’t as good as it usually is. The last few ordered the salmon and catfish respectively, each of which I’m told were good. Once the bill came and the price of the snapper was known, most of them complained about the skimpy scoop of potatoes and the modest size of the fish.

An assortment of desserts was ordered: pecan-crusted pumpkin cheesecake, a peanut butter pie, a few mango parfaits, and the warm peach cobbler. The biscotti that came with the mango parfaits were terrific, the cheesecake full of pumpkin flavor, and the others okay, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The bill came to a little less than $500, including the 20% tip that they add for parties of 6 or more. We had no problem with the tip, as our waitress was good, but overall, none of us felt that the food was over the top wonderful this time. Four of our group live in Westfield and/or Cranford, so they have been eating here more often than I have over the years. We agreed that the new space is lovely, but it’s smaller than the other location and still just as loud when the dining room is full. We were against the back wall making our own noise, but the din behind us was truly deafening at some points in the evening.

The bottom line is, I’m just not sure that Mojave Grill is worth the prices they’re charging for the food and the lack of professionalism from the FOH is a real turnoff. For $45pp, I can think of many places where I’d rather spend my money. And let me say it publicly--I'm not shy about asking the price of a special, nor am I shy about spending it--but why put customers in that position? You'd think that restaurant owners would learn this by now.

Curious to know if anyone else has been recently, and if you had similar experiences…