"Obscurely located on Watts Street near the mouth of the Holland Tunnel, Mooncake was unique when Peter Lee opened it in 2003 (later, there were three other branches across the city). It was a pan-Asian restaurant — named after the popular Mid-Autumn Festival snack — like no other. The food was diner-like in sentiment, describing itself as “fun casual Asian comfort food.” The menu was light and vegetable-driven, emphasizing Chinese noodles and dumplings, Thai salads, and Vietnamese sandwiches, and not stinting on the fish sauce. In many respects, it served as an early prototype of today’s fast-casual Asian cafe, with no woks, no deep fryer, and modern notions about sourcing. It remained a Soho staple throughout its 17-year career, closing in October or thereabouts with no fanfare, and no reason given, a great example of the sort of small, feisty, privately owned cafe rapidly disappearing from the New York City scene." - Eater Staff
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