Moëca
Seafood restaurant · Neighborhood Nine
1 Shepard St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Highlights
Chic seafood spot with inventive small plates & desserts
Chic seafood spot with inventive small plates & desserts
"From skewered squid to buttermilk-fried hunks of monkfish, Moëca’s is very good at re-examining traditional New England seafood fare through a more playful lens. The restaurant is run by the same team behind nearby pasta powerhouse Giulia, which means it’d be a mistake to overlook Moëca’s pasta section, including the lobster spaghetti with fermented chili and the salt cod-stuffed ravioli. Whatever you do, don’t skip dessert." - Celina Colby
"Boston is bursting with seafood — lobster rolls, scallop crudo, oyster happy hours, you name it — but seafood that sidesteps familiar New England preparations? That’s a bit less common. Enter Moëca, the younger sibling to the perpetually booked-out Italian restaurant Giulia just down the street on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. This is where you go for craggy, buttermilk-fried monkfish showered with sesame seeds and a pool of tamarind hot sauce on the side, or steamed mussels served not in a bowl but over a whopping hunk of sourdough soaked in a Basque pil pil sauce. Seafood takes unexpected, surprising forms at Moëca, and it is well worth the ride. Best for: Bringing that out-of-towner who loves to yap about how the city’s dining scene is subpar and has tasked you with convincing them otherwise." - Erika Adams
"An inventive seafood restaurant offering unique dishes like mussels cooked in Basque sauce served over sourdough bread." - Erika Adams
"Reservations are slightly easier to come by at this seafood-focused second act from the team behind perpetually booked-out Giulia just down the street. Set the tone for a fun night out by starting with an order of unicorn oysters topped with an icy tomato granita, and be sure to stick around for something sweet as pastry chef Renae Connolly is one of Boston’s top dessert talents." - Celina Colby
"Renae Connolly is a pastry authority in Boston’s dining scene. For the uninitiated, start with the smoked vanilla mascarpone gelato with spicy caramel popcorn at her current home base, the inventive seafood spot Möeca. A stunning alchemy of savory, spicy, sweet, and smoky notes all come together in this bowl and it is a slam-dunk finisher to the evening." - Nathan Tavares, Erika Adams
