At Moomba, It’s All About Taste--Especially the Food

Moomba, the West Coast version of the trendy downtown New York restaurant and club that has moved into the old LunaPark in West Hollywood, has the buzz. The restaurant sprawls over several rooms upstairs, where red is the dominant color theme and lighting a hazy gold. We could sit among the ladies in leopard bodysuits and little slip dresses (no pashminas this season) and shout to be heard over the din. Or take a table downstairs in the outdoor area in front and side. We chose outdoors.

The big surprise is the crisp service and the quality of the food, despite how busy it was on a weekday night. The dishes come out fast and they’re well-executed. Who is the chef and where did he come from? He’s Donnie Masterton, who was chef de cuisine at Azie in San Francisco before Frank Falcinelli, executive chef of the New York Moomba, hired him away for the new West Hollywood spot.

The menu the two have come up with isn’t just a clone of every other trendy place--it actually sounds interesting. For one thing, Amish chicken makes what could be its first appearance in Los Angeles. What is it? A natural bird that runs around, explains our waiter with a bemused smile.

Foie gras is everything a terrine of foie gras should be: silky, rich, generous. Two demure little crab cakes really taste like fresh crab. Caramelized onion and goat cheese strudel could have used a few more minutes in the oven, though: The pastry was still a bit raw on the inside. The best is the tender short rib and pecorino Romano ravioli with delicious bitter greens.

That Amish chicken is a credit to its name, beautifully moist and flavorful, perched on Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, with a foie gras and giblet sauce. There’s an excellent dry-aged New York steak au poivre with a nice kick of pepper, too, and soft-shell crabs, a special that night, come cloaked in a crisp gossamer batter and garnished with fried sage leaves and capers.

After a side of pale pommes frites large enough to feed a table of six, did we want dessert? One of us did, and ordered the house cookie plate, a stack of inch-thick, still-warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies flanked by scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. The rest of us sneaked a bite or two, and wished we’d ordered our own.

As we got up to leave, it was just shy of 11:30. Still, the hostess in a sparkly top, official clipboard in hand, felt compelled to offer advice: “The exit is that way.” Did we look that lost? Or was she planning to seat a hundred more that night?

Out in the parking lot, the valet automatically asked for $5, though the posted price is $4.50. At least the valets weren’t asking for it upfront. When a place is hot, it seems, everybody associated with it takes on attitude. They just can’t help themselves.

* Moomba, 665 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 652-6364. Open for dinner seven days a week, lunch weekdays and brunch on weekends. Dinner appetizers, $8 to $16; main courses, $22 to $32. Full bar. Valet parking.