Mix Moon

Been looking forward to sampling the dishes at Mix Moon, the newest restaurant on Totara Avenue, New Lynn. We went to have a goodbye meal before my departure for Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. The cuisine at Mix Moon is South East Asian Fusion. Well, with such a pedigree, it should be a sure-fire recipe for success. But is it?

Mix Moon is tastefully fitted out, not a lantern or embroidered fan in sight, neither are the walls dripping in red. So they didn't expect that number of punters on a Monday night, but there were 3 serving staff. The wait for attention was nearly half an hour. It doesn't make us very receptive to what the menu promises. After all we had all that time to study it. They will have to work extra hard to regain our goodwill. Well, no matter how much resources you throw into the surrounds, all that comes to naught when faced with staff who are not interested in their diners.

So there are dishes from Malaysia like nasi lemak, curry laksa, mee goreng, beef rendang; paad thai, red and green curries and salads like papaya pok pok.from Thailand. That sounded really enticing but their dressings all come with fish sauce, of cousre and no amount of cajoling are they prepared to use anything else on the pok pok. Fair enough, recipe integrity and all that. We decided to go completely vegetarian; Mango Tofu, stir fried with vegetables in sweet mango chutney and Mamak Mee Goreng, Indian Muslim style stirfried egg noodle with tofu, potato, egg and vegetables. Both dishes were extraordinary good, with great distinctive flavours. But as it's fusion, they lacked the spark of the dishes they were supposed to replicate. Fusion for the locals, served Western style.
   

Gleaned from the menu: the intriguing Butterfly Nest – vegetarian rolls of taro, mushroom, leeks and vermicelli, wrapped in net rice paper. Something those judges on MasterChef would inflict on the hapless contestants. Maybe Crying Tiger would be more apt, marinated grilled Thai style sirlion steak accompanied with salad in Nam Jeon Sauce. Seafood choices: Mango Prawns, Butter Prawns, deep fried whole Snapper prepared in a choice of sambal, mango, guila assam or nam jeou sauce. And Vietnamese Bun Ga and Pho Bo. Spoilt for choice! But worth the wait?

Owner and Chef Vu says, 'Come in and be transported...'  Sounds good, but it's more like a very slow boat or being stuck in traffic.

Mix Moon
29 Totara Avenue
New Lynn
ph 09-8273313