Recently, Lizz and I met up for some food hunting. We both confessed to not exploring neighborhoods as fully as we could, sticking to our tried-and-true places and even our tried-and-true dishes… so we tried to change that by going to Mood, a lounge that serves some interesting food, in Kew Gardens.
Except it was closed for a private party, so we unfortunately wound up at a place Lizz has been to before, and we’ve both been to the restaurant owned by the same people.
Lizz had the bacon cheeseburger; it was a little undercooked from her request of medium, and super filling. She didn’t finish her burger, but I’m pretty sure she enjoyed it.
As I mentioned, I’ve been craving salads and burgers, but couldn’t justify eating both on this day (and I’d eaten two burgers the day before, which is kind of a lot, no?). So I tried to order a Caesar salad, but the waitress seemed a bit put off by this and said, “That’s all you want? Ummm, do you want grilled chicken on top of it or something?” and I was like, well… I guess. I don’t really like grilled chicken usually (though it does go well with Caesar salads, when it’s cooked properly), but it would round out the dish nicely to fill me up a bit more.
While the dressing was garlicky and tasty, there was a bit too much on the salad, dripping into a messy pool on the bottom of the plate. The salad itself was fine, and the chicken was, as I kind of expected, a bit dry. Sure, the dressing helped fix that, but it was a bit too much overall. I was overwhelmingly garlicky for the rest of the day (sorry Lizz!) and my head started to ache from a bit too much of that dressing. Ah well. Lesson learned.
Our meal, with a nice tip, a soda and a glass of wine, came out to $40. A bit too much for a weekend lunch in Queens, I think we both agreed. Especially given that we subsequently went to Java Village for those spicy potato chips (too spicy for me, but I’ll be back there to try more stuff… yum), and not a single item on their entire menu exceeds $7. But that’s a different story for another time…
Yvo says: While I LOVE the TVs at nearly every table – we turned on the Mets game since we’re both big Mets fans – the food that we ordered wasn’t anything to go out of your way for. The restaurant is located directly outside/above the Kew Gardens LIRR station, but is a 10-15 minute walk from the train station. However, with their outdoor patio seating… and the TVs everywhere… I will definitely be back to catch some games at the bar or at a table, and will try some of their bar-food offerings (wings, fries, nachos, that sort of thing), for sure.
don’t go out of your way for this… but it isn’t bad, I think it should be an excellent sports bar
SkippyMom says
That is a boat load of chicken on that salad! And why didn't you tell the waitress to "get bent" even if she was offended that ALL you wanted was a Caesar salad [no meat] – I mean c'mon – $40 for that? It wasn't like she was going to hurt on the tip. Poor waitress lady.
I say BAH! to her. 🙂 And I still want a burger hee
Rozie says
I was craving crab cakes when I went here, and they were pretty good…don't like chicken on my salads either, btw.
ali says
I don’t get it. A number of people I know love this place. I find it barely mediocre.I’ve been there at least 3 or 4 times & my opinion remains the same. I went again a few months ago because my best friend simply adores the food and I thought maybe it had improved recently as I hadn’t been back in a couple of years. I wish I could describe my meal (not a burger,I rarely eat them) but it was so unmemorable I don’t remember it at all; I just know it reconfirmed my original opinion. Friend had a burger, she still loves the food!
All that said, if you like a lively,somewhat noisy bar scene, I recommend it highly.
Feisty Foodie says
I think we agree… my review is pretty lukewarm and the only time I recall returning since this time mentioned here was during playoff, I think in 2009, haha. The pub food is standard, decent but nothing to crave.