Been coming here since its 1.0 iteration at the wharf and chef Kevin's menu is one of a kind! We always get something different and cocktails, dinner, & desserts are complex and awesome every time. Sean is the best and Moon Rabbit has become one of our favorite restaurants in DC. read more

Every dish was excellent. A decent selection of fish and meaty starters and two mains on the prie-fixe, plus one dessert per person. A lot of creative spins and dishes you don't see every day. The one more traditional dish was perfectly executed. Nice decor and friendly service. read more

My friend and I had an AMAZING meal using the Taste of Vietnam tasting menu. First, the staff are so friendly and helpful. I felt like every team member made us feel like they were our waiters regardless of who they were. However, Shawn is truly a gift of a waiter. The waiting team was attentive, kind, and knowledgeable. I cannot say enough about the pastry chef. She personally came to walk us through the order to eat the desserts and they were magical. So thoughtful and creative. I never thought I would have a spongecake with curry or a seaweed dessert. The flavors are not at all what you think and it was the BEST way to end the meal. Overall each tasting course was a star in it's own right. The sweet potato and tapioca gnocchi, the crudo, the wagu with perilla leaves... yum. I cannot wait to go back. Thank you all for such a great evening with my dear friend! read more

I consider myself a foodie and this was a great and surprising experience. Every dish was phenomenal and unique. The staff were incredible, especially Nicole. read more

The staff were excellent. The food and cocktails were delicious. We had a great time. Very cute decor.

Great food amazing fusion small plates to share. Staff at your service cozy environment enjoy!!

A friend of mine and I decided to revisit Washington DC again after almost 30 years and wanted to include some fine dining experiences along with sightseeing. The 2024 James Beard Award nominations had recently been released and Moon Rabbit has two entries, Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic for Kevin Tien, and Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker for Susan Bae, so we made reservations for the Wednesday night while we were there. Upon arrival, we were greeted by two lovely women who checked that we did indeed have a reservation and proceeded to seat us promptly. The restaurant is finished in a soft color palate and modern fixtures with a nod to Southeast Asia culture, for a very relaxing mood. The menu contains three sections, From the Earth, From the Sea, and From the Land. Our waiter, Nigel, suggested we order multiple dishes to share so we decided on a dish from each category. The first dish served was the Shrimp Thermidor consisting of two giant prawns grilled open faced with an amazing sauce. Rather than try and scoop up the sauce for each of our prawns, we cut a piece of shrimp on our own plate then swirled it in the sauce on the serving plate. If you order this, your waiter may try to convince you to have the bread course, and next time I will do that as the sauce is amazing. Our second course was the Pate' Chaud which you may need an early reservation to enjoy as they are made in limited quantities each day and are delicious. The foie contains wood ear mushrooms and baked in a puff pastry shell, and every bite was delicious. Our last course was the Roasted Sunchokes (similar to artichokes without the leaves) which are prepared with small slices of Asian pear and winter turnips thinly sliced and lightly fried like potato chips. Every course was a foodie delight, and you wish portions were larger. Throughout our dinner, the attention of the support staff was amazing. We spoke with Marisol who is from South America, and she made sure our water glasses were full and the table cleared promptly after each course. The restaurant manager, Nicole Patierno, stopped by our table to check on us and we had a lovely discussion about the restaurant, Chef Kevin, Chef Susan, and her background. Nicole was the first person we had met that week who was from DC, a lovely woman with a passion for the restaurant, her staff, and providing exquisite service. Every staff member we spoke to love their jobs and the people they get to work with, and that really shows while you're dining. Since the Pastry Chef, Susan Bae, was also nominated for a James Beard award we had to try a couple of the confections on the dessert menu. I love cheesecake and in celebration of the Cherry Blossoms in DC, she created a cherry blossom robiola cheesecake, accompanied by compressed cosmic apples, matcha streusel, sake, and honey. My friend ordered the Mango dessert, which is milk chocolate cremeux and thai chili chamoy sunset mango, with toasted rice noodles. The heat from the chili sneaks up on you so delicately that you almost don't notice it but then it becomes the signature of the dish. Three desserts were served because Nicole comped us the Seaweed, and don't let the name dissuade you, it is a beautiful blend of flavors. The top is a thin circle of frozen coconut granita followed by coconut crème, a panna cotta made from pandan on top of a bed of chocolate streusel and seaweed. Each dessert was a work of art and a culinary achievement I haven't experienced in a long time. Moon Rabbit is a culinary experience we'll talk about for the rest of our lives, what each bite was like and the wonderful service. It is an experience you'll not soon forget. read more

Unfortunately, the service here is the worst I've had, perhaps...ever. Plus, the food was devastatingly lackluster. Ambiance was dismissive and sterile. I had such high hopes, but unfortunately, I will not be returning. read more

It was a bit loud (I'm sensitive to noise though) but wonderful food and excellent service. We ate mostly the vegan dishes which are the stars, along with the incredible and excellent deserts. Some day I will come back and just eat all the deserts: Chef Susan is the best pastry chef I have encountered and I have encountered a lot of fine pastry! read more

Moon Rabbit - Curry sponge cake with fish sauce caramel. Truly wonderful and unique. It's like a flavorful world of its own. - Vietnamese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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First time at Moon Rabbit for a special occasion, and it was one of the best restaurant experiences I've had. We ordered the stuffed leaves, pate chaud, and crab rangoon to share which left us feeling full despite it being appetizer-sized. The stuffed leaves were flavorful and meaty, I enjoyed that the most. I also loved the take on crab rangoon, the robiola jelly was a nice touch to the dip itself. Our server was amazing as well, and took the time to explain our courses to us. Pacing of the food and service was perfect and we had an amazing time overall! read more

I must say that it has been a while since I've experienced a restaurant with not only delicious food but EXCELLENT service. I can honestly say I haven't been so satisfied with an experience in very long! My five friends and I tried the chef's visit to Vietnam and we all loved it! All of the food was amazing and every staff that we encountered was great! The food and beverages came out in such a timely manor. I can't wait to go back!! read more

Moon Rabbit - Vietnamese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

It's a nice restaurant, but I don't know if the quality quite matches the prices. It still had a slightly incomplete/unfinished feel and while our server was nice, the overall operation seemed a bit disorganized. We got the summer rolls, stuffed squid, bread, rice cake, roasted quail, and shrimp thermidor. As mentioned in another review, the shrimp thermidor was mindblowing, singlehandedly raised our spirits. Everything else, however, was more just "pretty good." And, our cocktail didn't taste like much of anything more than alcohol and soda despite purportedly having various exciting additions. In general, it felt like maybe some more attention should be paid to the basic level of quality than on adding more and more cool-sounding ingredients to the dishes. read more

The most interesting and creative food I've had. Service--amazing and attentive. Beautiful rooms too.

We ordered the "Chef's Visit to Vietnam." All of the appetizers and main courses were amazing. Our favorites were the tuna crudo and the stuffed leaves filled with wagyu beef. This would've been a five-star review excerpt for the desserts, which were all very inventive but ultimately very strange and unappealing. We were not a fan of the fish sauce caramel or the mushroom ice cream. read more

Only been to the new location once since it recently opened. Still excellent food and wonderful unusual cocktails. The ambiance is good, service is fantastic and food exceptional. Looking forward to my next visit. read more

Wow! Four of us tried about 1/3 the menu and everything was pretty tasty. But we went home and made popcorn because the portions were so small and we were still hungry! Very overpriced but excellent service. I'll give them some time to make adjustments before I return. read more

My husband and I visited the restaurant for my birthday and had a lovely time. We had both of the spirit free drinks and preferred the Trà Chiêu. We ordered four dishes (Shrimp thermidor, Fried quail & tomato rice, Cumin lamb, and Stuffed leaf) and enjoyed them all. We had the seasonal cherry blossom cheesecake and a mango dish for dessert. My husband liked having them both together and I preferred the cheesecake. The decor was beautiful and inviting and the restaurant was bigger inside than I expected. Our server was friendly and spent just the right amount of time with us. I was really excited beforehand and am happy that the restaurant met my expectations. read more

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Wonderful place with absolutely amazing food - too bad it'll be closing soon, but I hear there's more to come in a different location in the future! It has a hotel lobby feel (modern and a little swanky) and is located on one end of the food court. Service is excellent: We were about five minutes late for our reservation, and because we had a movie to catch after, I asked if he thought it'd be possible to get us out before the movie. Thankfully it wasn't a busy night, so they were able to accommodate this. The host/server was friendly, joked with us, and basically said there was nothing on the menu we wouldn't enjoy - and he was right! They recommend sharing the dishes, which we did, and they gave us fresh plates and silverware with each course. I got the Getaway Car cocktail - which is basically a whiskey with pandan syrup. It was strong, and had a sweet note on the end. Very nice and can recommend. To start, we got the hamachi crudo. It was AMAZING and oh-so-tasty; the sauce was great and the little green roe added a nice burst of flavor. We seriously considered ordering another. We also shared the Crawfish & Noodles - one of the top noodle dishes I've had. I was a bit skeptical of dry ramen, but the dish wasn't dry at all - it came coated in a nice layer of miso and was incredibly flavorful. We polished this off so quickly. Last but not least was the lemongrass grilled pork. Pork was tender and had a lot of flavor without the additional sauces (but I loved the sauces anyway) - we packed this into the cabbage with the rice noodles and pickled vegetables. I loved that they didn't skimp on the pork; we even had leftover pork when we were done! Highly recommend checking out this location before they leave - I'll be keeping my eye out for the next Kevin Thien venture! read more

Very nice ambiance but the food was not quite as good as on old location. Many dishes were awkward. Stuffed squid and green curry cake were outstanding. read more

Chefs visit to Vietnam is 100% worth it. $85 for 5 courses (7 different plates) is a great deal and I loved every single thing. Can't wait to come back read more

My 3 star rating is a personal one. We went there tonight for my birthday because I've heard nothing but greatness about Moon Rabbit. Some people have a sweet tooth. Not me. I love savory. Literally everything we ordered had an element of sweetness that rose above everything else, including the leading ingredients. It didn't matter if it was bread, protein, land animal, sea animal, wild poultry, veg dish. We ordered a little something from all over the menu and I didn't get a single straight up savory bite of anything. But surprise, they brought me an infinitely layered cake with a crème brûlée crust and a sweetened condensed cream tasting base and it was absolute fire. OMG, like I said, no sweet tooth here, but that was the star of the show. Absolute bow down to the pastry chef, but the rest was just on the brink of excellence minus being masked by a blanket of sugary saucy something. read more

So sad this place is closed! The food was amazing! Perfectly described as what it was. Such a cute place that sat right by the water.

5 star service, 3.5 star food. We went for restaurant week, and the staff were so charming and helpful. The cocktails were a highlight. The best appetizer was the scallop. Presentation of the Wagyu app needs attention, though it a bit overcooked it was well seasoned and tasted nice. Both vegetarian mains, the sweet potato dumpling and the roasted squash, were not enjoyable. Could not get past the gummy-chewy texture of the dumpling. Portions are haute cuisine small, and some of the desserts would benefit from some editing. The mango-chocolate combo was a tussle between sour and bitter, and while the foams were interesting and tasty, we didn't find any of the three desserts satisfying. We enjoy fine dining, but Chef Tien has some fine tuning to do. read more

Food: 3/5 Drinks: 5/5 Service/Vibe: 4.5/5 Value: 2.5/5 TL;DR: We left hungry and not because the portions were small. Everything needed more salt. Seafood dishes were bad. Everything else was great to good but not worth the price. Please remove the automatic service charge. I'm not happy writing this review. Moon Rabbit's first iteration was one of my wife and I's favorite restaurants in D.C. (we'd been there five times over the past several years, have ate at their temporary pop-up last year, and ordered their to-go holiday meal). We love this restaurant and Vietnamese food in general. I'd never had a bad dish from the chef...until we ate at Moon Rabbit yesterday. The drinks are delicious and were a highlight of the meal. This has always been a consistency of Moon Rabbit - so, if you come thirsty, you will definitely leave happy. It's clear that the chef, in their reinvention of Moon Rabbit and its concepts, is moving the restaurant more into haute cuisine/upscale dining. We love this genre of food and were excited to see elevated Vietnamese food in the hands of someone as talented as KT. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted it to live up to the hype, the food just fell flat. We ordered the following dishes: Squash (Bí): 10/10 - Easily the best dish of the meal. Not coincidentally, it was the dish that most reminded us of something we'd have ordered at MR v1. It was simple, flavorful, and well-balanced. It was also the largest portion of food, if that's something that sways your opinion. Rice Cakes (Bánh Bèo) : 9/10 - Of the savory dishes we ordered, this was the second best. The pancake-like large flat rice cake was chewy but not rubbery and tender without being mushy. Flavor was good and the tofu crumble on top was delicious. Quail Claypot (Chim Cút Kho Tộ): 7/10 - The quail was well-cooked (i.e., not dry) and tasted good. It just needed salt. The chicken fat rice was delicious. Stuffed Leaf ( Bò Lá Lốt): 7/10 - No complaints with the taste, but it was nothing nothing special. The beef was missing the "it" factor that elevated it beyond what I'd receive as an appetizer at a local restaurant. The labneh was also rather bland. Sweet Potato and Crab (Bánh Canh Cua): 6/10: There was way too much sauce on this dish. It somehow managed to overpower the flavor of the dumpling and crab and yet also not taste like anything. The sweet potato dumplings were well cooked but tasteless due to the sauce. The crab on top had an unpleasant smell and the taste was masked by the sauce (possibly for the best). Shrimp Agnolotti (Sủi Cảo): 5/10: I'm giving the dumplings a 9/10 and everything else a 1/10. The broth was not edible and had an extremely strong unpleasant smell. We moved it to the end of the table so it would be taken away sooner. BBQ Monkfish (Cá Viên): 4/10: The dish was beautiful and the monkfish was cooked well but did not taste good. The surrounding coconut broth and mung beans did not provide enough flavor to offset the lack of flavor in the fish. MORE SALT. Mango (Xoài): 9/10: Yummy. Slightly too much foam. Still, delicious and other than the squash and the drinks, our favorite part of dinner. This meal made me sad - we eat out a lot and are very familiar with the fine dining scene in the DC area. We were hoping that this reinvention of Moon Rabbit would be our new mainstay but left unfulfilled. If you've made it this far (or are perhaps a Moon Rabbit employee reading reviews) - at its core, the food was missing the "tastiness" factor that drew us back to Moon Rabbit over and over. Bring back the umami - it was sorely missing. read more

Delicious and Sean is the best. Ultimately I could see myself enjoying the warmth of this place.

Not only was the food exemplary but the service was also This restaurant was everything that it was advertised to be Such a wonderful dining experience read more

Moon Rabbit's new location brings modern charm and the perfect space to enjoy conversation and an exciting meal. I went for restaurant week and loved the thoughtfully flavored dishes and can't wait to try their full menu. Service was friendly, fun and flawless. Loved their ambient cocktail lounge too! read more

Overall great dining experience and great service. The highlights for us -Mussels, Scallop Crudo, and the duck breast woven noodles. If you have more than 2 people in your group I would order more than one wagyu skewer as one order is enough to only split between two. read more

this place has been on my list for a while and I was so excited to hear they opened this new location! the food was absolutely delicious I thoroughly enjoyed every dish I had. the bread was probably the fluffiest I've ever had and I couldn't get enough of it. the tuna crudo with strawberries was such a great combo. I was utterly confused when the crab rangoon came deconstructed but was speechless once I tried it - it was absolutely perfect. the waitress even brought us more crackers when we finished them to eat with our remaining dip! cumin lamb and stuffed lead were amazing, quail was good too but the I enjoyed the rest more. dessert was so unique and the waitress took time to explain each dish in detail to help us decide! 10/10 service and such a pleasant experience from beginning to end. marking this as a spot to bring visitors who I want to impress! very reasonable prices too for the quality read more

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Sweetest people, and the served brought one of the dishes - sweetest guy. I wish them the best. The food was good. But, honestly, I paid $90 for three courses (plus bread), and I don't feel like I've had dinner. I guess that's sometimes the case with fine dining. It works when there are like a gazillion courses and each one is tiny. But here there were only three, and each was only a few bites. I just don't get how that works. You go to dinner, and there is literally no food. read more

The decor is beautiful but the food is the star. Service was excellent. Also worth noting it had been raining (hard) and we were underdressed. The host made us feel immediately at ease. Will definitely return. read more

Fantastic experience from start to finish. The space is thoughtfully appointed and comfortable. Tables are spaced well and the noise level is not overwhelming for conversation. We chose to do the Chef's menu, which was a great way to try a mix of things. Each dish was well-paced and the servers explained them well. The presentation was beautiful and the unique flavors were also very complementary. We loved everything, but the gnocchi, crudo, and the green curry sponge cake and durian desserts were stand-outs. The service was excellent -- informative, energetic, and proactive. Well worth the wait to try the restaurant in its new space! We will certainly be back again. read more

Food was just ok but service was excellent. My biggest complaint is all the dishes came out cold. Drinks and dessert were excellent but the kitchen can do better for the price. read more

I don't leave a lot of reviews. I visited Moon Rabbit in its previous life and I LOVED it. The rest of my party did not agree. I wanted to come back for the chicken (which I've never found better...) but I figured I'd be wooed no matter what. I'm pissed about this, but I was not.Everything is so complicated. My favorite dish was the Shrimp Thermidor but it was not quite cooked for me. I'll admit I like overcooked shrimp but there must be a compromise. I wanted to love the restaurant and I did but not enough. I'm going to give Rabbit Moon a high rating. I'm not their target audience. I like sugar and nuts and probably a lot of other things, but I'm really old (73) and I have an old palette. Also, the bathroom situation is dire. All that said I really want them to succeed. I think the chef is amazing. The service was phenomenal. I love the tableware ( I want the wine glasses and the plates are fabulous). I wouldn't want to be a didhwasher. I'll come back for the new tasting menu but I (for one) wish the food was more like the old restaurant. read more

The food was amazing and service was great! The restaurant was light and airy! I highly suggest leaving room for dessert.

Amazing food and lots of flavors. Although the price is a bit high so would just try it once. The desserts are amazing as well.

We came here for dinner with friends since we're fans of Chef Kevin and have been to all his restaurants since Himitsu. Quite a departure from the original Moon Rabbit and not quite sure how I feel about the new menu but we have to make note that the service was outstanding , in the past month we've eaten at Le Diplomate, Oyster Oyster, and Raskia and a few other restaurants and I have to say our service at Moon Rabbit was the best we've had in recent memory. Service was the highlight of the evening. Charming, knowledgeable and efficient Nygel was great. Highly recommended. read more

This is a meal I will be savoring for a long time. Each dish has so many layers of unique flavors and textures. I'm thinking about how I can incorporate subtle spices and crunch in my own cooking. Chef Kevin Tien is remarkable, but I have to say, pastry Chef Susan Bae "takes the cake" with her green curry sponge cake with fish sauce caramel that knocked my socks off. I don't usually even order dessert, but I asked for a second dessert after I tried the first and said, "woah. Susan is a genius." I know there's been some controversy with the mandatory 22% tip so I'll also weigh in on that. On the receipt it says the tip is used to pay a fair salary to the workers and any additional tip is optional for exceptional service. Our service was indeed exceptional so we ended tipping 35%. It seems like a lot, but we felt it was a fair price to pay for the dining experience. The employees at Moon Rabbit seem to love and admire each other and believe in their craft. I could feel the creativity, excitement, and passion in the food and service. read more

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The food was awesome. The service was awesome. The ambiance was awesome. Chef even came out to greet us. I will definitely return to this restaurant. read more

Overpriced and underwhelming. Added a 22 percent service fee that did not include the tip. Spent a hundred dollars and I'm hungry.