Awesome vegan options and great prices

4.5 stars Wow- who would have thought?! Ok thats not totally true. I've heard good things about Moonlight Cafe for a while but I don't really venture this far South. My mom wanted to go and apparently had been here many times so off we went. The outside kind of freaks me out. I wouldn't come here alone after dark but really, we all know some of the best food comes from spots like this! The three of us had the pork skewers (well...I didn't,) the catfish soup and the vegan build-your-own salad roll plate. I know the description for the last wasn't very good but its the last appetizer on the vegan menu. There's also a meat version which is the last appetizer on the meat menu. Speaking of the two menus, its so cool they have two and such a vast veggie menu! It's not just a section here. There's a whole menu dedicated to foods I can eat and they have soy meat! I know soy meat is overly processed etc so I don't buy it much. But when I eat out, I like to try to enjoy myself a little more and I love trying soy meats! Both dishes I had were very yummy. The ingredients on the salad roll plate were very fresh. It came with tofu, a faux pork and a faux fish. There were also several vegan spring rolls on the side. The hot and sour catfish soup was also flavorful and nice and light. All the dishes were ordered were actually appetizers but we were very satisfied. I had about 5 salad rolls and my parents probably had 4 or 5 each too! Between all that food, the total was $28 for 3 ppl! Score! The only half star I'm knocking off is for location but you know what? They do an awesome job with what they've got! Moonlight Cafe- you continue to further my love for Vietnamese and vegetarian restaurants! read more

The restaurant is in the mist of Vietnamese community and restaurants. My friend and I got a vegan pho noodle bowl, BIG PORTION for $6.75! Cheap! Though the soup is not that hearty... which is usually disappointing in many vegan pho places. The rice noodle is good and the vegetables goes well with the tofu. The environment is also very lame and shady and like many chinese restaurants, UGLY! My meat eating friend got the chicken pho bowl, she said it was not that good... but she's from Taiwan and lived in San Francisco... she probably had the best pho in the west coast. So... this place is cheap, that's pretty much it. The service is also horrible, like many asian restaurants. read more

Haven't been to Moonlight in forever.. But I love this place! Last time I checked they were open till 2 in the morning and had Vietnamese karaoke - sweet. I love the fake meat they use here and started buying it from the How How market and using it in my own cooking.. Chicken flavored Veggie Ham - Happy Ham! They have one menu for the meat-eaters and one menu for the veggies. read more

This was my first time at the Moonlight Cafe. I had the vegetarian Beef Sesame with brown rice. Good "meaty" texture and very flavorful. Maybe a little too sweet but still very good. Sampled my friend's yellow curry tofu ... also very delicious with vegetables that weren't overcooked and an excellent curry sauce. 3 entrees, 3 coconut milk drinks, was around $35. I'll definitely go again and again. Won't go for the atmosphere (plastic plants, plastic fake marble tables) but who needs atmosphere when you have great food and great company?! read more

Their pho is really good and ever so slightly on the sweet side. Personally, when eating here I stick to the pho or other Vietnamese dishes and stray away from the other dishes. They do offer vegetarian options for those that want it and there is a minimum purchase of 6-7$ or something like that when using a card. Usually a bowl of pho will get you to that amount. read more

I always thought that this place was a strip club...not sure why...I guess the sign screams 'strip club' to me. All that aside, I was stoked when I looked more closely to see that the Moonlight Cafe is a Vietnamese restaurant! YAY! I give this place a solid 4 stars. Super good prices, great variety of food, friendly service. I usually get the vegetarian wonton soup which ROCKS my world. Really good. I think that I need to try more items on the menu to see if I could bump this up to 5 stars. The only thing that holds me back from 5 stars right now is that the service is a little lacking. I have ordered items only to have them never come. This doesn't bother me too much - they're busy and laid back - but could step it up a little on the customer service front once you're seated. read more

pros: vegan, vegetarian, and omnivore options, parking lot cons: slow, awkward service i have been wanting to go here for a while, but i finally made it out last week! they have a separate menu for meat eaters and non-meat eaters. when i opened the vegetarian menu i was surprised by the number of options i had (as a vegetarian, you're usually lucky if there are 4 entrees to choose from). we got the "chicken" fried rice and the "oysters" with snow peas and mushrooms. our server asked us if we would like a side of rice for that, i said yes. a few minutes later, she came back with one empty plate. she set it on our table and asked if we asked for a side of rice. i confirmed "yes." she then pointed to the plate and said it was for the side of rice (huh?... ok). our entrees came out but our rice never did. just an empty plate. was the empty plate an imaginary side of rice? i'm so confused. why was the side of rice so hard for them to figure out? no one checked on us during the meal so we never got around to asking about that rice. for the record, the food was pretty delicious. they get 4 stars for tasty food and the abundance of veggie options that i'm not used to. i'm tempted to take another star for the weirdness about the rice but then again it's generally well known that most asian places are not known for the best service or speed. i'll try them again and decide later. read more

Food is good, tasty compared to other vietnamese restaurants .. But didnt like the ambience ..

The vegetarian sesame beef is BOMB. Yuuummmmaaayyy. The service is not. I've pretty much caught on that I just need to go to the counter and ask for everything. Refills, a box, a check... The worst thing is that the server is usually spotted talking to co-workers. boo. read more

I was very sick and in the mood for some good veggie pho. I wanted to get some food to go and had heard good things about this place. I got the vegan veggie pho (no tofu, I don't like it) and the shredded tofu fresh spring rolls! First of all, the woman at the counter was very nice, they have an entirely separate and HUGE vegetarian menu, and my total was only $13. After I paid they have a great area to wait in with 3 big comfy couches, and my food came out in less than 10 minutes even though it was decently busy. Then I get home and open my food and it all looks amazing! A lot of times when I get veggie pho at other places there is only one veggie and then all tofu. Not this place! There were a ton of veggies with all the fixings, and they even include a little cup with both hoisin and siracha in it, which most places don't give you if you get to-go. And the spring rolls were giant, and came with a big cup of some awesome peanut dipping sauce. Everything tasted AMAZING, and for that price and convenience you can't beat it! I will definitely be back :) read more

Moonlight Cafe - All of the veggies, tofu paper, and noodles for my pho! - Vegetarian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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As others have mentioned, I love that there's a full vegetarian menu, and both the pho and the general tso's "chicken" were quite good. However, the service leaves a lot to be desired. Our waitress was quite impatient when we asked questions about the menu, and after the food was delivered she never came to our table to check on us or refill water. After waiting with an empty plate in front of me for over ten minutes I had to get up and walk toward the counter before our waitress asked if I was ready for the check - and then she walked away while I was talking to her. A different waitress brought the check though, and she seemed much nicer. read more

There's not much I can say about this place that hasn't already been said. What I can say is that so far this is the only restaurant I've been to in Seattle where I could eat an entirely vegan meal and leave completely satisfied. My group had both veggie and meat dishes and I was impressed by all of it. The service was a little uneven, but primarily because there was only one server and two large parties. The price was great for the amount of food you get. Highly recommended. read more

The food here is actually pretty good. The cleanliness and service are some of the worst I've seen. I almost fell multiple times on their floor after walking in from a rainy day due to the amount of grease on the dining room floor. The waitress assured me it was just my wet shoes when I suggested they should mop ( but what do I know.. I've only worked in a dozen kitchens and patisseries) The blinds are speckled with food, and the staff has some sort of slave vibe as if they would rather be doing anything but their job.. Very weird atmosphere. read more

2 HUGE menus, one vegan and one carnivore. There's something for everyone. Delicious stuff! Don't bother calling for takeout, they're 0-4 on getting our order right. Every time we've had to go back which is pretty annoying. But when you order in front of them it's all good. read more

This is one of my favorite restaurant. The food is great and the flavors are many it is a great way to enjoy vegetarian food in all of its splendor. There are so many variety that any customer can take delight. read more

food was good, service was pretty slow if not polite. the gluten entrees were good, but the veggie fish claypot was wayyy salty. i didn't know if it was the seaweed overkill, but it was too much. prices were affordable, parking easy. read more

I drive past this place every day and wouldn't normally go in, but friends invited us to dinner and i was pleasently suprised. they have a crazy extensive menu for both meat eaters and the veggie people! Lots of people had pho (which i should have gotten too). I had the veggie fried rice w/ tofu and it was just fine :) Portions are generious, the waiter was very good at explaining all the options and even read back our large order. It's just under $10-12 a person. The inside is a little ghetto, but the food is worth it. Check it out sometime read more

Its not bad but its not great but I do love soy base meatlookalikes! I guess thats why I came here but I didn't get vegetarian food! I always have this prenotation that to make vegetarian food that use soy base to taste good, it has to have MSG. I guess thats why I didn't order any vegetarian food. True or false that just how I'm going to see it no matter what anyone says. My only gripe here, is that they don't have the egg cake that goes along with several rice plate you normally fine but a fried egg will suffice. Besides the location making you feel unsaf-uneasy its a nice place to get eats. read more

Okay quality, nothing special, just typical average Vietnamese restaurant. Wouldn't come back unless I really have to

Vegetarian yes, but it's more than Vietnamese; it offers tastes from throughout Asia. They also serve meat dishes. So when in a state of grief, we opted for the comfort of good company and good food. It was nice... two omnivores, two vegetarians, two menus... and great food. I order a plate of kung pao chicken, spicy kung pao chicken! It was! The food was solid, it was good, but what was great, was the jar of pickled jalopeno peppers. My son, who we were mourning, loved pickled peppers... I ate the whole damn jar! they were delicious! We sat there and talked and laughed, and reminisce for a couple of hours. Good friends and the moonlight cafe, helped to lifted my spirit... JR read more

I want to love this place. I'm actually *really* close to loving it; but I do have a few qualms. The service here is definitely lacking. They should have a host booth in front so I don't feel like a nuisance as they nod me to a table and mouth directions across the room at me. Also, when we did sit our waiter didn't introduce himself or anything. They brought tea (which I LOVE here, it's sort of smoky) and water and took our order. There was a slight bit of confusion when we ordered because I used the term "faux" I guess you really have to just use their terms "vegetarian" or not... I have noticed a few reviews here of people who are obviously confused so maybe if they clarified a little harder that the menus are different this would take place less. My second issue is that our food items arrived at very different times. My fellow diner ordered a spicy beef soup (real beef) and got his entree very quickly. The condiment plate, however, came about 5 minutes after he had started eating. Keep in mind that *I* still hadn't gotten my order yet. The spicy beef soup looked delicious, but tasted so-so. There was this strange mystery meat in with the beef. I know my mystery meat well and I can't begin to identify what this strange substance was. It had the look of a SLAB of hotdog. You know the spongey texture? At first I thought, maybe it's HAM. Nope... not ham. It was sort of like they took that tightly-packed styrofoam and soaked it in broth. It didn't taste like any sort of vegetable protein or soy. It had a strange filmy skin on the outside as well that took on a green tinge... it was horrifying to tell you the truth. That part definitely didn't get eaten. Once my food FINALLY arrived, it looked delicious. This is my second time here and I decided to go for their infamous Sesame "Beef". The texture of their "beeph" is wonderful. It had the chewy texture of typical strips of beef, and no spongey aftertaste! The salty sweet sauce covering the stuff was delicious as well. It came with peppers and onions, and I would have preferred a few more veggies with the dish. The brown rice was cooked well, too! The last little bit of the dinner was interesting. It took *forever* to get a check to leave. I certainly felt like I was stowed away in a corner and forgotten about. Needless to say, I was more satisfied with my meal than my partner. I would recommend this place to vegetarians definitely and open-minded meat-eaters as well. read more

This restaurant has a great Vietnamese and vegetarian menu. The pho was outstanding and well flavored. The prices for everything was so cheap! I have never before found a place to get a huge bowl of pho for $6.50!The reason I am not giving five stars is because the service was not the best. We ordered water and didn't get any until we asked again later. They also brought us the wrong order of pho (I ate it anyway and it was great). They also never brought the check and we just went to the counter and paid. If you just want good Vietnamese food and don't care if the service is top notch, this is the place to go. read more

The service here is slow and inattentive. Some things in the restaurant look like they have not been cleaned for a long time (ie dusty teapot.) The lemongrass chicken did not taste like lemongrass. The salad shrimp rolls only tasted like mint. I have a feeling noodles or soups may have been a better choice based on what other customers were ordering. I think they should reduce the amount of items on the menu and focus on what is good here. Would not plan to return based on lack if flavor and service. read more

I recently changed my diet to vegetarian and wanted to try the foods at Moonlight. The foods price is decent but the quality is not good. My wife had a bowl of Special Veggie Pho and her "veggie ham" had mold smell. The broth was very salty as well. We won't come back here and will not recommend our friends to try it here. read more

I always order lunch from here, i have tried different things but the best is the vegan cashew with chicken and rice ... yummmm. lunch special prices are gr8 too :) read more

Pretty good food but absolutely terrible service. I still come here because of their vegan options and because my dad loves the place. I would recommend take out. Try the egg rolls and the fried rice. Or Mushroom and tofu hotpot. read more

Their lemongrass tofu vermicelli noodle bowl is still my favorite in the city- and i have tried a LOT of them. As an added bonus, it is also the most affordable. This place is kitschy in the best possible way, with the decor leaving a lot to be desired... but the food more than makes up for this. a comfortable, delicious neighborhood staple that i already miss greatly having moved out of the CD. read more

Went here because I'm trying to woo a vegetarian, and this seemed like a good bet based on the reviews here. The atmosphere was pretty seedy, and the service wasn't great, but I thought the food was quite good. Even as a strict non-vegetarian, their faux-meat dishes were excellent (I went with the Sesame Beef). I'd come again. read more

Sesame "beef" - YES! I love the vegan menu and all the offerings. Don't be fooled by the location and the look of the building. This is a CD gem to try. read more

They have a separate vegan and meat eaters menu. Now that's pretty FANCY! I recommend this nice restaurant especially if your friend is vegan and you are not or vice versa. It's a perfect place for both kinds of people. I recommend this place because it's just plain good. I order from the vegan menu all the time and I'm a meat lover!! I'll have photos for you someday. read more

2/14/16: We didn't even eat there. We called up yesterday for a a reservation and they said no they don't take it. We called again same thing. Once we got there it was tables opened and when we asked to get an empty table they said in a rude tone no you have to wait... I pointed out of the opened tables and they said no... WTF? Not a good way to start off ... We left of course and went to bamboo Part 2: 4/14/16... so we went to moonlight again and were treated to a real life table! Amazing, BUT LET BY GONES BE BY GONES. Anyway, the place is unique, I'll give it that... First off, we found out that they actually have a meat menu as well as a vegetarian one ... I thought it was totally vegetarian ... All good ... We are vegetarian so we decided to stay here to see how it was ... The place smelled weird like a band aide. Im not making this up peeps... The place looks old with duct tape on the walls and half painted walls... Hope they are going through a much needed repairing of their dinning hall... The water tasted weird, don't know what's in it besides lemon but there was something else ... Hmmm? Ok we got the orange chicken and sesame beef, both were ok, the beef had half the dish as lettuce, the other was rather good, the beef tasted really good with the veggies. The orange chicken was not so good, too sweet, but had a better portion. The always popular charging for rice is in here too ($1 per serving) Their lunch specials look good for a much better price, of course we came for dinner... The wait service was friendly enough. In short we won't be coming back ... Bamboo wins hands down read more

I love the food here, though the ambience is kind of odd. And the service is slow. But the General Tso vegetarian "chicken" is amazing. Good pho too. Just make sure you're not in a hurry (or super hungry) when you go. read more

The food was pretty good, although the service was atrocious. They were slow and the server even took our bowls before we were finished. There was also no finishing creme puff like is common in most Vietnamese restaurants. read more

It's good! Based on some of these reviews, I did not know what to expect. Regarding the dingy exterior; it could stand a power washing. The interior looks like it has been painted recently. They even have a nice lounge area to hang out in while waiting for a to go order. I didn't know what to get last night so I ordered way too much food for the 3 of us. The portions are a good size. We ordered off of the vegetarian menu: Sweet and Sour "Chicken" Sesame "Beef" Kung Pao "Chicken" "Chicken" Fried Rice Steamed vegetables This was enough food for 4, maybe 5. Everything had a great unique flavor. Nothing was overly greasy. The sesame beef is definitely something you should try. Pretty awesome. There were two people running the restaurant and serving and I think two people in the kitchen. I walked in shortly before the dinner rush to put in a to go order, I didn't have menu at home. I can see how they can easily become slammed and overwhelmed. The two handled the other tables and me just fine. Then two large families came in at the same time. The wait staff looked visibly distraught. They are not staffed to handle dinner basically. They need at least one more person on the floor. That being said, everyone working at the restaurant were really cool to me. They had the order ready in about 10 minutes and sent me on my way. Tip: The tables for groups of 6 or more are setup by the door. So if you come in with the extended family expect to sit by the door, the restaurant has only so much room. That previous comment is directed to the indigent father with 5 irish twins running around (that's hyperbole btw, but not far off). read more

I live close by, and when I don't feel like driving to the hill, it's a great alternative. Food has always been good, but I have to say, the overall attitude of the employees is horrible. At times, downright disrespectful. Don't expect anything but decent food or you'll be disappointed, cause they could give a fraction of a f@%! regarding customer service. read more

Food is great but customer service is not the best. The staff was not very friendly and not enthusiastic about explaining which sauce we should choose for our h tiu khô (noodle bowl with soup separately/on the side). I chose st tng (maybe from soy sauce?), my friend chose st cà (maybe from tomatoes?; excuse my culinary knowledge please!). We Loved them both! I would go here again but maybe I'll do take-out. read more

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME AND AMAZING!!! This is hands down my favorite restaurant in Seattle. I LOVE Moonlight. There is never a time I don't have a craving for their food. It is always sooo good. They are always super awesome about substitutions, and I always get my food fast. No, their tables are not always super clean, but that is because when soup is that good, you have to make a mess. I don't really care, it tastes so good, that all other things do not matter. I am vegan, and to find a FILLING meal under 10 dollars is pretty much impossible at a restaurant. I rarely go to a restaurant multiple times, but Moonlight is somewhere I go at least a couple times a month. I really cannot sing their praises enough. I have never had a bad meal there, and from the meat eaters I have brought there, their meat food is also top notch. If you are looking for something cheap to eat that is actually good, go to Moonlight. You definitely will not regret it. read more

This place has amazing food and excellent customer service! Portions are good and it's very affordable, definitely worth checking out.

Best vegetarian food ever!!! Try the sweet and sour or orange chicken (vegetarian of course)