If I were prone to exaggeration, I would say that going to a big-box chain restaurant is the culinary equivalent of being at the bottom of Jame Gumb’s well. If someone surreptitiously brought me to a Jack Montana’s East Side Pizza-type restaurant, the parking lot would have a trail of claw marks and broken fingernails documenting my attempts to escape the dinner date hell I had stumbled into. I would not put the ketchup in the basket, if you know what I’m saying. So it’s not exactly with the highest expectations that I make my way to Moxie’s Classic Grill in Dartmouth Crossing.
We’re greeted by a group of Little Black Dresses behind the greeting station. The decor is to high-end dining what pleather is to leather—it looks good, but feels cheap and contrived. It’s like going to dinner in an episode of CSI: Miami.
An ebullient server quickly delivers our menus. From American fare to dabblings in Indian, Thai, Italian and other fusion cuisine, the lack of focus on the huge, rambling list makes choosing wisely feel like playing pin the tail on the donkey.
We start with the three-dip med bread ($7.99). The garlicky flat bread is crispy and warm, sprinkled with pepper and sprigs of rosemary. The dips are a garlic cream cheese, basil mayonnaise and bruschetta topping. The mayonnaise is really unappealing and bland—the basil can’t cut through the fat. The garlic is good, but the cream cheese easily dominates. The bruschetta is nice and fresh, but fails as a dip since it’s basically a tiny bowl of diced tomato.
For entrees we settle on the kitsilano chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries ($14.98) and the steak sandwich with broccoli cheese soup. I upgrade to include some sauteed mushrooms with the steak ($15.97).
I order the sandwich medium-rare. The sirloin, which comes back a little closer to medium than I’d like, is perched on top of a half-baguette spread with garlic chipotle aioli and a layer of caramelized onions. The steak is very well-seasoned, delicious with the sweet onions and tender mushrooms. The aioli is a virtual non-entity; my steak had not rested enough and blood has soaked through it, into the bun.
The broccoli cheese soup is thick and gooey, with a sprinkling of fresh cheddar and a few spears of broccoli sinking into it.
The chicken sandwich has a nicely cooked breast stuffed into naan bread with some aged white cheddar, red peppers and asparagus. A tomato basil sauce rounds it out. The red pepper is especially tasty, but sadly the flavour of the asparagus is lost in the mix.
The sweet potato fries are a big disappointment, lacking the sweet vibrancy we expect and have a wilting crispiness. They are awful. Curry mayonnaise gives a punch of flavour, but not enough to save the dish. We leave them uneaten.
We are pleased to see miniature versions of the desserts offered for around half the price of a normal serving. We order the mini sticky toffee pudding ($3.99) and the mini chocolate espresso mousse ($2.99).
The sticky toffee pudding is dense and tasty with a little scoop of French vanilla ice cream to cut through the buttery caramel sauce. The mousse is a callebaut chocolate infused with criollo cocoa beans. It’s light and sweet and delicious. The portions are perfect.
While I would still rather spend my hard earned $20 bills eating at locally owned restaurants, the food at Moxie’s easily managed to surpass my expectations. Sure, those expectations were set at “torture,” but hey, a win is a win!
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2010.
Been to Moxie’s many times, the food was always great and the servers only enhanced it! Almost sounds like your reviewer was jealous?? It’s not Fiasco or Bish but then again it’s not supposed to be……. Give it a try is my suggestion. 4 stars out of 5.
This critic is a food snob. Just because its a chain doesn’t mean its bad. Get your head out of the sand and be a critic not a cynic.
“We’re greeted by a group of Little Black Dresses behind the greeting station.”
Wow.
Would she have said ” We’re greeted by a group of Tiny Little Kimonos or Suit And Ties”
I think someone thinks they’re better than the folks that work to feed them.
Read the review, it wasn’t bad at all. “little black dress” comment aside, it’s a perfectly fair review.
I agree, jennifer.
I found that snide comment demeaning to those women.
Imagine if the greeters had written about Melissa “We were approached by a Morbidly Obese Parka…”
“It’s like going to dinner in an episode of CSI: Miami.”
You had me right there. Quote of the week.
As for the restaurant, meh, like it, or don’t, move on.
That is not a picture of a meal, that’s a snack.
Chains are just that, chains. Safe food, safer atmosphere. I’d rather spend 20 bucks a plate on food that I know I probably wont be disappointed with rather than spend 15-25 bucks a plate on food that might be good, or might not be good. I’ve never understood chain snobs, and never will.
I’ve been to Moxie’s out west, but not at this one yet. From what I remember, I found it a change of pace from the so-called “Jack Montana’s East Side Pizza” atmosphere that permeates those restaurants. To call it cheap would be akin to going into a place like Nectar Social House and calling that cheap. The food is indeed conservative, but that’s expected.
I don’t understand chain snobs, either. Some food in these places can be and is, good. Just because there’s multiple locations of a place doesn’t automatically deserve an “I won’t eat there” blanket statement. I’ve only been to Moxie’s twice, but the food I had was very tasty, especially the beef vindaloo.
As for the “little black dress” comments, well, I wouldn’t worry about the women working there being concerned about being demeaned, if they were, then they’d wear something longer than what could easily qualify as a belt. Short skirts are one thing, those are way too short.
For a review that turns out to be generally positive from a critic who firstly states “that going to a big-box chain restaurant is the culinary equivalent of being at the bottom of Jame Gumb’s well,” I find the title misleading and unfair. Moxie’s did NOT provide Melissa Buote her “classic chain reaction,” it exceeded her expectations.
I also agree that just because a restaurant is a chain, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be a bad place to eat with poor quality food. What if Jane’s on the Common opened up in another few locations, would that automatically make it one of these big bad chain restaurants? What about the Hamachi “chain”? Does the ohh so refined Melissa Buote thumb her nose up at them because they have a few locations around HRM, too?
At the same time, there are a number of those locally owned restaurants which are simply just crap. Melissa, you’re a FOOD CRITIC. You’re supposed to critique FOOD (and sure, the drinks, service, and atmosphere), not the nature of the restaurant’s ownership.
And finally, please don’t criticize the short short skirts at Moxie’s – it’s one thing that keeps me and many men going back. It’s all part of the atmosphere there if you ask me. And the low-cut shirts… hubba hubba! Really, guy or girl, would you rather be served by a “Little Black Dress” or a “Morbidly Obese Parka”?
I think part of the problem is that the reviewer has an issue with hyperbole. It’s really not her fault; today’s journalistic style calls for it.
qpmzw, how exactly do you separate the food from the nature of the establishment?