Moonlight & Eli — Restaurant in Calgary

We had Valentine's dinner at Moonlight and Eli and had a really good time. There were highs and lows, and overall I dont know if it's an experience I would recommend, but I don't regret eating there. The staff was great and had a fun energy. They were casual but professional. The decor was homey and personable, and the bathroom was fantastic. The food itself was composed of an assembly of seemingly hard to gather ingredients of exquisite quality. Delicious meat, fresh vegetables, and a fun pickled selection (really liked the asparagus), and the cheese fondue was really fun. They also offered us some shaved black truffle which added a tremendous earthy flavor to the cheese. Would definitely recommend. However, the restaurant itself felt very cramped, and upon entering a musty odor was prominent (probably from the fondue). Some ventilation would be nice. And overall the treatment of their exquisite ingredients seemed way too simplistic. Nothing was really elevated. For example, the app was pineapple with slices of cured meat on top. The pineapple had been sprinkled with mexican spice. Overall it seemed too simple and not elevated in any way. For the price I would have expected a more experienced treatment, such as carmelization, or instead of generic spice, the use of sliced jalapenos or pickled peppers. This extends to much of the meal. Overall, we had a great time. It felt like with more space, and a bit more thought into the preparation and handling of their ingredients, it would really be something special. We are happy we had a chance to eat with them and enjoyed...

We went for the Taylor Swift night that was advertised as seeming to be $40 per person including champagne and bottomless fondue. First of all no champagne or drink was included in the $40 price like it made it seem in the advertisement. Server suggested some cocktail but we didn’t want to pay extra for that as the drinks were a little pricey ( but that’s expected). The really nice server was helpful and kind. She suggested that we get the $65 fondue because it’s really filling and good for two people so we ordered that plus a few add ons. Our reservation was for 7:30 and we didn’t get our food until after 9pm. It took 1hr and 35 mins to get our fondue (which keep in mind had no meat or anything to be cooked besides the cheese). Once we got the fondue we were a little disappointed at the size, it was definitely not enough for two people as it was advertised as a dinner occasion, it was more of a small appetizer. The cheese ran out in like 5 mins (not nearly enough for dinner for two people). The sides were disappointing and small; cold potatoes, pickled cold veggies. The small portion sizes on top of the wait time left us still hungry and a little discouraged when we got our bill of $80 something dollars. The waitress or owner did comp our pops that we got due to the long wait time which was super kind and appeciated. However, this place is not worth the price and we felt a little lied to based on the advertisement for this event. That being said though, the staff was very inviting and kind just the service time, portion sizing, and...

We came in for dinner last night! We hadn’t read any reviews before going but were big fans of the fondue and champagne concept. Right off the bat, there’s a $25 per person cancellation fees for resos which I really wasn’t a big fan of. The restaurant is tiny with only bar seating, three small tables along the wall and a back room area. We chose to sit in the back away from everyone else which was nice and intimate! There was only one person servicing the entire restaurant. She was bartending, serving, and cooking on her own. Given that, service was super super slow. It took us 25 minutes from sitting down to get our drinks. We were also never given water. We didn’t get our food until about an hour after we sat down. The fondue was delicious as were the accompaniments. We also ordered the charcuterie to go along with it. Overall the fondue was not worth the price. $60 for a small pot of fondue and a small assortment to dip is kind of a crazy price! We also got the chocolate fondue for dessert, again everything was delicious but absolutely not worth the price. $200 for two people for two courses plus a bottle of bubbles was a lot given what the food was. I work in the industry and while I totally understand food costs are rising, when you only have one staff member to pay and such slow service it’s not fair to charge such high prices. Again, while everything was delicious, the entire experience was underwhelming and we would probably not...