Spicy Moon Chelsea — Restaurant in New York

2/5 - Beautiful Atmosphere, Underwhelming Experience

My experience here was a 2/5—not terrible, but as the other millennials would say, "mid."

The Good

The location is beautiful, and the atmosphere is stunning—warm, intimate, and perfect for a date or a close gathering with friends. The space invites closeness in a way that feels cozy rather than cramped (at least when seated).

The drinks were a highlight. My bartender made me the “Surprise Me” cocktail, which was amazing. They took the time to ask what I liked, and my date also loved their drink. That part of the night was genuinely enjoyable.

The Not-So-Good

Tight Space & Wait Time: I made a reservation in advance (highly recommend, as it’s a small space). When we arrived, we were seated at the bar for about 15 minutes before getting our table. The space is tight, and waiting around isn’t the most comfortable experience.

Seating & Traffic: Our table was at the end of a row with a curved booth seat, positioned near a high-traffic area with staff and customers constantly moving past, which made for an interesting (and slightly chaotic) dining experience.

Service: Our server was polite but hands-off. We waited 10 minutes after being seated before being asked if we wanted to order food.

The Food

Menu: A solid selection, though a little pricey for the portion sizes.

Taste: Just okay—nothing terrible, but nothing to write home about.

Presentation & Portions: A recurring issue was the lack of sauce. For instance, the cumin fries were a good portion, but the sauce came in a half-filled container. This was the case for all the other dishes we ordered.

Missed Dish: We never received our Chopped Cheese Eggrolls, and when we brought it up at the end, the staff didn’t seem particularly fazed.

Final Thoughts

While the drinks and atmosphere were great, the overall experience was underwhelming. The service was slow, the food was fine but unremarkable, and the attention to detail (like missing dishes and portioning sauces) was lacking.

I might give another location a try to see if the experience is different, but for now, this one was just "okay."

Would I rush back?...

My vegan AND non-vegan friends love Spicy Moon for their delicious Chinese food, especially their mapo tofu and Dan Dan noodles. We’ve dined in person and ordered takeout multiple times and have always been happy.

It seems that Chelsea is actually their 4th location. It’s not a huge space but they’re able to fit multiple parties, join several rectangular tables for larger parties, and they have a window seating area near their entrance for solo diners.

Me being a mapo tofu fan, I really like their version of it even without meat although they offer it with vegan beef. It’s saucy without being overly oily, and has a light enjoyable heat. We usually also order Dan Dan noodles which are chewy, saucy, and savory without being too spicy.

During a recent weekend visit we came with a party of 9 and were glad we had made a reservation because they were otherwise busy. 3 of us also ordered additional food to go because we live in NJ and that’s how much we enjoy it!

The only real complaint I’d say we had is just about the lighting level, which at some point during our meal dropped to something dark enough that menus became difficult to read for a group of 30-somethings. Other tables seemed to have at least a small light above their tables but for some reason our area did not have anything beyond small candles at the table.

They have two bathrooms, one in the back well-marked and very spacious. The other is extremely compact.

I’m already looking forward to our next...

Anytime I come to nyc I try to add this to my list. I’ve been to the other location a few times and am always impressed. This was my first time at the Chelsea one and I’ll be honest. I was not blown away away… first off the prices were very high. Much higher than I remember but I guess that’s inflation for you. I ordered the vegan general tsos chicken and was expecting it to be seitan chicken but as it came out it was a mix of tofu, cauliflower, mushrooms and some bits of seitan. Misleading in my opinion especially for $30 of tha and broccoli. Doesn’t even come with rice unless you add it on for $4. I asked the server for his rec on the Szechwan fried rice bathe noodles and he said the rice. I asked if it was spicy and he said no, more favorable if anything. Well that was partially accurate. Very spicy and made me and my friends snot come out onto our food. Should have went with the noodles. And that was around $20. The dry rub seitan drumsticks were the best part but had a wooden chopstick in it which was a surprise to our teeth. Would have been nice with a warning. Since this is vegan we’re not expecting a bone in there. And the Thai tea which I was very excited for was $12, not that sweet, and was such a small serving. Overall it’s good but the value is not there and I probably wouldn’t eat here again with all the other options...