Dining out

Mary Furr

Good independently-owned eating places on Main Street don’t disappear

after a couple of blocks from the pier. Keep going until you reach

MoonShine, the last place on Main, across from the library and next to

the art gallery.

Here, five months ago in the darkened depths of the former Taco Surf,

two experienced young people, Jayme Stewart and Todd Mams, opened a most

unusual place for evening dining and Sunday morning breakfast/brunch.

The champagne brunch is different -- it won’t jar you into a busy

runaround, rather it will seduce you with its black interior and a

life-size golden mermaid suspended over a narrow U-shaped bar. The

black-clothed tables that surround the bar seem to invite you to relax,

unwind and decide which of the 10 choices on the breakfast/lunch menu

will be your selection.

Todd does the Sunday cooking and he follows his grandmother’s advice

-- “always get the best,” which he does with the flatiron steak and eggs

($12.95). It’s a house special, firm but tender, cut from the end of the

sirloin. He gets his meat from Newport Products, which also supplies

Duke’s and Captain Jack’s.

A tumbler of champagne comes with a basket of warm muffins that whets

the appetite for eggs benedict ($7.95), my selection served on a heavy

ceramic plate. It’s different by mistake. Todd says he used to prepare it

traditionally on an English muffin until he ran out one day and had to

substitute a split bagel. Customers liked it and it remains two perfectly

poached eggs on Canadian bacon and a toasted bagel covered with a smooth

butter cream sauce. Huge servings of cubed skin-on fried potatoes

complete each dish. The scrambled eggs with the steak are some of the

best -- light but well done. Service can be casual -- a glass of orange

juice ordered never arrived.

Cheesecake ($4.25) from the Pasadena Baking Company is a rich

indulgence -- a peach cobbler variation with a fruit-flavored thick

cheesy filling with bread crumb crust. Very good with a cup of coffee

($1.75).

There’s a charm about MoonShine -- the interior is decorated by Todd,

who also plays in a band, and Jayme, an Orange Coast College Culinary

Arts major, with walls hung with original oils and the Beach Series of

photos by Cindy Schafer. Moon lanterns hang over each table and a

revolving mirror-ball gently turns over the bar. Check out the restroom

area where the walls and ceiling are decorated with album covers and

music messages.

MoonShine is rare -- good food with flair and originality. It is a

fresh addition to the emerging resort image of Huntington Beach.

FYI

MoonShine

WHERE: 522 Main St.

HOURS: 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; brunch 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

SundayPHONE: (714) 374-4478

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions, call (562) 493-5062 or e-mail o7 [email protected]