Pan-Gulf food on the menu at New Moon's latest site
The menu at the Mockingbird Taproom, in Chester – which opened on Saturday (11 October) – has influences from South America, Mexico, American Gulf states and the Eastern Seaboard.
Dishes featured include gumbos, fajitas and burgers, and shellfish such as fresh oysters, crawfish and shrimps and ribs in cola, chilli and treacle.
A key focus is also beef from Cheshire and fresh fish cooked in a range of styles and flavours representative of the Gulf regions.
The site is the premises of the former Fat Cat Café bar.
Kitchens director
Mockingbird Taproom’s new menu has been devised by the company’s kitchens director Paul Mercandelli.
The brunch menu features dishes including rise and shine griddle cake, which includes smoked pork & herb sausage, chopped bacon & diced potato cooked in a griddle pan with sweetened onions & jalapeños and smoke pit brisket and egg taco.
It also features sweet stacks of toasted waffles or pancakes with toppings including blueberries and strawberries, ham and pecans and maple syrup and French ‘Quarter’ Toast of egg-soaked French brioche, cinnamon and maple syrup with blueberries & strawberries or bacon and pecan nuts.
The main menu offers a sharing starter of bacon dusted scallops and smoked Bourbon BBQ belly pork, sticky cola, black treacle & chilli ribs, lime & black pepper squid and smoke pit chilli brisket.
There is also a seafood sharer of salt and pepper scallops, Longboat Key shrimps, fried oysters, BBQ shrimp tacitos, lime and black pepper squid, Bloody Mary shot, aioli and béarnaise.
Other starters include tomato and charred watermelon salad, chilli brisket empanadas and sardine ceviche.
Gumbos
A range of gumbos include the Lucifer licked featuring chicken, sweet potato & spicy sausage and ‘Howling at the Moon’ sauce; and French Quarter, which includes rabbit, frogs legs and beaucoup de vin rouge.
The burger offer includes the Hoover Dam Burger, which includes smoke-pit chilli brisket, Louisiana chicken, herb onion rings, Havana pineapple fritter, Texan ‘mop’ gravy and ‘Howling at the Moon’ sauce.
Customers can use their own spiciness level of fajitas with fillings including charcoal roasted vegetables, chicken fillet strips, beef brisket, prime English beef and shelled king prawn, scallops and tuna.
Other mains include: Louisiana fried chicken; chicken bacon cobb salad; smoked belly pork and fritto chilli pie.
Cleaning up
Paul Newman, the company’s co-owner, said: "We’ve done ‘dirty’, done ‘smokin’ and done ‘pulled’ – Mockingbird Taproom is cleaning up dirty food!"
Founded in 2011, New Moon Pub Company was named Business of the Year at the 2014 Cheshire Business Awards earlier this month.
Co-owner Dave Mooney said he would be "amazed" if they haven't opened another three sites "at the least" over the next 12 months.
