Takeout stakeout: Mix Moon

the mango sticky rice dessert at Mix Moon restaurant in New Lynn, Auckland.

IN

The menu is enormous, and not in that way of so many curry-dominated takeaway places where each dish is basically the same thing with a different meat. The genuine diversity and lack of thematic coherence forces you to ponder deeply over the menu, which is not cheap. The roti channai (boneless chicken curry with potatoes and roti), for instance, is $25. "Is it enormous?" I asked myself. "Will we need anything else?" No and yes, respectively, I would subsequently discover. The phone order was easy, but I was told the wait would be 25 minutes, and that's quite long for a bit after 5pm on a Sunday.

OUT

The food was presented basically, but honestly, in clear plastic containers and in a plain plastic bag. It was ready when we arrived, 25 minutes after order, so it's probable they were just giving themselves leeway with their time prediction.

THE TAKEAWAY

The roti channai was heavy on the chicken, as it needed to be for the price, but as so many takeaway curries nowaday aren't. Sometimes you get what you pay for. The sauce was rich, tasty, creamy, maybe a bit heavy on the oil, the roti soft and powdery. The satay chicken ($8 for three sticks) was densely sauced, chunky, sweet and nutty, and the takoyaki, small battered balls with a creamy octopus-laden interior ($10 for six) were a smooth, doughy delight.

In generally criticising the food scene of New Lynn a couple of years ago, Herald restaurant critic Peter Calder specifically praised Mix Moon, citing the credentials and quality of output of chef and owner Vuthichai Tatrakul (Chef Vut), and his skill in covering the massive gastronomic landscape of Southeast Asia.

Chef Vut is still at the helm and Mix Moon's place as one of the leading providers of quality food in West Auckland is still intact. All of Southeast Asia is probably too much ground to cover completely authentically, but they don't appear to be having any problem doing it deliciously.

Lowdown

Mix Moon
29 Totara Ave, New Lynn
Ph: (09) 827 3313