MOONSHINE
MOONShine. It is a story about love. A little bit more of passion and pleasure than allowed. Daring and belief in the intoxicating taste of eternity. It is love that reveals the moments of togetherness during everyday celebrations and special occasions, the heart of the deep tunes and the moments when it seems that everything around stops. And it started long ago, when a black man was sitting in the moonlight and playing the kalimba. It started long ago, when young ladies sent soldiers their farewell kisses expecting men to come back home. Our slogan is a Hot Rod roar, a Pin-Up girl’s smile, some soul-warming notes and moments when we can say to ourselves again and again – we are at the right place. MOONShine.This a bit naive but lovely legend was made by the team of the “MOONshine” musical restaurant situated in the Old Town centre at Kalku Street 12 (next to Livu Square). This is certainly the most “American” place in Riga after the US Embassy! And, as the owner of the restaurant and the author of the idea Raimonds Ungurs says, it was done deliberately. The idea was cherished and the restaurant interior accessories were collected for years.
Honestly speaking, the interior is the first thing you notice when crossing the threshold of the res-taurant. It is the combination of the old classical American bar and restaurant style of the 1950’s and 60’s supplemented by some “Hard-Rock cafe” elements. At the entrance you are welcomed by the king of rock-and-roll Elvis’ life-size sculpture. On the first floor, or in the Pin-Up garage you will see a red Hot Rod (by the way, in a good working order) and the Harley Davison motorcycle. There are also some small theatrical souvenir shops. The style of the bar perfectly matches the overall idea, and even the WC is in a form of a van from the 60’s! All around there are posters and other accessories from the 50’s and 60’s US bars. It is colourful but not kitschy here. You just feel like somewhere in California or Texas sixty years ago. It was the time when the cars where huge, when Elvis started his way to glory, and when nobody knew about the Internet!
A ladder made as the real airstairs goes to the second floor and a spacious music room. As Raymond says, it was built in the so-called “B.B. King” style, that is exactly the way the restaurants of a legend of the Blues are organized – when great attention is paid not only to gastronomy, but also to musical components. That is the core of “MOONshine”. Live music is here every day, but on weekends a real celebration of blues, jazz, and rockabilly begins. Responsible for the restaurant’s musical program is the best well-known Latvian blues group “Latvian Blues Band”. Needless to say, the restaurant scene welcomes the most popular Latvian blues and rockabilly artists, as well as the blues stars from the United States frequently perform here.
Svetlana Samuilova is responsible for the restaurant’s gastronomic section. It is interesting to note that she is one of the few female chefs in Riga restaurants as currently they are dominated by men! Clearly, the menu fits to the entire “MOONshine” style – a la America. It means that one can enjoy both juicy burgers and prime beef steaks. Here you can start with breakfast, if you wish, for example, fried or scrambled eggs with bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, beans in tomato sauce and toast for 6.80 euro. We also recommend you oatmeal porridge with butter or maple syrup and bananas for 6 euros. Salads are equally delicious. The choice of salads is not wide, but the classical Caesar is really good. You can order it with chicken or shrimps for 10.80 euro. By the way, if you are three or more guests, we recommend you to try “BIG BAND big snack plate”. It costs 31.50 euro, but includes a lot of delicious snacks such as onion rings, calamari rings, chicken wings, chicken nuggets, cheddar cheese balls, smoked sausage cigars, prosciutto, garlic bread, and olives served with garlic sauce. From main courses we would like to specially note “Dixie Fried” – American BBQ-honey pork ribs with French fries and coleslaw salad /17.50/. And real fans of the American cuisine can choose from the variety of classical beef steaks. American Black Angus beef has quality grading depending on the level of marbling – PRIME, CHOICE and SELECT. We offer a CHOICE with a medium degree of marbling. Clearly, you can choose the quantity and a level of rare, medium rare, medium, medium well done, or well done. Price depends on the weight of the meat. On average the steak costs 37–39 euro. And let us not forget about the burgers! They are really juicy and very tasty at the price of about 14–17 euro. Finally, who knows, in the American-style restaurant you might like to try local Latvian dishes.... It is also possible! The choice is not too big, but meals are really toothsome! We recommend you blood sausage with loganberry jam /7.50 euro/.
The choice of drinks and spirits on the two floors of the restaurant will satisfy different preferences. And, as the restaurant’s name is “MOONshine”, for those who do not know we will explain: this word is used to describe high-proof distilled spirits that are generally produced illicitly. In the United States moonshining is prohibited, so people can enjoy the drink only at night. That is why it is called MOONshine! And, according to the name of the restaurant, the bar serves a real moonshine! We have tried it – good, with a strong flavour of horseradish. This is a real surprise to the experts!
In conclusion, we recommend you to visit the “MOONshine” restaurant just to make sure that rock’n’roll is still alive!
"SLEEPY LaBEEF" – salad with fried beef fillet steak 18.50 euro
"Memphis rock-and-soul” – prawns roasted in garlic and herb butter with white baguette 7.20 euro
"The Million dollar Quartet” – baguette with beef fillet steak 16.50 euro
"Downhome" – New York cheesecake 7.90 euro
