If I'm being honest, which I am, Moo Cantina should receive 3.5 stars. I've decided to round up because I got a good night's sleep last night and I'm in a reasonably good mood this morning even though I have a headache from the two beers I had (what's my problem?).
To start, this restaurant is located on a very busy road where stopping is not allowed. So if you arrive or depart via taxi, note that you will need to do so on the nearest side road.
Next, there are four distinct areas of this restaurant: large patio, restaurant, bar, and lounge. And though the space is large, there is a lack of seating, especially in the bar area. It felt like the bar area had purposely been void of furniture just in case someone wanted to have a dance party. Anyway, our large group of 9 first sat at a long table in the bar but were told that if we wanted food, we would need to sit in the restaurant (note: later on in the evening I saw people sitting at our original bar table eating food). We then moved to the restaurant and some people in our group were not happy sitting in the restaurant, so we then moved to the lounge area which is in the back of the restaurant. Oh, and we originally started on the patio but were forced to move inside when it started spitting down. So, in one visit to Moo, I've sat in each of the four areas.
The lounge area is the worst part of the restaurant mainly because the seating is uncomfortable and it's space has been designed for lounging, not eating and we were there to eat (and drink, of course). In the lounge area, there are two low coffee tables with bench seating around the perimeter and short stools around the other sides of the coffee table. Since I arrived at the lounge area last, I was one of the unlucky ones who was forced to sit on a stool and get bumped around all evening by people trying to walk through the lounge area to get to the bar and slump over my knees because the stools did not have backs.
Service was slow but friendly. I think your best bet for drinks is to order at the bar and sherpa them back to your table yourself. The food seemed to take forever but I need to remember that we had a large group and that I was starving which always makes it seem like food is taking longer to be delivered than it actually is.
To start, we ordered beef empanadas and I was a huge fan but my husband was not. For our main, my husband and I ordered the Moo for Two and the portion size was generous though I am not sure we would have brought half of the second steak home for the dog had it been cooked appropriately. We ordered the steaks medium and one was medium-well while the other was definitely rare. Had we not ordered so late in the evening, we would have sent the steak back but having waited so long and being so famished and also not being able to find anyone to send the steak back with, we just chose to leave it eaten and surprise the dog later.
The sausages were good - they were real sausages like with meat and stuff, not those shitty oat-filled sausages they typically serve in England. The sautéed tomato I could have done without and the melted cheese in a fajita-style plate was good but note that the cheese should be eaten first as it hardens as it cools and it's just not as good after it has hardened. For our sides we ordered fries (not included in the Moo for Two).
The main problem that I had with the food was not the food but rather trying to eat the food while seated at what felt like a kiddie table. With the price we paid for our food, it was unfortunate that it was ruined by where some people in our group chose to sit.
If I had to do it all over again, I think we'd skip the Moo for Two and order two separate steak (which comes with one side of your choice) and then order a sausage as an additional item. Doing this would reduce our bill by about £10 (simply by omitting one sausage, the melted cheese and four small pieces of bread, and side salad). Oh, and I'd still order the empanadas to start because they were delicious. In fact, maybe I would just order the empanadas as a starter, main, and dessert! read more