Moonstruck — Italian / American, Asbury Park
Moonstruck has been a serious presence in Asbury Park's dining scene long enough to predate the revival — one of the restaurants that held quality standards through the city's difficult decades and benefited from the renewed attention that the revival brought.
The Italian-American menu is executed with the care that a small, owner-operated room can sustain — housemade pasta, seasonal preparations, and the Italian wine list that the kitchen has been building for years.
The intimate scale — twenty-odd seats in a room that the owners clearly love — produces the atmosphere that only small restaurants with genuine personalities achieve. The staff knows the menu because they care about it.
The location on Lake Ave puts Moonstruck in the heart of the year-round Asbury Park that has sustained it through the summers and the off-seasons.
Best Occasion: Perfect for Proposals
The intimate Italian room, housemade pasta, and the Asbury Park that existed before the revival and knows itself better for it. The proposal dinner where the restaurant's personality is the setting.
Best Occasion: Works for Impressing Clients
A serious Italian-American room in Asbury Park signals deep local knowledge. The housemade pasta and Italian wine list make the culinary case.