Moon Rabbit

Could a single restaurant make Penn Quarter’s food scene cool again? Kicking back with a pho martini in Kevin Tien’s buzzy, cozy-chic Vietnamese restaurant might have you thinking yes. Tien relocated Moon Rabbit from a Wharf hotel early last year, and it feels like an entirely different, and more fully realized, restaurant. Here, crab rangoon is turned into a gooey robiola-cheese dip, elegant Thermidor is made with sweet giant shrimp, not lobster, and perilla leaves stuffed with Wagyu are among the best things we ate in 2024. Durian-curious? Pastry chef Susan Bae takes the stink out of the famously funky fruit and spins it into a lush mousse.