I was invited to Moxie’s for lunch today and what a treat that was! At my friend’s recommendation, I had the Kobe Beef & Portobello mushroom burger with Bleu Cheese, the second half of which I’ll savor for dinner (a testament to portion size). Their French fries are slightly larger than shoestring potato size, crisp and marvelously seasoned (parmesan cheese, chili powder & ????). My friend had a wonderful stir-fry dish with steamed rice. We both had to pass on dessert, but next time, we’ll start with that!

I try to find an excuse to be in downtown Spokane a few times a month. I usually make my way into Moxie for dinner and have always been pleased. My favorite meal was a sea bass special with crab cakes, broccolini, and an avocado sauce. Very tasty. Throw a tasty red blend and a couple of friends in the mix, and times are good. I tried Moxie for lunch last week and had a hard time choosing my meal, the menu reads well and I am confident that it is all great. After some serious thought, I decided on the Kobe Burger, it wasn’t the Kobe beef that won me over, it was the applewood smoked bacon, bleu cheese, and the demi, yes demiglace on the burger, tasty veal reduction mixing with the juice from the perfectly cooked burger. If you can’t tell, I was very happy. Once again thank you for a great meal. Highly Recommended!

Visiting Spokane and saw your site, eventually selecting Moxie. Good choice, and reviews here are a pretty good guide. had some szechuan green beans, which were tasty (a few overcooked) with a great sauce. Northwest Paella was a curious mix of risotto and paella, but it worked well, with some excellent seafood scattered around. And these folks can definitely cook duck!

Finished with a surprisingly light banana caramel torte, which disappeared in seconds. Pleasant end to a pleasant dinner – need to try somewhere else tonight!

Moxie is another one of the best restaurants here in Spokane. I especially love their asparagus appetizer and they have delicious bread too. And the french onion soup…to die for.

Moxie was wonderful…our party had the Feta cheese small plate – excellent and plenty for 4 to share for an appetizer. Then meatloaf…chicken risotto, teriyaki flank steak, and farm salad….All were excellent and beautifully presented. We will be going back for dinner and lunch. Service could not have been better.

Moxie’s is one of those restaurants that can be hard to review. My basis for this critique is looking at Moxies as an upscale neighborhood bistro that features the overly commonplace Euro/American/Asian fusion mix.

The interior is trendy and stylish but nothing to get excited about, the show kitchen is banal – they went out of style in the early 1990s and for good reason in my opinion. They need more sound-proofing and their service is lacking for a upscale bistro but comparable to a Applebee’s dining experience. Not bad service, just unrefined.

The prices seem high for a upscale bistro, but the environment and service that you receive you cannot place Moxie into a high-end dining experience.

Onto the food, when they first opened many of the meals were too complex, meaning they had too many competing flavors. Rather then try to highlight the main ingredient and bring out the nuances with balance you were blasted away with up to 4 competing strong flavors. In my mind this is a sign of a immature chef who has figured out that complimentary flavors can add depth so much like a child who figures out that a scoop of laundry detergent cleans well, then 4 scoops must clean 4 Xs better.

However as of early 2008 Moxie began to get it together, the ‘extra added ingredients’ began to slowly disappear off of the menu items and the flavor began to evolve into a more nuanced and better balanced dishes. Before this change Moxie would have rated only 2-3 stars in my book, but since they have matured and the food has gotten better they now get a 4 stars.

Why not 5 stars? Service and ambiance that do not match the prices and every once in a while we still get 4 scoops of laundry detergent on a plate.

This is one of our favorite places in Spokane. We love the sea bass. Great staff and service.