Moustache, with locations in the East and West Village, combines value with a setting suitably impressive for first-date dinners. The two locations share more than a menu. Despite physical differences between the two spaces the East Village Moustache is long and narrow, a tight space with an enclosed garden in the back, while the big windows of the more spacious West Village location face a peaceful side street their interiors are eerily similar. At both, scarlet and yellow woven rugs hang on exposed red brick and green-painted walls. At night, votive candles light each table.
Service is relaxed maybe a tad too relaxed.
Servers tended to disappear into the partially-open kitchens. In Moustache east, a scrawny white cat sleeps contentedly on an empty wooden chair, oblivious to the few diners. The lamb is tender and very rare, wrapped up in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes and onions. The meat is accompanied by grilled tomato and onion and a salad of chopped tomatoes, onions and parsley in an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. The thin, crispy round bread is laden with toppings, from peppers, onions and mozzarella to such more esoteric toppings as lamb, shrimp and scallions.