The Mmoon Empanadas – San Jose, CA

The Mmoon shop is located in the heart of San Jose downtown on a trendy street within walking distance of the HP Pavillion (Shark Tank). They specialize in Empanadas, which are flaky, baked turnovers with fillings such as beef, chicken, vegetables, etc. My friend had been there before and raved about the Empanadas so I wanted to try as I’ve never had authentic Empanadas before.

On this visit, we ordered 3 kinds of Empanadas – the Beef Tri-Tip, the Sausage, and Nick’s Pizza. The Beef Tri-Tip filling consisted of ground tri-tip with grilled onions, provolone, tomato, olive, and hard-boiled egg.  The Sausage consisted of Sicilian sausage sautéed in sweet onion with cheese and spices. The Nick’s Pizza featured pepperoni, sausage, tomato, cheese, and red pepper.  The Empanadas were $2.30 each and were freshly baked to order.  They were served with Mmoon’s signature chimichurri sauce.

Of the 3 varieties we ordered, my favourite was the Beef Tri-Tip. The tri-tip chunks were tender and flavourful. I really enjoyed the combination of flavours and textures. I liked that the pastry was flaky, light, and crispy on all the Empanadas. The Sausage Empanada was tasty as well with a spicy kick. My least favourite of the 3 varieties was Nick’s Pizza as it reminded me too much of frozen pizza pockets.  I loved Mmoon’s signature chimichurri sauce that the Empanadas were served with.  The sauce give it the extra punch of flavour.  Overall, I thought the Empanadas were very tasty. I liked that they were freshly baked to order.   On my next visit, in addition to the savoury ones, I’d want to save room to try a sweet variety as well.  The Mmoon has a Banapple Empanada ($1.90) with a filling of banana and apple sautéed in brown butter and maple syrup. Hopefully, it’s as tasty as it sounds.

The Mmoon Empanadas
177 W. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 999-0288
http://www.themmoon.com