Phantom Gourmet: Moonshine 152 In South Boston

BOSTON (CBS) – Just steps from the Broadway T stop on Dorchester Ave. in South Boston is a real neighborhood restaurant.

Moonshine 152 the kind of place where all your favorites are made a whole lot better than you're used to.

And it's a place where the talent of the kitchen really shines.

Chef-owner Asia Mei has worked her way up through some of Boston's best restaurants.

"I like rising to challenge, and I feel like kitchens are certainly a good source of challenges," she said.

And even though she now runs her own place, Mei still loves to get behind the grill.

"I've always loved to line cook and I've always loved to work fast and hard and clean and just get in with everybody," Mei added.

And the food they put out represents all of Mei's culinary background.

"I grew up in California, so what I grew up eating was just a lot of wonderful Asian food, really great Mexican Latin American flavors," she explains. "But the thing is, I learned how to cook here in New England."

So Mei created a menu filled with local, seasonal ingredients cooked up with the flavors she loves, like Korean barbecue tacos, outstanding steak nachos, buttermilk fried chicken wings, and an ever-changing burger of the month.

"No matter what garnishing goes on there, you start with a great thick burger that's going to be juicy and flavorful, and then the rest is just like frosting on top," Mei said.

A killer burger, and just about everything else on the menu are the kinds of foods that taste even better late at night, which is why the kitchen serves well past midnight and why Asia decided name the restaurant "Moonshine."

"Because we are here until two in the morning every night, we work by the light of the moon," she said. "And so I always just wanted to create a neighborhood spot where, when the sun went down, everybody knew where to go for a great gathering place.  And that's why we are here."

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.