Wax & Wane: Moon Bar’s unique flavors and attention to detail shine bright at monthly pop-ups

September 19, 2023

Jordan Baranowski,

Moon Bar pop-up at Swordfish Tom’s. // Photo by Brooke Tramel

Some of us follow roundabout paths to find our calling. For Saranya Hubbard, co-owner and drink designer of Moon Bar, she knew where her path was leading from the moment she mixed her first drink.

“I started out as a bartender in Bangkok, and I fell in love with the creative freedom and style of the bars I worked in,” Hubbard says. “My goal became to open a cocktail bar of my own, where I got to make the decisions of what to serve and how to serve it.”

Hubbard moved from Bangkok to the United States in 2020. She quickly identified that the Kansas City area was missing Japanese-style cocktail bars—something that she knew she could help bring to life. Working with her husband, Zachary, and her friend Jackie Nguyen (who runs Cafe Cà Phê), Saranya Hubbard started laying down the groundwork for what would evolve into Moon Bar.

Hubbard explains that a Japanese-style cocktail bar is very meticulous and very detailed.

“Everything fits into a specific place,” she says. “The aesthetic is very particular, and the tools are all uniform and just a little bit different than what you see at American cocktail bars. As for the drinks themselves, there is nothing extra—everything that’s in the glass belongs there and needs to make sense with the rest of the drink.”

Even though Moon Bar bills itself as a Japanese-style bar, Hubbard doesn’t limit herself to only Japanese flavors. Not only did she get to travel frequently when she lived in Bangkok, but the city itself is a huge hub for a variety of cultures.

“At Moon Bar, we mostly focus on East Asian flavor profiles: Japan, China, Korea,” she says. “But I wanted to pull in some of the strong flavors from India and the Middle East, and even some Western influences. I didn’t want any style of drink to be off-limits for us.”

Moon Bar’s drinks are incredibly thoughtful and incredibly tasty. They are all subject to change, depending on the feedback they’ve received and what ingredients are available, but there are a few that stand out as drinks that could become “signatures.” The Roselle Wasabi starts with a base of sake and grappa, lending a light, sweet taste to things. A kick of horseradish makes the drink intensely refreshing, and it’s complex enough to make you want to dive in immediately for a second sip. The Green and White starts with Japanese whiskey, combined with a delicate mixture of matcha and white chocolate, then topped with puffed rice.

If it sounds good, that’s because it is. Everything Moon Bar put in front of us was beautiful and delicious.

Moon Bar runs monthly pop-ups at a variety of locations around town. Their first public pop-up was in August at Swordfish Tom’s in the Crossroads.

“We had no idea how excited people were to come try our drinks,” Hubbard says. “We sold out of things so quickly! It was an eye-opening experience, but it also made us realize that we might be on the right track.”

Moon Bar has since held pop-ups at Columbus Park’s Cafe Cà Phê and Westport’s Chingu. With each, Hubbard asks customers to take surveys about the unique food and drink menu she offers, as well as any feelings they have about the decor and branding. She and her staff are also quick to socialize with guests, making sure to find out what they are enjoying and what doesn’t work as well.

“Our pop-ups are a way for us to start to raise money toward our business, but, more importantly, they’re the best way for us to get direct feedback so we can start strong when we open our brick-and-mortar space,” she says.

This means that every time you arrive at a Moon Bar pop-up, you’ve got chances to try something completely new—and you’ve got a chance to help influence future iterations.

Each Moon Bar pop-up also has some food available, but what you’ll be able to order varies wildly depending on the hosting location. At Cafe Cà Phê, there was a very limited menu of local bites. However, at their Chingu pop-up, Hubbard worked with the team at the restaurant to develop dishes that would fit the drinks she was creating.

For now, Hubbard plans on holding about one pop-up each month for the foreseeable future. She announces each location a few weeks in advance on Moon Bar’s Instagram, where you’ll need to reserve a time. You’ll want to be quick, as spots tend to fill up fast. She plans to continue this pattern for several months, but she’s not losing sight of the original dream.

“I hope to open a permanent location sometime next year,” she says. “But we’ll just have to see how things go.”

With the quality and unique mindset Moon Bar brings to the table, it seems likely that their next phase will arrive sooner rather than later.

Photos by Brooke Tramel