Depending on who you talk to, local chef Brad Moore is either a brilliantly inspired and innovative culinary genius or just a gastronomic con artist whose main contribution to our food world has been to get away with jacking up the prices of something as simple as a bowl of curry.

Regardless of which side of the fence you stand on, one thing you can’t argue about is his success. Barely into his mid-thirties, he’s already presided over two restaurants (Monsoon, Xacutti) to raves, designed and overseen construction of a pair of resort restaurants in Turks and Caicos, and is credited with the creation of a culinary genre all his own: New-Asian cuisine.

With his latest venture, Eleven, kitty-corner to St. Lawrence Market, Moore’s new, sleekly designed boite purportedly offers the next evolutionary step of his visionary East-East fusion cuisine: contemporary global comfort food.

What exactly does that mean? We’re not quite sure. But if portions are any indication, it might have something to do with eating before you come. Six gloriously sweet and sticky cinnamon-guava pork back ribs ($23), topped with crispy bits of shredded beet, disappear in the time it takes to say, “They’re charging what for this?” Sure, it’s delicious, but a main? On what planet? Yogurt chicken ($18), swimming in a pool of tomato-fenugreek ragout, is hardly enough to share as the server suggests we do — maybe if you’re dining with Mary-Kate.

Quality over quantity is always goo. But at Eleven’s prices, dishes had better be perfect. BBQ ginger beef ($28), with a subtle horseradish yogurt and beautifully crisp onion strips, has the potential to be an awe-inspiring dish. Alas, it’s overcooked. Ditto for a tiny fillet of halibut ($20) with lemon and coconut frites. True, Eleven has only been open several weeks, but cooking meat and fish properly shouldn’t be one of those kinks that need to be ironed out — and certainly not in Moore’s kitchen.

Sides are stellar, though. A stir-fry of green beans with lentils ($4) provides a refreshing jolt of heat; and Manchego truffled Yukon potatoes ($6) are perfection. Apps, too, get nothing but kudos: yam fries with sambola-laced soy and mustard mayo ($8) are superb, as are the tapioca-cumin fritters ($8) dipped in a choice of tamarind syrup or a tomato marmalade studded with black sesames. But it’s an unheard of Pawa-crusted squid ($9) that steals the show: tender tendrils under a light and airy batter of what looks like flattened rice has us thinking that maybe there’s something to this world-fusion food.

Desserts, though made in-house, don’t go beyond ordinary for someone creating a new category of cuisine. A selection of house-made ice creams ($6, available in vanilla, coffee and cashew brittle) and a pumpkin-spiced brûlée with orange-tinted granola are certainly more than just serviceable. But tough-as-a-puck cinnamon-ginger doughnuts with toffee sauce truly disappoint. If Eleven’s food were as flawless as Moore’s catering of the Tom Dixon Interior Design Show party last week at the Klaus showroom, Moore would indisputably be en route to success. As it is, all faults aside, we’re still intrigued by Eleven’s so-called East-East fusion fare. We might just have to come back once Moore.