Mistral in Redwood City, CA
At the bequest of SM and AB, we went to Mistral last night. SM and AB are considering having an event there, and we went to test the waters, as it were. SM made reservations on Opentable without any problem, even though it was for a Saturday night. MH and I were the first to arrive, and we were promptly seated by the hostess. Someone brought water and bread immediately. The bread is almost like puffier pita bread, and comes in little rounds, which are sliced in half (on the diameter). A vinaigrette sauce for dipping comes with the bread basket. The vinaigrette honestly tastes like salad dressing.
We did our research before we went, and found out which entrées were on the event menu. I ordered the salmon en croute, which was served in philo with spinach. SM ordered the chicken breast. AB ordered shrimp and lobster risotto, and MH (ordering off the event menu) ordered penne with blackened chicken, and corn salsa. My salmon was moist, but had some perilous bones that I only noticed because I started picking at the dish as I got more full. The philo dough crust was quite buttery and heavy. There were also some julienned vegetables, which were also buttery. SM's chicken was plain, but good. AB's risotto was creamy, with a nice give to the rice. MH's dish was just average; all the components were cooked well, but the dish didn't really mesh well. The Southwestern-meets-Italian was not a big hit.
I should note that MH was the only one to order an appetizer, duck potstickers, which we all tried. The potstickers came with an asian cabbage salad, and some sweet-and-sour dipping sauce. There were four potstickers on the plate, which MH cut in half for us. These were actually pretty tasty, and the presentation was lovely.
We also knew what desserts were on the event menu, and to that effect, ordered an autumn fruit crumble, as well as a chocolate chambourd ganache cake. The chocolate ganache cake was dense, but because the ganache had been whipped, it was lighter than one would expect. The fruit crumble was fine, but did not have the same intensity of flavor as the ganache cake.
The food was fine, but the service was negligent, bordering on poor. Our waiter seemed to determine early on that we were not big spenders (i.e. we twice declined his offers of wine or cocktails), and he studiously ignored us for the rest of the evening. We saw (and heard) our waiter laughing loudly with the table across from us after those guests ordered cocktails and several bottles of wine, but when we attempted to get his attention to order, he turned away. Repeatedly. In his defense, it was a busy Saturday night, but we were kept waiting and waiting - sometimes for upwards of 30 minutes - to put in our orders for the next course. When our entrées came, they came piecemeal, so the first dish set down was placed nearly 5 minutes ahead of the last dish set down. Does this restaurant not use trays to carry all dishes at once? Apparently not, and we definitely suffered for it.
Mistral
5.5/10
We did our research before we went, and found out which entrées were on the event menu. I ordered the salmon en croute, which was served in philo with spinach. SM ordered the chicken breast. AB ordered shrimp and lobster risotto, and MH (ordering off the event menu) ordered penne with blackened chicken, and corn salsa. My salmon was moist, but had some perilous bones that I only noticed because I started picking at the dish as I got more full. The philo dough crust was quite buttery and heavy. There were also some julienned vegetables, which were also buttery. SM's chicken was plain, but good. AB's risotto was creamy, with a nice give to the rice. MH's dish was just average; all the components were cooked well, but the dish didn't really mesh well. The Southwestern-meets-Italian was not a big hit.
I should note that MH was the only one to order an appetizer, duck potstickers, which we all tried. The potstickers came with an asian cabbage salad, and some sweet-and-sour dipping sauce. There were four potstickers on the plate, which MH cut in half for us. These were actually pretty tasty, and the presentation was lovely.
We also knew what desserts were on the event menu, and to that effect, ordered an autumn fruit crumble, as well as a chocolate chambourd ganache cake. The chocolate ganache cake was dense, but because the ganache had been whipped, it was lighter than one would expect. The fruit crumble was fine, but did not have the same intensity of flavor as the ganache cake.
The food was fine, but the service was negligent, bordering on poor. Our waiter seemed to determine early on that we were not big spenders (i.e. we twice declined his offers of wine or cocktails), and he studiously ignored us for the rest of the evening. We saw (and heard) our waiter laughing loudly with the table across from us after those guests ordered cocktails and several bottles of wine, but when we attempted to get his attention to order, he turned away. Repeatedly. In his defense, it was a busy Saturday night, but we were kept waiting and waiting - sometimes for upwards of 30 minutes - to put in our orders for the next course. When our entrées came, they came piecemeal, so the first dish set down was placed nearly 5 minutes ahead of the last dish set down. Does this restaurant not use trays to carry all dishes at once? Apparently not, and we definitely suffered for it.
Mistral
5.5/10
posted by epicure | 8:56 PM
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