James Bostock Review of Mistral Restaurant and Bar
I really wanted to like this place. It's only 7 mi...
I really wanted to like this place. It's only 7 mins from my house and having a decent restaurant with a full bar so close would have been awesome.
Where to start. This was probably one of the worst dinning experiences I've had in a long time. Part of my low score comes from my expectations of a restaurant you pay $30+ an entree for. Was the food inedible, no, but I didn't pay Sizzler prices for what I would describe as Sizzler quality.
Drinks
I'm not too picky when it comes to drinks. I will finish a drink even if I don't like it, IF I recognize that my dislike is based on my personal taste (not a fan of darker liquors). I started with the sea salt gimlet which was like drinking sea water mixed with lime. So much salt it was undrinkable. I then went on to the Belmont '75 which was equally disappointing as it had a strange aftertaste that I can only describe as really stale cheap keg beer.
Main Course
Ahi Tuna with Prawn Tempora (+$6). They cover the tuna with what I had assumed was cheese (turns out it's something called Beurre Blanc) and then coat it with sesame seeds and top it off with two "tempura" prawns. I air quote tempura because it was more of a corn dog batter. Really the whole entree looked/tasted like it was designed by a Mid-West mom from the 80s (shout out to Beverley from the Goldbergs).
Service was mixed. We sat at our table for at least 10mins before I had to flag someone down to take our order. By then we'd finished off all the bread (which was pretty good). They forgot our appetizer and the initial waitress didn't seem too into her job except when trying to upsell me on the corn dog prawns. The second waiter was good (offered to get new drink, comped dessert for missing the appetizer etc) and genuinely seemed to want us to have a good experience. I tipped 20% since I didn't want to shaft that guy.
I really want to try again, but it'll never happen unless it's on business. There are way too many decent options within their price point in San Carlos and Redwood City.
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