Le Clos Mirande

Un très joli lieu. Un service très agréable. En revanche, entre le côté bistro et le côté gastro, le bistro tire plus son épingle du jeu. Il manqué malheureusement une explosion de saveur par le choix des produits et l’utilisation d’épices. Un très bon choix de vin.

There was something almost magical about the evening we spent at Le Clos Mirande. It begins with the entry into the bright and warm limestone farmhouse after navigating those dark country roads that weave between the vineyards. The warmth is all the more intensified by the smiling and gracious greeting by the owner/​chef. She clearly intends to make you feel like an invited guest.
The dining room is smart and very nicely appointed, while still retaining the rustic charm of the old farmhouse. The service is very friendly, if something less than fluent in English. But their good humor and willingness to please makes any linguistic hurdle easy to overcome. The food was exquisite. My pâté foie gras was as good as I had had on this visit to Bordeaux. My main, roasted duck rolled in a crunchy pastry, was excellent. My wife’s turbot was incredibly fresh and perferectly prepared. My dessert was delicious although I must confess I don’t know exactly what it was, something between a custard and a panna cottam floating in a pool of a fruity sauce that added just the perfect acidic counterpoint,
The wine list offers a nice range of wines, mostly from the St. Emlion region. We were able to find some moderately priced (30 – 40 Euros) reds 9 to 10 years old that were quite pleasant and paired well with my duck.
But the capstone to the evening was the coffee service. We were invited to take our coffee in their lovely semi private rear dining room. It was the perfect setting to relax away from the dining room and savor the coffee and entire evening experience in quiet comfort. This evening tops the list of our many wonderful dining experiences here in France. A charming and romantic evening we will not soon forget

The food and the service here were excellent, and the setting in the back garden is perfect for a cassis and olives. We had a choice of sitting in the bistro or formal dining room, and felt more comfortable in the bistro. The dining area looked more elegant with white table clothes and silver. The menu was the same. We settled for a prix fixe lunch that left a few nice choices and we couldn’t have enjoyed this more. Our meal started with rabbit fig terrine, and went on with a lobster grapefruit salad, a quail in prune sauce, a cutlet in mushrooms followed by cheese and walnuts and finished with an amazing citrus fruit terrine.
St Emilion produces so many wines that the choices went from pocket friendly to outlandish. The staff was happy to guide us and we had a suitable wine.
Although the staff speaks limited English, they were friendly, helpful and accommodating. The chef came out of the kitchen to greet us and spent a little time with some other customers. Everyone was in great spirits and amicable… even though we were the only foreigners, we never felt out of place.
A little hard to find but worth it. We recommend this place over the high priced choices within St Emilion.