Mirabelle

The lass and I went back to Mirabelle on Thursday to help them celebrate their «reopening». Apparently, Mirabelle used to be a Pancake House, which is why the interior used to leave you wishing for something to be desired. However, they have completely revamped the interior and the menu. They hired a new chef and have a completely different wine list as well.
The food is still amazing, although they do not have the dish that I used to order on the menu. The wine and service are still superb. The owner was walking around the restaurant making sure that everyone was taken care of (kudos).
No, the food is not cheap, but it is almost all handmade. I had a pasta dish with handmade Pappardelle (sp?) pasta. It was phenomenal.
For dessert we both got separate dishes, but my favorite had homemade olive oil ice cream (crazy, right?!) and a slice of chocolate cake with salt on it. It was unbelievable.
If you haven’t checked out Mirabelle yet, get your butt over there for a delicious meal.

When they opened I loved this place. The food was creative and delicious. The wine menu was quite lengthy and inspired. Sadly they have slipped. The only thing they still have is the snotty waiter that thinks he is too good to be doing his job.
If they were serving «Fresh Men» as mentioned in Christine A.‘s review I just might give it another try. However my last two experiences have been mediocre at best and management did nothing to change our opinions. I won’t be back. On the nights I don’t want to cook, I will order a pizza from any other place. Don’t waste your time.

«I’ll bring you some fresh men in a moment,» said our lovely little server.
«Did she say fresh MEN?» I asked my husband.
«Fresh bread,» he informs me rolling his eyes.
Well, okay. Apparently, I can’t hear. Sadly, this is a restaurant with noise bouncing off everything. It’s not as romantic as I remember it from past visits. Like us, most diners here on a Monday night were using their Living Social coupon before it expired.
The good news, the prissy full of himself server from Hollywood was not here. The bad news, I ordered spring rolls and got deep friend gluten egg rolls. In most of my Asian dining, spring rolls are typically made with rice paper and not deep fried flour. Being gluten intolerant, I could not eat them. They did not take it off our bill and gave it to me to take home. WTF? I can’t eat it so I’ll take it to the dog or cat?

The menu poorly described the entrees. Duck comfit was more like a Shepherd’s pie without the meat. Management was unaccommodating when confronted with a complaint about the meal which was half consumed because we tired of waiting for the waiter to return to check on us.
It was not like the good days with the former manager. Perhaps that is why it was empty on Mother’s day. We were one of two tables dining that evening.
There are too many other good places to dine in Austin where you are treated with respect and the food is accurately described on the menu. I am sorry that I won’t be going back to a place that I have enjoyed for years.

I’ve always loved Mirabelle… it’s strange to find such a lovely place in a strip mall, but there it is, and it is indeed lovely.
I went with a group of girls… we do this girl dinner every once in a while, and Mirabelle was chosen for me. It made me excited since I hadn’t been in a while. The service wasn’t what I remembered it to be (he didn’t show up much, and look, I need my wine glass not to ever become empty prior to having someone ask me if I want some more).
My salmon dish was quite good, but the salmon could have been cooked just a touch less. Otherwise, the flavor and sides were delicious. I would have gotten the lamb if I didn’t promise myself I was going to be good that night (see, I had been eating out a lot, and was picking all the not-​so-​healthy items). However, someone else at the table got it — she enjoyed it immensely. Everyone was happy with what they ordered, and overall it was quite a successful night. I was kinda surprised how empty the place was. Okay, it was a Wednesday night, but still… get over there and check the place out! I need for this strip-​mall restaurant to stick around and keep providing me with excellent food, decent service, and good wines. Thanks for a lovely evening Mirabelle. Hmmm… the word «lovely» certainly was the focus of this review, and for good reason.

Visited Mirabelle for the first time last night. I had high expectations as Mirabelle has been on my list of restaurants to check out that I pulled from the Chronicle several years ago.
When we pulled up I was surprised to see that Mirabelle was in a strip mall. Not a big deal, I have dined in many great restaurants in strips malls, but when we entered the restaurant I felt underwhelmed by the décor and atmosphere. I felt a little like I had walked into a darkened, upscale, Cracker Barrel. And not that I blame Mirabelle entirely, but there were 2 separate tables in the main dining room with men wearing baseball caps.
We were greeted by a friendly hostess and promptly seated. The wine list was extensive, well priced and well varied. The menu was confusion. It consisted of a two-​page folded menu, with a separate menu for appetizers and yet another prix-​fixe menu. The choices, prices and description were great, just hard to read in three different forms.
Our server was friendly and attentive. Our food arrived in a reasonable amount of time. The Blackend Shrimp Appetizer was delicious. The Beef Tenderloin entrée was good, cooked well, but suffered from being over-​sauced, the Mushroom Bread Pudding was excellent.
Overall I liked Mirabelle but I am not sure that I would return. Just an average experience for an above-​average price.

Having bought a Groupon a couple months ago to this restaurant, I took the lady out for dinner to Mirabelle on Friday night. We were excited to try the place out after hearing many good things about the restaurant and you usually can’t go wrong with American Contemporary.
I don’t know if it was the Groupon rush, but I highly recommend making reservations, just in case — luckily, we had already made arrangements a couple days before and were seated promptly at 6:30. Walk-​ins were told the earliest seating would be at 8:45 (2 ½ hr wait). It’s good to know that they actually save your spot.
After sitting down, I got a glass of Kali Hart Pinot Noir 2008 recommended by our waitress, which was probably one of the best pinot noirs I’ve ever had — very smooth and juicy. Looking around, the atmosphere was a little bland — I can’t describe it, but I felt it was unfitting for a nice dine-​in restaurant. The waitress was very nice and attentive.
My wife got the dinner salad and the special soup of the day and I got a shrimp and seafood cajun risotto entrée. I thought my dish was good, but could have been better. The risotto and some of the cooked vegetables and seafood were lukewarm, but at least the jumbo shrimp were hot. I didn’t find the dish inspiring and I thought the $ 24 for the taste and portion size was a little steep. My wife said she liked her salad and her soup — I’ll let her dissect her experiences in her Unilocal review.
I’d give Mirabelle 3.5 stars, but tilted down due to the cost. In addition, it may be a little TMI, but my wife didn’t feel too well after her meal and ended up spewing her dinner in the restroom later that night. I don’t know if it was a food poisoning or an old food reheated thing, but it’d make me think twice before coming back again.

Wasn’t really sure what to think of this place as I pulled up to a dingy strip mall. When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that it was full of senior citizens. On a Friday. Hmm, interesting. Not a bad thing per se, just an interesting observation and definitely adds to the atmosphere.
The menu is small, and expensive. And heads up, it doesn’t quite match the one on their website, probably due to seasonal ingredients etc, which is fine, but it would be nice if they updated the one on their website.
I had the crab cakes to start, which were fine, nothing special. As my entrée, I went with the wasabi glazed salmon which was served with some miso noodles. The salmon was underwhelming. As soon as it was served to me, I was turned off by its paleness. It looked like it was steamed, and I was really hoping for some nice color on it, a sear or a crust, or something. Oh and the wasabi looked like it had been smeared on top afterwards. I could have forgiven all this if it had been cooked well, but sadly this was not the case. The salmon was bland and overcooked.
The noodles were the only good part of the dish, and there wasn’t nearly enough of it to make up for the lackluster salmon.
Everyone else’s entrees looked great, so maybe I just picked the dud, but I can’t give this place 3 stars because of their prices. If you’re going to charge $ 20+ per entrée, the food better be at LEAST the same quality as Chili’s. The citrus glazed salmon at Chili’s has so much more flavor and is cooked better than the salmon I had here (for half the price), and that is just a tragedy.

The restaurant décor was nice and lit to relax you. The server was very good and friendly. We had the fried brie, which was amazing, and the crab cakes, which were ok, and the ahi tuna, which I didn’t think was worth the price. We told the waitress we were going to split everything and she brought the tuna out on separate plates with separate sides, which was really nice, but didn’t tell us ahead of time that there would be a $ 5 for splitting a meal, which covered the cost of the extra sides.
My friend said this was one of her favorite restaurants. I would say I wasn’t wowed by anything but the brie but would be willing to give it another shot.

An upscale-​casual Austin eatery with a spring in its step, Mirabelle is a warm, intimate restaurant that combines the comfort of grandma’s breakfast nook with suburban sophistication. The extensive and affordable global wine list wonderfully compliments the diverse menu options that range from sinful fried brie and mango chutney to a zesty szechuan shredded chicken salad. We enjoyed a bottle of Spanish verdejo wine that was a crisp and refreshing accompaniment to our salads, which were good, if heavy handed on the corn and dressing.
The service was the best I’ve had in Austin, no complaints here. In fact, I think my friend and I both wanted to take our waiter home with us. Make sure you have a reservation if planning on visiting for dinner, as it’s not a large restaurant — there were 10 parties waiting when we arrived, and although we had an 8 p.m. reservation, we still had to wait 15 minutes.
Unfortunately we were too full from our rich appetizer and entrees to move on to the all-​too-​tempting 11-​item dessert menu, though we succumbed to oogling anyway. At least we got to hear our waiter’s sensual description of the apple cheddar beignets. Thanks Groupon!

I was listening to Earth, Wind, & Fire, and this review wrote itself:
Do you remember
The very first night past September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away
Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we dined through the night, remember,
How dessert stole the night away
(Hey hey hey)
Ba de ya — say do you remember
Ba de ya — dining in September
Ba de ya — we never turned an app away
My thoughts are with you
Holding hands with your heart to see you
Only red flaccid wine, remember,
How we knew love was here to stay
Now December
And the Brie and the Duck from September
With that Mushroom Sauté, remember,
The true love we shared today
(Hey hey hey)
Ba de ya — say do you remember
Ba de ya — dining in September
Ba de ya — we had all their apps today
(And we say)
Ba de ya de ya — say do you remember
Ba de ya de ya — dining in September
Ba de ya de ya — golden dreams were shiny days
The bells were ringing!
Our souls were singing!
Do you remember, Toffee Torte done that way? Yow!
(And we say)
Ba de ya de ya — say do you remember
Ba de ya de ya — dining in September
Ba de ya de ya — we had six desserts today
(And we say)
Ba de ya de ya — say do you remember
Ba de ya de ya — dining in September
Ba de ya de ya — golden dreams were shiny days
Ba de ya de ya de ya,
Ba de ya de ya de ya,
Ba de ya de ya de ya de ya…
******************************
(Editor’s note: Errol M. got excited at this Unilocal ROTDC event, and he’s saying he likes Mirabelle and thinks you will too.)

I can’t actually tell you if Mirabelle’s regular dinner menu is worth the price tag attached, but their «Early Supper» (5:30−6:15pm) entrees certainly are. The boy and I headed here straight after work on our anniversary a few weeks ago and were pleasantly surprised to see so many delicious-​looking choices on the Early Supper specials menu.
I had a pomegranate-​glazed pork loin with couscous and mashed potatoes, and he had some kind of flat iron steak in a spicy chimichurri sauce that I believe was also served with mashed potatoes. Both were delicious and priced very reasonably at around $ 15, though I think his steak may have been just slightly tastier (better seasoning) than my pork loin. We nabbed a cheap, but very drinkable, bottle of pinot and finished off the night with the brown sugar cheesecake of Catherine’s dreams. It WAS delicious, and not so sugary that the goat cheese flavor was disguised, which I loved. Nothing cloyingly sweet here, just a wonderful contrast between the cheesecake itself and the layer of brown sugar. Very sophisticated, kind of like the restaurant itself.
We actually used to live up in this neighborhood, but never made it to Mirabelle. Now we’re on the East side and probably won’t make it over to this little gem as often as I would like. Hopefully in a few months we’ll have another good «occasion» excuse to find ourselves back at Mirabelle.

My friend and I went early one week day night. We were surprised to find they had a special for early diners. This should not be a surprise given the neighborhood (many people in the North Hills are retired). I honestly had no idea there were restaurants in that area.
The food the delicious. My friend ordered the vegetarian cannelloni and thought it was wonderful. It was a medley of spinach and crimini mushrooms, which she loved. I had a pasta dish with chicken. I thought it was a bit rich but flavorful. The wine menu is great. Our wine was fantastic.
The service was fine. I think she came across a bit cold that could be interpreted as formal, though.
I would go back.

Reliable favorite. Quality and service worth extra couple bucks.
So, Mirabelle isn’t everything to everyone. There’s not really a bar, it’s in my neighborhood where most people voted for Eisenhower, and the ambience and décor are low-​key and classy, not trendy or sexy. If you want to go out for the menu, though, you don’t have to go downtown to find one with panache: Mirabelle’s has it, and given also the professional service and their willingness to accommodate dietary restrictions, it’s well worth a buck or two more.
Incidentally, the desserts aren’t afterthoughts — they’re just as different and well-​designed as the rest of the menu.
A good way to try the place is to get there for the summer Happy Hour, when several appetizers are free & many more half-​price from 5:00 — 6:30, with purchase of wine or beer. (One free appetizer per person drinking.) The wine list is reasonably priced anyway, so getting together with a couple people and getting a table full of really nice apps like duck liver pâté for free is quite the deal.
Free appetizers: Marinated Olives with Lavash, Basil Cheese Torta, Mushroom and Duck Liver Paté, Thin Crust Margherita Pizza, Salmon & Tuna Tartare, Thai Beef Satay, Mexican Ceviche
Half Price Appetizers: Mezze Platter, Fried Brie with Chutney, Duck Springrolls, Smoked Pork Tenderloin Flautas
Item of research: The french name Mirabelle, which came from the Latin word «Mirabel», means «beautiful and wondrous».

I want to write three reviews of this place. One for the service, one for the food and one for the desserts — they were all impeccable.
First, the service. I showed up after my companions and they were at a 2 person table. The server immediately moved us to another table, bringing me fresh water and giving me a menu. Rich was polite and knowledgeable, offering suggestions right after the question was asked.
Second, the food. Ohhhhh the food. Let me preface this with it was happy hour. And I think that lasts until 6:30. Ceviche and fried brie and duck spring rolls and cheese tort and smoked pork flautas. Everything was just amazing. Fabulous presentation, flavors that worked well together, and a great portion of each. Did i mention half were free because we bought wine? And the other were $ 4? Seriously.
Third, the desserts, which typically fall under food but these were in a different universe. We had the flourless chocolate torte and the brown sugar cheesecake. That chocolate torte was like the epitome of all my chocolate dreams, rich and dense and smooth and angelic. The brown sugar cheesecake was not as thick as normal cheesecakes. it was actually lighter in flavor, probably based on its combo of sour cream, goat and cream cheese. It had an extra layer of taste that i couldn’t identify but that i couldn’t wait to continue trying to identify.
This is the deal. I’ve lived near Mirabelle for about 5 years. I never went in because the sign is a little cheesy and I couldn’t imagine that the place was better. I was wrong and wrongest. Check this place out. I almost can’t wait to go back.

I’ve been in the midst of a sort of French food jones recently, and when it was suggested that we head over to Mirabelle for an ambient-​lit bite, I was only too pleased to comply. Mirabelle is a bit of a study in contrasts, namely, it’s a French forward restaurant encased in a strip mall of sorts, a dimly lit valhalla of flavor wrapped in a bit of cookie cutter veneer. I mean that in the best way, and frankly, I think in a weird way that’s why the flavors stuck out for me a little more here. Fancy presents don’t always come in plain wrappers.
I tried on the roasted duck with a side (or two) of red, a malbec in this case, and the duck, the Mexican-​corn based side (almost like grits infused with Spanish spices), made for a welcome balance with the bird that didn’t stand a chance against a ready appetite. It can be a little spendy here if you let it, but on an enthusiastic night out, why not raise a glass against the shadows? Because it’s never too late to let yourself in on the surprise.

I’ve had a hard time getting over the loss of Castle Hill Café downtown. That closing left a gaping hole in my culinary heart. I mourned the basil cheese torta, the fantastic wine list, and the excellent rotating menu.
Then I discovered Mirabelle, the sister restaurant and spiritual successor to Castle Hill. I have started the healing process by filling the hole in my heart (and stomach) with stuff like phenomenal Chilean Sea Bass (sorry conservationists. It’s not my fault that the Flying Spaghetti Monster made this little critter so freaking delicious) and affordably-​priced red wine.
Mirabelle’s small and subtly-​lit /​dark=fancy dining room does lend itself to a romantic vibe. If I could complain about one thing, it would be that the seating offers no sense of seclusion or privacy. Booths are only shoulder-​high, so you will be dining back to back just inches away from other clients. Given the low price of wine, let’s just say that some (like the booming, tipsy, yuppie girl seated off my right shoulder) patrons become garrulous. You might find it hard to think straight, and it’s possibly that your ears will be ringing for hours afterward with the echo of obnoxiously rendered anecdotes about sales presentations and ill-​fated shopping trips.
It’s well worth the trouble to taste the artfully prepared, high quality menu at Mirabelle. For those of us in the culinary hinterlands up north, this is a great alternative to the gussied up chains at the Domain. Highly recommended.

After much research, my sister decided upon this place for my dad’s birthday dinner. See, the whole family (parents, grandparents, etc.) had decided to converge on my sister’s town that weekend. Everyone wanted something nice but not stuffy in a location away from the hustle-​bustle that would have been downtown for the Texas/​Texas Tech game. Great choice, I must say!
We showed up a little early for our reservation, and were seated immediately at a very large table. We started with two bottles of wine: the Conundrum (my selection), and a tempranillo that my sister chose. We also had the mushroom appetizer, crab cakes, and the lobster tempura roll (on special that day). All were great. The crab cakes were nice and meaty and the mushrooms were delicious. However, I’d say that lobster roll was a definite standout. I loved the sauce on it.
After that, I had some of the gumbo while everyone else ate their salads. The soup had a rich, dark roux and the duck was a nice touch (I’ve only had gumbo with chicken). Entrees were next. Three of us (including me) had the shrimp with crawfish jambalaya, four of us had the lamb, and the birthday boy had the beef tenderloin. The shrimp with my dish were huge, well flavored, and extremely fresh. I enjoyed the rice very much but didn’t notice any seafood other than the crawfish (the description mentioned others). However, it was still awesome. The lamb I had was extremely tender, and the sauce was flavorful without being overpowering. I hear the beef tenderloin was tasty as well.
The good thing about a place like this is that the portions are never overwhelming, so you have room for dessert. I went with the crème broulee, which was nice and creamy. I also had a glass of port that was apparently from the owner’s «special reserve.» So special! Whatever it was, it was very nice. The others seemed to enjoy their desserts, but I didn’t try any others.
It seems that some people had issues with the service, but Rich, our server, couldn’t have been better. He was very friendly and attentive, and had very good recommendations.
If Mirabelle was in a shopping mall where I lived, I’d be there all the time.

Now on my list of favorite restaurants, this lovely gem outside of downtown Austin had only one downfall that I was able to perceive…
They had Robert Mondovi Woodbridge on their wine menu. Uh… upscale restaurant? Woodbridge? Please… no…
But the food was amazing, which made up for this faux pas. I had the lamb, and it was incredibly tender. The smoked salmon appetizer was simply divine, though the blintzes could have been thinner and the caviar cold…
Overall, a great little restaurant that I would be happy to go back to.

I’ve enjoyed dinner at Mirabelle a few times, and the food here is always exccellent. I like that the menu changes and there are new items to try out. The entrée salads are a good size and are delicious. I recently tried out the crab cakes appetizer and it was mostly all lump meat crab with very little filler and tasted fresh. The entrée side dishes are always interesting and unique. I love the fact that you can also bring in your own wine for a minimal corking fee.
Each time I’ve been with a medium to large sized group, and have been placed in a separate room with a round table, which really enables group conversation.