Restaurant Review: Mistral

We had a much belated "holiday party" date night over the weekend, courtesy of Willy's company. Every year they give us a stipend for a night out because they don't fly him back to headquarters for the company party. It's a nice little perk for us, and usually we use the money to have dinner and see a show but this year we decided to just have a really nice dinner with the $75pp budget.

We chose a restaurant called Mistral in the Back Bay and had a very tasty evening. Our first bit of good luck was finding a free parking spot only a block away from the restaurant--score! To put it in context for those of you in S.F., imagine getting a spot right in the financial district or finding a space in the Richmond or Sunset :)

I'll try to give quick reviews of what we had.

APPETIZERS
W: Mistral Winter Black Truffle Macaroni with Madeira & Parmesan ($32)
K: Seared Foie Gras with Confit of Duck in Brioche, Tart Wisconsin Cherries ($22)
Yeah, so Willy's app cost more than entrees do at a lot of restaurants. What better time to splurge on it though than when it's on someone else's dime? :) You could call it a fancy mac & cheese, but that wouldn't really do it justice. Who knew truffles were so flavor-packed? It's the first time either of us had tried them and they didn't disappoint. It wasn't as cheesy as a real mac & cheese is, either.

The foie gras and duck were delicious, though I could have done without the brioche which was a soft, doughy, stuffer that I mostly left untouched on the plate. The app was significant enough that I probably could have had it as a small entree. All I know is I was already pretty full after having just my appetizer, and that is soooo not like me. I guess it didn't help that the bread at the start of meal were these huge pieces and I just had to finish a whole slice :P

ENTREES
W: Herb Roasted Wild Striped Bass, Butter Poached Vegetables, Black Truffle Whipped Potato ($38)
K: Pan Roasted Native Cod, Maine Lobster & Asparagus Risotto, White Asparagus Veloute ($39)
Both of these were very good, though I think I slightly preferred Willy's dish. His potatoes were to die for, too. Must have been those truffles again! Seriously, even just a small taste of the potatoes were so flavorful...yummmm! And the bass was also very well done and yummy. The cod was perfectly cooked and slabs of it just slid off; it was much lighter in flavor than the bass, which isn't a bad thing. The risotto was very good, and I'd say overall my dish was very good, though not excellent. I put in a poor showing though as I was already so full that I could only eat about half of my entree--boo on me!

DESSERT
Vanilla Crème Brulée, Fresh Raspberries, Ginger Cookie ($10)
Even though we were stuffed of course we had to try a dessert. Every part of the creme brulee was delicious, including the ginger cookie bowl that the raspberries were sitting in and floating on top of the caramelized sugar of the creme brulee. I also had a cup of decaf coffee to go with it (why do restaurants have such a hard time bringing out the coffee and the dessert at close to the same time?), and the coffee was so, so good. It's the best cup I've had at a restaurant in a while. I probably should have asked them what it was. Great way to end a very good meal.