Reviews
Le Mistral Restaurant in Nottingham City Centre
METRO
"Named after the famous French wind, successful chain Le Mistral's third branch has breezed into Nottingham city centre following others at Sherwood and Wirksworth in Derbyshire. The latest venture certainly enjoys a fab location: a three storey townhouse, complete with gorgeous hanging baskets, in a discreet alley just off busy Wheeler Gate. Flagging shoppers will appreciate its proximity to the main shopping drag."
"...Although you might expect the restaurant's admirable motto of 'Slow Food in a Fast World' to be reflected in the speed of the service, our friendly waitress brought our main courses reasonably quickly. My Marseilles Meatballs boasted a generous number of finely diced meatballs surrounded by a lively Provencale sauce bursting with rich tomato goodness, white rice and parmesan shavings. This was a superb dish... ...My companion's salad Nicoise also lived up to expectations: a summery feast of heaped green beans, boiled potatoes, tuna and tomatoes with subtle notes of mustard, garlic, parsley and chives, not to mention impressively fresh anchovy fillets. The restaurant's own description of the dish as sublime wasn't so far off the mark."
David Sandhu www.ukmetro.co.uk
Le Mistral Wirksworth
Derby Evening Telegraph
...your spies were comfortably installed as drinks were ordered and the menu scrutinised. One of its notable features was the wine guide that enabled diners to see at a glance how expensive and how heavy or light a particular wine is, according to the position of a dot on a little grid. This is ingenious, helpful and encourages diners to be more adventurous in their drinking habits. Le Mistral's good selection of bottled beers and real ales was also commendable and necessarily Anglicised departure from the French template.
Starters included garlic mushrooms, a charcuterie platter, and garlic bread topped with tomatoes, olives and cheese. There were also several additional starters on the specials board from which your spies chose to share the olive and houmous platter.
Alongside it's eponymous foodstuffs, the platter featured French bread, a small ramekin of olive oil and another of balsamic vinegar, each sprinkled with flat leaf parsley. The platter arrived promptly and was attractively presented, the olives were large and tasty and the houmous had a light citrus tang that was well suited to sharpen the appetite ahead of the main event.
Secret Service's companion again went to the specials board to select the roast vegetable tagine as a main course. The couscous that accompanied this traditional Morroccan dish was light and not too dry as can often be the case, while the sweet potato and apricots formed a flavoursome partnership, making a welcome change from the pleasant, but unoriginal trio of aubergine, courgette and pepper that forms the base of so many vegetarian offerings.
Originating a little further from the Mediterranean and at the other end of the culinary spectrum was the boeuf bourguingnon with garlic mash that Secret Service chose over the ever tempting moules frites.
The beef was tender as the menu promised and the red wine sauce with bits or bacon and mushrooms was rich without being overwhelming. a nice touch was the liberal use of parsley that added a welcome freshness to what is a heavy dish otherwise light on greens.
