Mesa Ranch

Mesa Ranch was my dad's pick. It sounded great to me so I was excited to check it out!

Walking in we were quickly seated and given our drinks. The performer was setting up to start playing once it got a little later. 

The meal comes with jalapeno cheese cornbread shaped into cactuses, and rolls with herb butter, which while good, not in my top 5 restaurant breads. The bread also didn't arrive at our table until the entree did, which was a tad annoying.

We decided on the Stuffed Peppers as an appetizer. The staff was very friendly in seeing that me and my dad were sharing all the meals so they divided all the dishes up in two. It took them a while to bring it out, but it arrived finally and we were in awe. The whole thing looked like cheese soup with some shrimp covering half a pepper. Greasy and cheesy, delicious if that's what you like, but I have to say they might want to change the name from stuffed pepper to cheese surprise. 

For the entree we got the sampler platter which featured Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Grilled Quail, Elk Sausage, and Chicken Fried Venison. Two things on this dish wowed me, but the other two were just okay. The Elk Sausage was good itself, but the overkill of cheese turned me off. I picked through the cheeseball and just picked out the sausage. The Chicken Fried Venison was no where near as good as I had hoped, reminding me of store bought or pre-maid food. The Grilled Quail however was very very good! Some sort of sweet sauce covered it and oh boy was it delicious. Juicy and perfectly cooked! The Sweet Potatoes were sinfully decadent. This could be a dessert item it was so sweet! With pecans it was the perfect mix of deliciousness. 

Overall I would come back for the quail and the sweet potatoes, but nothing else. The overkill of cheese just didn't do it for me. The atmosphere was nice, a piano player/singer sang some songs and made it very pleasant and cozy, a very nice setting, but the food didn't live up to the hype. 

Bistrot Mirabelle

Another Tuesday another night out! Sorry for my lack of posting, I didn't get around to posting my review of Mesa Ranch, but I will after this one! 

Tonight's culinary adventure was french cuisine at Bistrot Mirabelle on Mesa Dr. At my last job, a co-worker had told me he worked at this restaurant as well, and finally I managed to check it out. I'd read rather good reviews from Urban Spoon and Yelp, and after looking at the menu online I was very excited to come here, everything sounded good! 

We walked in and were given a very welcoming greeting, seated and quickly we had our drinks. The staff were all very attentive and friendly, knowledgeable about the menu and ready to answer any questions. I always drink a lot of water throughout my meal, so the staff being able to keep up with filling my glass about 7 times throughout is always a good thing! 

I'm always excited to try new things, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to try that i'd never had before, I mussels or duck liver pate. In the end we decided on the mussels as an appetizer and was not disappointed! They came in a bowl in a white wine butter cream sauce and topped with french fries. Definitely a great introduction to mussels for me! The french fries, while not the best, were hot and crispy and very very good! The mussels reminded me somewhat of escargot, the same consistency and texture, and I was very pleasantly surprised with how good they were. What really made the dish though was the sauce! Creamy and buttery but light and delicious. Perfect with mussels and oh so good for dipping bread in! I could've eaten the sauce and bread all night it was so good!

 For entree's we ordered the Tuesday special, the Choux Farcis, cabbage rolls with ground pork and beef in a tomato butter sauce and served with their whipped potatoes. Very very delicious! Perfectly cooked, the mashed potatoes, while nothing special, were still very good and went perfectly with the sauce.

The other entree we ordered was the Friday special, Lobster Pot Pie. Due to a large amount of lobster they had they decided to serve it today as well as on Friday. Puff pastry envelopes the Lobster stew to make a puff of heaven! The pastry is delicious, the stew was creamy and the lobster was perfectly cooked. Lemme tell you, this is definitely worth the price. The amount of lobster you get in this is amazing! Huge chunks of lobster fill the bowl making sure you don't feel ripped off.

Worth the price any time! The quality of the food and service is great. Great food a cozy atmosphere. Simple and sophisticated.