Final Grade: A
Sometimes I think this blog should
be re-titled, “WilltravelforFood.blogspot.com’! We, myself and Hubby, more
often than not, arrange our plans and appointments based on restaurants within
the vicinity. This may sound crazy, but for us whenever we get to hit the road
for any reason we know we 1- will have to eat, 2- may never get to this area
again and 3- can possibly cross off a restaurant from our list. It's a win-win for all involved……unless we are coming to
your house for a BBQ or dinner, we then might have an issue with you.
Towns we love to ‘just so happen to be
in’ or around are Jersey City, Morristown, New Brunswick, Westfield and most
recently Princeton. The last one there being the focus for this review.
Princeton- what a beauty. I had never really given the town more than just a
thought involving an Ivy League school and it being close to Trenton. Basically
and more realistically, I haven’t given this town its credit. Just in the past
6 months, I think I’ve pinned a handful of restaurants I need to get to and read reviews about umpteen more. So naturally,
when the opportunity presented itself a few weeks back for us to be in that
area to drop off my cousin, I was like, “Slam bam, thank you Mam, we gonna chow
right now!”
After narrowing down our choices for
that Sunday afternoon lunch, we decided to go to the much-desired Mistral.
We opted to sit at their bar area
where the kitchen is in full view. This, for me, is like being a kid in a candy
store. Watching chefs work is so intriguing and entertaining. What’s more here
is also getting a look at how the Chefs both handle and respect their ingredients.
What I truly loved here was that many ingredients, from the croutons to the
pickled vegetables, were labeled with dates. Now I would hope most restaurants do this, but
for me, actually seeing how literally
fresh these items were did nothing but make me smile.
Our lunch consisted of a few items
to share, although our forks generally stayed in our own direction. I went with
the Grilled Vegetable Salad ($8) and an order of the Warm Cornbread with
Jalapenos and Honey Butter ($5). The salad consisted of locally grown summer
vegetables tossed with fried crouton crisps, a few lettuces, fresh herbs and a
light dressing to tie it all together. What I thought at first was just a
heaping bowl of arugula actually turned out to be a pot of gold once I tossed
what was on the bottom to the top. The vegetables had what was somewhat of a
cross between a roasted and grilled flavor while the croutons dazzled up each
bite with a fried crunch. Now the cornbread I knew I would have no problems
with upon seeing. Arriving straight from the oven in its cast iron skillet with
the butter melting more each second, I knew I had paired the salad perfectly.
Oh how scrumptious that buttered and steamy bread was with each sliver of
jalapeno. This was a dish hard to share.
Hubby had similar to say about his
choices as well. He went with the Seared Halibut ($16) and a side of Bacon
Beignets ($5). The fish was outstanding, simply put. Wrapped in Serrano ham
skin and simmering in a broth sporting both turnips and rock shrimp, it was
culinary craftsmanship at its finest. The broth alone could win awards, which
is why if we had one complaint it would be: serve that dish up with some
crusty bread please! The Bacon Beignets speak for themselves. Puffed, salty and
rich in pork fat flavor, they had me wishing I was willing to share more of my
cornbread!
We skipped dessert as it was lunch
and I, being a weirdo and all, don’t like to overstuff during the day for one
reason: it ruins dinner. I live for dinner, if you haven’t noticed yet. Anyway,
we did glance at the dessert offering and were both caught eyeing up our
neighbor’s Pot de Crème ($9) with hazelnuts and thyme all in a too-cute tea
cup. Oh well, we will be back again for dinner and will most definitely get our
shot at dessert. Actually when we do go back, I already have a few things I saw
the Chefs create that had my name all over them. I would list them all but I’d
rather let you go there yourself and watch the spectacle of Mistral unfold
before you.
Mistral is
located at 66 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ. Visit their website for more
information.
Total score 22/25
Final
Grade: A
A: 21-25 B: 16-20
C: 11-15 D: 6-10 F: 0-5
Restaurant Rubric
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
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Food Taste
|
Bland, boring,
overcooked, underdone
|
Very little flavor,
not much aroma
|
Flavors apparent,
basic ability to please palates
|
Flavor worth
discussing, chef’s use of ingredients impressive
|
Great flavor, taste lingers and leaves diner
wanting more
|
Restaurant service
|
disrespectful
|
Inattentive staff, no
regard for wait time
|
Staff average in
helpfulness, timing alright, either more/less needed
|
Staff knowledgeable and attentive to needs
without asking, timing very well executed
|
Remarkable and
noteworthy, service so good you forget it is ever an issue elsewhere
|
Food Presentation
|
Cover it up please
|
Sloppy and the eater
can tell little thought went into it
|
Descent presentation:
looks alright, not worth a picture but enough to make you hungry
|
Admirable, it is
apparent the chef plated with a consideration for presentation
|
Presentational
talents are here. Looks beautiful and too good to dig in
|
Prices match quality
|
Prices are too high
for quality
|
Prices are still too
high but not outrageously
|
Some items are priced
accordingly but not all
|
Most items are priced
accordingly
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All items are matched accordingly
|
Would I go back?
|
Not a chance ever
|
Nope
|
Maybe
|
Looking forward to it
|
What time should I
arrive?!?
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