miel restaurant

miel is one of those restaurants that have been on my radar forever but i never got around to eating there. shame on me, right? what kind of food critic am i?! well lucky for me my dear friend catie scheduled her birthdaydinnerthere. celebrating an amazing lady and eating fine french food? i'm in. what we got was an amazing meal followed by some very awkward customer service. the moral of the story is: do not go to miel with a 12 person party (even if you call ahead and they say they can handle it).

*****. the patio is open! this is a fine, soothing atmosphere. eat their carefully cultivated vegetables.


-----30 sep, 2011-----

****. it's an odd location...next to bobbie's dairy dip and krystal. however the dining experience is one of the very finest in town. everything was stellar, from start to finish. very close to home, we'll be havingdinnerhere quite a bit. food made with love...the highest compliment.

and if you're inclined to eat only the entree and leave your vegetables, you're leaving the best part. miel has their own farm and they cultivate these vegetables. they are far and away better than any vegetables anywhere. i had carrots there the other night that, i swear, ruined me for other carrots.

had a wonderful birthdaydinnerlast night. food was delicious. the portion of trout was very minimal but the creme brulee and french pressed coffee made the entire evening a hugh hit!

very good unique dining experience. my wife and i like to try local restaurants when traveling. when we found out she would be in nashville on business, we did some research and came up with miel's for our v-day dinner. we preferred it because a) it wasn't one of the chains and b) had an interesting menu and c) has a green philosophy towards running a restaurant.

the building itself is very small but inviting, tucked back off the main road behind an ice cream shack. the decor inside is modern but warm.

we were extremely early for our reservations, so we had a long wait ahead of us, so we settled in. we were given cocktails by our pleasants hostesses while the v-day rush started piling on. entranceway got pretty backed up as it seemed tables were not getting turned as quickly as they needed to. we weren't in any hurry, so we had our drinks and enjoyed the company of those around us. some others got sick of waiting and left. just slightly overbooked on account of slow table turnover (all those lovebirds). may be worth taking in to account if you plan to go on a potentially busy night.

once seated, the culinary adventure began. v-day was a 3 course meal with each having about 2 choices. veggies were crisp. meat was tender, steak was done to perfection (it always amazes me how hard it is for people to properly make a rare steak). what i found most amazing is what some may find troublesome. the food was not laden with salt. in fact, the one dish had salt in it, in the form of pork belly instead of plain salt. chef's tend to pour on the salt to give their food big flavor, but not here. subtlty was key and it allowed you to taste the contrast between the various vegtables, meats and sauces on the plate.

portions were good as well. not outlandish like most restaurants. if you feel like you need to have a doggie bag to have gotten your money's worth, forget it. we left satiated and happy, which was better than bloated and sleepy.

we got out @ $180 for the wholedinner& cocktails.dinnerwas fixed price for v-day

so, in the end:
a) plan ahead. expect some waiting, possibly considerable, on extra busy nights.... consider takeout. it'll be just as good at home cuddling on the couch with a movie
b) friendly staff
c) excellent / interesting / not run-of-the-mill food
d) reasonable portions

amazing food, stellar service. i nearly cried 4 times duringdinnerat miel, the flavors were so amazing. it is what god intended when he made food.
seriously. i pushed back my chair 4 times + took a moment to relish in the awesomeness. my wife agreed, but still laughed at me. i wanted to go outside and do a little happy dance, it was so good. (i resisted, but only barely.)
service was fantastic and we have high standards. (there are too many awesome restaurants in nashville to bother with bad service.)
it was so good, we went back the very next day for brunch.
it is the nashville scene best brunch for a reason. best bacon i have ever put in my mouth. and that would be a lot.

miel was outstanding!. my husband & i had an amazingdinnerlast night at miel. from the moment we walked in the door we were treated with outstanding service and attention. for appetizers we had the artisan cheese plate where every bite of the delicious variety of cheeses melted in my mouth (i only wish the portions were a little bigger!)...then we had the heirloom tomato salad, very tasty & fresh like the tomatoes were just picked out of the garden! the fresh basil atop was to die for. i had the lamb - it was the best i've ever tasted, so tender you could cut it with a spoon. the presentations were beautiful and every small detail shined! the extra specialities on the plates such as fresh berries, figs, nuts, dried apple rings and roasted tomatoes truly complimented the meal. our wine, the capion was a perfect suggestion from our server. the creme brulee was in a cup of carmelized sugar so no spoon was needed as we used shards of the hardened sugar to scoop out the brulee! the atmosphere is cozy and romantic, bistro style. i've already sent the link to the restaurant to several friends & coworkers today...it is a small gem not to be missed!

not a good experience!!. i haddinnerwith my husband at miel and i must say it was not worth the money we spent. the soup was oily, the pasta had frozen or canned lobster, which wasn't good at all. the mussels were ok but not as raving as the waitress explained they would be. i think this restaurant could be really good if they worked on a few things. prices are as high as morton's steakhouse. i would totally pay it, if it was good, but it wasn't. presentation was not good on any of the dishes we had. we had 2 glasses of wine, pasta dish, mussels and soup for a whopping $107.00!! hello!! this is ridiculous. the pasta was a main course dish and the rest was appetizer size.