miel restaurant

i went tomiellast night and left with a very dissapointed experience. the service was terrible we waited a very long time for our drinks much less appetizers and entrees. i had the special of the night a duck ravioli and was left with cold duck and undercooked ravioli.for thecost of these meals i was expecting it to knock my socks off and we were just eager to leave. it took about 30 min to get our checks then the waiter told us that they could no divide the checks (even though 2 of our guests left early andthey each received there seperate checks) so then we were left spnding an additional 20 min dividing the check between the 5 remainding people. i find it hard to believe that chili's or red lobster can easily split checks and a place such asmielwas unable to. all in al its not worth the money.

used to be outstanding, now a little disappointing.mielused to be our go-to place for special occasions and when we needed to entertain business guests. i used to love this place. it maybe hasn't been as great lately, but for memory's sake we still picked this restaurant for our 10th anniversary celebration. for starters, after dropping off the menus our waiter was mia for quite a while, repeatedly, and we were left sitting with no drinks, no food for quite some time while we waited for him to reappear. he did tell us that the kitchen was out of the appetizer that we had planned to order, but was not able to offer any replacement (beyond suggesting that we just order an entree as an appetizer!). since the non-salad portion of the starter list was just cheese and olives, and we really weren't after just a 1-course meal, we asked to talk with a manager to see if there was anything the kitchen could make instead. the owner came and apologized, but said they just make a certain number of the tartare every night, and the kitchen didn't keep any other things handy for replacement. i completely understand being out of a dish, but maybe they should have a backup if it's the only thing on the menu. she also apologized that we hadn't gotten our drinks right away, so was aware of the service lapse. basically, she had the chance to make the terrible start up to us but didn't in any way. even comping the $6 olives that we ended up ordering as a starter (amounting to about 5% of the total bill) would have been a much-welcomed show of goodwill. the entrees were fine, well-cooked, fresh, and tasty as always, but up until our they arrived--at which point we were the only table left in our server's section--we had the distinct impression that they just didn't care about our dining experience. they always used to give little spoons of honey to finish the meal, but either they don't any more or our waiter forgot. overall we were a little disappointed, wished we had chosen a different place for our anniversary where someone would care, and we did leave trying to figure out what our new go-to restaurant would be. i'd still recommend this place for the food (and maybe things will get better again? i really did used to love miel) but would put it a step below some of the newer places in town.

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 birthday dinner there. 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 tomielwith a 12 person party (even if you call ahead and they say they can handle it).

i had the most wonderful experience at miel. for starters, i just got married. our sever was very attentive. we were the only guests on the patio that night and she made sure we were well attended to. after i told her how much i enjoyed our meals and said i'd love to meet the chef, she was very happy to accommodate my request. the chef came out and was so humble and answered some questions. he asked me to leave my email so he could send me a recipe. i couldn't love this restaurant more! we just moved to the country and i was really missing a sophisticated meal.mielreally delivered.

*****. 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 having dinner here 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.mielhas 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.

dinner. first the fish i had was very dry,and the pork was over smoked, i couldnt believe i spent money on something i could have made at home. the second thing, the service was very slow. i believe thatmielis highly over rated and way over priced.

one of nashville's best.mielhas always been good and just keeps getting better. i love everything about the place.

atrocious service, jarring ambiance. with its decor as dull and comfortless as a disused bus station, its dining room placed inches from the non-foyered entry door and fronting the half-walled kitchen from which crashes and bangs thunder regularly every few seconds, and its vistas of a suburban strip-mall, miel's ambiance rates lower that of than many chain restaurants, much less what one would expect for haute cuisine. the service, too, is shockingly bad; non-existent much of the time (no offer to refill wine or coffee -- actually, no initial offer to serve wine or coffee!; although we were only one of three couples in his section, our waiter left our entrees dallying on the counter so long, the hostess finally served them; our bottle of wine arrived ten minutes after the entrees), punctuated by disruptive bouts of rudeness (interrupting a romantic toast; offering to let the escorted married lady taste the wine her husband had ordered, not the gentleman, as is proper; commenting derisively on the gentleman's request for additional service). the food is divine, although portions may be somewhat meager. if this boit had someone as devoted to ensuring its good service and ambiance as the chef evidently devotes himself to its cuisine,mielwould be a sweet treat indeed. as it stands now, however, the experience is simply too bitter to endure. too bad they don't offer take away.

great flavors. i took some clients tomielfor dinner. our reservation was for 6 and the restaurant was mostly empty. as some others have noted, the decor is nothing to write home about, but i like being able to watch the chef's work and the food come out. while we drank some champagne and cocktails, i was able to see many of the dishes going by and it helped me decide.

we shared 4 appetizers, the charcuterie plate, the olives, the mussels, and the cheese plate. all of it was excellent. given that i am a pate' lover, the charcuterie plate was my favorite, the duck pate' with some fresh berry jam was one of the best bites of food i have ever had.

the entree choices were excellent and there was something for everyone. i had the lamb loin served on grits with some caramelized baby onions and tomatoes. it was absolutely delicious. my dining companions all loved their choices. one had the risotto with vegetables and scallops, another the bouliabase (s?), another the filet, and finally the duck special. the entrees are not huge, but they were more than enough food and the quality of the ingredients was exceptional.

we had several different desserts. i had the creme brûlée. it was very good, but i am somewhat of a creme brûlée fanatic and it was not the best i have had. they serve it in a bowl made of sugar, which is a twist on the classic caramelized sugar on top. i like the classic better. i tasted the profiteroles. i wish i had ordered these. they were exquisite. two others had the chocolate chess pie with ice cream (although i wish restaurants would stop using a melon baller to scoop ice cream). i didn't get to try that because it disappeared too quickly.

i am not a wine drinker, but i generally pay a lot of attention to wine lists when entertaining clients. i was a little disappointed in the champagne selection. about half the selections are half bottles and they had some pretty low end stuff and some pretty high end stuff. there was nothing in the middle. we had the taittinger brut which was good, but i have had many less expensive champagnes that were better. for dinner, we ordered a couple of bottles of the one syrah on the list. everyone seemed to enjoy it. a lot of the bottles on the list were in the 30 to 40 range which makes ordering a couple of bottles a lot easier. the list also had about every varietal (i think that is the right word) but usually only one choice in each.

our server was not the best. she was unobtrusive, but she seemed somewhat awkward. i had to hail her to bring a second bottle of wine when i saw everyone's glasses running low and she did a couple of other things before she brought it out (bringing another bottle of water and bringing the silverware for our meals) before she brought the wine. by that time, everyone had an empty glass and had been waiting for a refill. it is a small thing, but i like a waiter to let me know that the bottle is empty and ask fi we need another so that it is ready when diners need it.

they also added the tip to a party of five. i realize it was an expensive meal, but i hate this practice. she did circle the tip on the receipt so i would be sure to know it was included. but if they had not put the 18% on there, i would have tipped 20%. i could have added the extra, but considering the service, i thought 18% was right.

the total cost of the meal for five, including tax and tip was $700. of that $300 was wine and liquor (before tax and tip). i think this was excellent value. i did not consider this restaurant high priced for the quality as some other reviewers have suggested. comparable food in new orleans (where i am from) would be about 20% higher.

i will definitely be back when i am in nashville.

one honey of a find:miel["honey" à la française; "mêl" in welsh] is the much-recommended but, until last night (18 june 2011), never-yet-visited west nashville foodie spot that won the dart-toss for a 28th wedding anniversary celebration. a bull's-eye pitch, to be sure. graciousness and cheer, complemented by wine & beer and feats gastronomical. in summary: chilled corn bisque and veal sweetbreads for starters irrigated by champagne & oban single malt. then butterflied north carolina mountain trout for her, with a pali pinot noir against his perfect ingot of a razor-cut pork shoulder paired with duck confit and washed with the butternut-hints of ukraine's slavutich lager. the splurge for tokaji hétszóló (tokay) in lieu of dessert out-sauterned sauterne and nearly made a sweetie of a certain still-married codger.mielsur petites cuillères ["honey on tiny spoons"] with pollen-grains was a curious but ingenious finale. themielmenu is a delightful adventure that beckons a return-trip. for a parting shot, let it merely be said that the fine-print scoldings and directives at the menu's bottom margin read like behavior-manual policies at an overwrought private prep school and should be taken with a grain of sel de mer ["sea salt"] by all but the most incorrigible of patrons.

we had brunch atmielyesterday and i was stunned at how good this place is. i started with a mushroom soup and my wife had the salad. both were delicious. the salad was butter lettuce with a light vinaigrette thatw as perfect. my wife had the corvi a with root vegetables and it was incredible. i had the braised short ribs over sauteed potations with two poached eggs. wonderfully prepared. oh, and they make a great bloody mary and have a nice wine selection, although not a lot by the glass. only chink in the armor was a bit of a wait between soup and salad and the meal but not enough to keep me away. i will be back soon.

not a good experience!!. i had dinner with my husband atmieland 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.