Le Mirabelle — Restaurant in Bordeaux

While we were in Bordeaux we were celebrating an anniversary and had a hard time to figure out where to go for a nice dinner. We hadn't planned ahead so some of the "fancy" restaurants were unavailable. Thankfully my wife found this place only about 1.5 miles from out hotel. We walked there and were pleasantly surprised to see multiple open tables inside and outside. We opted for outside since it was a beautiful clear night. *Note to non smokers though, like us, avoid outdoor seating. We chose outdoor thinking it would be pleasant and pretty, but there are tons of cigarette smokers.

Cool spot to hang out and they have a killer menu. We ordered a few dishes from their menu, sadly they were already out of what we wanted from their daily menu. But, when they make food as well as they do it doesn't really matter if they are out. Usually I'd be upset, but my goodness... they served me probably the best steak I've ever had. Everything on our plates was so well balanced and so easy to eat. You had to take the time to enjoy the flavors on each dish. Even my salad, which I normally am not a fan of, was so good I wanted more. The duck my wife got was exceptional as well. The quality of the foods here alone makes me want to make another international trip back...

Read about le Mirabelle in a tour guide and decided to check it out as it claimed to offer traditional brasserie food. After walking for an hour to get there I found out that they only did Tapas and cheese platters which was disappointing as I wanted to have an authentic Bordeaux experience. The service was friendly, prompt and attentive. The gazpacho was... Really bad. Melon soup really. They just puréed cantaloupe and added salt and pepper. 6 euros down the drain. I chose the cheese platter, which was delicious but reflected the skills of the cheese makers rather than any culinary skill of le Mirabelle. I left le Mirabelle spending 29 euros and still feeling very hungry. Went to the salad bar across the road and had a chicken salad which actually filled me for 8 euros.

I wish I could recommend this place as the wait staff were so very friendly, but the most important thing is the food. And the food was poorly portioned...

The place looks very pretty, nice terrace in front, makes you want to stop. The serving was fast and nice, I was pleased with the times for serving too. The problems are on the fact that the tables are very close to eachother, you're basically eating with the stranergs next to you and cannot avoid but listen to their conversation (yes, I understand french) which also makes you uncofortable to have your own conversations. Even if only for this reason, I would not return. Then there was the food, very very ambitious in trying a bit more (like on one of the eggs on the pictures, all cadied like), fusioning cuisine trying... but in all the dishes the overall balance was off - tartar had no acidity, fish didn't at all taste like fish, salad tasting blend and with only the crunch going on for it. So I guess a long review to express the disapointment after really looking forward...