Mint Cafe and Bar — Restaurant in Belgrade

Here is my email I sent to The Mint management, and still haven't heard back. IT IS NOT WORTH THE MONEY, DONT BOTHER!!!

My husband and myself joined another couple for dinner the other day to give The Mint another try, since it has newly reopened.

My husband and I feel we did not get what we paid for. Here is a list of things that went wrong.

First my our server was great but when the rest of the restaurant does not do there job neither can she.

Second every person at the table ordered the Chateau Belgrade, below is how your menu describes the dish.

"Château Belgrade 10oz 37 Shallot garlic butter brushed thick center cut “Chateaubriand” tenderloin served rare or medium rare only for this beautiful steak (We will go beyond per request but might cry while doing so). This one is finished with a Woodford Reserve Kentucky straight bourbon glace with sautéed cremini mushrooms then garnished with a fresh mint leaf. Sit back and relax, this one is slow grilled to spec temps of: Extra Rare 115 (very cold center). Rare 125 (cold center soft). Medium Rare 130 (warm red center). Medium is 140 – more firm and takes 38 to 40 minutes. "

The shallot garlic butter, the Woodford Reserve Kentucky straight bourbon glace, and the fresh mint garnish was non-existence on every steak served to the table. So only the meat and the mushrooms are accurate in that statement on the Menu.

Third My steak as well as my husband steak was cut in the middle to check the temperature of the meat. Only people that can't cook a steak do that! This releases the juices from the meat and cooks the center along the cut making it cook unevenly. I ordered a Medium rare steak and my husband a medium, we had to switch steaks because there were incorrectly done.

Fourth when ordering a salad as a side it should come before the main course. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO ASK YOU SERVER FOR IT, once your food has arrived. Also we were asked twice for what kind of dressing we wanted on our salads, letting me know that the kitchen had forgotten them.

Fifth My husband ordered Yams for 1 of his sides. Below I posted what your menu says: "Add $3 roasted yam with brown sugar" Not only did the yams not have brown sugar the server noticed that and brought out a little cup of sugar so he could assemble it himself

Sixth Same problem with the baked potato. 2 people added all the fixings to the potato but it came out plain. Only after pointing this out were the toppings brought out for us to assemble ourselves. Also on my bill we were charged for each topping including butter although on your menu (stated below from your website) it says it comes with butter. "Baker comes with Butter – Add .50cents for sour cream – chives – shredded cheddar – bacon bits. "

Also this reads as all toppings are 50 cents, not each topping is 50 cent. Seriously 50 cents for chives, thats ridiculous. (look at the receipt attached, .50 for Chives)

I added a photo of my receipt to show you the discrepancies. Plus the Escargot price is different then what your menu says, its lower but still prices for items should match.

I am sad to see this restaurant go through so many hands and still be managed so poorly. As you see in my receipt that was not a cheap meal! but it was done so badly that I thought I should email the owner/ manager about this. I hope to hear back from The Mint on why this was so horrible.

From another...

Firstly, this review is based on the soft opening, and may not reflect the experience from the grand opening forward.

Menu and Food Quality:

The menu was fairly small overall and extremely over-priced. The appetizers were very small portions and not meant to be shared by more than 2 people. We ordered the steak fingers as an appetizer and there were enough to share between the two of us, however they were cooked terribly. The steak was completely beyond rare and two of the 5 fingers were cut along the grain of the steak, making them impossible to bite through. The timing was awful as well. Our appetizer took nearly 20 minutes and entrees were delivered within 5 minutes of appetizer—barely enough time for the appetizers to cool to a point that we could eat them.

Drinks were very expensive and no drink specials were available.

We ordered cheeseburgers for entrees. Again highly over-priced. The options for bun are all gluten-free, which I see as a trend. If they would simply offer a whole wheat bun, or ciabatta bread bun, I would have been much more pleased. My burger came on a potato roll, and was COMPLETELY soggy, top and bottom. When our server noticed how my bun was falling apart all over my plate, she simply laughed, said "oh no yours is falling apart," and then walked away. So to segue to the service....

Service:

The dining room was nearly empty and I cannot find an excuse for what took so long to greet us and take our drink orders. Our server, somewhat condescendingly, corrected me when she brought out the "chipotle ranch" not the "Cajun Ranch" that was stated on the menu. She was very sweet, but not accommodating enough to bump this review up to 2 stars.

Overall Value:

I have lived in the area my entire life and this menu is just another attempt to please the small percentage of people that visit the area and do not live here. Economically, Belgrade residents cannot afford to eat here on a regular basis, and even an occasional splurge would be money spent better elsewhere.

Final thoughts:

As someone who has worked in the service industry for over 10 years, I can say that I will not be returning to the Mint. This restaurant is obviously under the ownership and management of people that are clearly not from Montana, yet trying to offer the "authentic" "wild west" Montana grill...

My husband was recommended this restaurant by his coworkers and they were not wrong. The food was great and our server was wonderful. We started our meal with the onion rings, which was more like a haystack of fried onions. The onions were well seasoned, almost too well at the bottom, and the sauce was really tasty. We both got soups with our entrées I had the soup of the day which was a lovely beef and vegetable and he got a clam chowder, which he said was really good but I personally don't like. They were having a special on the halibut with a rice pilaf, hollandaise, and asparagus and so my husband chose that for his meal. I chose the pan-seared Ora king salmon with parmesean risotto, asparagus, and a carrot and sunflower seed pesto. Both our entrées were $34 and I wish I had taken a picture of them because of how beautifully they were plated. He enjoyed his halibut however we both thought the salmon was better seasoned than the halibut. Just thinking back on the food is making my mouth water right now, it was that good. We both indulged in a little alcohol to go with our meals, he had two huckleberry mules and I had one lavender honey lemonade, both were very good and reasonably strong to us. And we finished our meal with our very first creme brulee, theirs is a lemon creme brulee, and honestly this was what made the final price of our meal worth it all and more. We will go back again for sure! I've been asking all my coworkers if they have been and I am recommending Mint...