Brasserie Le Mistral — Restaurant in New York

Had brunch this morning and kind of surprised at all of the 4-star reviews. We were headed to the Sunday Market on 4th street in Park Slope and tried to get a reservation at Stone Park Café, but they were booked solid. Brasserie Le Mistral, only 2 blocks away was near empty, despite all of the 4-star reviews, and my experience may be an indicator. My brunch companion had a $24 burger, which was very good, and seems to be the going rate for premium burgers these days. It was very good, but not going to compete with the $26 burger at Emmy Squared a few blocks away, or Redhook Tavern, and many of Brooklyn's greatest. It was good, not amazing. My gripe really came from my order, also $24 for "duck confit hash", also very tasty, but misleading and off the mark significantly. According to Wikipedia "Hash is a dish consisting of chopped meat, potatoes, and fried onions. The name is derived from French: hacher, meaning 'to chop'." This plate had some very tasty veg, a few bits of pickled onion, and whole boiled or roasted potatoes. See the enclosed photo, it does not look like "hash", and it came in a broth. Hash shouldn't have broth. And really, if you serve a broth, there should also be something to soak it up with (like chopped potatoes, or some crunchy toast), which there was not. And about the confit.... I agree with many of the recipe sites which define duck confit as slow cooked in it's own fat, and served with crispy skin. I love that crispy skin. Wikipedia describes "A classic recipe is to fry or grill the legs in a bit of the fat until they are well-browned and crisp, and use more of the fat to roast some potatoes and garlic as an accompaniment." YUM, crispy duck skin and crispy potatoes, but there was nothing crispy in this sodden hash. Let me talk a moment about portion size. Potatoes are one of the low food-cost items in the kitchen, and while eggs were VERY expensive for a few months the price has really come down. For $24 I'd like a second egg, and I finished my meal ready to go find a Hallal Cart, or 5-Guys.

So, despite; Good location Friendly staff Tasty food

The dining room is near empty on a beautiful Sunday at 11:30 with the farmers market happening a block away, and I think that misleading menu items and very small portions, which could be addressed with low food-cost additions may be a...

What a wonderful restaurant and team! Let me describe how caring and special this place is:

The week of a long-planned, outdoor surprise graduation party for my wife - it became clear that it would be raining all day on the day of the event. Three days prior to the event I then had to come up with a last minute, back-up plan and stopped in to Le Mistral. They were not open yet, but Al, the best general manager of a restaurant I have ever experienced, kindly welcomed me and my parents into the restaurant, speaking with us for about an hour. He sat with us, gave us a tour of the restaurant and event space, and even helped plan the new version of the surprise graduation party. Al is incredibly kind and thoughtful.

The event space is gorgeous with beautiful light from the skylight, it was a perfect size for our party (about 50 people), and has its own private bar and small stage for a band! We had a 3-piece jazz band that fit very well on the stage, sounded terrific (no echo or reverberation in the space), and had all the convenient power access they needed.

In addition, Al and Le Mistral allowed us to not only decorate and set-up the space the entire day before the event (with about 100 balloons, streamers and table objects) - but Al was also always available and helpful with any and all coordination leading up to the event, including letting us store items in the space overnight (to not spoil the surprise :)

During the event, Al and Le Mistral provided a two-hour open bar with Al as the generous bartender, making sure the guests had whatever they needed.

Al and Le Mistral turned what could have been an unfortunate, last-minute weather change to the surprise party -- into a memorable graduation party my wife and our friends and family will never forget (and couldn't imagine any other way).

We are so grateful to Le Mistral and Al. Everyone that can, should make it a point to try Le Mistral and meet Al and their team. They are exactly what a neighborhood restaurant should be - there for your daily and special events - there when you need.

And let me tell you - Al is always there! He must be the hardest working manager and is always there to say hello and welcome you in. Thank you...

Beautiful place, wait staff and manager very polite & clean. So five stars for looks, servers and hygiene.

But alas, we came for the food: Oysters had too many inclusions (dark spots in the shells) and didn't taste sweet but bitter. How many inclusions are acceptable I wonder? Well.... it's probably hard to get decent, clean looking LOCAL oysters these days? And the steaks? ordered rare...Chard black on the outside, lacked taste.

We really like this restaurant. We wanted it to be good.

Sadly, tipping 15-20% is the only way to get remembered or get good service in some places....Especially these days with 7.5% inflation. If you tip under 10%, don't expect to get noticed when you return, especially if it's busy.

Even if the food is subpar, I feel I must tip the %15, for polite service and then just never go back. Having worked as a server, I realize that's how servers in the industry survive and pay the rent. It's not the wait staff's fault if the food is disappointing.

And lastly.....I think it's really hard to get a good dinner ANYWHERE in Brooklyn these days. So our experience here is NOT UNUSUAL for the times!

Since the pandemic started, I have NOT had a good (B+ or better) meal in a restaurant in Brooklyn. Not one single time!

Maybe, it's low turnover of product? Or, like us, people don't send the food back when it just isn't right?

Maybe we are too understanding & don't want to ruin our evening by complaining & letting them know they aren't cutting it. Maybe we just want to pretend it's all OK, so we can talk to each other instead of making a scene.

In the old days (up until the early-mid 1990's?) complaining in person was more the norm & people didn't hesitate to try to get what they paid for, IN PERSON, and didn't care about the manager's, cooks, or staff's feelings. Now we can resort to google reviews.

I also wonder if the people cooking the food are happy? Are they paid enough? I don't think they are well trained or well supervised, at Mistral for sure.

So over all...sadly, just like all the rest of the pretty dining rooms, polite staff, yet overpriced food for the quality and...