Mystique Dining at Gardner Village — Restaurant in West Jordan

The Mystique dining hall is a quirky and unique venue, and I did truly enjoy the overall experience. If you don’t wanna read through my entire detailed account of the evening, here’s the summary: I loved the ambiance and the entertainment, but the dining portion of the evening was a bit underwhelming for the price tag.

Take everything I write with a grain of salt, I’m sure experience varies based on the night. I understand that there are probably constraints that come with running a dinner & performance venue that make it difficult to accommodate certain wants/needs on the fly.

First off, be prepared for the expenses to add up quick - the cost of the dinner is on top of the entry fee, plus a service charge, processing fee, tax, etc. The service fee says online it goes towards servers and performers; but it was implied otherwise at dinner, so we ended up adding gratuity at the end as well. We went big and quickly racked up over $500 for two people, but you could probably keep it under $200 if you were a little more on the conscious side!

We were able to select our own entrees; but as far as I could tell, there was no way of knowing what the other courses would specifically consist of (other than the general listing of: appetizer, soup/salad, palate cleanser, dessert). I do wish there was some way to view all 5 course descriptions ahead of time, as my partner has a lot of dietary preferences, and it would’ve been nice to take a peek at the current menu and decide that it would have been better for us to come during a different season with a different menu.

Our appetizer was a crostini with a bruschetta topping, it was small but flavorful. Our salad consisted of arugula topped with fruits, crumbly cheese, and a sweet dressing. The palate cleanser was a coconut sorbet, a little on the stiff side, but tasty. For the entrees we ordered the tomahawk steak and lobster ravioli, as well as sides of mashed potatoes and mac & cheese. The steak mentioned it was cooked “sous vide” online, but did not mention to what doneness, and we were not asked for a preference. The meat came out a little more rare than we had hoped for, so we sheepishly inquired if there was a way to get it a little more cooked, as that was quite a big ticket item that we wanted to be able to enjoy. The server was kind and accommodating enough to send it back to be seared a little. It turned out alright, but in hindsight, I wish we had tried something else. The lobster ravioli was savory, but… somehow dry. It felt as though the raviolis had been cooked in an air fryer and then drizzled with sauce afterwards. The mashed potatoes and macaroni were, however, creamy and delicious! Dessert was a slice of chocolate cake, which was about what you’d expect from a piece of cake. Overall, the food was fine, but just not anywhere in the realm of living up to the price tags (in my very personal opinion).

The energy at dinner started off a little awkward, as a bunch of strangers were sat very intimately around a table together. People mostly kept to their groups and didn’t interact much when the server asked general questions. I’m sure this part of the experience varies greatly depending on the crowd. By the end of dinner things felt a little more relaxed; but when the magician came out, all walls came down.

Dave Cox was the magician for the evening, and his performance was my favorite part of the whole experience. He got people out of their shells, made us laugh, and wowed us with his magic tricks. He was a little cheesy at times, but it felt whimsical and endearing. He did a great job of involving nearly everyone in the room at some point. His jokes felt funny for both kids and adults, and his tricks were able to be viewed/enjoyed even by the people in the back.

Overall thoughts: Was this a fun experience? Absolutely. Do I think it was worth the price tag? I’m not quite sure. The ambiance and the theme were great, the magician was entertaining and lively, the food was just … not quite there for me.

It was an unforgettable evening one...

We've been to two shows here and had a fabulous time at both, though the first was better than the second. First we went to Magic and the Macabre Edgar Allen Poe themed show with magician Paul Draper for my birthday in September. (There are different magicians on different nights.) The five course meal was tasty. The Prime Rib and Chef's special Pork Roast were absolutely delicious. The apple slice on the bubbling glass and caramel sauce was fun and tasty! We missed it at our second show. The chocolate cake for dessert was only prosaic, though the raspberry coulis on top tasted great. There was more than enough food to fill you up. Paul Draper's magic show was absolutely stunning. He had a variety of tricks, humorous quips, and entertaining stories that kept everyone entertained. I even got to assist him with my husband. 10/10 would definitely pay to see him again! The host and waitresses were sassy and sweet and wonderful to interact with. They kept us smiling too. The Edgar Allen Poe show was amazing! I loved how we got to listen to dramatic retellings of his poems with a spooky face superimposed on a statue bust while eating. The decorations were gothic and intricate and gorgeous too. Our second show was the Christmas themed Magic of the Season. We enjoyed this too, but not as much as the first show. We came opening night. During dinner we ate in a nicely decorated room with huge nutcrackers, Christmas trees, and fun magician posters with a bit of gothic drama. The meal was tasty again, with a great soup to start and, once again, a great Prime Rib plate with pink steak perfectly cooked and great dipping sauces and sides of asparagus and baby potatoes. The Cornish Hen, however, was just okay. The sauce on the bottom of the plate was impressive in color, texture, and flavor, but the hen itself was barely seasoned/bland and slightly dry. It would have been better with more seasoning or another sauce added on top or on the side. I would not order it again. The dessert, however, was 5 star AMAZING. Unlike the underwhelming chocolate cake from last time, this time we got a moist cake with mango cream filling, a mango gelatin with chunks of mango fruit on top, and a scoop of raspberry mascarpone and raspberry coulis drizzled over the slice. It didn't really need the mascarpone in my opinion, as so much else was going on and it was all great. The cake was heavenly. Even my husband, who usually doesn't eat desserts, finished his plate. The magic show was led by Danny Doyle this time. He was funny and friendly and did a good job interacting with the people at the front of the table. I feel like he could have grabbed more volunteers from both sides of the room and the back, though he did get the front of the table involved a lot and their antics were funny. His bio says he specializes in close-up magic and he did do a lot of impressive card tricks. Unfortunately, I was sitting at the foot of the table back by the doors and he was sitting down with the cards flat on the table. There was also a centerpiece on the table between us. Cards are also small. I couldn't see 75-80% of the tricks, which was frustrating. Those people who paid extra to sit at the front had a great view though, and interacted with him a lot. If I had spent more for closer seats it would've gone better for me too, probably. He is talented, it just didn't work out well with the setup of where I was and the decorations. Maybe if he'd had a more elevated table where he did the card tricks instead of on the same flat surface as the center table it would've been easier to see? I'm not sure. The second dinner also only had music playing the entire time compared to the poetry readings of the Poe show. This wasn't as exciting or as interesting. Though don't get me wrong, it was still nice. It gave me more time to talk to my partner and the people around us. Overall, I still had a fun and entertaining night and I want to come back. The food was good and I smiled and laughed during the magic show. I would recommend this as a...

I was profoundly disappointed with my experience here and felt it was overpriced given the quality of the food, the faux fancy atmosphere of the room, and extra little inconveniences that kept piling up.

For starters, when setting up reservations, there’s no prompt or option to include food allergies or dietary restrictions, nor any indication of what salad or dessert you’ll be served. I understand that accommodating individual needs adds extra work for the chefs and servers, but it’s clear they’re capable of doing so. They just make it unnecessarily difficult to communicate those needs.

I’ll admit, I probably could’ve been more proactive about noting the allergies and preferences at my table, but sometimes that’s not something you think about until the moment comes up. A simple prompt during checkout would’ve made the whole experience smoother. Forgive me for not wanting to have to call the restaurant in advance just to confirm details that could have been easily clarified online.

The reason I bring this up is that both the surprise salad and dessert caused issues. One of my friends is allergic to certain types of nuts, and the salad dressing had a distinct peanut-butter-like taste. Luckily, my friend isn’t allergic to peanuts, but for a moment there was a scare and it would’ve been nice to have a heads up especially if someone is actually allergic. Then, when dessert was brought out, my friend who doesn’t like cake noticed another table being served sorbet. When we asked if she could have that instead, we were told no because it was a “pre-selected” gluten-free option. Again, I can acknowledge some responsibility for not being more proactive, but it’s incredibly frustrating that we weren’t even told those options existed in the first place.

In addition Three of our orders something went wrong. For my order: I got a prime rib that was cut up for me in error, minor thing and didn't bother me however it highlights how yes they were willing to juggle accomodations but also they were extremely uncoordinated about it. The server who gave it to me rushedly apologized that they mixed up something with the chips. For one of my friends: the waiter mentioned they accidentally did some extra effort making this is a "calorie free" option which I took as they had a specification for someone's order but they either didn't show up or they made an extra in error. And then the most frustrating one: My friend ordered the Crispy Chicken Al Matone, and in the description it says it comes with a 'grilled frissee panzanella' however no such bread salad was ever served to her.

In addition to the errors, my meal of the Prime Rib was decent in the meat itself however the baked potato they served was laughable. It was just a cooked potato with some small herbs sprinkled in there, so bland, something very easily replicatable in your own kitchen for way way cheaper.

The icing on the literal cake for me was when they served dessert and my cake someone seemingly dumped handfuls of powder sugar on it, a testament to how little care and attention was put into this supposed 'fine dining'

In regards to atmosphere and entertainment:

I wasn't impressed by the gold painted chairs and the very cramped table set up that made it difficult for the servers to maneuver around.

The magician was a nice guy, however he didn't have the ideal energy you'd expect from a magician. And I kid you not I was more engaged by an audience member that joined him on stage than the actual magician himself. As a previous reviewer stated he did a lot more talk than he actual did magic tricks.

I feel ripped off and would not recommend, if you want a magical night I would suggest ordering in or making yourself some own food and perhaps watching an America's got...