Mistral
The people who brought you Setz and On the Waterfront have a new mall rat flouncing about. One entrance is as a stand alone, and the other leads you directly in to Director's Cut, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. The regular seat holders get the food court, and the ones that dish the cash get Mistral. A decently sized, modern space, good for lunch or a casual dinner. We chose to sit on the side closer to the cinema entrance, because all the open kitchen space looks all well and good, but without adequate exhaust capabilities it means leaving smelling like a french fry.
The menu almost makes sense till it doesn't. Starts out with a nice mixed bag of appetisers and and salads. Which is then followed by the following sections: Pasta, Pizza (did not get to try any but they looked decent), Grills, and then.. Persian. Hello! where did you come from? - that to the entire "Persian" section consists of 3 types of kebabs - Chicken, Lamb and Vegetarian. Followed by the ubiquitous Indian section. So its multi-cuisine trying to be different - with European, Middle-Eastern and Indian. I guess Asian isn't in anymore?
The service when I went was quite appalling, no one seemed to know anything. Literally! But to be fair it was still very much in its infancy so Im going to give them the benefit of doubt, till my next return.
- Chicken Liver Pate - Came on a wooden board with Caramelized Onions, Pickles, Brioche (though you can do with more bread with so much pate), and a crispy surprise - onion rings! Who doesn't love those. I liked the presentation, Pate in a glass jar, accompaniments et al! Sadly, the pate itself fell flat. It was quite under-seasoned, so fell on the bland side. Bah! But at least its easily fixable - that is if someone in that kitchen tastes it.
- Quinoa Salad - w/ finely diced bell pepper, onions, seasoned with parsley and sumac (which the waiter tried to convince me was an Italian spice - I don't know what's worse - him making this stuff up or the management teaching them baloney). Either way I quite liked this salad. A nice combination of fresh crunchy veggies with the quinoa and zesty sumac. May not be for everyone since the two other people at this dinner weren't fans.
And then to the Grills... You chose your protein and pair it with a sauce: Hollandaise, Horseradish, Meat Jus, Chefs BBQ, Garlic Cream . Honestly, I would like to see a couple more options here.
- New Zealand Lamb Chops w/ Meat Jus - The lamb itself was quite nice. Perfectly cooked - which really isn't all that obvious. They could have trimmed the chops a bit better though - a little too much fat. But otherwise nice.
- Side of Sautéed Mushrooms - So there was something very wrong with these. I know they look quite innocent but we believe there were one or two bad mushrooms which we all had the misfortune to bite in to straight away, quite nauseating. Also I found a lot of the food a bit low on salt but nothing that cant be fixed with a sprinkle.
- Chilean Sea Bass w/ Chef's BBQ - Sorry for the awful pictures! The sea bass was quite nice too. Minimal and no fuss. Fresh (as can be being miles away from the sea) and well, delicately cooked. I knew we'd be walking in to a trap when I picked this sauce with the fish but we were desperately trying to seek something without cream, which left us with this and the meat jus. But I was quite happy without any sauce at all - of course once I seasoned it some more .
- Pizzas - We didn't get to try one but I did see quite a good looking pizza whizzing past me - so for next time!
- Apple & Blueberry Crumble - I found the crumble too dry and powdery - rather than being buttery and crumbly . And that speck of a scoop didn't help much to moisten things up.
Verdict - Definitely worth a try if you are in the area - especially for a pre or post movie bite. And its rare to have a meal here where nothing was entirely bad! (well minus the dessert I suppose)
Budget - Rs. 3500 for two (no drinks)
Alcohol - Yes
Outdoors - No
Contact -
- (+91) 11 40870750, (+91) 11 40870751
- Ambience Mall, Level 3, Vasant Kunj