le mistral

1420 eldridge pkwy (nr briar forest)

le mistral is my new favorite french restaurant in houston, my only complaint is that it is so far away! who knew there were restaurants of this caliber in west houston?

the escargot, lobster bisque, fois gras terrine were all good as expected. the ribeye and seared chilean sea bass was delicious bite after bite. but the star of the menu was the beef wellington served in a morel sauce -- and the morels are definitely present. the puff pastry and duxelle perfectly buttery. the beef is tender and cooked to perfection. this is now one of my top 10 dishes in houston.

in general, the prices seem a tad bit high for the location (strip mall in west houston) and ambiance (which is a little lacking), but the $32 for the wellington was worth every penny. on a sunday night, service was slow and not as attentive as we would have liked, but we were a table of 7 and 20% gratuity was included on the bill which may explain the lack of the servers’ attention.

i pine over that beef wellington, even to a point that i decided to attempt to cook it myself for a dinner party. of course, it was not as good as the professional version, but i definitely appreciate all the prep and work that goes into constructing the dish now. and i learned that central market will sell you a portion of the huge $100+ pieces of fois they have vacuum sealed on their refrigerated shelves.