Mireille in Vinohrady - we were disappointed

This small article is not going to be very friendly towards Restaurant Mireille on Korunní street in Vinohrady. It is not because I bear a grudge against them for taking over the spot, where restaurant U Slaviku used to serve Prague's best Pork Knee (pecene Koleno) - because I guess U Slaviku went out of business by their own mistake.

The interior is very pleasant and stylish. I like it!

I've been at Mireille twice, and neither time I went out satisfied. The first time I had a lovely pasta dish (Pappadelle with lamb ragout, Czk. 185,-) - but the accompanying house wine, which was supposed to be 0,15 deciliters, didn't even come close to that measurement, thus bringing the bill to a too high amount for what we got.

The non smoking section is nice and cosy

I recently read Brewsta's review of Mireille, which was very positive, so when in my daily sleva hunt I stumbled over, what seemed to be a very fair offer from Mireille, I decided to go back - of course as usual with BF.
This was the offer: Experience the taste of the Mediterranean with a special menu of fish from the Adriatic, fennel and potatoes for two people. A 740kc value for just 260kc at Mirellie restaurant.
What's not to like?
We went there on a Monday night. Thank God I had booked a table, because the place was packed. I really like the stylish interior, the display of their fish on offer and the display of the desert selection. Nice. The chairs are comfortable as well. So a good start.

Desert on display

Desert on display

BF wasn't sure, if he wanted wine. I ordered a bottle of rosé: Syrah-Grenache, Vallée des Aigles, Languedoc (Czk. 350,-). The only rosé on offer. And my logic being that should BF change his mind, a rosé would be a fair compromise between his usual white and my usual red. Plus the fact that it would probably go well with the fish. I ordered a bottle of sparkling water - Bonaqua (Czk. 35,-).
As it turned out, BF chose a Gin/tonic (Czk. 115,-) and later 2 half litres of Stella Artois (Czk. 45,- each).
The wine was pleasant. The waiter made a big deal out of removing the plastic "cork", smelling it and of course having me taste the wine. It wasn't corked :-)

My pleasant rosé wine which went well with the food (well, the food I was able to eat)

I handed over our voucher and asked the waiter, which kind of fish, we should expect? He looked at me, very confused and answered "fish!". Then he said a lot to BF in Czech, which I found a little bit rude, as it was me, who had asked the question. But this happens quite often. I asked him to repeat in English, and he answered "some mixed Mediterranean fish, and definitely not tuna, as that wouldn't be Mediterranean". Then he disappeared.
The waiter went to several different tables doing his thing - and then he returned with a tray of uncooked fish and told me, we would get some of these. OK, point taken. We would have... Fish.

The tray of fish

We didn't have to wait too long before our food arrived. On each plate was a tiny portion of vegetables and potatoes (not a lot of fennel), some rather dried out, undressed salad and the fish: 2 small ones, a slightly larger one - and a piece of tuna (!). All of it had been grilled.

3 kinds of grilled fish

I started with the tuna - I was fearing the smaller variants as they were served on the bone, and I hadn't been given a fish knife. The tuna was very well seasoned and the taste was really good - but unfortunately it had been overcooked, so the texture was dry and unpleasant.
Then I had to continue to the smaller fish. I started with the middle one. It was a struggle to get the grilled fish meat off the bones. The texture was just too hard from the cooking, and I spent a long time struggling with fish bones between my teeth. There were no tooth picks on the table, so at one point I had to sneak out of the restaurant to discretely remove one bone stuck between my front teeth. I ate the fish, started on one of the smaller ones - and had to give up. I remembered reading in Brewsta's review that one of his friends had a small fish served de-boned before grilled. They should have done the same with ours. I had to give up, eat the rest of my vegetables and start planning, which burger from Butch's burgerbar around the corner, I would eat afterwards, because I was still quite hungry.

The waiter came to our table, looked at our plates and asked, if there was a problem with our fish. I told him "yes, the tuna was overcooked, and the smaller grilled fish we couldn't eat because it was impossible to get the meat off the bones - especially without a fish knife". He smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and walked away.
We finished our drinks, and I asked for the bill. I paid by credit card, so he asked me to follow him to the bar to enter my pin code. While we were walking there, he assured me that he hoped to see us again soon. Back at the table after we had put on our jackets he came back and said, he was looking forward to our next visit. All very polite - but it just didn't make any sense. BF hates, if I make a fuss, but as he had already left the restaurant, I couldn't resist, and I asked the waiter, why he believed we would be back, when we had complained about the food and nothing had been done? "Well, it might be better on the next visit", was his answer. I didn't get it, so I asked him why he hadn't even answered, when I had told him we didn't like the fish (I must admit, I had even used the word "horrible"). He answered that he wasn't the manager, just a waiter, so what could he do? Well, called the manager, I believe?
The bill was Czk. 850,- including the voucher. I probably won't be back. I realize that we didn't pay a lot for the food, but I would expect them to give us the sleva in order to seduce us with their food, so we would just have to come back?
They failed miserably to seduce neither of us.

Restaurant Mireille
Korunni 783/23, Praha 2
222 521 814
mireille@mireille.cz
www.mireille.cz