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Editorial Review

Reviewed in Aug/Sep '10 issue of Ciao!

A vast menu with a multitude of dishes can intimidate anyone.

Now try wrapping your head and your appetite around 35,000 possible combinations.

That’s the number of options available on Mise Bistro and Lounge’s three-course, create-it-yourself, $35 prix fixe dinner.

With an outstanding Manitoba regional cuisine menu, patrons at the Corydon Avenue bistro can try their own combination of three, sample-sized entrées or appetizers instead of just one dish.

Quick tip: Bring friends who love to share.

Inside the two storey, 95-seat restaurant and lounge, owners Terry and Sue Gereta have transformed the space to suit all occasions.

The lounge's leather banquettes, a long bar and well-worn antique pianos strike a surprisingly easy juxtaposition against linen-draped tables inside the adjacent, more formal dining room. (There's also a small, private dining upstairs and a large summer patio.)

‘I don’t know’ is never uttered by amiable servers who have in-depth knowledge of ingredients and preparation.

The buche riblaire-goat cheese with poached black mission figs, toasted almonds and orange-ginger dressed greens are a delightful wave of sweet and savoury, creamy and crunchy, warm and cool.

Dilled potato salad makes a warm bed for delicate, pan-seared Arctic char in one of Mise’s signature dishes. A healthy spray of golden caviar, a smear of beet coulis, and a scattering of crisp bacon finish this Manitoba meal.

With masterful preparations of bison, quail and duck, Mise civilizes the beasts on its menu.

Roasted Canadian quail stuffed with bison, sundried blueberries and rosemary with cumberland sauce is a surprisingly subtle blend of sturdy heritage meats that don’t stifle the tangy citrus notes in the sauce.

Grilled sirloin steak and sautéed mushrooms make well-matched, yet expected dance partners. But a new step—a tangy dollop of seedy Dijon mustard tamed by smooth and silky honey truffle oil—impresses the judges. A slight sweetness soothes a robust spanking of gutsy meatiness. Buttery garlic mashed potatoes and crisp broccoli round out this meat and potatoes entrée.

Regional cuisine also gets an Asian update at Mise. Spicy, honey-sesame fried beef with Cavena Nuda rice pilaf, snap peas, pea shoots and cashews is a contented collision of East meets West. The same can be said for seared duck breast with confit, soy sake spinach, shiitake mushrooms and wild rice tagliatelle. Zippy soy melds with savoury duck in this inspired intersection of multi-cultural cuisines.

Do not forsake dessert at Mise. Try the milles filles: golden sheets of crispy phyllo pastry are layered with caramel, oozing dark chocolate, caramelized bananas and currents throughout. Each velvety bite follows another until every titillating morsel vanishes.

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