Mizuna

The perfect pick for my birthday dinner. Sexy and elegant with the charm and charisma of low-​key Denver. I seriously loved everything about it. If you’re not getting the lobster mac and cheese, then you’re doing it wrong, bc I’ve had my fair share of lobster mac and this tops the charts. The duck was prepared perfectly and the wine selection was amazing. My companion’s tuna was also prepped perfectly and was delish, as well.
Finished up with the yummy molten chocolate cake and couldn’t have been happier.

Food, service & atmosphere all excellent, bar none. Simply be aware; Lobster Mac & cheese was 4 bites, 1 lobster piece, and was $ 26.00…not sure where the picture on this site came from, but it’s not reality. The Scallop entrée I had was very good, but disappointed that there was only 2, yes 2 Scallops and the dish was $ 36.00. We left hungry, spending $ 135.00 each for what is listed, a bottle of wine and a shared desert. So, excellent place but did feel just a bit ripped off.

When we first arrived we were greeted by a young rude lady who looked at us and made me feel like I couldn’t possibly be there to dine, she acted like she was going to give us directions to a taco truck. So we get let her know that we had a reservation at 8:30 and it seemed impossible for her to find it and then all of a sudden, she found it. We finally get seated, and other than the front room help the environment was really nice. Very cozy and comfortable. Our waiter was very attentive and polite, he made great suggestions on drinks, appetizers and the food. We decided on the lamb and the beef Wellington, the lamb was delicious! The Wellington was a bit burned and wasn’t nearly as good. The experience overall was good except for the greeting.

Mizuna does give the feel of a French dining experience. Some people may not like this because you are waiting around a bit in between courses, but seeing as how I was here with the boyfriend for an anniversary dinner, it was perfect. I mean, if you go to a chain restaurant, they tend to bring you your entrée when you’re only halfway done with your appetizer. You will not be rushed here, nor should you come starving because you will also need to be patient. From the time we sat down, to the time we left, it was just over 2 hours. Again, perfect for enjoying the company of someone for a special occasion.
Now onto the food! The Lobster Macaroni & Cheese was rich and creamy with good size chunks of lobster. The Arugula & Frisee salad had a complex mixture of flavors. Between the chunks of bacon, semi-​sweet granola topping, and baked Parmesan crisps on top, every bite was delightful.
The medium rare Seared Lamb Loin was spectacular. Cooked perfectly with just the right accent of salty pistachios and twice cooked crunchy rice. The Seared Scallops came with an unexpected addition — some sort of small crab rolls. They looked like open ended spring rolls but with crab meat. Best surprise ever.
Though we were not planning on getting dessert, we didn’t feel stuffed like we sometimes can after a meal, so we got the Coffee Pot de Crème. It was a sort of butterscotch custard with a caramel topping plus the little spiced donuts that looked and tasted like brown sugar butter cookies. Very decadent. I spread the custard on the «donuts» and it was pure heaven.

After hearing good things about Mizuna my friend and I tried it tonight and were not disappointed.
The wait staff is very pleasant and the sommelier was knowledgeable and very helpful in suggesting wines for our taste. We ended up ordering an Astral is Clarendon Hills 2008 which had full fruit but soft and pleasant tannin. ($ 190.) For appetizers we chose the lobster mac and cheese, a creamy delight, and the octopus with sausage and other accompanying ingredients. Could have used more of the octopus in it.
My main course was the duck served as 6 sliced medium rare breast pieces and a a nice piece of crispy duck with a piece of bok choy. Both were nice, but I thought the crispy duck had great taste and texture over the sliced version. My friend ordered the beef wellington, which was nicely done medium rare, tender, and flavorful.
For dessert we tried the pear cake which was excellent with a cup of cappuccino.
I might have done a couple of things a little differently, but we all have different tastes, so I give them 5 stars for the overall dining experience.

We had a wonderful anniversary dinner at Mizuna. Great service, great food and wine list. The Lobster Mac and Cheese and Foie Gras were delicious starters.
We really enjoyed the Miso-​Marinated Black Cod and Beef Wellington for dinner. The Sommelier did a nice job recommending a great bottle of wine.

My wife and I came to Mizuna on a whim and were pleased overall. I was pleasantly surprised to see the third wine of Château Margaux (Margaux du Margaux) on the by-​the-​glass list, and it came to me tasting fresh and vibrant, so I’m sure their bar staff takes good care of their bottles. My endive caesar salad and rack of boar were both great — the boar was cooked perfectly and presented well. My wife’s mizuna salad and duck were equally tasty, though the duck had a large, tough tendon running through it. Service was okay, but something about the atmosphere felt a little off. I can’t put my finger on it, but it didn’t feel as inviting as it should. The tables in the back room are squeezed together very closely, making it difficult to have a conversation without either disturbing your neighbors or learning sign-​language. I liked Mizuna well enough, but it didn’t come anywhere close to trumping Boulder’s Mateo as my favorite French eatery in Colorado.

Mixing is a little expensive for what you get. The appetizers were good. The king crab salad with shaved carrots and jalapeño and vinaigrette tasted good. I took a bite from my friends plate but had their lox salad instead with shaved beets. The ostrich meal was the best. But the dessert was why I didn’t give them five stars. After my second visit this place is awesome!

Service is so annoying! Please mizuna, do something about your servers!!! They are capable of ruining the meal!
I am going to piggyback off Annie H’s review because that’s the same experience we had — All the servers do is keep refilling water glasses. They will refill every water glass in the vicinity before taking your order, before bringing you bread, and even before going to do something that you’re asking them to do. Initially when we sat down, we weren’t sure if the person bringing us water was the water person or our waitress bc she never introduced herself which was also annoying. Oh but what they won’t do is refill your wine glasses. We refilled our own wine the entire meal. I literally have never seen that lack of service at a restaurant of this level before.
I also had to literally stop eating my food before I finished it because i was waiting for the waitress to come back and ask us if everything was ok bc I had a question about one of the side dishes. So annoying.
I was irritated the whole time which I know sounds stupid and immature of me, but when I go out to a fancy dinner at a place that portrays itself as the best french restaurant in Denver, I expect it to at least try to be like a french restaurant by having above average level service. This was below average service. Highly disappointed for the amount of money we spent.
It’s really possible to ruin the experience and memory of a meal with bad service. Please mizuna. Please fix this.

My partner and I came here for our anniversary dinner at the recommendation of our hotel concierge. We’d originally planned something at another restaurant — one of those ampersand places — but they were uncooperative with us (and we were unwilling to eat dinner at 4:45 pm).
I am SO glad we came here, because it was fantastic in every way. And its elegance is, in part, in its simplicity. It isn’t an «ampersand.» Sure, it doesn’t have a rock star design interior. It is cozy and elegant. Every person treated us with care and concern and set a tone that made our experience exceptional. I felt like I was in someone’s home.
And the food was magnificent. Again, a simple menu, not overwhelmed by trendiness or spectacle. Just beautifully done food. We both had exceptional appetizers and entrees. (We loved the salmon and lamb.) Again, the small touches: I asked for a non-​alcoholic drink and they created something fun and wonderful — not on the menu, but a wonderful response to the question.
It was a special event, and we are not locals, but I will definitely go out of my way to return when we next visit!
And OMG: Lobster macaroni and cheese. YES PLEASE.

This is the best meal I’ve had in a long time. The food was delicious, complex and amazing. The service was spot-​on. If you are going to go to an expensive restaurant, this is the place to go. I live for the Lobster Macaroni and Cheese — the cheese was perfectly balanced with the lobster. I want to sleep with that dish. We also go the escargot which was delish and surprisingly non-​traditional. My family and I just talked about the food the whole meal. I got the Scallops with Frog Legs for my entrée, and I was supposed to spilt it with my mom — but I couldn’t part with it. Everything was great. I wanted to slurp up the broth at the end. My dad got the Beef Wellington and it was so perfectly cooked. Yum. My mom got the Duck Breast and the duck confit on the dish was wonderful. The Moscow Mule I got to drink was also spot-​on. I will be gushing about this meal for a while!!!

Amazing food and great service! Great atmosphere could not have picked a better spot to celebrate my 30^th birthday. Thank you to the whole staff and the chefs! If your in Denver and want a great dinning experience with amazing food, THIS IS A MUST!

I don’t know how it compares to other French spots in Denver but coming from the East Coast, I wasn’t overly impressed. Everything we ordered was tasty and service was good but, on the whole, nothing extraordinary. Nice wine selection.

My sister had been wanting to try Foie Gras for a while so I told her I would take her where ever she wanted to give it a try as her birthday present. She did some research and decided on Mizuna.
Wow. I have never been in a nicer, fancier restaurant. We split the Foie Gras appetizer and it was delicious and the perfect size for two to share as an app. We each order and entrée and drinks and both were outstanding! I ordered the Shrimp and Grits (the grits were cauliflower grits~awesome!) and a drink called the aquamini. I am not sure what was in the drink but i could have drank a dozen! My sister, as I predicted, ordered the duck. Now, I don’t even like duck and it was awesome.
All in all, it was wonderful. Something that could be done every 5 years on my budget, but lovely and delicious and unusual.

Excellent!
Had the lobster Mac and Cheese and the Shrimp (the flavor combination of grilled shrimp with cauliflower and bacon!!!) A MUST! and the chocolate cake… Everything was delicious!

Mizuna tries so hard to be an upscale gourmet establishment and yet falls short on serving great food.
The service in an expensive restaurant should be top notch and aside from the guy refilling my water glass, it really wasn’t. The hostess offered me a black napkin and never brought me one. Our overbearing server insisted on explaining every single dish to us, even bragging that their menu changed year round so they had no specials. ORLY? You don’t have the same menu year round? What a novel concept, I’ll have to take that tip with me back to LA and let the chefs in on this hot new trend. The sommelier was all right but the $ 65 bottle of wine we ordered had a damaged cork so they substituted a $ 72 bottle without mentioning the price difference. Granted, not a huge price difference, but it felt dishonest not to mention it at all until we saw the bill.
Also, they might just have been short staffed or something but both the hostess and the sommelier were serving food, carrying plate after plate out to tables…
And what lackluster food it was. This is what we ordered:
Pan Roasted Foie Gras $ 24
Brioche, quince, and currants
Stringy foie, hard as hell quince, and way too much brioche for the amount of foie, which was around 3 ounces.
Wild Mushroom Bisque $ 15
Truffled chicken liver mousse, red onion jam, brioche croûton
This soup could have been good if it was served warm but it wasn’t. It was cold and thick, the consistency of condensed canned Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup out of the can, the kind you need to add water or milk to. Which was unfortunate, because the flavor was pretty decent and the accompanying chicken liver mousse not bad at all. But still, cold soup is a bad start to a meal. No bueno!
Lobster Mac & Cheese $ 21
The only item on the menu to be offered year round, the lobster macaroni and cheese is serviceable and I’m sure most people would like it a lot. Good? Sure. Exciting? No.
Shrimp & Grits $ 37
Prawns en croute, cauliflower grits, bacon vinaigrette
This was a strange preparation. You don’t usually see shrimp and grits with the shrimp en croute, i.e. wrapped in pastry. I guess it’s a twist on the standard? It was fairly well received by the diner.
Duo of Beef $ 39
Braised short rib, New York strip, pommes macaire, creamed spinach
Awful, awful dry short rib. I did not finish this. It barely tasted braised at all and I needed to saw it up with my knife; so much for fork tender! The New York strip was cooked well at medium but not that flavorful. The potatoes and spinach were just ok.
Colorado Lamb $ 49
Braised shank cassoulet, chop, roasted garlic sausage
If you call something a cassoulet you set expectations of a cassoulet and this «cassoulet» was basically beans and bread crumbs with a few slices of sausage sitting on top. Utterly dry, it was flavorless unless you got a pocket with some liquid and also had a bite of sausage. The lamb chop was legitimately tasty but for $ 49 it kind of sucks to only get one measly chop and get the rest of the lamb in the aforementioned «cassoulet» and whatever sausage form. Get rid of the cassoulet and sausage and just offer 3 – 4 chops already.
Date Sticky Toffee Pudding $ 10
Banana ice cream, banana tuile, vanilla wafer crumbs
No complaints here. I will give credit where it’s due: The toffee pudding was pretty good!
Ultimately, if you’re going to spend $ 350+ on a meal, it should be really fucking good, and honestly the food at Mizuna was just ok, with a few low points, and a good dessert. I don’t think it deserves more than 2 stars for the price point, no matter how hard it thinks it tries.
We ate at Fruition the next night and for over $ 100 less, our meal was fantastic. Go there instead!

Excellent food, but they need more mid-​priced food selections when someone in a party doesn’t feel like spending $ 40 for a very small entrée. Plus, their menu pricing is deceptive, as they list some things at one price but then add an additional fine print «supplemental» price addition to certain entrees. It’s a bit sketchy — if not unethical.
Nice restaurant & ambience with exceptional customer service — but as a lover of both fine things and value, I think Mizuna needs to check themselves before they wreck themselves. True story.

I wanted to like Mizuna more. The service and ambiance were great, in my opinion, as was most of the food.
My entrée, the veal tenderloin, was delectable. The Bing Cherry Bread Pudding was the perfect ending to the meal.
The only drawback was the app — I went with the Bang Island Mussels and they were just a bit off-​tasting. I didn’t feel super later that night, but perhaps it was just the richness of everything.
Definitely A-​OK, but I wanted to love it — maybe an update in the future is in order.

A quaint neighborhood find… thanks to Unilocal!
First off, the restaurant is comfortable and we were lucky enough to get seated in a room by ourselves — great for conversation. The service was beyond professional and thoroughly educated on everything on the menu.
To start, the homemade bread and butter were to die for… I could have made that my meal and been happy. Not really after tasting so many other amazing things!
For starters we shared the beet salad, the lobster mac ‘n cheese, the ricotta cavatelli, and the asparagus salad — all fresh, flavorful and delicious.
For my entrée, I enjoyed the Alaskan halibut — perfectly cooked and complimented by a risotto croquette and an artichoke cream… yummy!
For dessert, we shared the pistachio gâteau, the white chocolate torte with strawberries and rhubarb and the meyer lemon pie… wow, were these sweets amazing!
Also, the sommelier paired our meals perfectly with white and red wines.
Definitely a first class dining experience!

I went here with 2 other people and we all had the 5-​course menu (basically each person gets to choose 1 item from each of the 4 sections: appetizer, salad, seafood, meat — and the chef makes it in a smaller portion).
The best advice I can give here:
DON’T DO THE TASTING MENU. STICK TO THE SALADS AND SEAFOOD.
The food is just too rich to do more than 2 courses. Usually, when you have a 5 or 7 course tasting menu, some of those courses need to be at least a little stripped down. Otherwise you end up feeling like your insides are sticking together and you want to explode before you even get to the dessert. And that’s just not a fun night. I think Mizuna needs to rely less on all the creams and minute additions, and more on the base ingredients.
THE SALADS ARE GREAT.
They’re all delicious, so it’s just a matter of your preference. Do you want something with blue cheese, something that’s mostly roasted veggies, or something that’s fresh and zesty?
THE SEAFOOD IS AMAZING.
I couldn’t complain about a single of the 3 seafood dishes we had:
+ Scallops (perfectly cooked and paired)
+ Red Snapper (I don’t usually love cooked fish, but I loved this one)
+ Seared Tuna (perfectly seared and still raw inside, for all those raw tuna lovers)
THE MEAT IS OK.
We’re usually huge meat-​lovers, but we would definitely forgo the meat for the seafood here. The duck was very good, but the lamb and veal didn’t impress us (for a place of this caliber).
IF YOU GET AN APPETIZER, GET THE FOIS GRAS.
Of all the appetizers we tried, it was the only one that really made an impression on us. It’s worth the extra $$ if you’re set on getting something other than a salad.
WINE CAN GET EXPENSIVE.
There’s a few bottles in the $ 40-​$ 50 range, and then you quickly get into the $ 100-​$ 300 range. Oh my. I think Table 6 had a bit of a better selection at the mid-​range.
WONDERFUL SERVICE.
I definitely can’t complain about the service here. Always attentive and friendly, and the sommelier definitely knows the wine options.