Miel Restaurant

‘This is the best restaurant in Nashville right now!’ That was my wife’s reaction after dinner there this past weekend. The atmosphere was inviting and easy to talk in, service was exceptional, and every dish delivered!

We had me (vegan) and another with allergies - the staff quickly came up with alternatives for the main course as well as a mix of shared plates. I will recommend Miel to everyone… even if it makes it harder for me to get a table :)

So good! Steak was perfect. Looks like a small portion, but is actually a large plate and just the right amount of food. Bartender was creative and social. Even the hostess was a delight. If you want food done right...

Had a 4 course meal on Valentine's Dinner special
Starts with, Siberian Caviar, blini, creme fraiche, minced sweet.
1st course is my choice of
Scallop Crudo, passion fruit, lemon olive oil
2nd is
Braised Short Rib, saffron-whipped twice baked potatoes, red wine demi-glace
And a dessert of Dark Chocolate Bouchon, white chocolate buttercream, raspberry coulis
The food is good but a bit pricey and the portions is too small that is impossible to share.
The ambiance I would say it's not that romantic at all because of noisy people talking so loud at the nearby table.
The service is great!.

I love having this neighborhood place at my fingertips over the years. Simply put....It never disappoints. Food, drinks and conversations can be had without it getting too loud or annoying. And the vibe is totally calming in whatever area you sit. I always look forward to my next meal at Miel.

The atmosphere is so lovely! I had a great experience at this restaurant. The menu can be different from time to time which i absolutely love this, enough portions to enjoy something new. Great experience!

We had a fabulous vegan meal here. A couple of the small plates either already were vegan or could easily be made that way with small modifications. The server was very knowledgeable and it didn't feel like it was an inconvenience at all. The hostess didn't bat an eyelash when I asked if they could accommodate a vegan diet. Everything we ate was absolutely delicious. They also did not have a vegan dessert on the menu, but made up some delicious glazed apples on the spot. We had such a lovely time and would definitely return! This is a great place for folks of mixed dietary needs!

This place has been in business for over 10 years and I think they are getting better and better. The food was perfectly portioned, the server paired a great wine. I had the theater menu prior to a show and it was a pallets delight. Great for a romantic evening or date. Take your time and enjoy. Photo of the brisket. I will go back for any event they host.

We had dinner here to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary while on a vacation to Nashville. We had a great time and a great meal. It started with drinks. I had the Manhattan (called something else on the menu), wife had a virgin Moscow Mule, and our daughter had a Shirley Temple (this was a unique request which they handled with grace). For apps, we had the bread and butter, olives, cheese plate and the octopus. The octopus was the standout. It was tender with a nice smokey char. For mains, we shared the scallops and the gnocchi with lobster and shrimp. They graciously adjusted the scallops to remove the lardons, substituting for mushrooms. My favorite part of the mains was the sauce for the gnocchi, which tastes like lobster. I stopped it up with bread and didn't leave a drop. All of the seafood was cooked perfectly. Our daughter had the mushroom risotto which was very tasty. Desert was a chocolate cream puff which was not too rich and a perfect ending to a special meal.

Absolutely incredible meal from start to finish. The service was impeccable, the atmosphere was calm and private, and the dishes were the most creative I've ever experienced. Our table shared multiple dishes and I truly loved every bite. Also, they are handling COVID regulations so well, and we felt quite safe.

In a word AMAZING! Went here and they’re still operating under pretty strict Covid guidelines which I appreciated. All that aside the food was outstanding! I do wish our server had a little bit more knowledge and guided us through things a little bit more but we ended up ordering most of the menu anyways. Only critique was the octopus was very over charred AKA burnt and that’s all you could taste, otherwise extremely happy experience!

Wow. Went with my wife and two colleagues and were blown away. Flavors were amazing, prices reasonable, seafood is sustainable. Drinks were reasonable to. I love bourbon and the choice selections were interesting and prices reasonable. Highly recommend

Our friends had been absolutely raving about Miel since their first visit, so we went with them last night to see what their hype was about. And they had every reason to rave about it, because we ended up also falling in love with Miel!!
We started with happy hour and got drinks, mussels, squash hummus, Miyagi oysters, olives, and sourdough bread with fermented butter. We also all ended up ordering the $8 (YES!! Only $8) burger and you would’ve thought we all died and went to heaven. This burger is one of the best burgers I’ve had in Nashville, with the meat coming from bear creek farms (local) and being aged for around 40 days, then topped with a stunning aioli on a fresh bun. We all were so happy with our decision to order it.
We ended the night with a bottle of the domaine les gryphées Beaujolais, the peach basil cake, hazelnut- dark chocolate Pot du Creme, and a French press of decaf coffee.
Everything was incredible and the wine choices and each dish had so much thought out behind it. We were also able to meet the owner, Seema, and she was so knowledgeable and kind, and she told us all about the beautiful garden space and where a lot of the foods were sourced from. You can tell her passion is what fuels each dish and choice, and it’s delightful to see.

Anyways— make a point to come here. Start at happy hour and work through slow courses and enjoy each bite. It’s wonderful!
(I hate that I didn’t take better photos, but alas- I was too busy enjoying the burger)

It was a lovely cooler summer evening as our little family chose to sit on the patio and eat. Our waitress was a delight whom we readily could have asked to sit down and have some food with us.
Then, the food, lord, the salmon was "like butter", the best I've tasted in years. My steak was seared black and salty perfection on the outside and perfectly bloody on the inside, and I could have eaten it with a spoon. The hasselbackspotato (a Swedish invention from the restaurant Hasselbacken) was perfect!
The space was relaxed, the service never rushed, and everything available was lovely.
We're talking small batch whiskys as well as after dinner grappas here to round off a perfect dinner.

We are grateful to have worked with Miel for our wedding weekend. We used their culinary services for our rehearsal dinner night as well as our wedding cake. Andrew and Jen were attentive to detail and the food was amazing. Our guests are still talking about our wedding cake. I would highly recommend Miel for your event needs. Their restaurant is also amazing!
Photo Credit: Laura Schneider Photography

The atmosphere on the patio out back was so lovely! We tried lots of different appetizers, and all of them were tasty. The huge standout was the honey cake for dessert: YUM. I'm already looking forward to going back!

ELEVATED DISHES, COMFORTABLE SETTING, SEAMLESS HOSPITALTY

I’ve been eating at Miel for several years now, at least a couple dozen times all-in-all. The vision and commitment of its creator/owner, Seema, at which she succeeds consistently, is to serve great food while seamlessly making customers comfortable. That’s not in any sense by just serving “comfort food;” instead, it’s a very carefully crafted approach to how each dish is constructed, with equal, dovetailed care given to the setting and to each customer’s experience of the food and service in the setting. Food, setting, service, and customer care come together to form an organic whole (and that’s “organic” in its other sense, not USDA Certified Organic.), a whole that is qualitatively more and better than the sum of each of its fine parts.

The menu changes a lot, I’m guessing because Miel starts from their opportunities to source the highest quality ingredients, which has some unpredictability. They seem to start with a star ingredient for each dish, but then also make sure that each supporting ingredient is also fresh and flavorful. The influences are clearly French, Italian and Northern California Nouvelle cuisines, but there are also dishes not cut from that cloth that surprise. The wine list is carefully curated by the owner (perhaps with help from the sommelier who told me about Miel, one of the best sommeliers in town). Nothing has disappointed over the years. Everything ranges from very good to died-and-went-to-heaven good. I've been known to order and eat two different desserts. And that’s just the beginning.

The commitment to customer comfort at Miel means that many dishes are structured so that they can be adjusted to accommodate dietary restrictions, and yet still work. My wife is vegan, and has been well-fed every time we go to Miel.

Still, that’s not the whole story. There are many places in town that will adapt to dietary restrictions, but that’s not front-and-center in other venues’ approach to customer comfort. At Miel, the servers know what all the kitchen can adjust in most instances, and will volunteer it matter-of-factly, without any, “Let me go ask,” and also without any fanfare or theatrics. Customers feel special in a valued way that blends in naturally, with no risk of standing out uncomfortably.

And then there’s the setting, done in warm yellows and browns with lower lighting, that puts you at ease without drawing special attention to itself. I looked closely only recently, and realized that this location may well have been a light industry machining shop in its last life. The walls are cinder block. The floors are that kind of sealed concrete that’s used in shops and in warehouses, the kind that can withstand heavy things being set or even dropped on them. Notwithstanding all those hard surfaces that reflect sound, there are other materials that absorb sound so that, even when packed, hearing each other at the table is not an effort. There are some rectangular patches on the floor where a mill or a bandsaw might have been; and there’s exposed plumbing, with the tables and banquettes cleverly positioned so that the pipes are now foot rests. It’s an artful recycling of an industrial space—and you have to look closely to see that—into a setting for a fine, relaxed dining experience.

In sum, Miel manages to be equally and strongly focused on elevated food and customer comfort, and combines these elements seamlessly, without ever crossing the line into being cloying in any way. They make it all seem very natural; and yet, when you take step back to think about it, there are so many ways restaurants can and do screw that up, as to make Miel, Seema's vision and the team's execution a rare gem. It’s not the kind of comfort where you can count on some favorite dish always to be on the menu. Instead, Miel starts from creating an exceptional, often unexpected pleasure in your mouth, a different one each time, and then works out to enfold the whole person in a delightful dining experience.

Miel excels with intelligent pairings, precisely balanced ingredients and perfect portions.

I choose to begin with the four cheese plate which had a good variety of soft/hard cheeses, almonds, an amazing dish of tart figs and a number of drops of captivating wild flower honey. The portion size was ideal for sampling several combinations from the plate without impinging on my appetite.

Main course was the Seared Skin King Salmon with mussels, pulled eggplant, and set in a thin layer of fantastic hollandaise. Not a single taste or texture out of place.

Pictures can give you an idea of the tastes you'll find but you absolutely have to experience this yourself.

Thank you to the staff who's combined efforts made such a fantastic experience

Wonderful dinner served outdoors on the open but sheltered patio with heat lamps. Food, cocktails and wine were all incredible, with excellent service. We appreciated the concern for COVID protocols.

This is one of the best restaurants in Nashville. We had 4 appetizers and 3 entrees and they were all delicious. If you haven’t tried this spot then you are missing out on a delicious meal. You must try Miel.

Delightful, delicious, accommodating to a little mother-dog outing. We’ll / I’ll be back ❤