Taste Bistro

Inside the Mirror Lake Inn, Taste Bistro offers beautiful views of Mirror Lake and the surrounding mountains. The menu is somewhat limited, and a bit pricey. We’ve eaten here several times and some of the food is just ok, but some of menu items are amazing. Among the favorites are the smoked duck gnocchi, the pot roast, and the seafood chowder. All of these dishes are very hearty, and will warm you up after a day of winter fun.
We’ve been there several times when there was live music. A solo guitar player who was playing some standards and classic pop songs. The volume was just right.

Dinner after the New Year
Vesper cocktails
Lobster risotto — meh. Lacking in flavor.
Goat cheese salad.
Lobster chowder
Trio of brulees.
Service friendly, seen better.
Great ambience, music, décor

Had a late dinner, brussel sprout appetizer was amazing, perhaps the first time in my life I can honestly say that I liked them. My wife had the roasted vegetarian sandwich which was excellent. I had the Mediterranean chicken salad, also wonderful. Service was good but it was not busy. The view of mirror lake is excellent.

Had dinner here last night. The table we sat at had a great view of the lake and the atmosphere was just right.
My wife had oysters as an appetizer and was very happy with them. I had a burger for dinner and my wife had the pot roast. We were both satisfied with our meals.
Only complaint was that the service was pretty slow when we were first seated. We waited at five to ten minutes for our water and to have our drink order taken and waited a little while again for the drinks to be served. Wait staff was good, I just think they were understaffed at the time.
I would probably only return if we were to stay at the Inn again. Otherwise there are plenty of similar spots like this downtown that are just as good.

Amazing service at the Sunday Breakfast Buffet! Yummy made to order pancakes!

Great bartender, nice leather seating, gorgeous venue. Service was a little slow, however, in our case it seemed like they were giving us space instead of ignoring us. Overall, I enjoyed my experience.

What a disappointment. This is a lovely place, we’ve been coming to lake placid for many years, and always came here. But I’m not sure why they serve food at the bar, because you are basically ignored. It’s happened the last three times we’ve been here, but the last time we were there in late August was the worst service ever. How is lousy service acceptale for a four star hotel? The bartender Rachel was nice but just so inattentive, it’s a wonder she makes tips from the bar patrons. It took at least 15 minutes for us to get a drink, prinarily because she only paid attention to the service bar. It wasn’t terribly busy — she just couldn’t be bothered.
Except for the brussel sprouts, our food was Inedible. Though we were still hungry, we had to send it back. This is about an HOUR after we got there — that long for a burger and mussels? do you think the bartender came anywhere near us so that we could ask where our meal was? she saw us sitting there, but no. The manager did come and apologize profusely, but when we got the bill, they didn’t even have the decency to buy us a drink, though our night was ruined.
It was the first time I have ever went to a manager to complain. She was very nice, and offered to buy us dinner the next night but we were leaving, and we told her that. In my opinion they should have refunded us for our drinks and apps. Hate to say this, but we’re not going back. Get a better bartender that actually respects the fact that people sometimes eat dinner at the bar, give good service, pay attention to people’s experience. I’ve worked in restaurants and know how it’s done, but then so should anyone with common sense.

Outstanding food, well prepared as it shares much of the kitchen support as The View, same bar as well. Rachel does a great job in the bar and will mix you up a good cocktail while you are there.

Service is chaotic, pizza looks like frozen pizza and burgers are dry. Even the free cookies in the lobby are brittle — they may have tasted good, five days ago.

We arrived around 9:30 on a Saturday on a holiday weekend and there was no-​one waiting. There were clearly plenty of tables available but waiting to be cleaned off.
We were told there would be a 25 min wait so I suggested one of the tables that needed to be cleaned and I was told that the table was reserved.
So we waited 20 min and then were seated at the very table that I had suggested. Then we waited 15 min until our waitress arrived with our menus, we ordered our food, I ordered the oysters rockafeller and paid $ 20 for 6 small «salty» oysters, my girlfriend ordered Mac and cheese which was $ 15 and was overpowered by garlic.
We waited 40 min for those meals while the rest of the dining room was checking out, we were almost the last ones there when our food arrived. This place is definitely not worth a return.

Mli Taste Bistro??? What can I say.
We went there over Christmas weekend. The build up to go out to dinner there was high. When it was all said and done I was truly disappointed.
We started with cocktail and wine, note that the drinks were the high point of the evening. My cocktails where well crafted and every one was really happy with there wine. The lay out and ambiance of the restaurant is warm and inviting.
Mind you 3 out of the 4 of us work in the service/​hospitality industry. I know for my self I can be a little over critical. But back to business.
We are seated and right off the back we can tell our server seemed annoyed. Don’t know why, she proceed to get s to order our food quickly. When we asked about what cheeses where on the cheese plate she did not know what kind they where. Ok not all that rear that happens but let’s start out with one for the table we said. Then we all put in our individual orders, we all had apps with our entrees.
20 minutes past and we asked if our cheese plate was coming. She responded its on the way at that point we all knew that every thing was coming out at once. Lowe and behold here comes the cheese plate and all our apps. I had the fried Brussels sprouts, they where the best thing I ate that night. Unfortunately I can tell every one else wasn’t that happy with there food.
But back to this 24 $ cheese plate a complete joke of a cheese plate I think this might of been one of the most diss appointed part to the night. There was 2 strawberries cut and half the tops on them had some brown on them. A small amount of blue Barry’s and like 5 candied walnuts. The cheese where never explained just drop and run. Oh yeah can for get the labrea baguette slices. Very very sad cheese plate.
Ok now we have entrees. I get the pot roast there was also a Caesar salad, pork burger and lobster chowder ordered. Fist this I notice was The bowl my pot roast was in was ice cold. So I knew that my food would be Luke warm. There was an assortment of root vegetables yummy I thought until the texture where all off carrots and potatoes cook done, parsnips and turnip basically raw. The meat it self it was ok as a whole dish my mom could make a better pot roast and she was a pretty bad cook. Not one time through the night did any one say (man that was great, yummmm, aww I wish had that recipe). So I knew they where ass diss appointed as me.
The big 4 diamond resort with all the looks and great review. I was truly let down
#INTHATORDER

After driving in from Rochester and some beautiful kayaking and swimming at Chapel Pond, we built up a strong appetite and were more than ready for some dinner. Hoping to find something a little outside of the insanity that is Main Street Lake Placid we found our way to the Mirror Lake Inn. We looked over their fine dining (The View) and their sandwich establishments (The Cottage), but we settled on the Taste Bistro since it had the menu that best fit our mood that evening. Sitting at the bar allowed us to avoid the hour wait for a table so we saddled up and made our choices.
While we were waiting for our bread, we were happy to crunch on the complimentary goldfish crackers at the bar which I thought was a good touch. The warm, freshly baked bread was accompanied by their butter which was better than most and had a small amount of pink sea salt to adjust the saltiness to taste. Really solid for free bread. Our Caesar salad (called hearts of romaine on their menu) hit all the right notes with plenty of lemon and the anchovies were of high quality. The parmesan biscotti was a unique textural touch and was better than the traditional croûton and definitely helped that it didn’t puncture the roof of your mouth like croutons typically do.
Our pretzel appetizer from the bar menu and our trio of pork sliders came out at the same time which was kind of backward but reflected the general level of service for the evening. It seemed like we were kind of forgotten dining at the bar and left at the whims of the kitchen when it came to food delivery. Nothing disastrous, but if we weren’t in such a good mood we might have been a bit miffed. The pretzels, although tasty, seemed to have sat around for a while before we got them. My girlfriend and I had different favorites of the three mustards that came with the pretzels but agreed that having three selections seemed hit notes that everyone would enjoy.
The best of the three sliders was the pulled pork topped with cole slaw where the lightly caramelized meat reminded in me in a positive way to Mexican carnitas. The ground pork burger had decent herbal flavor while a bit overcooked. Not uncommon for a non beef burger since people get freaked out by any non well done pork products but still disappointing. For a BLT, even as a slider, there was a serious lack of bacon and an excess of mayo which sank it to the bottom of the trio. Lightly sweet Challah buns were used on all three and stood up well to the differing ingredients. French fries were included and fresh cut with skin on. They were well salted and the flavor reflected the freshness but didn’t have any crisp to them. We still enjoyed the fries and devoured them happily and that closed out our meal.
I would have pegged the food and experience at a 3.5 but the service we got at the bar brought the overall rating down to a 3.

Beautiful ambiance, excellent hamburger. Nice bar area. Friendly wait staff.

Excellent all around. I had the Waldorf chicken salad sandwich and tried the meat trio platter and the pot roast. Everything was delicious and the portions are filling if you take the time to taste and savor your food. I would return here!

Gorgeous atmosphere. If you like gastropubs — small, tasty plates, creative drinks and fabulous views of the lake — head here. We had the bistro fries and trio (duck confit, venison, boar sausage sliders). Perfect. So relaxed just starting a wonderful vacation.

The food was good, not great. Pork trio concept was interesting, but each individual item did not shine on their own. Clam casino was good, but portions felt a bit small… $ 10 for six clams? The sweet corn and lobster chowder was great, but it’s a bit heavy to enjoy as an entrée-​sized portion that cost $ 24. A half-​sized portion would have been wonderful.
The service, on the other hand, was SLOW. It took us almost 2 hours to complete our meal, without any drinks. There was stretches where we felt forgotten. It’s one thing to leave your guests alone for good conversation, if that’s the intention, but the empty plates should be cleared and water glasses refilled. It wasn’t even a busy night!
In all, good food, bad service. At the prices they were charging, I would expect something better. Our dinner at Liquids and Solids at the other end of town was cheaper (with drinks too!), faster, and better tasting.

FABULOUS! These dishes were not cooked by amateurs, that’s for sure. We ordered few appetizers and dessert.
1) Toasted Asgaard Chèvre Croutons — Fledging Crow Field Greens,
Fresh Honeycomb and Lemon Vinaigrette
**The fresh honeycomb is to die for. The sweet and refreshing. You can actually eat the waxy honeycomb. Just spread them on your soft fresh baked dinner rolls.
2) Lobster Risotto — Chervil, Fennel and Tomato Relish
**Generous portion of lobster meats. Delicious!
3) Fried Brussels Sprouts — Fresh Lemon and Sea Salt
**If you do not like brussels sprouts, you should give this fried version a try. Its nicely fried and the leaves were light and crispy, like Kale chips. It doesn’t taste ‘healthy’. It taste naughty!
4) Earl Grey Chocolate and Bourbon Vanilla Ice cream.
**You scream. I scream. We all scream for ICE CREAM!
Prices were reasonable compare to fancy restaurants in NYC.
The staff were friendly and down to earth. Its casual dining. Summer casuals are fine.
Do give Taste Bistro a try when you are visiting Lake Placid. Its a MUST!
Cheers to orgasmic food!

Very nice evening. Www shard three appetizers and all were wonderful. We started with the sautéed mussels. Very large portion and great white wine sauce. Next we had a cheese plate with three regional cheeses. I was pleased with how knowledgable the waitress was about the types of cheeses. She gave us some background information on each cheese, how they were made, where they were from, and the taste profile. We ended with the pork trio sliders. It included a pork burger, pulled pork, and blt slider. All three were very delicious.
For dessert we had the trio of sorbets. They were tasty, however I do not think the portion size was worth $ 9.
–e

Taste Bistro was one of our best dining experiences during this visit. The clams casino was good. The pot roast and root vegetables were tender and tasted just like my mom used to make. The wild boar sausage and thin cut French fries were also good. The Ginger Bread cocktail was unique and delicious and didn’t skimp on the alcohol though at $ 11 it was Manhattan pricing. The views of the lake and the service were excellent. If you want the ambiance of the Mirror Lake Inn but don’t want to pay $ 20 more per plate in The View, Taste Bistro is a great alternative.

We were at the beautiful Mirror Lake Inn Resort and had a pocket full of restaurant recommendations from friends. We looked forward to a relaxing stroll to a romantic dinner overlooking the lake but then the rains came… so much for the stroll!
No way were going out. The View (fine dining in the Inn) is a fantastic place, but not what we were looking for so what do we do? We figured we would go to the Taste Bistro for a drink and figure it out. Sarah, the friendly bartender made our Martinis and gave us the lowdown on our options.
While we were waiting we thought the cheese tray would be a good snack to hold us until the rain stopped. Then there was the «Steak Frites» (venison hanger steak small plate dish, then another round of drinks and… well, we weren’t moving.
It turned out that the best place for the night was just 3 floors below our room. You can eat at the bar or at one of the 6 or 7 tables they have set up by the windows (if it’s not raining you have a great view of the lake).
Taste Bistro turned out to be the lemonade of our lemon of a rainy evening.