Bistro Moulin

Awsome atmosphere. Staff was very friendly expecially Robin who really knows wine and deserves a big raise. Gnocchi was awsome and Robin picked our wines all night to perfection.

Wow this was a really great surprise. Nice little place near hotel. I wish I could write a book about this place. But it wouldn’t do it justice. You just have to get here.
Spinach gnocchi. Beef cannoli.
Sooooo very good.

Wow. This place is amazing. And this wine I had was some of the best wine I’ve ever had in my life.

A ridiculously cute hole-​in-​the-​wall French bistro that delivers well on the food too. If this was near my home I would eat here probably every week. It was great service, nice owners and decent food. Could the food go up a notch? Yes, but it was good enough to please. Heck, definitely the most pleasant meal I’ve had in Monterrey. I will be back whenever I’m in the area.

Great food and it was served HOT. I know it’s silly to emphasize that the food was served hot, but nowadays everything is brought out warm. Not here! I would definitely be going back.
Only thing, we went on a rainy day and the floor is extremely slippery, caution!

2 words.
Spinach Gnocchi!
You won’t regret it at all. Fantastic service, scrumptious gnocchi and a very romantic atmosphere.

My wife and I were staying in Monterey for a few days and found this little gem because we were in the mood for gnocchi, and the only other restaurant we knew that served gnocchi in the Cannery Row area had closed. I entered gnocchi into the search box on my Unilocal app, and voila! That was our first bit of luck. Our second bit of luck was that we got the last available table when we reached the restaurant. If we had to wait, we probably would have gone elsewhere and may not have returned.
The spinach gnocchi is to-​die-​for! My wife and I always split an entrée portion because the meal is really rich. They also have a fantastic French onion soup, and I normally can’t stand onions. The French bread served before the meal is always fresh, and as a French bread fanatic, any restaurant that serves it before a meal automatically gets 1 star. The service isn’t the best, but it’s a small restaurant and they get pretty busy so I’m willing to let that slide. My wife and I have been to Bistro Moulin 3 times. My only critique of the restaurant stems from our last visit. We got the bill and both my wife and I were pretty confident that we were charged extra for our gnocchi entrée. We made sure to check the entire menu before ordering to see if there was a split plate fee (even though we’d been correctly charged on our 2 previous trips), and there was no fee indicated. We obviously no longer had a menu in front of us because we were finished with our meal, so we checked the menu posted outside when we left the restaurant and our suspicions were confirmed. The amount we were charged wasn’t even consistent with the price of 2 appetizer portions of gnocchi, so it really made no sense. Some of you may be wondering why we didn’t just ask about it in the restaurant. The short answer is we just didn’t think it was worth it, although this restaurant is a bit pricey and we’re not rich so I’d probably ask about it on our next visit. We will be back because the food is just that delicious, but I deducted a star from my review because of the discrepancy on our last bill.

TL;DR: Been here twice now, extremely pleased with not only the service but the food.
First time we came here was over a year ago. We make at least a yearly trip down to Monterey (its our go to happy place), and we were down to try some new and different restaurants in the area.
We’d already had a couple of recommendations from former locals, and honestly had found ourselves feeling somewhat disappointed by them. This one we found through Unilocal,and made a reservation well in advance for a Saturday night.
The lady gets all dolled up, and I try to make myself look at least presentable, and we head on over. The place is busy, but we’re seated very quickly at a nice little table near the back.
I’ll keep the details to a reasonable level, but the long and the short of it is this: they have a great wine selection, and a wonderful menu. We started off with some glasses of white, and a few appetizers (spinach gnocchi in cream sauce, and a delightful french onion soup, as well as some light cheese and meat plates). They were all fantastic, but the gnocchi in my opinion are to die for. That perfect pillowy consistency you want in a delicious sauce.
We shared a nice pinot with our entrees, and had the duck confit and the ossu bucco, and while good, both were a touch on the dry side. When the later asked about the quality of our dinner, I made a comment mentioning as much, though not expressing a strong disdain for the food in any capacity. The chef and waiter were both considerably dismayed, and offered to comp us two desserts and a glass of port each. The restaurant was busy that night, so small mistakes are understandable.
We had an amazing chocolate mousse, and a delightful profiterole pastry for dessert, paired with an amazing ruby port.
The level of care and concern for their customers as well as the quality of our appetizers and desserts made me want to give them another go through, and we vowed to come back on our next occasion in town.
Fast forward a year, we come back on a Sunday night (⁴⁄₁₇).
We had the same appetizers (still amazing) and paired them with a house recommended white that was delicious. For entrees we had the steak and the fish of the day, which ended up being a halibut. This time, I was delighted to say everything was amazingly on point. The steak was tender and delicious, the fish, light and sumptuous. I had a house recommended red to pair with and it was amazing as well.
Rounding out dinner we had the chocolate mousse again (still incredible) and the we tried the crème brûlée (also delicious).
They definitely outshone themselves this time around, and I feel like this may become part of our yearly jaunts down to Monterey.

It was my boyfriend’s birthday and I saw this little gem on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. I love how cute this restaurant is and the staff was really friendly.
They gave us some crostini with this carrot purée sauce and it was awesome! They also gave us bread and butter and that was good as well.
Appetizer: We got the escargot, we’ve both had escargot before and this one was just okay to us. It was a bit too oily for our taste and that was the only thing we could taste. The escargot itself didn’t have much flavor.
Entrée: I got the Coq Au Vin (braised chicken thigh with wine, lardons, mushrooms), it was delicious, the chicken was very tender and very flavorful. The sauce was great, it went so well with the mashed potatoes. My boyfriend got the special which was the spaghettini with seafood. He really liked it, again it was very flavorful, the seafood was very fresh and it was a good sized portion.
Overall I loved this place, would definitely come back for a special occasion since it is on the pricier side. Entrée goes for about $ 30 each but it’s very good food.

Cute cozy place with impressive food and great service!
First they have a free sample of carrot sauce with crostini, and I was addicted to that sauce! Are the whole thing with additional bread they provided. (4 stars)
Then I tried escargot for the first time, and it was quite delicious! My bf has had escargot before and said it was really good too. It was made with yummy garlic butter sauce. (4.5 stars)
Entrée, I ordered their fish of the day, sea bass with raspberries on top, beurre blanc sauce, and celery purée. I am not a fan of celery, however I thought it was made quite well and complemented the sea bass. The raspberries were good however may have been a little strong with the combination. Still a very impressive dish that I enjoyed. (4 stars)
Bf ordered the chicken thighs braised with red wine sauce, and the meat was very tender and sauce complimented it well. (His rating-​4 stars)
Service was great and friendly, let us have a sip of wine before ordering to ensure we liked it. Both their Cabernet and Reisling were great.
OVERALL: Cozy cute place for a romantic and delicious Valentine’s Day dinner. I recommend it!

I was delighted and impressed with Bistro Moulin. Boyfriend wanted an intimate dinner out for our day trip to Monterey, and I picked this. When we walked in, we were immediately greeted and seated. The restaurant was quiet, with light French background music. The setting was definitely intimate and homely.
They had limited glass selections — I’m assuming it’s because most groups are larger and need a bottle (or two). As I was the only one drinking, I ordered a glass of their Riesling. The glass was smooth and slightly sweet.
I decided to sample the house Coq au vin. This was a perfectly rich and balanced meal. Savory chicken and mushrooms, paired with a creamy light potato purée. I never felt overwhelmed by the taste — this coq au vin is done just right.
My boyfriend opted for the Margret de Canard Poêlé et Foie Gras Vitrage. The stuffed chicken breast with fois gras was offered as a chef’s special (not on the regular menu). He greatly enjoyed it, as he was silent for a good 5 minutes so as to savor his meal.
The entire experience was relaxing and soothing with the amazing French comfort food we got. Will definitely make this place a regular spot once we come back again.

Very impressed with the food at this little bistro. As others have written, the spinach gnocchi was perfect: fluffy and light, covered with a creamy sauce. The fish of the day was sole and it was delicious in a traditional buerre blanc sauce. My friend had the hanger steak and it was tasty. The fries that came with it were fantastic. The garlic aioli for dipping was dense with garlic and rich.
I didn’t think the crime brûlée was as amazing as others have claimed but it was very good.
The atmosphere is romantic. The cooks know what they’re doing on these traditional dishes. The servers aren’t as polished as one might expect but they were kind and mostly attentive.

Perfection. Everything about this place. Such a romantic, cozy atmosphere, and was perfect for a night away in Monterey. Our waitress was SO warm and sweet. She was accommodating, but also left us to enjoy our night.
For food: we shared the spinach gnocchi appetizer which was recommended by our waitress. It is not a huge portion, but a perfect portion because they were very rich — delicious. For our meals, my date ordered the mussels entrée (I tend to be REALLY picky when it comes to seafood b/​c I consider myself spoiled being from the east coast, but these were amazing, and the portion huge — he shared with me thankfully :)). I ordered the fish special which was a mild white fish (cod if I remember correctly). OMG, it was buttery, melt in your mouth deliciousness served over spaghetti squash. It was just perfect.
We were too full to order a dessert, and finished our bottle of Zinfandel.
The prices were beyond reasonable, especially for such quality food.
I will be back again for sure. Thanks for a wonderful experience!

The best (spinach) gnocchi I’ve ever had, period!
Make sure you do not miss that, besides the gnocchi tied the Meze platter which was also good.

A little bit of background: We are traveling across the US and of course truing new cuisines/​restaurants. Therefore we also rate them in our books. This is one of the top 5 best places so far in our list.
If you are in town, PLEASE go here. The ambience is romantic and very parisian. the servers were friendly and we did not have any trouble making a reservation the same day on a sunday night.
The food is absolutely delicious. I still can remember the taste of my Sole fish. I wish to go back!
We got a bottle of cabernet (about $ 75), fish of the day was Petrale Sole (delicious white fish) pan seared with risotto ($ 28), and my partner got the Cannelloni Con Tartufi. Both were absolutely delicious! For dessert we got espresso and crème brûlée. OMG, get the crème brûlée. it is very good!
I would highly recommend going here. (we went about a week and half ago from today).

A few things weren’t up to par with this place. Overall not horrible food but the food wasn’t awesome for the class they put themselves in ($$$).
First impression: nice cozy romantic restaurant.
Best thing about the food: the temperature! I love my food scorching hot when it comes out and this place definitely delivered that! The French onion soup was burning hot! Pretty tasty too.
The steam mussels were extremely hot too that I literally got 2^nd degree burn just from accidentally touching the bottom of the plate. The herb sauce was a nice compliment to the mussels but wish I didn’t taste small amount of sand.
Unfortunately the rest of everything was not good! I usually can easily enjoyed any sauvignon blanc but the one here had too much of a bitter finish. My hubby got the filet mignon which had a price tag of $ 30+ so you expect it to be at least decent. Too bad it was way too salty without the «melt in your mouth» quality of a filet mignon. Not sure how they cook their steak but I sure had better steak cooking at home.
Then I ordered my favorite French dessert of all time: crème brûlée. I feel in love with this dessert the first time I went to Paris. The next time I ate a great crème brûlée wasn’t until this year when I was in Lyon at Paul Bocuse’s. So I guess I have high standards and I guess I can’t fault them for not making a crème brûlée to my liking. It was too sweet and without any richness of a great crème brûlée.
I probably won’t be coming back here.

We had a lovely meal here on Bastille Day.
We started with the escargot appetizer, six snails covered in a garlic and (hazelnut) butter sauce, it was very unique and quite tasty (especially with bread to dip in the sauce!).
I then had a French onion soup au gratin which was hearty and filling with the burgundy flavor.
For our meal, my wife chose the mussels. This was truly the biggest platter of mussels I’ve ever seen, perfectly chewy and fresh in a light garlic, onion and white wine sauce served with frites and a garlic aioli dip.
Every part of the meal was wonderful and the entire restaurant was partying due to the holiday celebration. Great time and a great meal.

After scouring Unilocal and talking to locals, we selected Bistro Moulin to celebrate our 7^th wedding anniversary in Monterey. We stayed at the Clement, so we asked the concierge to make our booking and walked uphill to the restaurant for our dinner. Lovely.
Walking in the door, it was like stepping back into Paris. Café curtains, small table, perfect French jazz playing, aloof yet cool staff, casually cozy atmosphere… tres bien. We were initially seated awkwardly against a wall, but after noticing a vacant table in the front window, we asked to move. Much more romantic and lovely!
We immediately ordered cocktails upon our seating — a kir royale for me, Champagne for hubby. These actually wound up pairing really well with the gratis carrot tapenade offered with crostini. Yum. We LOVED the French wine list and splurged on a Gevrey-​Chambertin to accompany our meal. Our spinach gnocchi appetizer was pure heaven. Delicate gnocchi with the most perfect texture in a delicious, light cream sauce. I’m not ashamed to say I sopped up every last bit of sauce with my bread in a very non-​Parisian way. So worth it — this is must order in my opinion! I would recommend ordering this as an appetizer and sharing so everyone can enjoy! The gnocchi also paired really well with Rose.
After the awesomeness of the gnocchi, I couldn’t resist ordering the cannoli tartufi and it did not disappoint. I ate absolutely all of it, except the few bites I let my husband steal. The vodka sauce perfection, the cannoli perfectly cooked, the beef super flavorful. Hubby had the pork cheek special, which came with apricots. Like all great French dishes, this one was perfectly balanced between sweet and savory and absolutely delicious. Just heavenly.
To top it all off, we ordered a lemon tartlet for dessert, one of my fave desserts to get in Paris. The crust was perfection and the lemon the right balance of tart and sweet.
The prices here are not the tourist prices featured elsewhere in town and along Highway 1, yet the food was some of the best I had on our trip and the portion sizes plentiful. Its definitely a great place to get a bang for your buck! The wine list was vast and full of French lovelies; it clobbered every other wine list I saw on our trip. To put it simply, this is the best restaurant in Monterey and the best place to celebrate an anniversary. Bistro Moulin serves as a peaceful respite to the craziness of Cannery Row just a few streets away — no crowds, quiet music, just perfect.
The table sitting next to us were like the paparazzi to their plates, so clearly we weren’t the only ones dazzled! Yum!

My in-​laws are extremely selective folk when it comes to their food. They are not so much into Tacos, Hamburgers and the like. So when we stumbled upon this small French restaurant, I prayed it would be suitable for them. Before we even went in, I called in advance to confirm authenticity. Who’s the chef? Where is he from? IS HE FRENCH??!
Chef Didouille hails from Normandy, which happens to be just north of Brittany. I was saved!
His restaurant could not be any more authentic, then were I in a bistro along the Normandy coast. Oddly enough the best Moules Frites I have ever had were in Arromanches. I have been chasing that dragon for 13 years. Today, my tastebuds shot fireworks of joy! I had found the long lost flavor of the perfect Moules Frites! It had an abundance of the requisite sliced garlic, onions and parsley. But truly it was the sauce that made this dish everything. I literally drank it with my spoon like a soup. The white wine and vermouth, combined with the other ingredients made for a superb dish. Perfection!
Before any of the main courses arrived, we were served fresh bread, along with a creamy spread made of carrots, Greek yogurt, olive oil, salt and pepper. This is something I could see myself making at home. The sweetness from the carrot combined with the tart flavor of yogurt was very refreshing. The French Onion soup was dripping with cheese, onions and plenty of wine. Not too salty and not too much bread.
Though not my main course I did sample the Steak Bordelaise. Rare is something I never do but my father in-​law insisted I try it. So glad I did because it was soft, tender and very succulent. Miam, miam!
The desserts were okay. I have had better. The consistency of the crème brûlée was a bit thick for my taste. The mouse au chocolat however was moist and creamy.
Keep in mind this is a very small bistro. One bathroom for staff and customers. The kitchen is in the open, so you get to see the action. The chef was kind enough to greet my family once I said they were touring California from France. They were delighted and he was charming.
If you’re in the mood for some delicious French cuisine, I highly recommend Bistro Moulin. Even the wine selection is worth trying.

Everything that I had here was amazing. Spinach gnocchi, duck confit, and escargot were all delicious! Also, the restaurant itself is very cozy and reminiscent of a small café in Paris.
First of all, the escargot was seasoned richly in this sort of garlic-​basil concoction and was served in the pans that are made especially for escargot (they look like small pots with holes in them… the escargot goes into the holes).
The spinach gnocchi was served in a hot pan and I kid you not, it is as good as the gnocchi I’ve had in Italy. It is super soft and not too chewy and the cheese/​sauce that it is served with is heavenly! The duck was super tender and literally fell off the bone.