Le Mirage | Page 2 of 7 | Mass Food & Wine

Veal Piccata from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

The menu at Le Mirage presented me with a dilemma. It divides fairly evenly between Middle Eastern and Italian items, and I love them both. Most at my table, however, chose the Middle Eastern route. So I, to paraphrase Robert Frost, took the road less traveled by. I chose Italian, the Veal Piccata. My $19 entrée featured two sautéed veal filets in a lemon butter wine sauce, served over a generous bed of penne pasta. The veal was melt-in-your-mouth tender; the pasta was perfectly al dente, and the sauce was a delicate complement to both. The portion was ample, but I ate every bite. Le Mirage is BYOB, so you might want to check the menu on-line in advance of buying your wine or beer. The comments from my fellow dining companions were as enthusiastic as my own. So, unlike Robert Frost, I do not doubt if I should ever come back to this particular culinary fork in the road again. The Italian path was too good not to go back to Le Mirage and try the Middle Eastern. -JD

Lebanese Platter from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester, Massachusetts

Le Mirage was on my list of places I knew I needed to check out in Worcester so I was excited when it was announced that it was our next Worcester Foodie destination. I have only heard good review and it didn’t disappoint. They are a family run restaurant surprisingly serving both middle eastern and italian dishes… and did I mention they are BYOB.

As it was still Worcester Restaurant week I decided to go with the 3 course dinner so I could get a good sample of different dishes. My first course was the Fattoush salad – a very traditional middle eastern dish. The alone could have been a meal given the size – good portions of romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley with toasted pita bread pieces all dressed with a dressing made of oil, vinegar, mint, sumac, parsley and a few other spices. Nothing was left on the plate.

The lebanese platter came next with a very large portion of kibbe, 3-4 homemade grape leaves and some rice pilaf. It was enough kibbe that I had enough to take home with me. I have had kibbe numerous times and it can vary in dryness. While we were ordering the waitress described it as more like a meatloaf and was very moist. I was pleasantly surprised that she was right it was very moist and tasty. Good flavoring of bulger wheat, lamb, allspice, cumin and a few other spices. To mix it up a bit I enjoyed it with the side of yogurt source which brought a little tang to it. Normally I have had grape leaves with meat but they only serve vegetarian grape leaves – meaning just rice and spices. Good but I still enjoy the ones with the meat/rice filling. To round the platter there was a large serving of rice pilaf but I was a tad disappointed in that the rice was just that rice pilaf and didn’t have tons of flavoring. But mix in the kibbe and yogurt sauce and the flavors blended.

They were very accommodating for the third course as I am lactose intolerant so could not get the dessert special but they offered up some homemade mango sorbet. Nice palate cleanser to the end of a great meal.

Overall, great service..great food.. byob.. need I say more? Be sure to check out this friendly family run establishment! You won’t be disappointed. -MM