Our latest dining adventure takes us to the Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant, the best dining experience at the property and worth the upcharge.

First Friday Feast is a monthly series debuting on the first Friday of each month and elaborates on a recent dining experience.

We’ve been trying to have a date night each month this year (and post about it on the first Friday of every month). Sometimes we bring the kids along for date night and sometimes they stay at home. But that’s fine by us–the kids are more than welcome to tag along if they want. This time we had a true date night, which was well-overdue.

View other posts in this series:

• Miraval Berkshires Review: A Pristine Resort in the Northeast
• Harvest Moon and Roost: Simple Dining at Miraval Berkshires
• Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant – An Exquisite Dinner for Two (this post)
• Miraval Berkshires Activities: The Best Feature of the Resort
• Comparing Miraval Berkshires With Alila Ventana: Which Is Better?

Arrival to Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant

The Miraval Berkshires is located in Lenox, Massachusetts. We’ll talk more about how we got here in another post. But first, a quick primer on the property:

• Miraval is an adults-only resort.
• All guests get $175 in daily credit to use at the property whether booked via cash or points. The only exception is using a Miraval Extra Night Award, should you earn at least 100 elite night credits at Hyatt in a year.
• While dining at the main restaurant (Harvest Moon) is free, the 1894 Restaurant experience costs $129 per person. You can apply your daily credit to this dinner.
• Dress code is business casual, unlike anywhere else on the property (where walking around in bathrobes isn’t uncommon).
• The property is supposed to be free from digital devices, but as long as you’re not talking on your phone, no one minded.
• Reservations are required.

The Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant is located on the property in the Wyndhurst Manor & Club. It ended up being just a short walk from our room to the manor, which is convenient for Jenn not having to walk too far in heels. Inside the manor, it’s an incredibly intimate experience with just a handful of tables.

The Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant menu

The dinner menu at the Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant is a four-course prix fixe, and they take pride in locally-sourced ingredients.

On top of the dinner menu, the host handed us a large drink menu. As you might expect, alcohol costs extra on top of the $129 price tag for dinner.

Drinks

Jenn and I chose just one drink each for the evening. We weren’t looking to drink heavily as we had an early morning departure from Miraval the next day. We chose the Celtic Harvest and El Chapo. While alcohol does cost extra, they do make the drinks strong. But despite the strength, they were also tasty.

The food

Our evening started out with some bread. It can be hard to resist eating the bread right at the start, but with four courses on the way, it’s best not to hit this too strongly. The honey lavender butter that came with the bread was freshly whipped and a good compliment for the bread.

I’m also a bit of a dummy and neglected to take a picture of the amuse bouche that came right after the bread. There was a trio of small bites: a bruschetta, some Mexican corn with vegan mayo, and a small glass of mango lassi. It’s more or less a summary of what you’re about to eat: an appetizer, main, and dessert.

First course

To start, I ordered the Berkshire Corn Velouté, which tasted like a corn potage that has some deeper corn flavors. The bowl is pretty large, but you won’t get too much soup. I think that works for the first of four courses, but take some of that bread and use it to soak up the soup. This one is good.

Jenn ordered the Hiramasa Crudo, which is very fresh and has an excellent combination of flavors. It’s a little more filling than the soup, but not by much. Eating the fish along with the toppings is a must.

Intermezzo

After the opening course, we received what was listed as Pinky Lady Apple & Lemongrass Granita. What’s most noticeable right from the start is that prosecco foam, which helps balance the dish. Your server will also dispense it freshly at the table in front of you. The granita itself is a bit salty and strong if you eat it on its own. It’s a good insertion to help cleanse the palate after that first course.

Main course

For my main, I chose the Vermont Family Farm’s Filet Mignon. I asked for it to be medium rare, and it came out to be quite delicious. Very tender and lots of flavor with a sauce covering the steak, blending the flavors together. The onion, while not fully cooked to the way I like it, does add texture to the dish and complimented the steak well. The mashed potatoes and croquette were great, and it would have been nice to get some more, but I get that the point of the dish is the beef. Overall, an excellent dish.

Jenn ordered the George’s Bank Scallops. These are well-prepared, along with the corn and other sides accompanying the scallops. Jenn says there is enough food here to work as a main despite it visually looking a bit empty. I think that’s mainly because it’s arranged in a circle with an empty middle. These scallops didn’t practically melt in our mouth like some other scallops we’ve had, but still delicious.

Dessert course

For our last decision of the evening, I chose the Blanc. This dish isn’t too sweet, which is welcome, but does come with some sweetness on the side for you to control how sweet you want it. If you like lightly-sweetened desserts, it’s perfect without any extra sugar. The dessert itself is a little crumbly on the outside and the cute vine on top has a sesame-like flavor to it that in total made it a light finish to the evening.

Jenn chose the Chocolate Gateau, which is perfect for chocolate lovers. It’s rich and decadent and will add that burst of chocolate. This dish pairs fantastically well with the Blanc, and they do well to fully balance each other. The gateau is dark chocolate and also not that sweet itself. Between the two desserts, I preferred this one.

We also had a server who expressed a lot of excitement for taking our picture. He also offered to be our photographer around the manor area (we declined). So much for that no digital device policy, huh?

One final offering came with the bill, which only had our drinks on it. My notes just say “gumdrop and marble thing”, which does a decent job at describing the dish visually. The marble just sort of bursts in your mouth and it’s mild on fruity flavor but heavy on sweetness. The gumdrop looks like it would be chewy, but ended up lacking any bite to it. Given how sweet these little bites are and how unsweet the dessert course was, I think they’re looking for some further balance to end the meal.

Recommendation: Yes

Even if you have to use up some of your daily resort credit to come the Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant, it’s well worth the price. Sure, you could just dine at the free dinner at Harvest Moon and save your credit for activities or the spa. But doing so would rob you of a culinary experience that far exceeds the free option.

The service is incredibly charming here at the restaurant, it’s an intimate setting that works well for an adults-only resort, and the food is excellent. We walked away from this meal as truly happy campers.

Will you pay for the Miraval Berkshires 1894 Restaurant surcharge?

Suggested reading:

• Other Destinations and Restaurants We’ve Visited
• Quick Hit: Earning Amex Resy Credits
• Keep or Cancel: How to Handle Too Many Credit Cards