Matisse
“"JULIA CHILD" BEEF BOURGUIGNON: To be able to swirl that butter linguini around in that sauce is just heaven!”
“The Foie Gras enthusiast in me had to find an NYC restaurant that served Foie as it is now banned in California.”
“We started with the 'cagouilles aux lardons', which was very tasty!”
Matisse
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Great place, great food, great service for reasonable prices. My son (a Swiss chef) is living near by for a couple of months so we are checking out all the restaurants. I had the salmon tartare – delicious – and then the mussels with french fries – what is typically for a real french restaurant. To close – we had some great cheese – and also the recommended wine was reasonable also price-wise. So we will come again it's now one of our favorite spots in Mid Manhattan.
My friend and I came here for brunch. There was no wait, and I guess I understand why.
We both ordered an eggs benedict, which is my usual go-to brunch item. A problem I experienced with the restaurant was though the waitress was friendly when she interacted with us…it was slow and it took awhile to get the check. An issue I had with my eggs benedict was that the eggs were nearly cooked fully. I prefer my eggs on the runnier side, and it was not anywhere near runny. That was disappointing…
I won't be coming back. There are way too many other brunch places nearby to give this place a second chance. Sorry!
This place is as cute a button. It's not exceedingly large and the floor plan is a box with windows along two sides at a typical New York intersection. When you enter, there is a small coat rack, and you are led to your table (preferably away from the door). We got one of the ones against the wall with the comfortable bench seating.
We weren't super hungry, so decided to just order one entree each and share a dessert.
1. Salmon salad: Per my friend, this dish was just OK. Not terrible, but the salmon itself was not that flavorful. The veggies seemed good though.
2. Lamb shank: I loved this! It's a perfectly sized dish that doesn't leave you hungry or stuffed, with just enough room for dessert. My lamb shank was fall off the bone soft. It wasn't too heavy, and it came with cous cous and potatoes. Great dish.
3. Blueberry cake: Awesome dessert! I don't remember what exactly was in it, but it had great texture and the perfect amount of sweet. The whipped cream on top was delicious!
After I was seated, I was later informed that the rest of my family was running 45 minutes behind. I informed the waitress and offered to sit at the bar and finish my drink while I waited for the rest of my family to come. She kindly let me remain at the table and wait there while everyone else came.
Appetizers:
1) Truffle Mac and cheese
2) Thai mussels
Entrees:
1) Coq Au Vin (Chicken, Mushrooms, Pearl Onions, Bacon, Mashed Potatoes, Red Wine Sauce)
2) Duck Magret (Broccoli Rabe, Sweet Potato Purée, Cranberry Sauce)
3) Le Burger
4) Sautéed Salmon A La Niçoise (Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Tomato, Black Olives, Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Overall the food and the service was good. it definitely exceeded my expectations.
This is a very small restaurant, unassuming, but the food was pretty good and so was the service.
When we walked in around 6 or so, it was pretty empty which was a little worrisome, but it seemed to pick up after we had settled into our meal.
All 4 of us enjoyed our meals. Everything was solid. Wine was decent.
A little later in the meal there was a singer for entertainment which was pretty cool.
Overall, I'd give this a solid 3 1/2.
AMAZING. We called at 7pm on a Saturday night for an 8:30 reservation for 5 people and they made it happen, for being a pretty small place. We arrived and it was the cutest restaurant. The staff was friendly, they had the sliding doors open and the whole place opened on to the street. It was charming and they had a woman and band singing French music in the restaurant. It wasn't too loud and the ambiance was fantastic.
Now on to the food… holy cow, so amazing. I've eaten at several French restaurants all over the place, mostly in San Francisco, and this one can hold a candle to them. They had a great selection and we had mussels, branzino, beef burguignon and it was all fantastic. The desserts were what really blew me away. So delicious and classic French. The waiters were friendly and attentive with water and the wine selection was nice.
It is a great little place to stop by if you are staying in Midtown. I'd definitely come back.
Fairly good neighborhood bistro with cool décor and friendly service.
The beer list was light, only having Heineken and Allagash White. Being that Allagash White is my favorite I did not have an issue but I was craving a Kronenbourg White.
We stopped in for a early dinner and went with the foie gras appetizer which was somewhat undercooked but had a nice apple puree dressing and mixed green salad with a light and tasty vinaigrette.
For entrees I went with the steak tartare and the wife decided on the Julia Child Beef Bourguignon. She really enjoyed the beef which I sampled and found to also be very good.
My tartare, while good, had a what tasted like ketchup mixed in which I did not really enjoy having in the mixture. The fries that it came with were very tasty and crisp.
Service was attentive and the music was great. The lone bathroom was disgusting and I was surprised they let it deteriorate to this state.
I think there is room for improvement here.
What a homey French bistro. I came in for lunch twice, both on a weekday. The interior is actually larger than it looks and not crowded at all. The first time I came in they decorated it for Halloween which looked so out of place in the cute little bistro but was funny because of that.
My first visit I ordered the Croque Madame served with a side salad. Tasty with a fried egg on top, but hard to get wrong. My boyfriend got the Wild Mushroom Risotto. I wish I got this instead. The mushroom flavor was intense. I only had a small bite, but I think this was one of the best risottos I ever had in terms of flavor. Must be the truffle oil drizzled on top.
I enjoyed the risotto so much I had to come back a second time to try it. I think the one bite I had that first time was more amazing, but still a delicious risotto. Maybe too much of a good thing? My boyfriend ordered the Moules Marinières Frites. The mussels look small and dry, but they are actually quite tender. The fries were the large and crispy kind, one of my favorites.