Be sure to take a good look at the recent Mint Magazine that should be making it's way to your mailbox real soon. Jacksonville Confidential reader Tony spotted 3 new restaurants taking part in the Mint Magazine's coupon frenzy, Matthews, Cafe Carmon, and Bistro AIX. This has to be a first for all three of these establishments and is truly a sign of these hard economic times. Take a gander.
Thanks a bunch to Tony for the heads up and the scans.
12 comments:
That $20 won't go very far at Matthew's. We spent $350 for dinner for two one night and left so hungry that we had to go to IHOP afterwards - no joke. The food was truly incredible (at Matthew's), possibly the best I've ever eaten in Florida, but the portions were so laughably small it was like being on a Candid Camera sketch. I also found the service to be somewhat cold and diffident, at least compared to places like The Row or Pastiche.
Matthew's is overly pretentious for the money.
Not worth every hard earned dollars.
I too spent at least that much and left hungry…we went to Mc Donald's after and it was almost better
Your previous commenter mentioned…cold and defiant"
Places such as Pastiche, Orsay, Biscotti's, Bistro Aix and 13 Gypsies rock!
I agree, the last time I went to Matthew's it was Beyond horrid. The food and service were second-rate at best, and the servers were all little girls who had no knowledge of the dishes they were serving. And to top it off, we had to keep asking for water refills, and we waited up to 1/2 an hour between courses.
As for Carmon, they'd recent revamped their menu, but then they went back to that old mid-90s cuisine...
"we went to McDonalds and it was almost better..." I have nothing to say to that, maybe you should just do everyone a favor and stay at home. It's due to people like you that Jacksonville has minimal decent restaurants!
Bistro Aix DOES NOT ROCK! It is however the "cool" place to be seen, so I understand why you might say so. Bistro Aix has superb service, the wine list is great and the atmosphere is always electric, but the food is consistently average.
Crush...sorry I mean Orsay (same menu different name)has nothing on Matthews.
Stay at home!
Matthew's has nothing on anyone at this point, with it's role call of pharmicutical salesmen and guidos trying to impress dates with barbershop quartets performing table-side (yes, that was my last experience there)...
And as for giving them a second chance, at $300.00 a couple, Matthew's get no second chances...that goes too for the recently closed Medure's. The last time i was there the fish was mealy and the wine corked.
To: Madeline
I enjoy your reviews and comments. Not only are they true, but they are also well worded and very amusing.
:)
*madeleine
Actually…the previous comment gracefully sumed it up…"Matthew's has nothing on anyone at this point, with it's role call of pharmicutical salesmen and guidos trying to impress dates with barbershop quartets performing table-side."
It's due to over priced places like Matthew's, that don't live up to their "reputation", that makes people want to stay home. You say Bistro Aix is "consistently average"…yes maybe…but you hit on the key word "consistently".
They are consistent, and when going there you get what you pay for! You don't pay $300 for consistently bad food.
(1) You can eat for less than $350/couple at Matthew's.
(2) If you "had to got to IHOP afterwards" (or McDonald's) then you are a typical lard-ass American. Several properly-sized courses provide more than enough food.
(3) "Cold" service can be fine if it is good service. The "warm" service provided at somewhere like Pastiche is often overly chatty. There should be a difference in manners between a fine dining server and a Waffle House waitress. In Jax often there is not. The Row and Pastiche serve (usually) good food in a casual environment. Matthew's is one of the few places in town still aspiring to operate a fine dining restaurant. If you do not understand the difference, then do not go.
(4) 13 Gypsies does rock. But it's an entirely different experience. (And the service is often painfully slow.)
(5) Matthew's does employ a couple of "little girls" who know nothing of their food. They should correct that - but we all know that they're far more likely to go out of business than make themselves perfect. No matter how "perfect" a restaurant is Jacksonville cannot sustain fine dining.
(6) Orsay is not Crush with a different name. Read the menu next time, instead of just saying something snotty. Not that there was anything wrong with Crush's menu; just that Orsay is different. (The outstanding cocktails alone make Orsay vastly different.) Pay attention to the menu and wine list selections and you will see a more sustainable philosophy at work than was at Crush.
(7) The economy is what makes people want to stay at home, not "over priced places like Matthew's." Ruth's Chris is far more over-priced than Matthew's, and though it is suffering somewhat it will always do tons more business than Matthew's.
(8) Having said all that, Matthew's has gone downhill.
Everyone's a restaurant critic / consultant, and it always seems to be the people that haven't even spent any time in "the industry"...
1. I'm not sure what restaurant the rest of you have gone to but I have enjoyed dining at Matthew’s several times over the last year. My husband and I ordered what I would consider to be the more expensive options on the menu, (the 6 course tasting menu, which changes daily and is to die for) and I have never spent anywhere near $300 on food. Alcohol is an entirely different story, and Matthew’s like everywhere else in the city charges for alcohol, but the prices vary. Coming in on a budget, my husband and I shared an appetizer, enjoyed an entrée each and shared a dessert, we spent well under $100.
2. Also, the only time the portions have been smaller, is when I ordered the tasting menu, which is made in tasting portions. To explain the difference I will use the scallops, which are amazing, as an example. With the chefs tasting menu you receive 1 scallop (oversized and juicy), generally on a bed of sweet corn grits in a savory sauce. On the regular menu, if you order scallops you will receive 3 or 4, depending on their size, with the same type of garnish. Three large scallops should fill up any reasonable person. The tasting portions are supposed to be small because you get six of them, and I always left stuffed. Sometimes, I had to force myself to finish my meal, because that food was that good. If you find that you leave a restaurant (pretty much any restaurant) and you need to find food at another restaurant maybe you should contact your doctor because something is very wrong.
3. I have always found that the service at Matthew’s is warm and gracious without being stuffy. The waiters and waitresses there seem very knowledgeable about food. And in the time I have dined there, I have only ever known them to have a few female waitresses, none of which I found to be “little girls”. My waiter has never stood by my table to go over the news of the day, but I am not at a restaurant to make friends with the service staff.
4. I enjoy other restaurants in the city, BB’s, Biscottis, The Row, Morton’s, Chew and café Carmon, I would not say that any of these are on the same level with Matthew’s. There is a different level of service. The waiters go unnoticed so you can enjoy your meal, you receive fresh flatware with each course, the food is artistically plated and flavored, the entire meal is designed to be memorable. Nothing in Jacksonville compares.
5. I am not sure if you are just talking trash about one of the best restaurants in Jacksonville because you can’t appreciate the quality but in my experience Matthew’s has been on par with the better restaurants I have eaten at in Chicago (where I am from), LA and New York.
Good day !.
might , probably very interested to know how one can collect a huge starting capital .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may start earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.
AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
AimTrust represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.
It is based in Panama with affiliates around the world.
Do you want to become really rich in short time?
That`s your choice That`s what you wish in the long run!
I feel good, I began to take up income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a correct partner who uses your funds in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
I make 2G daily, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
It`s easy to start , just click this link http://cusoqisy.freewebsitehosting.com/pejaly.html
and go! Let`s take this option together to get rid of nastiness of the life
Post a Comment