Matt's in the Market

Just had lunch at matts and I have to agree somewhat with the previous post. The waitstaff, while not entirely cold, wasn't on par with other fodors choice restaurants. We had to ask three times, what the fiat of the day was. Nit picky, yes, but for fodors choice, it s a high standard. The food though, at lunch, was quite good and I would say a good value. The chips and dip was superb: salty and creamy. Fried prawns were so so. The special which was a salmon sandwich, with avocado was delicious. For dessert, we tried the bread pudding, which was tasted more like French toast. The creme brulee was also good. All in all, I would recommend matts if you're near the public market. The view is decent and the ambience relaxed.

I think Matt's success has gone to their head; they've become arrogant and complacent, relying on their once solid reputation as an authentic place for good food and service. No more. I don't take any pleasure in writing this because I was a long time fan of Matt's since they were literally just a hole in the wall. But in the last year or so, their service, food quality, and value for the money has declined. But I continued to go there with hopes it would improve. But yesterday was my tipping point to abandoning them for good. Had lunch there and ordered the Boccadillo sandwich. I know and accept that they are not cheap but for $14, I was served a small cup of seafood chowder, and a stark-looking sandwich that's about 6" long! No attempt at presentation! BUT what sucked is, towards the end of our meal, they rudely asked us to move to another table!! They arrogantly slapped me with the lame excuse that they're "a busy restaurant and we need tables for people who have reservations"!!! We refused to move because (a) we were there with reservations too and (b) we were almost done dining anyway! But what made us defiant was simply the way we were asked; it was dismissive and wasn't even close to polite!!! I've experienced other lapses and missteps in their service before but have been forgiving about it. But after this incident, I can not earnestly recommend a place that has lost its focus on quality of food and POSITIVE customer experience! In this tight economy, you'll find better value for your $$ elsewhere! Remind restaurants like these that you as a customer make the choice and pay their bills!