05/24/09

Worst Service - ok food

by cm22

I went to this BYOB with three friends. We ordered every course - apps, entree, desserts. We brought ourselves wine for the meal and desert wine. After we finished dessert we paid our tab and were finishing our dessert wine when the hostess brought us our coats. We explained we weren't done our drinks yet and didn't need our coats. She proceeded to bring our coats three different times in a course of fifteen minutes. When we brought this to the servers attention he said he needed turn the table and we were done our meal. I don't expect to be rushed out of my seat after eating over three hundred dollars worth of food at a restaurant. The food was ok...nothing special that makes it worth the awful service.

• Pros: Food was ok but not worth the terrible service
• Cons: Rude host and ignorant servers

04/20/09

disappointed-won't go back

by kodiak1995

the food was very good here however, i was very dissappointed in the service. waiter was mediocre at best and we were asked to leave, to accommodate another reservation, before we were even finished with our coffee. plenty of other byo's in the city that know how to treat customers...

• Pros: good food
• Cons: service

04/11/09

BEST RESTARAUNT IN PHILLY...

by BRANKOJR

Heard great things...and it delivered. I want to be a regular so a dish can be named after me. I want to bathe in the pea soup...I want more braised short rib....more seared scallop....

• Pros: Best soup I ever had...it was the pea.

02/22/09

One of the best BYOBs in town

by NicoleP

Matyson is consistently one of the best BYOBs in Philadelphia. The menu is creative yet accessible, and always expertly prepared. The weekly tasting menu is a steal at $45, and a fun way to explore different dishes and themes. My only complaint is it can be hard to get a table - so go mid-week if you can.

• Pros: food, creativity, byob, price
• Cons: hard to get in

01/23/09

better than philadelphia's average

by pyreflies

As with nearly every meal at a well-rated restaurant I have had in Philly, the appetizer was excellent and then the remaining courses slid sharply downhill from there. First came a slice of fois gras over a cube of very hot crispy polenta surrounded by dried fruit chutney; the polenta was overly spiced and salted by itself, but combined with the sweet dried figs, everything worked very well. Due to many poor fois gras experiences I could not attribute the success of this dish simply to its containing this expensive ingredient. In this case its texture was wanting but the flavor, entirely free of gamey or sanguinous overtones, performed well. For the main course, four seared scallops looked dumbly out upon the pile of curried chickpeas and blood-orange salad that they surrounded. The scallops were cooked properly, the oranges nearly tasteless and the chickpeas sat, voluminous, waiting to be eaten. The dessert, hazelnut crepes burdened by so many ingredients (hazelnut toffee, 'vanilla' ice cream, yet more blood-oranges, chocolate shavings, possibly some kind of caramel sauce..) that only a vague impression of candy came through, failed. Service was excellent though nearly snarky, and so compared to the average place in Philadelphia I consider it quite good.

• Pros: pretty
• Cons: loud

12/14/08

Will Not Accommodate Food Allergies

by sheilaSKB

I was very disappointed in Matyson after hearing such great things about it. Unfortunately for me, with a food allergy, the restaurant was absolutely unaccommodating. I asked about a couple of items on the menu and whether they could be modified slightly for my food allergy. After the server checked with the chef, the report back to me was that the chef would make me something off-menu that was "special." I suppose it was "special" if special = not good. What the chef prepared for me, he obviously did NOT taste. It came out so over-salted I couldn't eat most of it.

I just think that restaurants need to accommodate those with food allergies. After all, there are plenty of us out there! The whole point in going to a restaurant is to have a choice of entrees off the menu. In this case, I was TOLD what the chef would/could make me. No choice. I eat at restaurants frequently, and this was a first for me.

Those eating with me weren't exactly impressed, either. Mainly because of the very small portions.

The only positive about this place, in my opinion, is that it is one of the only BYOs in the city where you can make a reservation.

• Pros: Able to make reservation at this BYO
• Cons: Not able to accommodate my food allergy, cold, small portions

12/06/08

Yummy lamb Brrr the breeze

by athannguyen

Went with a couple of gals for one of their 21st birthdays. Food quality was delicious. I had the lamb with was perfectly cooked; so juicy and succulent it just fell off the bone. My other friends ordered the red snapper and the scallops. Not as well cooked but yummy. Waiter was friendly and extremely well versed on the menu. The half shell oysters were too DIE for. The space is relatively tight and the bathroom isn't too big. But the atmosphere is cozy and there are fresh lilies in the bathroom that smell beautiful. Most expensive entre was $27. Most expensive appetizer probably $12. Appetizers (with exception of oysters) were not as good as entres.

Negatives were that they accidentally gave us the wrong appetizer at first. We weren't paying attention and started dividing it up when the waiter suddenly came saying it was the wrong dish and took it away. He even took our personal plates that had some on them. Not like they could've served it to someone else after we touched it. Waste of good food. ...Wish we could've had it on the house for their mistake.

Also, we sat close to the door so there was a nasty breeze. There's a thick curtain blocking off the door to minimalize the draft but it was still cold.

• Pros: Waiter & Food
• Cons: Cold Cold

10/04/08

Poor value for your dollar

by Trekdoc

The noise level was a problem. I ordered the bass as a dinner entree and while this was tasty, the portion size of between 2- 3 oz was unacceptable at $26. The server also rationed out 1/2 slice of "artisan" bread. and never returned. At $40 per person not including my BYOB the meal was a rip off

12/09/07

Not very good lunch

by littlemaaax

I'm not a fan of Matyson's chef. The menu is too small, first of all. I ordered a sandwich and the only flavors I could discern were salt and grease. If I want that I can get fast food and pay less. Overpriced and overrated, I say.

• Pros: good lemonade
• Cons: everything else

12/08/07

OVERRATED! Trying to be hip, but not very good food...

by eeyorebunny

I've eaten lunch here a few times. The menu is somewhat creative, but in the end, the food just isn't very good. The sandwich I ordered last time was way too greasy. There are lots of great places in center city -- this just isn't one of them.

• Pros: Good location
• Cons: The food