Matinee Coffee — Restaurant in Sydney

(3.5 stars) Harking back to the golden era of Hollywood with an eye-catching retro font, wall art and colour scheme, Matinee caught my eye on a recent jaunt down Addison Road. With the very name clueing you in that this spot is designed for afternoon performances, I was pleased to slide in after 2.30pm and still be able to eat either breakfast or lunch.

The décor is theatrical, from the central glossy burgundy-tiled table surrounded by green velour chairs, to two dramatic art deco triple ring chandeliers with long burgundy fringing. The same colour carries through onto a cushioned leatherette banquette, running along a concrete back wall, with an all-singing, all-dancing mural. While some say the space channels the Greek-Australian milkbars of my childhood, I certainly don’t remember any that looked quite like this – well, except in American movies. Instead I’d describe the combined counter and kitchen as something like a classic art deco cinema’s candy bar. It adds some lovely curves into the high-ceilinged, industrial space, with its exposed fittings and roughly hewn concrete.

Coffee - their own Matinee roast - pushes the envelope of not burnt in my Latte ($4) and challenges my usual practice of not adding sugar. I eventually relent with a quarter teaspoon of raw hipster sugar, and it’s better, with good acidity at the front and a dark rumble in the rear. I’m more excited by the house-made Habanero Sauce ($15/bottle) delivered to my table without me needing to ask for it.

It’s just the ticket to give my muddy Pork Cassoulet ($20) some clarity. This dish has a quite lot going on. While the coffee-rubbed pork shoulder is plentiful, it’s a bit dry and stringy. It sits in a thick, tomato-heavy stew dotted with diced carrot and mushy borlotti beans. I really prefer white beans, like butter beans or cannellini beans in this dish. The cassoulet garnished with an equally hectic array of poached eggs, blobs of basil nut pesto, a dusting of parmesan crumbs and goats’ cheese, along with a slice of buttered sourdough that is gone much too quickly. The basil pesto is, to my palate, a mistake.

On my follow-up visit, Donna Summer is blasting out Bad Girl, which, with the retro colours, gives the space a last days of disco vibe. It’s stinking hot, so I sit outside at a bright orange table, to catch whatever skerrick of breeze is flowing down Fotheringham Lane. Service this time is slower off the mark, but affable enough when my menu does finally arrive. My Creaming Soda ($6) is served with ice and a metal straw, though it’s too sweet to really be refreshing. While the waitress was unable to tell me whether the soda syrup was house-made, the drink is low on fizz and has an interesting flavour.

With owner, Charles Cameron, coming out of Brewtown, hitting up the sweets seemed important. The menu is full of American favourites like key lime pie, pecan pie, and pretzels. While the Cinnamon Pretzel ($5) didn’t look too fancy, and certainly wasn’t helped along by it being a hot day, it ate with a certain nostalgic charm that reminded me of a chewy version of hot, buttered cinnamon sugar toast.

Expecting a sugar-overload, the Belgian Waffle ($18) surprised me with judiciously applied tangy, lime and honey buttermilk ricotta, lovely spears of caramelised tart pineapple and a dusting of pistachio, freeze-dried raspberries and toasted coconut flakes. It was only the waffles themselves that were a bit sugary and cakey. However after Thomas Keller (at his restaurant Bouchon in Las Vegas) showed me that Belgian waffles could be as light and airy as their thinner American counterparts, I’ve been a...

I wonder this place is still owned by same owner?? I went there around 12pm for brunch and there was only one table taken by another couple that time and us only. Place was very quiet. I took waiter recommendation and ordered wagyu burger. Honestly, it was worst burger in my life.. the patty was more like sausage texture and dry!! the blue cheese sauce was ruining the whole burger and beetroot relish wasn’t good too. The burger bun was also dry! Just not balanced dish!

My wife’s Bibim whatever was not genuine bibimbab….it was also very awkward combination of ingredients…lots of pickles!! and taste was bad. I really hoping that they do not use the word “bibim” as some other customers might think that dish is what bibimbab is…

Coffee was really bitter, more like burnt taste and I could see there are lots of coffee grits inside cup bottom. Please rinse the coffee basket properly and also group head every time after making a coffee shot. Those coffee grits can be built up inside group head and that can be reason for the burnt taste because temperature of inside group head is very hot.

Please clean the floor and chair and window frame area, there were so much dust!!

Our food took a while to be served to our table even if it was not busy at all, the funny part for me was one of the chef came out from kitchen during lunch service time and sitting next to us eating his own lunch although we were still waiting for our dishes.

It was really awkward for everything! Don’t think I would go...

Went this morning for breakfast as Superfreak was incredibly busy and I'd heard good things about matinee. Longer wait times to be expected as it was Easter Monday and we were of course ok to deal with that. Coffee came out fairly promptly.

The food however took nearly an hour and a half to come out of the kitchen. Tables that had been sat nearly half an hour after us had received their food (some receiving the same meals we had ordered) and left before we had even gotten ours. We can only presume that our ticket was lost by the kitchen, which happens, and would be fine if the manager/owner had made any sort of apology. The food finally arrived, the portions were half what we had seen on other tables and some of our order was wrong. Another table near us faced the same issue and was shouted at by the manager when they tried to make a complaint.

It's a real shame because it's a cool place and the coffee was good. I get that public holidays are busy, but it wasn't crazy, with many tables still empty or with small groups. It was very clear that the manager had purposely understaffed to save on labour costs for the day, but there was still a 20% surcharge on top of that. The manager refused to waive that for the other group despite the massive mistakes and terrible treatment of the other group, so we elected to not deal and just pay and leave.

Overall, I wouldn't come back. So many better places in marrickville to choose from with a manager that treats their staff and...