Matoni — Restaurant in Grad Split

Let me begin by saying that I cannot find fault with the food at this restaurant. So much so, that I had lunch AND dinner there on the same day. The one star is for the service and most specifically the owner's attitude.

I went there for lunch with a friend while the other two friend's we were travelling with(both chef's and avid foodies) went for a cooking class. We raved about the food so much that they insisted that we go back for dinner as well.

We go to the restaurant at 10 pm and they said last orders were at 10:30, would close at 11 and they had no table for four. As they had 2 tables for two, we decided to split up and take the two tables having requested the owner for a shift when a larger table was free. He was non-committal and seemed like he would rather have us go away. However, we ordered quickly at our separate tables and within minutes saw multiple tables around us leaving after dinner. As both the tables were in different sections, unknowingly we both asked our servers for a change to a larger table, to which they said they had to ask their boss. Their boss, who was the owner said no - even though all we had on our tables were glasses of water - even our glasses of wine hadn't arrived! He infact told my friends at the other table that if we had a problem, we were welcome to leave!

We were very surprised but carried on with our meal. When we ordered dessert we questioned our waiter on the strange attitude and were told that he was having a bad day! On our way out we also met the boss(who was the owner, as we learnt from our server) - we complimented him on the food while questioning his attitude.. He behaved as though he did not know what we were talking about! Absolutely ridiculous because we saw the servers (who were genuinely good guys) ask him about us changing tables right in front of us and he was the one who told our friends we were free to leave if we had an issue.

All in all, a great place to eat, however be warned of the owner's terrible mood swings and that his bad day can...

The food is good but the one star rating here is for the terrible attitude of the owner. We were a group of four looking to get dinner but found that the restaurant didn't have any 4 seater tables available when we walked in. Since we'd heard so much about the food from our friends who'd eaten there just that afternoon, we decided to take two separate 2 seater tables instead. We ordered and almost immediately saw a couple of 4 seaters free up. We quickly requested to move to a 4 seater so we could eat together but were very curtly informed that the owner wasn't allowing us to move, and that we could leave if we wanted. I was quite taken aback by the hostility to be honest. I wasn't even aware that there was a problem here. We had just placed the order and food hadn't even arrived. The restaurant was closing in 30 min so there was no way those tables were reserved. The servers were good guys but simply said that their boss wasn't allowing it. The mood was killed and we finished our meal. You could see the servers being equally puzzled by their boss' rude behavior. I've never had an experience like this at a restaurant and was genuinely interested in knowing if we'd offended the man in some way, so asked him when we were leaving. The guy feigned complete ignorance of the matter and pretended like he didn't know what had happened. Absolutely ridiculous, considering he was right there and did all of this in front of us. It is unfortunate that our last meal in this lovely city had to be like this. Matoni can have the best chef in the world but they still can't get the bad taste out...

Came here for dinner on a friend's recommendation. It was quiet and empty when we had arrived (around 18:00). I wish I had made reservations because the host was off-putting at first when we said we didn't have one. We were seated in the side nook, but received a more friendly welcome from our server. He was sweet and liked that we knew what we wanted to order, plus he had a wonderful white wine recommendation during dinner.

For appetizers I ordered the rikula salad and my husband had the bloody mary kozice. Both were a light start to dinner. As for the main course, there's nothing I love more than steak. I ordered the porterhouse steak (about 600g) and it was served medium rare just as I had asked. My husband had the risotto, which was rich in flavor and fulfilling. My favorite part of the night was dessert. Their fudge dish was a different take on a molten lava cake with vanilla ice cream, the crumbles were a nice crunchy addition too.

Would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a fine dining experience. The interior of the restaurant is lovely and very intimate. My only suggestion is come with a...