Matignon — Restaurant in Paris

Great food, little pricey but a must visit if in Paris.

Update:28th Nov 2021

After today's experience I have had to update my once 5 star review.

We live in the neighbourhood and have been eating brunch/lunch at Matignon more or less every weekend for several months and quite often visit both Saturdays and Sundays as we love the food there. We love the French toast in particular!

Usually we are seated in the nice and comfy couch area which is great for both our young child and our very small dog who comes with us too. Usually the staff is very friendly with us and often even bring water for our dog. Unfortunately today we had a very different experience. As we arrived for our usual weekend brunch, this time without our daughter as me and my wife wanted to have a lunch date and had arranged a baby sitter for our young daughter. The lady at the front desk, Naomi, asked if we had a reservation and given we didn’t she said we may not be able to find a seat despite there being 10+ empty tables available. Before she even spoke to us she started folding random menus without even looking at us and was picking up phone calls while we very left feeling confused and wondering what was going on. We asked her what we were exactly waiting for and eventually she bothered to show us a seat in the corner of the cold area next to a constantly coughing man. We asked if we could sit in the area where we normally sit on the couch and she said no because we have a dog, despite us having been in the very same seat yesterday with our dog and a baby and next to us in the same area had been another small dog similar size to ours. In fact, we have been seated in the couch areas every single time we have been at the restaurant with our dog. My wife couldn’t even take her jacket off as it was so cold and as the man next to us didn’t stop coughing we rushed through our brunch and left the restaurant. We know the restaurant is very good at checking everyone for Covid passes but it still doesn’t feel nice to be seated next to someone who has a horrible non Covid related cough. Every weekend we leave the staff 20% tip but this time we decided to leave without any tip. Once we left I decided to have a word with Naomi to express our dissatisfaction and poor treatment, at the end of the day, not are we a very regular customer every weekend but additionally my wife who works in a high profile job very often brings clients and her team to the restaurant during the week. Instead of being apologetic, Naomi made a comment twice how the management is focused on ‘profiling’ making us feel like second class citizens. At the end of the day we are a young couple who were very smartly dressed inside our winter jackets. She made the excuse about the dog several times but I pointed out we have had the dog with us every single time and this had never stopped us being welcomed to the restaurant or the warm area. She also made a point about not having a reservation but we have never had a reservation previously either and throughout the whole time we visited the restaurant today there were 10+ table available. After making a comment about ‘profiling’ for the second time she said ‘but we let you eat here’ as if it was a huge favor that was being made to allow us eat at this restaurant. She never apologized and we left the restaurant feeling shocked and disappointed. We have travelled around the world and regularly eat at the most exclusive restaurants but don’t think we have ever experienced such a poor service. It was appalling. It is a shame people like Naomi working at this restaurant can ruin the reputation of the venue which usually has great food and...

The worst restaurant experience I have ever been apart of in my entire life. This may take a while. Firstly, the waiter looks me and my girlfriend up and down before we managed to take a seat, and after introducing himself initially in English, proceeded to speak French to his colleague, and sarcastically sat us down. I have been to much more up market places than yours, so I recommend you settle down. We were surrounded by clearly wealthy locals, which is nothing against them, I honestly hope they enjoyed their night, but the way they favoured them over us was disgraceful. For example, gave everyone a basket of bread; we had to ask for that, which took the same ignorant waiter 10 minutes to provide. For example, instead of eloquently placing the butter on the table, the waiter unenthusiastically dropped the butter into the basket on the table. For example, made a look of disgust at the both of us when we asked for a glass of wine, when the waiter arrogantly assumed that we would want a bottle instead. The list goes on. By the way, the restaurant has the most overpriced menu I have ever seen. Bang average food. Quite funny to be honest how they think their 5/10 French toast justifies a €27 price tag. To conclude this remarkably poor outing, as we asked for the bill, the waiter mentioned the minimum of 10% service charge that we are expected to pay. I politely asked the waiter to take off the service charge. For roughly 30 seconds, me and the waiter went back and forth debating the payment. The waiter then turned around and said to me, “don’t worry it’s ok, I’ll take it off, I guess if be working for free tonight”. I then replied saying, “the reason why I am not paying you service charge, is because to earn the luxury of service charge, you are required to offer good service, which you have clearly not done”. The waiter eventually unwillingly accepted to remove the service charge. Continued to complain in French to himself in a very hostile manner. Printed to receipt. Dropped it on the table. Walked away without saying anything. Not even a goodbye. He was unaware the whole time that I could understand French, and towards the end was making it quite clear his dislike for us, and with us being English, made it clear we aren’t his favourite bunch. In summary, terrible restaurant, awful experience, all the staff managed to do was make us feel uncomfortable from start to finish. A 1-star review is very generous.

Kind Regards,

A customer who will never be visiting...

A year or so ago, my wife and I visited Paris for the first time as a married couple after COVID restrictions had lightened up. I had always been a fan of the Hotel Costes music collection but have never been to the hotel. So, we decided to try their bar. We went, had a drink and met Theo, the manager. Theo was very friendly and hospitable- and we still stay in touch today. Theo recommended that we go to Matignon for some fun after our cocktails at Hotel Costes.

Upon arrival at Matignon, we were immediately greeted by Sebastian (Seb). Seb and I ended up talking outside for quite sometime. When Seb escorted us inside, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Matignon not only was a club, but also a beautiful restaurant! We went downstairs to the club and had a blast. We promised Seb that we would have dinner at the restaurant the next time we returned to Paris.

Well, here we are in Paris in August 2023 and one of our first stops was Matignon. And this time we made a reservation for dinner. When we arrived, we were greeted once again by a smiling Seb- who happened to remember us from over 14 months ago! Seb is a consummate gentleman, a service professional and not only kind, but very attentive. He even stopped by our table to make sure everything was as we had hoped. We will be back at Matignon before we leave Paris in September, and Seb is a huge reason for that. I even was fortunate enough to meet Monsieur Gilbert Costes himself that night, which was a true pleasure.

Overall, all of the folks we have met that are part of the Beaumarly group of restaurants and clubs are immensely delightful, friendly and world-class. Since last week, we have visited Matignon, Cafe Francais, the gorgeous Les Jardins du Presbourg and today we had a wonderful lunch at the beautiful Le Cafe Marly at The Louvre. Even one of the Beaumarly directors remembered us after seeing us last week (Clemence). We are going to hit George’s and La Maison du Caviar in the next several weeks.

I highly recommend not only Matignon for a wonderful dinner and dessert (get the cookie delish!), as well as an amazing Parisian nightclub experience, but all their restaurants and nightlife spots. And no- this review was not written by an employee but by a patron who appreciates fine dining, amazing nightlife and meeting the folks who make these great venues come to...