Nice Matin — Restaurant in New York

Update 8/22/21: As you can see below, the GM contacted me and generously offered to make it right with a gift card. Due to some life events, I was finally able to dine with them again last night. They went above and beyond any expectations to make our experience memorable. We felt very doted on and the food was all presented beautifully and deliciously.

A quick run down on what the table ordered: -Escargot: Very good. I'm glad I had a bit of bread to dip in the excess garlic butter. -Ricotta Truffle Ravioli: This was good, presented beautifully, but the truffle flavor was barely detectable. The pasta is made in-house, and was fantastic. I probably wouldn't order this again because the truffle was lacking. -Pappardelle w/ bouillabaisse sauce: This was outstanding. I am so glad we got to try it, and this alone is worth returning for. Delicious. -Lamb Shank: The meat was falling off the bone and super tender and delicious. The polenta was fantastic. Two people at our table got this dish and loved it -Duck breast special: Outstanding. Possibly one of the best duck dishes I've ever had. A little crisp on the outside, but perfectly cooked inside (I asked for rare). Most importantly, I find restaurants get overzealous with the sweet fruit sauce (orange, cherry, etc) to accompany duck and it ruins it. Nice Matin had the perfect balance and let the meat shine. -Halibut special: The halibut was wrapped in paper and steamed, I believe. I didn't taste this, but was told it was very good.

All in all, I would go back. Our first experience wasn't great, but they made it right and we very much enjoyed ourselves. Presentation was excellent with every dish, and everything tasted great.

Original Review: We had delivery on Valentine’s Day from their pre-fixe menu. I ordered that morning and chose one of the time slots left, 7:15pm.

Our food arrived exactly on time. To the minute.

The food, however, was lukewarm at best. For $120 + delivery fees, tax, and tip ($155 total) you expect more. If Chipotle can deliver hot food, a gourmet restaurant should, too. Normally I’d just heat the food up, but both of our dishes were cooked medium rare and the microwave wound have completely ruined it. I had lobster soup as an appetizer that arrived upside down and leaking; further, it fully cold, not even lukewarm. My main entree was supposed to be a duet of lamb shoulder and rack of lamb, I only received the rack of lamb. My husband’s filet was supposed to accompanied with bordelaise sauce, but instead had something resembling a thin Thanksgiving gravy 🥴 His appetizer was missing some of its parts, as well. The desserts arrived looking a complete mess. We haven’t eaten them yet as all of the above kind of killed my appetite for the evening.

Overall what we ate TASTED good (minus that gravy, it tasted like chicken broth) and had it been served in person, with the correct accompaniments as ordered, I think it would have been excellent— but Nice Matin seriously failed with food delivery. If I had to guess, the kitchen was overwhelmed, despite having preorders. Our food appears to have been packaged LONG before it was sent for delivery with no attempt to maintain temperature. As far as the incorrect/missing items go, I can only assume that was further kitchen oversight. Someone wasn’t checking to make sure every dish was correct before being packed up.

For the price, this was such a disappointment. We would have been better off ordering a meal at half the price from somewhere like The Smith. I hope management sees this review and addresses the failures within their team. There’s no way I was the only disappointed...

I was at this restaurant on a quiet Sunday night (2018 Aug 19)... I went to enjoy a nice dinner by myself with a book to unwind from a busy day.

However, when I got there first of all the hostess never came back to seat me, I wasn't given a menu when the maître d'/manager seated me, it took at least 10 minutes for anyone to acknowledge me when I was at the table, they serve me risotto without a spoon and I had to ask twice for a spoon, the runners were great about bringing my food out in a timely manner...however, none of the servers came by in the way that they are supposed to and did not acknowledge me trying to get their attention multiple times.

My order was not even taken by my server. The maįtre d or manager was the one who noticed that I was trying to get my service attention and came and had to take my order himself. There were only four other tables in this large restaurant that had customers. And no one was at the bar. The table next to me and the one across from me we're getting great top-notch service. The pessimistic side of me keeps wondering if this was a racist situation because I was the only person of color there. But, I never want to make that assumption... But as the night came to a close the thought did pop into my mind.

So, I don't understand what happened that night... Especially considering that I made a very large order because I was taking food home for my boyfriend. I spent almost $200 and that's how they treated me? Like I said, the runners were great and the maître d or manager stepped up once he realized I wasn't being served in the manner that would be expected in such an establishment. It was incredibly frustrating especially since I just want to go have a nice dinner to relax. it wasn't even like I was there in pajamas or something... I was wearing a pretty summer dress and my hair was done nicely with a touch of makeup on my face...

I've never in my life had had an experience like this of an establishment of this caliber. The two stars are for the maître d or manager and for the runners and because the food was worth three and a half Stars taste-wise and for presentation. Just the main basic services of a Hostess and the servers was so appalling that I have to give them a bad review.

I never ever ever Leave reviews for establishments because I don't like the public platform for them but in this case I just felt it was my responsibility to do so. also, because I decided not to leave a note or speak to anyone with regards to the service... I felt I had to put sit here and hope that they see the review and address everything appropriately.

It's slightly even more upsetting because I am a very generous tipper because being in the service industry is one that I know is unappreciated Or at least under appreciated... Which is why I will always tip at least 20% no matter what the service level is - as I did at Nce-Matin that night - but on average I usually like a tip around 30% for good service and 40% for excellent service. He entire experience was... Just, unacceptable for the type of restaurant that...

If you plan on coming here for restaurant week, as many other people have mentioned, you'll have a less than favorable experience.

We live close by and walk by Nice Matin daily, so we were excited to finally have the opportunity to try the restaurant. We were seated without problem and quickly attended to by our server. The drinks we ordered came out fast and without issue. Our waiter then took our order. The minute he found out we were ordering off of the restaurant week menu, the service went downhill.

We were given bread to munch on while we waited for our appetizers. The bread was both warm and tasty. We had the fried artichoke and the summer salad. My girlfriend's salad had two tiny grape tomatoes, a handful of roasted corn and a small overly dressed bed of arugula. My appetizer was equally as tiny. This is clearly the restaurant week portion as a previous reviewer who ordered the salad for lunch a few weeks back had a significantly bigger, fuller salad.

We waited several minutes for our entrees to come out, and when they did, my girlfriend's duck was cold. My branzino was warm, but was mostly crispy skin and very little fish. One of the muscles was definitely pried open because it tasted off - this is not only unappetizing, but also very dangerous as you're not supposed to eat them if unopened. Both entrees left much to be desired.

The best part of our meal was the hazelnut bombe dessert. It is light, flavorful and quite tasty. I'd highly recommend it.

Our waiter came multiple times to our table to refill the waters, but on several occasions, only refilled mine and not my girlfriend's. She had to literally move her cup to the edge of the table, and finally when it was empty, the waiter (spilling water all over the table) filled her glass. Sexist. The waiter was completely rude and it seemed like he didn't care about us. He waited until we'd almost finished our dinner to come over and ask us how everything was. We had to track him down several times. On a positive note, the support staff/busboys were so friendly and cleared our plates promptly.

Lastly, this place has a huge identify crisis. While we dined at 6:30pm on a Saturday night, the music playlist sounded like something out of a diner. I knew it was bad when "Don't Stop Believin'" was blaring when we walked in. We came for a nicer date night, but could have worn a tee shirt and shorts and fit right in. For a place that markets itself as a French bistro, it felt like I was in an 80s dive bar.

Sadly, we will not be going back to Nice Matin, despite its...