Matinee Coffee

We had a group of six dine here over the weekend. Although we were told food would be 40 minutes when we ordered, it ended up taking just over an hour. The food was nothing extraordinary, and wasn’t presented well. The pancakes weren’t fluffy, and tasted bland. The poached eggs were cooked completely through. Although there is hype over this cafe, I would not recommend.

I came here to check the reviews before posting to make sure it wasn’t just me. Been coming to Matinee for 5+ years, never had a bad word to say until today. Not sure if the owners changed or the chefs but I ordered something similar to what I’ve always had here and it was disgustingly greasy and generally average that I barely touched it. Zero seasoning in anything. And a bowl full of grease. Told a waiter, and his response was ‘so have you finished?’ And took it away. No one cared to ask questions, apologise, compensate. Where has good old customer service gone? When I paid I was greeted with a very frosty attitude from the barista. Quite a wait for our food too, and were one of two tables in the whole place at 8am. Disappointed to pay just under $100 for essentially a few coffees, orange juice and some scrambled egg and toast for my 4 year old. Hope this place can pick itself up again and return to an iconic brunch spot it once was, truly!

The chicken burger and fries were nice. I didn’t like the steak sandwich or the gnocchi hash. The coffee, although we asked for decaf, was still far too strong. Our gnocchi came out with chorizo in it, even though we specifically said the person eating was allergic and not to put it into the dish. We then had to wait ages for it to be re made and we all ate our food as it was getting cold, our friend had to eat hers later. Aside from all of this, the atmosphere was nice and I would probably try them again and order something different to see how it goes. It does have potential. The service was also friendly.

Could've, should've, would've been a great Cafe but lack of servers let it down. Our food was sitting under the heat lamp for at least 5 minutes with a bug flying around it. Shoestring fries were not crisp and soggy. Food & coffee overall was decent and would've been much better if wasn't left for such a long time.

Lovely owner and waitress. Quick service as there were not many people on a rainy day. Cozy atmosphere, i had a quick lunch and rushed back to work otherwise I could have stayed a little longer. I ordered hash gnocchi since other photos look very good. They changed the menu so maybe that's why my gnocchi was missing some mushroom and baby tomato, maybe those were blended in the sauce. Nevertheless I enjoyed the dish, i wish there was more sauce as it was a little dry! Maybe they just need to update the menu with new descriptions for the dishes.

The space was fantastic, and the food was delicious with some creative twists and unique options. I tried the breakfast gnocchi, and swapping the bread for fried gnocchi was a brilliant idea. The portion was huge—so filling that I couldn’t finish it! Absolutely worth it though. The coffee was also amazing.

A revolting dining experience from start to finish. We endured a soul-crushing 45-minute wait, watching as a couple who arrived after us ordered, ate, and left before our food even hit the table. When it finally did, we almost wished it hadn’t. The seafood pasta looked like it had been brutally assaulted in the kitchen—the salmon was mangled and mashed beyond recognition, while the pasta itself was an overboiled, pasty mess that clung together in a sad, starchy lump. The chips were stale, lifeless, and tasted like they’d been fried in week-old oil. Then came the vermicelli beef salad—a total abomination. The noodles were raw, stiff, and utterly inedible, a disgrace to Vietnamese cuisine. Worse, the dish had a stray black hair tangled into it and a mystery piece of fish contaminating the bowl, as if the kitchen just threw whatever scraps they had lying around onto our plate. By the time we choked down what little we could stomach, the bill arrived like a final insult—$71 for this lazy, incompetent mess, padded with a 10% weekend surcharge and an extra card fee. This place is an absolute dump. The food is negligent, the service is a joke, and the prices are daylight robbery. Eat here if you enjoy disappointment and disgust. Otherwise, run.

We ordered gnocchi hash and steak sandwich, which were both underwhelming. Steak sandwich was under seasoned, the gnocchi hash was bland, and the poached egg was overcooked :( Was excited to try this cafe because I see it on online lists of brunch places, but was a bit disappointed with the food. Service is very good though, we were able to make a booking with no problems and were able to seat comfortably.