Match 65 (fka Paris Match)

After eating here a few times over the past few years, I suggested Match 65 to an out-of-town friend, who read the awful reviews online. It occurred to me that the kinds of people who don't do well in restaurants (unreasonable expectations, being victims of mistakes and bad service but too insecure to say anything at the moment, limited understanding of culinary possibilities) appear often to be happy to vent online ... tear up a place. We need to write good reviews, too. I LIKE MATCH 65. My friend, (we'll call him "V"), said the place looks like many bistros that pepper Paris. The deep yellow walls, dark red banquettes, tiny tiles on the floor, small chairs, mirrors and framed advertisements on the wall, and soft but frequent lighting a warm and attractive room. Flattering. Small tables covered in white linen with a sheet of white paper on top. Waiters in long, white aprons, and a handsome host in a dark suit. Being a small, shotgun room, the noise of the happy guests can overpower the piped-in music, but you don't have to yell at your date to be heard. Nice neighborhood with quiet streets for a walk after dinner. FOOD: My steak tartare was fresh and nicely chopped, but had an odd, sweet taste to the mixture holding it together. My first thought was, "ketchup?" Asked for a side of Dijon and the two flavors worked well together. Fries were long, crisp, not greasy. Really nice. Sauteed spinach was not over-garlic'd so green flavor shined through. V's escargots were delicious, and hangar steak cooked just right. Arrived promptly and still hot. CONSENSUS: Well done, if somewhat underseasoned. "Better than the alternative," V said. Nice wine options. SERVICE: Warm and friendly, but needed team work as waiter got busy. Host handled dessert (we had cheese platter and it was a good call with a sauterne) and the check, since the waiter was slightly in the weeds at this point. PRICE: Very reasonable. ATMOSPHERE: Relaxing, pleasant, upbeat. GO AGAIN? Absolutely.

walking down Madison avenue found this really nice place... it was a bit crowded but we were able to get two seats at the bar... the bartendar was very helpful... we ordered a lot of the appetizers - two of our favorites was the goat cheese and tomato pizzeta and the cured prosciutto with figues and brie cheese... there is so much wine to chose from we will have to go back again and again and again....

I went here recently for a business lunch and found the place to be almost completely empty. Had I read the reviews it got here, I would have known why. The waiter came up and asked us for our drink orders. Since we were not ready, we looked at the menu for ten seconds. The waiter, observably indignant, just turned around and walked away. We then ordered two Salad Nicoise, which are usually a safe bet, but what we got here was an abomination of French cuisine. The salad was simple lettuce and contained canned tuna, which had not even been fully drained. That's right, it was swimming in a little puddle on top of the salad. It also contained green beans, not haricots verts. Instead of rosemary, fingerling or any other sort of bite-sized potato, it contained cut up chunks of what I guessed were just plain white potatoes over-boiled without salt. I could screw up this dish at home for under $3 a portion, they charged me $22. Paired with the poor service, this was, well... insulting.

I've never had such bad service in a restaurant. The waiter was rude. We couldn't signal him to get an extra side of sauce, since he was too busy talking with the host....the bus boy though saw me and came. At the end we asked if we could all pay by card for each of our meals. He said that we should split it evenly but we insisted and he complied with attitude. As we get the recipt, I realize he charged me twice for my meal and switched the other two orders on the cards. Needless to say, we left him a pretty low tip. He comes back and tells us that some of us did not include tip. When we told him why, he just told us next time we should go to a place where we don't tip. Try it for yourself. The food is not worth the subpar service.

I ordered a salad from this place. It was a pathetic excuse for a $20 salad. Lots of greens a couple hunks of cheese and a few figs. No dressing. When I called to say that I'd received my salad without dressing the host was extremely snotty to me. He never apologized and told me that was how "we serve the salad" (apparently their style is to serve bad salads). He refused to send a new salad and said the best he could do was send salad dressing. Some customer service. Do not support this business.

Regretfully selected online based on reviews and location. Poor and s-l-o- w service even though mostly empty for 1:15pm weekday lunch. Menu description on Goat cheese/sundried tart omitted the fact there were chopped up apples on it which is a food one of my guests has a violent allergy to. Ice-tea glass was snatched from table w/o offering refill, one entree was brought with appetizers. Small piece of bread for each setting was not replenished. Sushi combo entrees, when they finally arrived were not correct. Stated spicy tuna came as California roll. As this was a business group who had limited on time, we did not send back. At no time did manager come by to see if everything was good nor thank us for visiting as we arrived or exited.

Even tough the experience was not awful, it just did not live up to the French tradition. The service was good enough, the decor is very appealing, but the atmosphere lacked something. The menu does not offer enough French bistro fare you would actually find in a bistro in France. The food is about average. It just did not live up to the expectation of a pricey French restaurant. I don't think I'll eat there again.