Matthews Restaurant

Terrible news to hear that Matthew had passed away a few months ago. I was looking forward to his table-​side Caesar salad, which was the highlight of my last visit there. I’m assuming this place will be closed for good and replaced with another restaurant. I hope the new place is nearly as good as Matthew’s was.

Very unfortunate to report that Matthew passed away unexpectedly this week. Reservations for Valentine’s Day have been canceled. Not sure what the fate of one of my favorite restaurants will be. Matthew was a great host to customers of his restaurant, always making his way over to every table to make sure folks were satisfied with their meals. He made our tableside Caesar salad every time we visited. The experience was always accompanied by great conversation and funny stories followed by the best Caesar salad you ever had, which I now make regularly at home. Over the course of those times we spoke quite a bit about my love for food and cooking and my dream to one day own my own restaurant. Matthew very graciously extended the offer to me of coming to spend the day in his kitchen to learn a few things and get a feel for the experience of working in a restaurant. Sadly, it is an opportunity I will never get to take advantage of. The restaurant business could certainly use more owners who take real stock in the satisfaction of their customers and care enough to talk to every customer, even getting to know many by name. A true rarity in the business who will be sorely missed. Rest easy good sir.

Made reservations for a Friday night at 7.
The dining room is quaint and a little outdated. A lot of local artist’s work was hanging up and I noticed a lot were crooked. Sort of odd but it was nice to see the restaurant supporting local community and the like.
We had the calamari appetizer that was out of this world. I would honestly say top 5 calamari apps I have ever had. The sauce it is cooked in is just divine and decadent.
We noticed another table had ordered the tableside Caesar that the owner comes out and makes himself. We planned right then and there just to come back for the salad. It looked SO yummy.
I ordered the Swordfish and the boy got the Ribeye. Both were delicious. The sides were pretty solid as well.
With an app, a couple drinks and our meals it was about $ 120 with tip. Pretty steep but you get what you pay for.
Service wasn’t horrible and the owner made it a point to come over and ask how everything was.
Will definitely be back soon.
For first timers: parking is in the back of the building before you actually see the sign. Make reservations if you plan on eating there during the weekend.

My friend and I dined here this past Saturday, and it was fantastic. Our waitress, Alli, was sweet and attentive, and the food was divine.
We had: the crab martini (excellent), the seared ahi «tuna» (they didn’t have tuna, and let us know the chef would substitute another fish… but it just wasn’t as good); the sirloin tips (scrumptious), and the fries – ohhhh, the fries. Truffle parmesan duck fat fries. I mean… seriously. I wanted to take some home, but I could not stop eating them!
We were also warmly greeted by the owner when he arrived, as were all the other diners, which was so nice to see. It’s too rare these days.
Dessert was good, we had the house-​made butterfinger bar with peanut butter mousse and candied peanuts. Didn’t blow our minds, but it was good. The cappuccino was also yummy.
We will definitely go back to this place, great find!

The Executive Chef, Greg, is an absolute culinary genius! We came tonight to try the Taste of the Suburbs sampling and boy was it delicious! We started with calamari and lemons and chicken and andouille sausage gumbo! Heirloom tomatoes with prosciutto and house made ricotta cheese! Strip steak with a veal glaze, duck fat fries, and garlic sautéed spinach! Dessert was cheesecake with berry sauce and house made whip cream! Everything is to die for delicious! I will say, it’s a bit classier of an atmosphere, dress nicely, this is a lovely place for date night or dinner to impress.

My parents and aunt/​uncle come here all the time so I figured we would give it a try. Came on a Sunday night hoping to sit outside with our toddler. There were plenty of tables available on the patio and inside. I asked for a margarita with silver tequila, cointreau and lime juice. Wife got a glass of white wine. Somehow my margarita was undrinkable. It was so strong which I’ve never been known to complain about, but this was entirely too much cointreau. Please learn how to make a classic margarita. For meals we got the lobster sliders and jambalaya. Wife didn’t particularly like the lobster sliders, said the batter tasted funny. My jambalaya was decent, although everything in it was diced which was kind of strange. The waitress was more than accommodating. Unilocal is pretty spot on with the rating here, not bad food, just not somewhere I would look forward to returning to.

Horrible service. Horrible. Food was nothing special and way overpriced — fries were the best part. Huge disappointment. Highly recommend that you pass up this restaurant.

I wrote a negative review some months ago, and sadly, the owner has since passed away. I therefore retract my critique and wish his family nothing but the best.
L

Matthews is one of those places that is a hidden gem in the middle of nowhere. Not necessarily nowhere, though, because everywhere is somewhere. It’s in the middle of unionville so I guess it’s somewhere.
Anyway, I got

My wife and I decided to have our Valentine’s Day dinner at Mathew’s. My wife had been put out the last time we ate there because she encountered some grit in her greens. Otherwise, we have had good food there, so I convinced her to give Mathew’s another go.
The restaurant had a fixed-​price, three-​course dinner for $ 45 a person. For her first course my wife opted for the Baby Spinach Salad that included candied pecans, warm honey goat cheese, and grated apple with a vinaigrette. It was very good. I chose a Tomato and Baby Brie Napoleon. It was a sexy looking stack of brie and tomato with a pile of arugula on top. It had nice touches with micro basil, chive oil and a white balsamic reduction. It would have been a winner but for the tomato which was wooden and without flavor. I should have known better. If you order tomatoes in winter you have to expect winter tomatoes. But Mathew’s should have known better too and should not have had this on the menu.
We both ordered Osso Buco for our entrées. I had eaten Osso Buco here before. The menu had boasted that the meat is braised for eight hours. That earlier Osso Buco was moist and luscious with deep flavor in the braising sauce. The slow braising in a sauce is the key to Osso Buco, but this Osso Buco (that’s what it claimed to be on the Valentine’s Day menu) was a roasted veal shank. As a result the meat was dry and chewy. There was a little veal demi-​glacé under the meat but it did little to alleviate the dryness. The tomato jam served with the dish was interesting but that veal was beyond help. The owner came to check on us, and my wife said that the veal was dry. Mathew asked if he could bring her something else, but after eating the salad and at least some of the veal she was too full to launch into another complete entrée. The veal came with some sautéed spinach and garlic (which was fine) and some Saffron Potato Dauphanoise [sic]. The amount of saffron was just enough to add a nice flavor to the potatoes, but this dish was also too dry. The potatoes needed more cream to be a good dauphinoise.
While we were both disappointed with the entrée, we were hoping for a winning dessert to put us back in a good mood. We ordered the Raspberry Chocolate Turnover, one turnover serving two diners (though it wasn’t clear why this should be so). The turnover was made of puff pastry. Puff pastry gets its name for the way it puffs up into a pillow of multitudinous flaky layers. The topmost ultrathin layer of pastry was crisp and brown, but below it was a sodden mass of oily undercooked dough. The pastry hadn’t risen at all and was flat as a pancake. My wife said she encountered two raspberries in the turnover, but I didn’t find anything at all in the portion that I ate. There were a few fresh raspberries on the plate. The pastry was swimming in chocolate sauce, so we dragged this wet dishcloth of a turnover through the chocolate with the iced-​tea spoons (!) we were given to eat the dessert with. But really, this dish was too far gone to be saved. The chef, the servers and the owner should have all seen that this dessert should have never left the kitchen. I should have complained, but I was now too dispirited to fight for this meal. I just wanted to get the check and leave.
The check (which included one glass of wine, tea and coffee, tax and tip) was about $ 125. It wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth half that price. Mathew’s, how could you? It was Valentine’s Day, and you broke my heart. Don’t expect me to come crawling back to you because of the good times we had in the past; I’m moving on.

I ate here today for the first time. It was my grandmothers 90^th birthday party. I ordered the Snapper. It was really good. The food was prepared very nice. The service was very friendly. The prices on menu seemed high for some of us, so our server let some folks order off of the Pub menu. That was very thoughtful. As I looked around at everyone else’s food, it all looked good. The one dish I probably wouldn’t order after seeing it was the Jambalia. A lot of our conversation focused on the art for sale around the restaurant. I give this place 4 stars. I would eat here again, but only on special occasions.

Service was great, nice atmosphere, and there was live music the first night I went (on a weekday). I ended the night with a Half Irish (half coffee, half Bailey’s) which is how I want to end every meal now. Now let’s get to it…
Apps:
Calamari is good, but drenched in sweet chili sauce. Get it on the side if you’re picky.
Baked brie w/​honey and apples-​was one of the specials that night. Disappointed it wasn’t in a puff pastry, but the honey drizzled on top really made it.
Escargots-​amazing, buttery goodness with brie melted on top. I could eat a bucket of these. Be sure to use your bread to soak up all the cheese and juices left in the dish!
Entrees:
Rigatoni Bolognese-​was good, but nothing I was crazy about for the price. The Bolognese was a good balance of creamy with chunky sausage though.
Beef Wellington-​how does anyone say no to anything wrapped in a puff pastry? the only thing Matthew’s does different is spread the foie gras on the outside. I think I would’ve preferred to have it on the inside because it ended up melting on the surface of the already buttery puff pastry instead of soaking into the steak. Regardless, the steak was perfectly cooked and the accompanying whipped potatos and gravy were perfect.
Dessert–
Bananas Foster-​made tableside, scorching hot, and really delicious. I usually don’t like bananas in dessert too.
Bread Pudding-I’d choose this hands down over any of the others. It wasn’t too sweet and the texture was perfect.
Profiterols-​not too crazy about this one at all. It was all kind of drenched in chocolate syrup and the pâté a choux kind of got lost in all of it.

I came here for drinks and dinner with my friend. The service was very attentive and warm. They have a good cocktail and wine list.
I was a little saddened by the cost of the entrees, since I wasn’t planning on spending too much. Most of the meals are $ 22+ We ended up ordering off the less pricey salad section of the menu. We both ordered the warm spaghetti squash salad with goat cheese. My friend also got their pumpkin spice bisque which was rich and heavy and delicious. The spaghetti squash ‘salad’ was decadent. (I’ve posted a picture of it.) It was drenched and layers with melted goat cheese. We both throughly enjoyed it but I put the word ‘salad’ in quotes because one usually attributes salad to being a healthy dish. I think its a great place for a special occasion.

Was able to enjoy another dinner while the «taste of the valley» was going on in September.
Out of the offerings I had the BBQ shrimp… Wow awesome dish.
Shrimp were large enough to require three bites! It came sitting over a grits like potato texture that was really good.
Main course was a 7oz New York Strip. Cooked to perfection and a great portion size. Placed over a bed of green beans and nothing was left on that plate as well when done.
New York style cheesecake was one of the three offerings for desert.
Awesome all around. Never had a bad experience here in over 10 visits!
Love this place

Last year, we visited the Avon Italian Club’s annual food festival. In addition to the great meatballs, lasagnes and cutlets, there were a dozen teacup raffles including one for a dinner at Matthews in Unionville. When my wife and I mentioned that not only had we never been there, but we had never even heard of it, well we were met with some incredulous stares.
After today’s visit, we now know why Matthews was held in such high esteem. Let me tell you, its one of the best restaurants we have been to in recent memory. The service, the décor, the food, the value, the entire experience was very enjoyable. They have quite a few different menus — lunch, dinner, bar, a Sunset menu, and a Louisiana Grille for the Cajun fans.
We started off with Blue Point and Stella drafts for a reasonable $ 4.50 each. Our late lunch included a bowl of their «House Specialty» Shrimp Gumbo ($ 7). This was just great– a generous sized bowl of flavorful spicy soup with veggies, okra, and a nice supply of delicious tender shrimp. I also ordered a Poached Pear Salad for $ 10. It was described as «Bosc Pears Poached in Spiced Port Wine and served with Spinach, Candied Walnuts, Crumbled Gorgonzola and a Sherry Vinaigrette». This was also great — a real stellar combination of flavors, textures and colors. My wife ordered the Seafood Crepes $ 14 — «Fresh Crepes filled with a Scallop and Seafood Mousse, baked in a Lobster Infused Mornay Sauce, served with a Baby Green salad and a Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette» She enjoyed the seafood mousse and I saw that the dish was garnished with a full lobster claw.
We finished up with a cup of their coffee (REALLY good), a «Basket of Beignets» for $ 7 and a Louisiana Pecan Bread Pudding for $ 10. Wow were these delicious. We split the bread pudding and spooned up every last morsel of the sauce. The pudding was sweet and dense and to be honest, half a portion was perfect. The beignets were seven fried doughnut nuggets cooked to an exterior crunch, served warm and dusted with powdered sugar. They were extraordinary. We had one each, and finished the remainder for breakfast the next day.
So for $ 63 we ate like royalty. I have to say a word about our server, Nickolas. He was very attentive, very polite, and very helpful but was never overbearing or intrusive. That isn’t easy to do.
The only problem we had was the parking, and because Sanh did a great job explaining the issue, I won’t. But we will know better next time, and there will surely be a next time !

A lovely dining experience!
Tom and I decided on dinner here before taking in a theatre performance. Finding the restaurant is tricky since it is in an odd location, but follow the signs to the parking lot around the back of the building which will bring you to the restaurant’s door. They have a patio, which I’m sure is lovely in warm weather but since it was late November, a table indoors for us. The waitstaff was very attentive, filling water glasses and bringing fresh ciabatta style bread to our table. They have a Louisiana-​style grill menu for the specials this month, which is fitting since the owner has roots there. Speaking of, Matthew himself was seen making tableside caesar for another party and was consistently involved in the dining room, checking on customers and helping his staff – always nice to see this.
For my dinner, I decided to go with the Louisiana mixed grill – herb crusted lamb chop, andouille sausage with house mustard sauce and a petite filet, cajun blackened with a demi glacé, all served with chive whipped potatoes and fresh veggies. Wow. This plate had it all! The filet was my favorite – cooked perfectly to my order of medium rare, with a nice flavor from the blackening. The chive whipped potatoes were a perfect accompaniment, and the carrots and asparagus was also a nice touch. Tom went with the NY strip steak – also cooked perfectly to his liking. The steak was very tender and he had a great portion of sauteed spinach and potatoes.
I wish we weren’t full by the end of this delightful meal because I wanted to have those beignets, but maybe another time. Service was professional and very efficient in taking care of the dining room patrons, topping off an excellent experience. Would definitely come back!

I really wanted to like Matthews, but it just didn’t work for me. Overall, the food is okay. They try to be fine dining, but fall short in execution. I left feeling like we overpaid for the quality of food we received.
Crabcakes — Nice crispy exterior. A ton of crab meat. The color was a little gray though. Nice remoulade sauce on top.
Calamari — Tossed in too much sweet chili sauce. Didn’t enjoy this too much.
Steak tips with risotto — Way too salty; beef was chewy; risotto was had a gluey texture
Service was good. I liked the décor of the restaurant. They displayed local art that you could purchase, which I always have mixed feelings about. It’s nice to support local artists, but often times, the pieces don’t really go with the restaurant.

Wow– what a lovely find!
Went here Saturday night. The place was packed, all tables full. Total meal for 3 people was $ 200, which includes TWO bottles of Malbec (High Note from Argentina, nice to see it on the wine list). Prices were normal for a high-​end restaurant, entrees averaged $ 25. Quality of food was consistent and high.
We had…:
1 dozen oysters from the raw bar — big, fat, fresh
Shrimp Gumbo — Mark reports it was very good
2 orders of crabcakes — all meat with a medium to high spicy remoulade drizzled over– very good
1 Caesar salad– excellent, I mean perfect
1 chocolate spoon cake — good, but at this point I was so happy I’m not sure anything would have been bad
Ambiance was warm with good art on the walls available for sale (some definitely had a New Orleans feel and prices were really good, like $ 150– if my suitcase weren’t already full…). Bathroom clean, hostess was friendly.
We were very well cared for between the backwaiter (water served room temp, no ice, nice touch) and our server. Plus, added bonus, Matthew himself made our Caesar table-​side, which took about 20 minutes. Matthew has the warmth of the south, they really do know their hospitality — we had a great conversation about New Orleans and he mentioned a Fat Tuesday event coming up this week. He was clearly in the middle of a crazy rush yet still made us feel welcome and as if we were the center of attention.
I have to say I’d come back here in a second. Lucky them for getting a bit of NOLA right in CT!

I’ve been excited to try Matthew’s Restaurant for a long time. Finally made a trip there this weekend.
Parking:
The restaurant is located in a commercial area. It shares space with a dance studio and the sign is really hard to see. We had reservations for 8PM and had some trouble finding parking. Initially we thought parking was on the side of the building but it’s actually in the back behind building.
Service:
The bar area looks alot nicer than the dining area. I didn’t like the set up of the dining area. We were seated in the middle of the room at a square table. I couldn’t even hear my BF talk. It was late and I was hungry. I think they were low on bread. It took awhile for the bread to come out. When it did come out it was nice and warm. The busboy did refill water as soon as it was 1 inch from the rim of the glass, that’s dedication on his part. He was young and it was apparently he took pride on doing a great job. BF was impressed with their local beer offerings. Matthew the owner walked around and talked to everyone. His laugh is contagious. This isn’t a place you can be in and out within an hour.
Food:
We started off with Baked CT Oysters. $ 11 for 4 oysters wasn’t too bad. BF had a fishy oyster but I didn’t have the same experience because I usually drown my oysters in lemon juice. The stuffed oysters was a nice start, i like the spinach and sausage stuffing mix. The sausage added a nice kick. I wish I ate it a little slower but I was hungry. I can still remember the great taste and the fragrant of the cheese.
Red Snapper:
The Snapper Ponchatraine was rich and delicious!
Loved the tomato cream sauce in this dish. I couldn’t taste the tomatoes. I think the dish would have been better without the steak potato wedges. We were afraid the creamy sauce would overpower the dish but I was totally happy with the overall taste not creamy just right. It’s one of those dishes you wish you could have a bottle of the sauce to take home.
Beef Wellington:
This was my first time having «real» Beef Wellington.
Two pieces of tenderloin wrapped in a crispy puff pastry with a slice of home made pâté de fole gras. The only «mess» up was that tr crispy puff was not as crispy as it should have been, I think it was too thin so it didn’t get flaky. I am assuming if the pastry puff was thicker there would be a juicy center. I never made Beef Wellington but heard it was hard so I think this was totally worth it. The pâté was a tasty addition. Would have been better if the pâté was mixed into the mushroom rather than a slice on top of the pastry. I asked for it well done and the first piece was well done but the second piece was borderline medium. BF was impressed with the tenderloin. He thought the dish was fantastic. Another great sauce was used for this dish. It was a red wine and mushrooms mix I believe. I covered my asparagus in the sauce. Each piece was crispy and with every bite there was a crunch. I wouldn’t mind going in for a plate of asparagus with their red wine sauce.
The place was interesting, tons and tons of painting on the walls. In the bathroom there’s a painting for sale with a price tag attached. When I think about it, if I were an artist it might be silly to share with your friends oh if you’re interested in a piece of mine it’s on display in the bathroom at Matthew’s.
Summary: weird room layout but the food was delicious. Crowd is in their late 40s and 50s. I would def return but it wouldn’t be a place I made frequent visits. The place has potential but the location is terrible it shares a building with a dance studio.
Specials:
Buy 1 entrée get 2^nd for ½ price.
Tuesday: ½ appetizers
Wednesday: live music. All wines ½ price
Thursday: all martini’s $ 6 and live music
Sunset menu Monday — Saturday 4−6pm $ 18.85 per person

Went with my parents on Saturday night with a Groupon. Made a reservation for outdoors but we didn’t really need to, still good to do so just in case. The website makes it seem like you can see the Farmington River from the outdoor seating but all you can see is the parking lot, still there were tiki torches going that (mostly) kept the mosquitoes away and the chairs out there were quite comfortable. Overall a very nice outdoor seating area.
The crusty, warm bread and butter that was (eventually) brought out by our very nice waitress was really, really good. The busboy was extremely attentive with keeping waters full. My dad’s drink was slightly off but quickly fixed, and the wine my parents chose was very good. The owner, Matthew, is from Louisiana and has a great accent. He was coming around to all the tables to make sure everyone was enjoying everything and even sent out a complimentary salmon cake to each of us, which was beyond amazing, definitely the best salmon cake I’ve ever had — crispy on the outside and pure salmon on the inside. With how long our food took to come out (others seated after us got theirs first) I suspect that something may have gone awry in the kitchen to delay our meal and that’s why we got the salmon cakes, but hey, I’m fine with it.
All three of us went with seafood entrees. My dad and I both got the Snapper Ponchatraine. I have to say I wasn’t especially impressed with the snapper itself. The portion was very small/​thin, and not anything particularly amazing. It came served atop some chive whipped mashed potatoes and three fresh steak fries. The fries were excellent and potato-​y. The mashed potatoes were good, but I can’t be positive because of how little I was served! The real winner was my mom’s Block Island Swordfish. She gave me some and wow I wish I had ordered it. It was served atop smashed purple potatoes, which were delicious since the smashing meant some of the skin was still in there, and the fruit salsa was perfect. There was also a red salsa at the very bottom of the plate and that was great, I dipped my fries in it! The fish was cooked perfectly and was a much more generous portion.
Overall we really enjoyed the ambience of Matthew’s, very nice place to go on a summer night. I’m not sure if the meals would have been worth the full price without the Groupon though. I know they have Sunset Meal specials priced at $ 14.95, so it may be more worth the visit to go try that and sit outside. The bar was hoppin indoors — I’ve heard good things about the cheaper Pub Menu!