Review of Cafe Matisse, Nassau

Last night Emily had a sleep-over date. In fact she still isn't home having begged to continue the date by attending Serena's dance classes with her. Anyway - since Emily seems to have more of a social life than both Mark and Lisa do lately, we decided to go out for dinner at one of the most recommended fine-dining restaurants in Nassau. It's called Cafe Matisse.

The restaurant is downtown, up a side alley just off of Parliament Square. It is in a gorgeous old classic Bahamian house - stone archways, deeply polished wood window frames, staircase and window beams. We were thrilled with the ambiance and energy as the place was humming. It didn't seem to have many tourists but was filled with Native Bahamians (although pre-dominantly the white ones) which we took as a good sign. There were fleets of waiters (all black men for some reason) in crisp white shirts and aprons bustling around the place. Because we didn't have a reservation we didn't get our preferred seating (out on the green, tropical patio surrounded by fairy lights) but scored an inside table for two which was very charming.

The waiter was at our table in seconds offering drinks, in fact we hadn't even looked at the wine list so Lisa ordered a chardonnay (only to be disappointed when the wine list revealed her favorite Pinot Grigio) and Mark a beer. The menu was exciting, if expensive (which is why we skipped the appetizers). Mark was thrilled to discover they had home made pasta, one of the owners is Italian) and ordered Tagliatelle with a Lamb Ragu and Sun-dried tomatoes - $22 for pasta - Ouch! Lisa pondered the duck with balsamic fig dressing, but settled on the Pink Trout with Lemon Grass over artichokes, shallots and portobello mushrooms - $34.

Order placed - this was where the trouble started. We were quite hungry having not had any lunch and we sat and sat and sat and sat. It was over an hour before our food came. When it finally did come the presentation certainly left a lot to be desired. Mark's pasta wasn't too bad, but Lisa's fish came on a very industrial looking white plate, with very droopy shallots piled in droves over a tasty looking piece of fish. The artichokes and mushrooms proved more difficult to find. There were maybe two artichokes suffocating under all those shallots and the mushroom were initially mistaken for potatoes. They were a funny brown color and cut in to chunks like home fries.

Now for the taste. At $22 that had better be darn good pasta. Although the taste and texture of the actual noodles were good the sauce was tasteless - except for a mild taste of lamb whose flavor did not match anything else on the plate. The fish truly did look tasty. The first bite was immensely promising as Lisa chose the crispy, juice infused edge of the fish (mostly the fatty skin), but hope was quickly crushed. The trout was "chokeably" dry and overdone. Lisa was particularly excited about the lemon grass since it is one of her favorite ingredients but there wasn't a lemongrass taste in sight. The shallots tasted just how they looked, overcooked and slimy and the mushrooms were bland. What a shame.

We had been considering desert as the menu looked quite yummy but decided to cut our losses and go home. This is where we do have to give "props" to Cafe Matisse and apologize for giving them such a bad food review. The credit card we had specifically signed up for to use in the Bahamas (no foreign transaction fee) and that we have only used once, was inexplicably turned off. The owner and manager of the restaurant were very kind. They let us call a US 800# (a cost to them) and even offered to let us just come back and pay another day. We are debt phobic of course and when Capital One wouldn't turn our card back on we paid with another card, but it was very kind anyway.

We had a little chat with the owner about Northern Italy, he welcomed us to the island and we left. The owner said "see you soon" as we walked out the door but unfortunately I don't think he will. We are mostly open to giving second chances but with a $104 receipt burning in our pocket we are afraid this second chance just might be too expensive.