Waves on Main

I came here a couple of weekends ago on a whim. It was my first time, as I’ve never even been to Matisse when that was here. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised. The food and service were both very good. I ordered the «Terrace Major» steak, which was cooked exactly as ordered. My boyfriend had the Cowboy steak, which was a special, and was also perfectly prepared. (I did’t take a picture, oh well!) I also recommend the sautéed mussels and clams, which we had as an appetizer.
Overall, it’s a nice atmosphere and the chef seems to know what he is doing. Also, it’s BYOB, which saves you some $. Definitely worth trying if you are looking for a nice dinner out in Belmar.

I went to eat here cause I saw it was new so I thought I would check it out. It was dead for a Friday nite but it is the winter in belmar so I expected that. For an appetizer we had meatball sliders HOME RUN! I highly recommend them. The service thru out the whole nite was as good as you can ask for the waiter knew how to act and what he was talking about we had a choice of soup or salad with out dinner so we both had soup and again HOME RUN! ! However when it came time for the main course I had a steak to try and play it safe but my girlfriend had chicken that was as dry as could be that was supposed to be stuffed with cheese and sun dried tomatoes however they were not there it was just rolled up dry blaN chicken with a side of plain mashed potatoes with get this wait for it VODKA SAUCE and the cold a sauce was like out of the can vodka sauce. I highly not recommend to order the chicken as for t he steak it was salter but compared to the chicken it tasted like peter lugars steak. The best part was the waiter he is really cool and was great through the whole nite

great.great.great. great food, great atmosphere, great people. crab cakes were awesome. banana foster boat for dessert awesome. BYOB great and awesome. restaurantweek menu had tons of choices. Since its new, Best of luck on the new restaurant and we will be back.

After reading all the reviews I almost changed my mind about eating here last nite, so glad I didn’t! I don’t know if they stepped up their game for Restaurant Week, but whatever they did was great. It was my friend and mine’s first time here, I hope to be back soon. The hostess, server, & bus girl were all super nice and pleasant. Our server chatted with us for a while– she was very friendly and personable. The owner or manager stopped at our table to ask how things were, nice touch. The food was great– most Restaurant Week menus have 3 apps, 3 mains, 3 desserts to choose from– not this place. Huge and varied menu. Another notorious RW trend is to cut portion size. I am pretty sure that wasn’t the case here. My coconut shrimp app had 6 big shrimp (wasn’t a big fan of the habanero mango purée it came with, it had a taste to it like it was left in the fridge uncovered for a few days & it wasn’t spicy at all– but that’s my only complaint about the food). For my main I had a 14 oz bone-​in porch chop, I asked for it cooked medium and it came out perfect and juicy. Had a nice bite to it from the cherry peppers. It also had potatoes, mushrooms, onions and was served over broccoli rabe. My friend let me taste her crab cakes, and they were great. Huge chunks of crab, not too much breading.
Speaking of huge… my dessert. OMG. It was an 18″ bananas foster boat ($ 5.00 upcharge). Worth every penny! It was ridiculously big and it was sooo good. Warm carmelized bananas, vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream– so decadent. I’m not a big dessert person but that might have converted me.
Love that this place is a BYOB. Another nice thing– they were only serving the RW menu, but our server let us order the truffle fries I had seen on the regular menu that I looked at online. They were SO GOOD.
I never write reviews but since a lot of them for this place are so bad, and my experience was so good, I wanted to put it out there that maybe things have changed? Or maybe I just got really lucky? I hope it’s the former not the latter.

my last review was for matisse at the same location but different ownership. i cannot rate this biz yet since i have not eaten at waves. do not know how to delete reviews.

Went here for brunch and was put off by a few things. As soon as we walked in, we were warned by two separate employees that they were understaffed. We were left standing there confused so when one of them walked back towards us, I asked what that meant for us. He got a quick attitude about it, but we stayed because we had places to be. Our waitress, Angel, was excellent. Although she was very busy, she was attentive, patient and efficient. We thought they didn’t even need to warn us about being understaffed because we wouldn’t have noticed.
The food was okay. My friends ordered omelettes that were topped with brown avocado slices. I ordered a steak skillet which did not come prepared as I had expected. For whatever reason, I thought it would be some type of breakfast scramble but it was just a regular steak and eggs dish in a hot skillet. The skillet caused my steak and eggs to overcook, but they were still tasty. The dish came with creamed spinach with came in a small condiment ramekin. I had to ask for another one. Overall, the experience and food could have been better. But we left pretty satisfied and I’m guessing this place is usually a hit or miss. Check it out if something sounds great on the menu.

Food here was really good! We will definitely go back. I recommend they add vegan options (other than salad) to their menu.

First time here– we went for breakfast. Adorable place not too crowded; however, service was pretty terrible. Maybe a server didn’t show? We had to get the waiter to take our drink and food order– as if they forgot about us. Servers were definitely young and overwhelmed w larger tables. Food did not come out fast enough– I did order the #1 omelette w avocado crab n jack cheese it was delicious. My husband had the burger– definitely frozen burger. Average frittata and #5 omelette. No hostess but when customers wanted tables they were made aware that it would be a wait for food to arrive? Weird. I’m sure this place would be great w better service.

Went here for breakfast with the family and I have to say it was some of the best breakfast I’ve ever had. The skillet meals are awesome, and the French toast is amazing to no end. The wait staff was forever helpful, checking up on us to make sure we had enough coffee and fruit, etc. Overall, I will surely come back again, and will be recommending Matisse to friends.

We decided to walk to dinner last night. Matisse was empty yet the hostess informed us they were not seating walk in customers and turned us away. We live here and eat out often, we will never be back.

We went back for a dinner after a phenomenal first time, I went back with a family of 6. My steak was a salt lake and two other steaks were cooked incorrectly and they need more than one waitress to serve half the restaurant. Overall, this time was bad enough to not go back.

I had dinner there Friday June 19, 2015. Awful awful awful from service to food, the only thing that was decent was desert. I was wondering why every other resturants was busy and very few people at Matisse, now I know why. I’m a local and dine out several times a week. Food, soup all were at best room tempeture. Servers seemed to have no training at all. Even one star is too much. Sorry Matisse

We decided to try this place after becoming tired with the lousy service and food from other local brunch spots. Matisse did not disappoint! The service from the start was excellent. We all got egg white skillet (highly recommend) and a side of fruit. The fruit can out on a huge plate. We were shocked at the generous portion — half of a pineapple, blackberries, blueberries, two slices of watermelon, cantaloupe, and strawberries.
The egg white skillet was amazing! So flavorful. I would definitely recommend giving this place a shot. This just might be our new brunch spot in Belmar.

We went on a Saturday evening only one waiter working. There was a large party. Waited 20 mins for water that didn’t arrive and decided to leave. Review is for service.

Ok, so let me preface with the fact that my wife and I have been going to Matisse for years — back when it was on the boardwalk pre-​Sandy. We’ve mostly gone for their Sunday brunch buffet. We’ve had to have been there well over a dozen times in the old location. It became our spot. We loved Matisse so much so that I even proposed on the boardwalk outside the restaurant after brunch back in Dec ’11. So writing this review hurts a lil bit…
We’ve been a few times to the new Main St location. Everytime we’ve been there to date (old and new), the food and service were excellent, hence we kept returning. Until now. I took my wife to Matisse yesterday for their Mother’s Day brunch (my wife’s 1^st mother’s day) and it will undoubtedly be the last time we eat there. Yah, it was that egregiously bad that after years of nothing but positive experiences, I Never. Want. To. Go. Back. Ever.
First off the wait. We had reservations which they called to confirm a few days prior. But we had to wait in a line about 20 people out the door when arriving. Their outdoor area is not really set up to accomodate people standing on the street corner of 10^th and Main. So we got seated 15 – 20 min late, not the biggest deal, ok. Once our waiter finally arrived to take drink orders, about 10 minutes later, he let us know that since they had 3 seatings that day, we would be kicked out after an hour and a half. Lovely, especially since they first delayed our seating and service by about half an hour.
What I’d say was my biggest issue yesterday was that when we then went up to get our food, we had to wait in line another 20 minutes. Just to get plates. The line wrapped around the inside of the restaurant. To get from the plates to the other end of the buffet took another 10 – 15 minutes. Are you kidding me? They had one line for plates at one end, then followed by a whole bunch of shit people didn’t want/weren’t touching, just to wait to get to the omelet station at the other end.
The food was disgusting. What is usually their strong point — their small made-​to-​order plates, they didn’t have. They did have 2 of their usual 6, but instead of being made to order, they were just slopped into large buffet trays, which were luke warm at best. AND Matisse had the gall to charge MORE than their usual Sunday brunch buffet, even though they were providing a LOT LESS in terms of food.
Regarding the food itself, their french toast was still «ok», but their eggs benedict was cold and disgusting. The bacon, limp n fatty. The sausages hardly cooked. My wife had an oyster and just like another reviewer, she said it tasted «off» so she spit it out. There were several trays of food that were never replenished when depleted so a few items we actually wanted we didn’t even get to have. Finally got to the omelet station and the chef messed up fried eggs for a lady before me (he apologized/​complained that he’s working with cold refridgerated eggs and that’s difficult to cook with. Vs what, warm salmonella-​ridden eggs?). Then he gave me a runny omelet. Mmmm. Come on man, that’s your one job.
The desserts were good. But I didn’t even care as of that point.
Everyone was complaining while standing in line. So many were visibly pissed the whole time. We overheard some people refusing to pay for their meals altogether. Even if they decided, «Hey we messed up big time, discounted meals for everyone» (of course would never happen), I still wouldn’t return. We should’ve just bounced as soon as we were seated and saw the never-​ending, non-​moving line for the buffet, but it was Mother’s Day, so whataya gonna do?
If you ever decide to go to Matisse (we of course will never again) maybe you’ll have better luck with their regular Sunday brunch as we’ve had in the past, but I would not recommend going for special occasions. They’ll straight up ruin it.

Disappointing. Ate here on a Wednesday night with a friend. Only one other party in the place. The salads were excellent. Main dishes were not good. I had the short ribs which was extremely dry with no sauce to help make them better. My friend had the rib eye ordered medium rare it too was very dry. I had such better expectations for this place.

I was here a few nights ago with a large party. There were about 20 of us. It was a planned party. The food was terrible. every single person disliked their main course. The waitress seemed bothered to be there. It’s really a shame because it’s a beautiful place. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

Delicious. Dined here based on a recommendation from a friend. We’ll definitely be back!

Have not tried this place after it changed hands and opened under new management.
This was MATISSE .
Will let you know as soon as I eat here.
If you do let us know.

had the opportunity to enjoy this fantastic place with a large group of people, the fish and Apps were fantastic, the italian verggies and bread just like I remember as a kid up north when my father got it from Brooklyn, —
I look forward to checking the place out again for dinner with the family soon!
As a second generational Italian, and spoiled by GrandMa, Moms and my Mother in law cooking, Matisse comes in very close behind! I strongly reccomend the place for its charm warmth friendly service and atmosphere!

I went for Sunday brunch. I’ve always heard such amazing things about their brunch. It was disappointing and really not worth the price. 2 kids and 2 adults and it was $ 81. That’s standard for Sunday brunch in this area, but they didn’t have much to offer. I didn’t even finish my omelet because it was runny, how do you mess up an omelet? I really wish we had went someplace else.

Overall, I had a terrible dining experience here. I ate here on a Thursday night in the summer. The restaurant wasn’t busy at all, but the service was horrible. The waitress took 15 minutes to take our order, and she didn’t even ask if we wanted to hear the specials. However, we later heard her reading them to the table next to us.
I ordered the lobster buttered sea scallops and others in my party ordered the ahi tuna and zuppa di pesce.
The only reason this restaurant gets two stars instead of one is because the scallops were plated beautifully. The scallops were cooked well, not overdone, but the dish was a bit underwhelming. The pea coulis was overpowering. The truffle potato flan was a little too cheesy, and the truffle wasn’t really noticeable in the flan.
The ahi tuna was ordered rare and came out a little more overcooked than that. No major complaints about the dish per se, but it wasn’t delicious, average at best.
The zuppa di pesce was served with mirepoix in it. The penne was overdone, far from al dente, and the seafood didn’t taste that fresh.
Throughout the meal it was also very difficult to get someone to refill our water as well. Our waitress, or anyone for that matter, never asked us how our meal came out.

I hadn’t eaten all day (flew in from Los Angeles to Newark). Wanted to get some upscale dining. Service was good, I met the chef, the $$$ communicated quality, so I thought. The name sounded fancy and there was a restaurant in NYC of the same name. But… the food just wasn’t good (on an empty stomach mind you).
The mussels the waiter recommended were probably the best thing I ate (after the fresh bread) — and that was lacking something. I’ve had mussels in Brussels that were just steamed in broth that tasted better. The sauce tasted like *something* but «good» is not how I would describe it. It was … hot?
The French onion was also hot. Again, that’s the best positive adjective for it. It was also missing something, too. Onions, soup, and cheese. If I were the chef, I’d probably add more alcohol. It just tasted like plain beef broth to me.
The crispy snapper was wayyyy over salted. Too much soy sauce (or whatever made it extremely salty). I didn’t touch the rice because it was drenched and literally rolling around in a sesame oil soy sauce concoction (see attached). I still taste the sesame oil from that sauce and I had dinner half an hour ago. Plainly said, it was gross. The fish also smelled like it was fried in old smelly oil. Ugh.
I am very underwhelmed. Very sad to have wasted a meal and calories on this restaurant. Should have trusted the reviews.

Well, Matisse, I wanted to love you as I had in the past but you’re not there yet. I waited a little while to post this because I wanted to compare the food to the newer Tulipano’s.
Tulipano’s won. I ordered the exact same entrée: «sushi grade tuna seared, rare». Matisse, the fish that you served me was very small, too thin to be really rare and regrettably very fishy. At Tulipano’s I had 2 beautifully presented triangles of deep red seared truly sushi grade tuna.
I will say that at Matisse, others who ordered lamb, were satisfied.
Keep trying, though. I do want to come back!

This restaurant tries very hard to be fancy, So the dishes are all expensive. All of the items on the menu are over described and greatly talked up. All 5 dished we had left much to be desired. I do not recommend