Mykonos - Matsuhisa Nobu
Frank's view 
Appallingly biased against couples
I don’t believe I have ever been so angry in a restaurant.
“We must have the table back by ten,” dictated the pretty blond in the white column dress, as I enquired about the possibility of an 8pm reservation.
It’s too early to eat at 8pm in Mykonos, particularly at Matsuhisa, which hugs the curves of the swimming pool at the Belvedere Hotel. I don’t really want to be eating dinner, as the pool attendants clear away the final sun bed carcasses clung to by the speedos and bikinis of bitter end sun stragglers. It’s just too early to eat.
The secret is to get on down to Caprice, the bar by the sea, for 6.30pm, knock back a few mojitos as the sun sets, then while away the next few hours around town, before wandering back to the Belvedere for some fine Nobu delicacies - well that's the theory.
Matsuhisa Mykonos is a problem if you wish to dine à deux. There is only really one table by the pool for two. All the others are for larger parties. The corner annex, hidden away behind the scenes, is packed with tables for two, but it’s a bit like being banished to eat in the naughty corner.
I had my eye on the poolside table for two, which a couple had occupied from 7pm and had agreed to vacate by 10pm. The blond dictator confirmed that the house rules applied and the table would be mine on the stroke of 10pm.
The clock struck 10pm and they continued to eat. At 10.30pm, they still remained, chopsticks poised. At 11pm, I asked why they had not been removed, as it had been made clear to me I would be, if I dared overrun my agreed slot.
“I cannot ask them to leave when they are still ordering,” she snarled.
And so it was either starvation or the naughty corner. As we were led to our exile by the kitchen, the clever couple by the pool were presumably celebrating their strategy of ordering one course every two hours, presumably until sunrise.
As for the food, Mykonos does not have any local fresh fish or seafood because the waters have been over fished, which is a tragedy. All fresh fish is flown in from Athens, and most on the island has been previously frozen.
Whilst a number of the dishes were Nobu standards, indeed classics, I did feel that the raw produce was not of the quality I’ve experienced in other Nobu restaurants.
However, the eating experience was overshadowed by the appalling attitude and behaviour of the staff.
If you do go, find a group of friends, book a table for 8pm, and take your time.
Matsuhisa Nobu
Belvedere Hotel
Mykonos
+30 22890 25122
http://www.matsuhisamykonos.com/
“We must have the table back by ten,” dictated the pretty blond in the white column dress, as I enquired about the possibility of an 8pm reservation.
It’s too early to eat at 8pm in Mykonos, particularly at Matsuhisa, which hugs the curves of the swimming pool at the Belvedere Hotel. I don’t really want to be eating dinner, as the pool attendants clear away the final sun bed carcasses clung to by the speedos and bikinis of bitter end sun stragglers. It’s just too early to eat.
The secret is to get on down to Caprice, the bar by the sea, for 6.30pm, knock back a few mojitos as the sun sets, then while away the next few hours around town, before wandering back to the Belvedere for some fine Nobu delicacies - well that's the theory.
Matsuhisa Mykonos is a problem if you wish to dine à deux. There is only really one table by the pool for two. All the others are for larger parties. The corner annex, hidden away behind the scenes, is packed with tables for two, but it’s a bit like being banished to eat in the naughty corner.
I had my eye on the poolside table for two, which a couple had occupied from 7pm and had agreed to vacate by 10pm. The blond dictator confirmed that the house rules applied and the table would be mine on the stroke of 10pm.
The clock struck 10pm and they continued to eat. At 10.30pm, they still remained, chopsticks poised. At 11pm, I asked why they had not been removed, as it had been made clear to me I would be, if I dared overrun my agreed slot.
“I cannot ask them to leave when they are still ordering,” she snarled.
And so it was either starvation or the naughty corner. As we were led to our exile by the kitchen, the clever couple by the pool were presumably celebrating their strategy of ordering one course every two hours, presumably until sunrise.
As for the food, Mykonos does not have any local fresh fish or seafood because the waters have been over fished, which is a tragedy. All fresh fish is flown in from Athens, and most on the island has been previously frozen.
Whilst a number of the dishes were Nobu standards, indeed classics, I did feel that the raw produce was not of the quality I’ve experienced in other Nobu restaurants.
However, the eating experience was overshadowed by the appalling attitude and behaviour of the staff.
If you do go, find a group of friends, book a table for 8pm, and take your time.
Matsuhisa Nobu
Belvedere Hotel
Mykonos
+30 22890 25122
http://www.matsuhisamykonos.com/
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
