cote-restaurants.co.uk

A very disappointed ex-regular customer

I used to be a regular customer at Côte and used to eat there several times a month. It was my firm favourite for family get-togethers, birthdays and anniversaries, and I even continued to support them with ordering 'Côte at Home' during the pandemic. Then, they went on to close both our nearest branches in Highgate and Hampstead (despite the Hampstead branch always being busy and buzzing - bad choice in my opinion). Given the new menu and their recent rebrand and push of their 'Icons' offer on social, I went into their London Bridge branch yesterday for old times' sake (as this was one of my favourite branches along with St Martin's Lane due to the river views). I really regret that decision. As I came in, no one was there to greet me. After waiting and looking around, someone came from behind the bar and when I asked to be seated upstairs (for the nice river views) told me upstairs was closed, when very obviously it wasn't, as people were sitting there dining. He then took me to a table at the far end of the downstairs bit, which looked rather dull, dark and depressing. Not the usual Côte atmosphere I was so fond of.Then a very friendly and nice waiter came along with the menu. The menu was entirely overhauled with some of my favourites having been scrapped (such as Poulet Grille). The waiter told me 'Children eat free'. That was all he said on the matter, no further explanation. When I asked about the Icons menu where one of their Icons is offered for 10 pounds, the guy from the bar came over to tell me this was two month ago and no longer the case. They made such a big deal out of it on Social Media just to keep it for less than two months? I checked and it was launched 1st September. Anyways, since I couldn't find my favourite dish on the menu, and have previously had issues with my steak either not being well-done or rather dry and overcooked, I decided to steer clear of those and ordered what I knew: a French Onion Soup and a side of Gratin Dauphinois. For my child (who allegedly was eating for free as it stood) I ordered a mash and some cucumber and carrot sticks as a starter, and the Pasta with tomato sauce, peas and carrots. The mash was great and my daughter ate it all up. She also had a nibble at the cucumber sticks, but the pasta dish looked so unappealing she didn't even touch it.My food was ok, but not to the usual high standard. The gratin arrived not looking quite set (the potatoes looked like they were swimming in the cream sauce, and it tasted far too garlicky). When I asked for Coke, they only had Pepsi, which really isn't the same. At the end, when I asked for the bill, the waiter after a conversation with his manager came over and asked me whether I have the code for 'children eating free'. I naturally was perplexed, as he hadn't told me about any code being needed when he had initially declared children would eat free. He said without the code he couldn't do anything for me. I then went on their website, scrambling to get a code, and when I presented it to him, he came back saying it didn't work as I didn't have a main but instead only a starter and side dish (this had not been mentioned and was also not stated anywhere on the menu). I asked why he had asked me for a code then, and he said he thought it would work. Quite telling that even their own staff seems to be confused about this. Since he'd given me misleading information and not advised me correctly and also didn't seem very apologetic about it, leading to me having to pay an unexpected 8 pounds for a children's menu (where as I said, the main pasta dish was so unappealing it went untouched), I asked to take of the OPTIONAL 12.5 % service charge. It was very obvious the waiter did not like this decision and didn't find it fair, but I disagree, as he should have given the full picture about how the offer works, and not tell me at the end.Overall it was a very unpleasant, disappointing and confusing experience, and I'm most definitely not going back. Côte Brasserie have lost a loyal customer, who ate there regularly for 10 years. The food was nothing to write home about and not worth the 30 pounds spent. They need to be clearer about their offers, ideally on the menu and make sure their staff understands them.

Date of experience: Oct 31, 2025