Review Time
What an absolute shame. This menu change is awful. Historically they would always amend/add or remove dishes. The menu has been slashed in half. The fries aren’t anywhere near as good and I don’t want bottomless fries! I have been a regular customer of Côte for many years, having always enjoyed the food, serving and atmosphere. It’s a shame the new owners aren’t taking on board customer feedback. All responses seem quite dismissive.
Cote used to be great and have been dozens of times but it’s now unrecognisable. The menu has changed with lots of good dishes gone and replaced with baguettes! French fries have been replaced with fatter chips, serving steak sauce on the plate and not on the side, waited ages to be seated and to get a drink. Whole experience does not reflect the cost. We spent £160 on two people and it was worse than average. Much better alternatives out there.
We have been frequent customers of Cote for many years, but we were very disappointed last week with the new menu. Very little choice, very downmarket, and who would want 'bottomless' chips! It's such a shame, I don't think we will be visiting again unless the menu improves.
We've never used them anywhere before, and our first experience was in Oxford. I booked because it was convenient for the theatre and the food prices looked reasonable for what we wanted. Service was fine for what we wanted.I was impressed by the quality of the food, given that it's a chain, but if the menu is consistent, like a M&C then there is no excuse.I was impressed by the quality of the steak. Their chef got it spot on! Thank you.Minor grumbel, I probably would have liked a little more sauce, hey that is just me.My partner enjoyed her meal and the wines were good for the price.
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.
Very disappointing. I have been going to Cote for years but yesterday was a different experience. The menu was limited and, it seemed, a little more expensive. I was told new owners had made changes. Regrettably, the changes are not for the better. I was also told food came in from France. I have no idea if this happened before, but if true, then why? What is wrong with British produce? Not happy with this principle. Not happy generally, either as service was slow, so overall, a poor experience. I am not keen to return unless things do change and we get something more like what it used to be for so long. Goodbye, Cote.
I can only echo what everyone else is saying! Very disappointing.I have eaten at Cote many, many times over the years so I was a bit surprised when I was handed the menu. Hugely slimmed down and more expensive (£5.50 for 4 tender broccoli stems). Don't get me started on seeing pasta on the menu! The wine menu is also slimmed down and nothing under £30. I hadn't realised that it had changed ownership (a quick 'Google' after seeing the menus) but was happy to give it a go assuming it would be same quality. I wish I hadn't. It was poor.I totally understand that the new owners would need to try something new - be it with price or quantity, given it clearly wasn't a viable business - but to pay more for less choice and poorer quality is dreadful and pure profiteering.I also don't really understand who their target audience is now. 'Bottomless' chips (they are not frites either)??Unfortunately, I will be doing what a lot of previous return customers will be doing and voting with my feet. Such a shame.
Cote was always a reliable, great option for my family. As a nice alternative to the numerous high street Italians, the menu always went down well, I didn’t realized it had changed and have just forked out for an excessively priced and poor meal. The menu is dreadful with no decent options. Seeing pasta there was jarring (there are enough pasta places) and bottomless chips?! Any parent taking their kids there for an over priced meal shouldn’t be happy with overloading them with salt and fat. Unbelievably disappointing and won’t be back. Sad after years of being a favourite.
As we walked in, the table was setup as a cafe, all piled up in the middle of the table. Not the feel of a descent every day restaurant it once was. Given that the chain was taken over by an american company in Oct 25, I am not surprised at all! The food menu reminded me of, well, some basic american diner. This is not what Cote should be, and not a place I will visit again. The quality and quantity is no longer there.The wine menu was also reduced massively!Bye Bye Cote!
I have eaten at Cote many times over the years and as recently as June I've enjoyed a meal here. I was unaware of the ownership/menu changes so while the service was still good, last night's experience in Shrewsbury came as an unwelcome surprise.The menu has been reduced to a single A4 card, and several of the staple options removed or replaced by pasta dishes. Despite a change in presentation style the crab maison starter was still serviceable, but we had to send the confit pork belly back as it was not crispy at all. When it was returned, it soon became apparent there was little to no meat and we were left chasing blubber around the plate.It's a shame as Cote was one of the last reliable chain restaurants in town, but appears to be going the same way as the rest.
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