Review Time
Basically just bring back the old menu!Always look forward to lunch at Cote but went recently with a friend and it was terrible! The new style half chicken was awful, I can only describe the skin as flacid and greasy and the chicken was tasteless and dry.The new menu was confusing, there was no fish to speak of, all their lovely little French dishes were gone and were replaced with Pasta! There are so few French restaurants on the high street, so why introduce this when you can get Italian Pasta anywhere?Cote is normally our go to restaurant, the food is always just right and is good value. The service is also first class at Bury St Edmunds as it was that day but I feel sorry for the staff dealing with all their grumpy customers at the moment.We won’t be coming back until things change!
October 2025 Winchester.I never thought I'd leave a bad review for Côte as I've been using their restaurants for fourteen years, including their home-delivery service during lockdown. However it's all changed.They advertise Frites outside the front door of the restaurant in huge letter but they don't serve them. They no longer serve those lovely thin, crisp French fries they're so famous for. It's now false advertising. They're just serving boring chips, not French and not nice at all. We left most of them, a thing unknown when they served their real French fries.All the usual well-known signature dishes are gone. Why?? It's what Côte was known for and what people mainly ordered. What was wrong with Poulet Grillē, except that it was popular? Who's arrogance was it to change everything and think they know better? Obviously it's someone who's never experienced the successful and loved days of the original Côte.We've no idea why anyone would pay millions of pounds to buy a strong brand and then change it all, as obviously it's strong because people like it. They're shooting themselves in the proverbial foot. It makes no business sense.Staff are lovely but suffering under all the complaints and trying to make lame excuses for the changes. They seem to be disengaged and I'm not surprised. We waited ages for our main course. I eventually got up to ask where it was. To be honest it was so cold in there we'd got to the point where we wanted to go and get into the warmth of the car. When I pointed out we hadn't got our food they blamed the chef and said he didn't tell them he'd had to cook it again due to an error. It's a sign of decline when they blame each other. No, the serving staff were at fault, not the chef. They should have noticed we hadn't got our food and checked as to what was going on but no one even looked at us.Many branches are closing but I think the whole chain will go down if this continues and the menu doesn't return to what paying customers want. The change of ownership is slaughtering the brand and the years of work behind its original success. Many people were complaining about the menu, not just us. They won't be returning.We're not returning either, until 'Côte' becomes Côte again. It shouldn't be allowed to keep the name as it's misrepresentation.
Dear Cote Executive TeamAs the reviews below highlight you have got your menu change completely wrong, my experience reflected the latest reviews. Please take immediate action to bring back Cote Brasserie before you bankrupt it
We visited Côte in Brighton on 9/10/25 and we were very disappointed at the deterioration of the whole experience. We have been there many times in the past and it was always very good. This time, the service was very slow and the food was of a very low standard. Firstly the menu has changed a great deal and there were very little choices. Then I was served a starter I hadn’t ordered and luckily I noticed it didn’t look right before I ate it as it was apparently potted crab and I am allergic to seafood. They returned with the chicken liver parfait that I had ordered which was inedible. It was supposed to come with a fruit chutney (fig) but this was missing. I had to get up and walk over to the bar area to ask for this. When it arrived it was a few sloppy pieces of chunky figs in a tiny dish that were disgusting. The parfait was even worse! It tasted bitter and left an awful taste in my mouth. Maybe it was off! I was unable to eat it. My husband had ordered the potted crab starter (which interestingly didn’t look or smell exactly the same as the first thing they had given me) and he said it was watery and tasteless. It took another half an hour to serve the main courses. Worth noting here that the restaurant was nearly empty. (Clearly this speaks volumes as in the past it had always been packed). The main courses were both poor. I had the roast chicken and pommes frites. My chicken was a bit grey and again, tasteless and the so called “pommes frites” were nothing of the sort. They appeared to be and tasted just like skin on oven chips. They were soggy and again, didn’t taste very nice. My husband ordered the seafood linguine which was very odd looking and quite unappealing. The linguine was more like Asian noodles and was a bit crispy around the edges. There was no sauce, just some muscles and grey-looking prawns. He said it was pretty awful. We had asked for two sides, one of tomato and basil salad and one of spinach, holding the pine nuts. The tomato and basil salad had no basil in it. It was a few pieces of chopped up tomatoes in a small bowl. The cooked spinach was less than a tablespoonful, watery and still had some pine nuts in it. Both starters cost £5.50 each… that’s £11.00 for a chopped tomato and a spoonful of spinach! I had to ask for the basil! We also had to ask for a spoon for my husband to eat the so-called linguine. My husband said it was the worse thing he has eaten in a very long time. We picked at this food and decided to leave. We were not going to chance a desert or coffee. The serving staff were polite and didn’t charge us for my starter but the bill was still £80. Worth noting we didn’t even have any alcoholic drinks, just soft drinks. Not blaming the serving staff but it was not in any way the experience we’re used to at Côte. Unfortunately we will not be frequenting this establishment again. And it looks like many others are also doing the same. What a shame. How the mighty have fallen. Côte…you have some work to do to save yourselves.
Cote Winchester. Lunch . No booking. Superb experience. Warm and friendly staff throughout. Cote Burgers were absolutely delicious and well presented, hot and tasty. The Pistachio Crème brulé was to die for and my son enjoyed his Praline tart. Can't fault a single thing and we are looking forward to going back. Hopefully very soon.
What on earth is going on with Côte? An absolutely risible breakfast menu which has been put together by someone who seems uninterested in Cote’s future. Gone are all the Cote favourites, replaced by anodyne and dull choices. Confused staff and a changed layout to tables ( nothing on them!) doesn’t help with the feeling they must be going bust? A very disappointing experience through they haven’t forgotten how to fry eggs, bacon and sausage. Sad development for a previously classy brand . And terrible wifi!
Dirty and unhygienic with sick staff and unwell serving food whilst coughing, sneezing and wiping their noses in Côte Ealing. We all ended up sick days later. I reached out to Head Office, a ‘senior manager’ replied disagreeing with me sending the usual company spiel of ‘we take everything seriously’ email. Despite them not being there on the evening they believe it was all untrue as they ‘checked’. Their unnwillingness to take any responsibility is what prompted me to write this review as this was the second time we have experienced poor hygiene standards at Cote Ealing. Stay away it’s unhygienic and god only knows what the kitchen is like.
The meat in the burger was off. Not just a bit tough but REALLY off. The staff handled it and replaced it with a no ther item from the menu. Staff were friendly but runoff their feet. This is the 2nd time the food has been well below standard. Sorry but won’t be returning again.
I have been a huge advocate at Cote and have eaten there for years all over the UK as I travel for work and sometimes several times a week. I thought the Cote brand was one of the most agile restaurants at the start of Covid switching to mail order with great ingredients and a real treat for loyal customers in an exceptionally challenging environment.However, I had the misfortune to visit your Southbank restaurant last night. I was astounded at how you have managed to destroy an authentic French Brasserie experience into an American diner concept – as many anaemic frozen chips (not frites) as you can eat accompanied by a dreadful lake of peppercorn sauce. The Prix Fixe was unappetising and extremely limited. This was matched by the shortened wine list – you had an excellent cellar at a fair price point – the Cremant de Bourgogne was always a notable go to. Now it’s simply labelled Cremant French Fizz – a ruse to downgrade to a cheaper offering?Did you do any research and demographic profiling on your customer base? Do the new owners think that Burger King-esque crates of low-grade chips hit the target market?I have also seen the reviews online and your responses do not address what customers are saying: Thank you for taking the time to feedback. We’re sorry to hear this new change has not been to your taste, however we’re working hard towards a bright future for our brasseries and this menu is something we’re really proud of.If you do want a bright future and a menu you can be proud of – bring back the old one!I have booked a team dinner in a few weeks’ time at another of your restaurants which I will be cancelling.
New menu very restricted. ‘Set menu’ at bottom of very unimaginative printed sheet almost invisible in small print. Food just ok. My seafood linguine served in unsuitable flat dish and restaurant had no Parmesan. Had to ask for spoon for linguine and small plate for shells. Waiter seemed surprised at my request. We did speak to manager who took all our points very well. She seemed embarrassed by the deficiencies of the menu and how the restaurant was unequipped for serving the new pasta dishes. It’s a sign of the times I suppose but they were very short staffed given the number of customers- many of whom I fear will not be returning to what used to be a very good restaurant.
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