Review Time
The Cote vibe has well and truly gone, replaced with a pitifully small menu, all the favourites have disappeared ,and please never use the word slathered on a menu. Maybe the owners are looking for a different clientele, but you can’t fob off regulars with this inferior offering. Tragic, as we were very regular visitors to the Barbican Cote, not any more . Staff still as friendly as ever.
I have been a regular customer at Cote for many years and have, until now, always enjoyed going. But I can only endorse what other reviewers have said about the new menu. I want to stress that in no way is this an adverse comment about the staff. I often go with friends to Cote Royal Festival Hall and have always found the staff there to be friendly, attentive and helpful. But the new menu is a disaster. I used to like the Sea Bass and Sea Bream dishes and the fish pie. Now only Salmon steak is on the menu. It used to come with lovely French fries. Now I was served up horrible soggy chips, more like something from a second-rate chippie than the quality I have come to expect from the Cote Brasserie. The stripped down menu is also more expensive than before. I don't object to paying for the good quality food that Cote used to produce but it seems to me that customers are being asked to pay more for an inferior product. Please bring back the Cote like it used to be. I noticed last night that the restaurant was much quieter than it used to be, it seemed to be a sad, depessed place, a shadow of its former self. Such a pity.
Poor menu choices, chaotic staff at Covent Garden Branch. The new menu is a downgrade. I’ve no problem with increasing prices when you need to or rationalising menu. But the choices are now not that appealing. The fries are standard chips, ? Oven baked. Our food hadn’t been cooked that week and the service was poor. It was light years away from our experience a few months ago. I’m just annoyed that I paid the full service charge.This feedback has already been given to CÔTE in a follow up email I received. We are part of a party booked for a meal later this month in another branch but will be cancelling
Hey Cote, we got excited today to try your new menu. At first it looked amazing, however on further inspection the 'french frites' have gone -as have the french beans in butter. I was left with quite large skin on chips and a rather disappointing tiny side portion of spinach (£6!) Luckily your minute steak stood the transformation but no fish pie which was my absolute favourite, also did you consult your regulars about the burger? It seems every single london restaurant has a burger choice these days.
Oh, where do I start? Côte used to be one of my go-to recommendations, a dependable French-inspired chain that delivered quality and value every single time. They once served one of the best steak tartares around, fabulous calamari, a great crab starter, and their steak frites was tender, tasty, and amazing value at under £13.We hadn’t been for a while and, hearing about branches closing, decided to go back “one last time”, just in case Brighton was next. I wish we hadn’t. Honestly, I’d have helped them close the doors myself after that meal. It brought a tear to my eye. Côte is now a shadow of its former self, and the new owners should hang their heads in shame.The service was poor, mains brought before starters (how does that even happen?), and the menu has been stripped of many of the classics that made Côte what it was. The “frites” are now just thick chips, the steak was overcooked, tough and gristly, and the once-great sourdough baguette has been replaced with a sad, part-baked version which was terrible. Even the butter, once full of those delicious French salt crystals, has lost any hint of salt.To be fair, the roast Chicken was very good, and the house Cahors Malbec was excellent. But the wine list is now slimmed down with very little choice, and they were even out of Meteor IPA.Based on this visit, the writing is on the wall. These new owners, who also run Burger King and Taco Bell franchises, clearly have no understanding of what made Côte special. RIP Côte. I loved you in your prime, but it’s time to die with dignity.
I’ve been a loyal Côte customer for many years. I’ve visited many branches across the country, often weekly, probably around 15–25 times a year. I’ve always loved their food, thought it was excellent value for money, and recommended it to friends and family. I used to buy from their Côte at Home range and would often joke that Côte was like family to me because it had been such a big part of my life for so long.That’s why I’m so disappointed by what’s happened recently. The new menu feels like a real step backwards — it’s lost the variety and flair that made Côte special. There’s a heavy focus on steak and chips, and even pasta dishes, which just don’t feel true to the French brasserie experience that used to set them apart. The food used to feel elegant and distinctive; now it feels generic and predictable.I completely understand that times are tough for restaurants and that Côte is not in the best position financially. It’s obvious that they’ve tried to increase margins by focusing on cheaper, lower-cost dishes, while increasing their prices. But if the big new selling point is “unlimited chips,” that feels like scraping the barrel for a brand that once stood for quality and refinement.What has upset me even more than the food is Côte’s attitude towards their customers. When I and others shared polite feedback about the new menu on their Facebook page, the responses we received were often defensive and slightly patronising. Instead of acknowledging long-time customers’ disappointment, Côte replied in a way that felt dismissive — more concerned with defending their choices than listening.What made it worse was seeing Côte appear to cheer on someone who personally attacked another customer in the comments. It’s one thing to have differing opinions online, but a brand should never take sides or encourage that kind of behaviour. It came across as unprofessional and disrespectful, especially from a business that used to pride itself on warmth and hospitality.After so many years of loyalty, I feel really let down. I used to think of Côte as a restaurant that cared deeply about its customers, but their tone and attitude in this situation have changed my perception completely. Both the menu and the way they treat loyal guests now feel patronising, defensive, and out of touch with what made Côte so loved in the first place.I’m genuinely sad about all this, because my local Côte has such lovely staff — they’ve always been welcoming, attentive, and kind. I’ll really miss them, but I no longer feel comfortable supporting a company that treats its loyal guests this way.
The new Cote menu is very disappointing. Far less choice, with both food and drink, and more expensive. Although "Steve" reckons the rebrand is going back to French basics and is better value for money, I think most people would agree that swapping classics like bouillabaisse for pasta, and crepes for cannoli (regardless how you choose to spell it) is actually going Italian! After today's six weekly visit, I doubt we'll be back...
Lovely staff at the Barbican Cote, but the food was dreadful. Frozen chips, a tough, gnarly steak with no garlic butter (just an odd orange pat) and a blob of gooey mushroom sauce. Easily the worst meal I’ve ever had and hard to believe they could get their signature dish so wrong. My Husband had the chicken and that was pretty awful as well.
The new Cote rebranding and new menu is so much more expensive than before with less choice. As a family of 4 we spent significantly more than we did a couple of months ago for the same choices. I received an email about the rebranding from 'Steve' the new CEO who suggests that the new brasserie style is better quality but this isn't true from our experience, they've just upped the prices,for example, £39 for a fillet steak and the 'frites' were oven chips unlike the more French style before. Such a shame that what I assume is private equity trying to cut costs and increase profits from another formally decent chain of restaurants. Won't be going back sadly.
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