Cote Avis 

I’m so sad to write this as Cote used to be one of my favourite
We always meet here for our Christmas catch up and this time it was just horrendous.
On arriving we had to wait for ages to order a drink and it seemed like the staff were over run.
All 8 of us ordered the set Christmas menu and when the starters arrived 3 of us were expecting King Prawns but they were small shrimp, we asked the waitress and she just dismissed it.
The main course arrived and the turkey was cold and looked like it was an Iceland ready meal, carrots were raw and no vegetables at all the potatoes were boiled new potatoes which wasn’t what was on the menu.
I asked to see the manager and asked why it was different from the menu, she said very dismissive that they had run out and that was all they had
It was just awful and inedible 2 were sent mine back and instead as everyone else had nearly finished I asked for a cheese plate.
It arrived with cheese portions so small it was like a child’s plate and only 2 crackers!!!
The service was dismal and the food just so below the normal standard the manager was scruffy and didn’t seem to know how to deal with the issues.
I will never return as it was one of the worst experiences at a restaurant ever.

As a regular customer at cote bluewater for many many years eating there at least once a week for either brunch, lunch or dinner we are so disappointed at the change of menu. Today my daughter and I had minute steak and fries and it was awful. When we first started eating there on the menu was cod goujons, poulet grille, fish cakes, and many, many more beautiful dishes. As most of the reviews on here are saying the same thing please listen to the customer and bring back these dishes and revert back to the way it was. As for the fabulous staff that work there you really are now underselling the restaurant that used to be so great. Very unimpressed diner who is going to find somewhere else to eat!!!!

Booked Edinburgh Cote for Saturday lunch 29th November , along with four friends . Have been to the restaurant many times and was looking forward to their usual standard.

The portion size to say the least was awful . Two of the party ordered the beef Bourguignon £24.50 it was supposed to be Beef cheek, mushrooms, bacon, carrots, creamed potatoes.’ It was one piece of beef and little else
The salmon also ordered by two of our party was minuscule at best
The remaining party ordered a chicken to share it was tiny served with chips , we were left to carve ourselves

The deserts were cheese and biscuits and crème brûlée. Cheese was a four pieces and a few crackers, crème brûlée was watery to say the least .

The bill for this was £450

Despite being promised contact from the restaurant to discuss this , no one has taken the time to address my complaint

What a disaster, one of my favourite places to eat is now a rip off price wise, especially for drinks. The staff in my local branch are great but are obviously dismayed at recent changes and over complicated marketing schemes. The menu is more limited and they add a charity donation to the bill which is not clearly highlighted. If they don’t make a rapid change they’ll go the way of Cafe Rouge. So sad.

My husband and I went to Côte last Saturday 29/11/25) to meet friends for lunch. They had booked the table in advance so we were shown directly to a pleasant enough spot at the top of
the building.

The waiters were friendly and attentive enough although service was a little slow.

I had the Bourguignon £24.50 described as ‘Beef cheek, mushrooms, bacon, carrots, creamed potatoes.’ It was an extremely small child sized portion, luke warm and bland. My husband essentially had chicken and chips which was shared between two, a small cooked chicken was laid in front of them which they had to carve themselves along with a small dish of chips, they orders more.

We followed with the cheeseboard, essentially because we were still hungry! It consisted of four very thin pieces of cheese of our choice and four charcoal crackers approx 2” square for £12, Oh, and a tiny cube of quince! The tiniest cheeseboard I have ever been presented with.

We drank a selection of wines.

The meet-up with friends was lovely, throughly enjoyed by all. The poor food and the consequently high bill at the end (approximately £450) left a very bad taste.

I would not recommend this restaurant at all. In my opinion the cost and upkeep of this beautiful building is transferred onto the customer at too high a cost resulting in a poor quality meal!

We bought a large Christmas sandwich at the train station on our way home because we were starving!

Abysmalcustomer service

Arrived at17:45 for 18:00 booking

Waiter coundnt speak proper English
and misrecorded order three times. First course didnt arrive till 19:00

Served three tables that arrived after us and still couldn't explain where our first course was
]Food was excellent but late and no proper apology from Manager - took three attempts till they agreed to withdraw service charge

We had booke d for Christmas week but will cancel and never eat there again

Abysmal

We went for my daughter’s 17th birthday meal. We chose chicken and steak and they were both supposed to come with bottomless chips, so we didn’t mind the small portions of chips between 4 people to start with. We have asked for some extra chips, and there was a massive delay, the second portion arrived after we paid the bill! The staff were trying to do their best, but it wasn’t good enough for the price they charged! Also there was no acknowledgement of my daughter’s birthday at all, even though I put it in the original booking. Overall, it’s an expensive and disappointing experience! Shame, we won’t be going back.

Oh dear what a shame. Cote really has been ruined. It used to be great, but the menu changes and other issues mean the cote experience is now awful. Tons of salt added to the food unnecessarily, rank chips, small portions and very very slow service. We have been to cote in different places many times over the years but we won’t bother again. It’s a waste of (a lot of) money for very basic food.

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.

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.

Lunch today in Cote Salisbury - atmosphere, decor and service were all excellent - but let down by the Tarte Tatin which was very bland and one of the worst I have ever had. The menu seems to have shrunk too. Tjat said a big shout out for our waitress Ana who looked after us superbly.

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.

9 of us went for an evening meal in Bristol and the staff were putting up Xmas decorations around us whilst we ate and they had a staff party at the same time in a different part of the restaurant which meant they were also wandering about...very unprofessional.
Thanks for your reply....but no one was being trained....just people putting up decorations!!!!!

Menu change is terrible. Struggled to find one thing I wanted to order. Have eaten here regularly once a month for several years and in between but will now be finding somewhere new. The fixed menu had a dish unavailable which wasn't replaced by anything so no vegetarian choice at all. Tables are not set, looks more like a cafe. Unwelcome feel. Felt sorry for the staff who continued to be great despite unhappy customers all round. Will absolutely not be returning. Very disappointed.

Our first and last visit to Cote.
The staff weren’t attentive. No one asked if our meal was satisfactory. If they had, I would have told them that neither the steak nor the pork belly was seasoned, so both were bland. The waiter also took my plate away while I was still chewing my last mouthful… no member of staff thanked us for our custom on the way out .
Simply not worth the money.
Cote have since reached out and have assured me that they have taken up my concerns with their restaurant in Richmond.

Cotê has been doing poorly lately. We did love our local one, since there’s a great and welcoming staff, we only kept coming back for those guys. However food quality, menu range and pricing are so bad now that unfortunately we’ll stop coming back. Maybe for occasional coffee which is still nice. I do feel sad for the staff since they did all they could on their side to keep Cotê Reading a pleasant place.

So, recent reviews all share the underlying criticism observed by others...you've change your menus/pricing and yet your responses just dismiss this feedback. Simply arrogant - ignore your customers at your peril. Four of us ate at your Salisbury restaurant and we observed exactly the same for the lunchtime menu as many others have stated already with your other menus. A reduced choice with smaller portions and dramatically higher prices. Listen to your customers, revert and stop the arrogant attitude. By the way, our family lunch was only saved by your pleasant staff.

Great location. And that is all. Staff unprepared and unprofessional, some of them behaved as if they were on work experience in a high school canteen. Very noisy and loud, more interested in joking with each other than providing a service. Wrong plates and cutlery on the table, waiters totally unaware, ended up having so many side plates, random bowls, glasses, it was bizarre. One waiter continuously brushing his arm pit on our heads to serve or retrieve items from the table in order to avoid going round the table, as he should have. We thought food was of a very mediocre quality when we received our starters, we were not prepared for the disappointment and disgust that followed with the mains. The steak was chewy due to too much gristle.The small bunch of wilted and clearly unwashed salad leaves should have gone straight into a composting bin. The seafood linguine looked as if they had come straight out of a can, all chopped up and overcooked, three long strands of hair included. It was the most revolting and stomach churning dining experience of my life. When we told our waiter and showed him the hair on the plate, he took the plate away and murmured an embarrassed ‘sorry’. No other member of staff or manager came to apologise. The waiter returned with a menu and said I could order something else. So badly handled, we were feeling sick, so we paid and left. Awful experience. Will never set foot in a Côté again.

We have been to Cote many times before & always enjoy the whole experience.
This time was just as good - apart from my Half Roast Chicken. It was no better than I could have got anywhere & certainly not a suitable replacement for the previous Chicken Breton .