Cote Reviews 

Cote Bluewater lunchtime 19.03.26.

I have to write out of despair following a dreadful meal at the above restaurant.

Together with friends we visit this branch 4-6 times a year over the last 12+ years. We have noticed a small decline in service over the years but always return. Our visit today was very bad on many levels.

Our friends booked the table for 4 Pax. They booked on line and were rewarded 'fizz' with the booking. Even though they booked for 4 people only they had fizz and we had to pay. It has never been like that before but we let it go. I am complaining now as that was the least of our dissatisfaction.

The service was surly at best, but we all have bad days, so we let this go too.

However when we received the bill, we didn't complain, but on examination we noted we were charged for All the fizz. We politley asked for the bill to be revised showing the correct amount.

What happened next was simply insulting and embarrassing. I asked why the fizz was not FOC for the two that qualified. the woman that porported to be a manager stated we needed to have mentioned this at point of order, we did but it wasn't noted.

The manner in which she spoke to us was dictatorial, dismissive and rude. All 4 of us felt embarrassed and the lovely feeling you get after a nice meal was ruined.

We kept our complaint at low volume to avoid embarassment, but the lady manager raised the tone and volume then dismissed us in the most abrupt way.

I politely asked for her name - she told me to get lost. The male manager standing adjacent to her didn't offer any help.

We have dined at many Cotes over the years, this was our worst experience, on reflection our worst dining experience in memory.

Following our lunchtime visit to Cote Festival Hall on Wednesday 4th February we left a favourable review that afternoon. However, in the early hours of the following morning (15 hours later) my husband was violently sick – clearly food poisoning. We notified Cote principally to ensure that steps would be taken to protect others. A form was filled in. In the early hours of Saturday morning I too was sick (60 hours later). Another form filled in. We had both partaken of the Pistachio Crème Brulee - and it is known that this can cause such problems. We were told on 6th February it would take 10 days - plus a bit may be (!) - before we heard back. On 26th Feb we chased this up and were told ‘as a matter of urgency’ it would be followed up. On 11th March we chased again saying we would have to leave negative feedback and lo and behold the following Monday 16th March we had a long winded reply saying they were not in any way responsible. You may draw your own conclusions!
We would advise all to avoid anything with egg in it just to be on the safe side….

Firstly, the food for all at our table was very very good. The building in Edinburgh was well presented and has an appropriate ambiance for fine cooking although we were there at lunchtime. The servers were very welcoming and, importantly for me, knowledgeable about the food. Apologies, I think our server was called Anna and we were well cared for. The menu was properly sized with classic and more modern choices for most, I would think. Everyone at our table thoroughly enjoyed their own particular dish but I chose the classic bourguignon and it was superb. The menu states 5 hrs cooking time and the dish suggests this is accurate! A fantastic experience and the coffee was high quality, too. A place I shall return to. I seldom get opportunity to thank chefs/kitchen staff but at Cote Edinburgh they certainly deserve credit. A very organised and slick restaurant experience.

This is a shame mu husband book a table saturday for sunday then he canceled the same day but have been charged 40£ then when i contacted them, they told me that I need to give them 72 hours notice to cancel - is that a joke how am i supposed to cancel 72 hours in advance if i book the day before. YOU ARE ROBBER

We have been frequent visitors to Côte in Salisbury over the years and had fairly positive experiences, until our last two visits.
1) where we were overcharged and promised a credit that never arrived
2) overcharged and served tepid food

The first time we didn’t notice the overcharging until we got home as there were 8 of us dining and we didn’t scrutinise the bill closely.
We were charged for coffees and drinks from another table, when we realised their error we phoned the following day and the manageress said she would put a voucher in the post to us to cover the £35 that we had been overcharged, but it never arrived.
On our visit this week we booked a table for 4, there was a promotion offering a free ‘glass of fizz’.
We arrived before our friends and were served our 2 glasses of ‘free fizz’ and when I ordered the 2 for our friends the waitress said that the offer was only for 2 people and not 4………what a cheapskate promotion, and then to add insult to injury they charged us £16 for the 2 glasses that were supposed to be free.
The food was average at best, two of our main courses were tepid at best rather than hot (the Lamb Ragu with mafalde pasta) one of which was taken back to the kitchen to be zapped in the microwave whereupon the whipped chèvre cheese was annihilated into a small mound of foam.
Our lunch came to £165 for four people which I thought was poor value for sub standard food, a dessert was credited off the bill as a gesture for the cold ragu, but the damage had already been done AND they had the cheek to add on 12.5% service charge !!
The staff were pleasant and friendly enough but we won’t be going back and neither will our friends.
Côte used to be great, it has new owners, as of October 2025, Côte is owned by the Karali Group, a family-owned business led by Salim and Karim Janmohamed, they previously owned 74 Burger King outlets so appear to be a fast food outfit rather than proper restauranteurs.
Unless they start running this business better Côte will soon be gone.

Very disappointing. Had burger & bubbles deal in Cote Reading. Burger bun was dry & stale . Hardly any meat in the thing . Supposed to come with free flowing fries, asked for these & never received them.

Lewes Cote has become a Cote Petite. Limited menu....same stuff that was available on special offer all through February. So disappointing only to find out when you've arrived for a Saturday night out. One specials meal also available. Lovely staff as usual. Not likely to be back soon. Tried to contact Cote directly but website failed

Swapped to the Petite Cote. Essentially this means greedy people can have as many fries as they want, and dumbing down the rest of the menu. My go to restaurant for the last 20 years has become a French McDonald's, and unfortunately with the staff to go with it.

We went to Cote in Covent Garden last Friday . I love Cote and often eat there when family visit London. I often have said ever had a disappointing meal with ever one we have eaten, central London or local. I was disappointed in the menu change . It isn’t as good as before . No bouillabaisse or fish pie for example, . We were shown downstairs because they were busy but we had booked a table. The starter soufflé was not great . I think I’ll be looking for a new regular .

Great food and service

Had a great time at Cote Reigate this evening. Food and service very good - but made better by our great server Hannah G who deserves a special mention. I usually end up moaning about my restaurant experiences but tonight was all good!

Appalling service at the bluewater branch. Everything was a problem rude staff not welcoming at all. We went to Chelmsford branch the night before absolutely lovely staff they couldn’t do enough for you there! My granddaughter has severe adhd and she found the whole experience overwhelming as the staff at bluewater are rude.

My husband and I booked a lunchtime valentine meal at Eton which was an unpleasant experience, firstly after copious emails from them telling me how much they are looking forward to seeing us turned out they had booked us in under a different name, the restaurant was filthy food on the floor under the table, dirty glasses, overrated bland food and a waitress with no smile. Not going there again.

Wokingham cote. We have just eaten here (after many times previous) and whilst the food was good (apart from the rock hard cold cheese and rubber bread, and the fact that they struggled to find the port for the cheese and then said we could have one glass of it then said it’s not available) there was a discrepancy with the final bill between what we were quoted whilst ordering and what we were presented with. After discussing the issue the issue was not with the price ( which was eventually presented to us lower that what we said we were willing to pay) but with the total arrogance and attitude of the manager who was speaking to us, even to the extent that when we had paid and we said that sometimes people make mistakes and that we would have not argued with the situation as a local business, she replied with “never again” meaning do not want to see you here again!
There is more to the story but this is the overall arrogant attitude of the manager from tonight, even to the extent that when we were leaving I asked where were our coats put when they were taken from us and her response was I do not know I did not take them from you!

We booked and we had a reply saying confirm your booking. We arrived and asked is there a valentine’s menu… no.
We saw sharing cote du beouf and asked how much as it didn’t say on the menu. The waiter said £24. We said, per person to which he replied no! We asked again… no
So we chose to order no starter and the beef to share followed by cheese platter. We liked a port too. He came back that they’d ran out of port. The manager came over and said… we have one glass left! Ok we said then they came back and said there’s none left. We ordered two sides to which the waiter claimed you used to get that in the price we said, it’s great value so we don’t mind paying for the extras.
The cheese came and it was stone cold and hard, which I understand is normal these days but the crackers were limited to 4 and black wafer which are not particularly nice. They also gave 4 slices of rubbery bread. We returned it as it just looked unpleasant.
The bill came and we were charged £32.50 each for two courses plus £24 for re beef.
We challenged the bill claiming we were’nt informed about the two course set menu. The manager came over and claimed that it was a communication issue. We stated the waiter was young and attentive and apologetic. The food was lovely but we were disputing the bill as we were told it was £24 and not a two course menu. When the manager said I’d received a text claiming a two course set menu she looked at my messages and agreed I’d not been sent this information. At this point you would've thought being a manager she would have recognised their failings.
She became arrogant in her behaviour and said we won’t see you back here again.
The issue is, we were willing to pay for what we had and quoted for. We offered to pay £85 for the bill instead of £145 but she came back with £76, so we were confused. But again she was rude saying don’t come back,
The waiter was a good lad so we tipped him. We were not after a cheap meal in the slightest but we were upset with her stance and behaviour. Sareena ….at wokingham cote

We have tried to reach out via email but have been left even more disappointed.
The food and waiting for food was terribly disappointing

As a frequent visitor in the past , We will never eat here again!

The food was good but the drama over having to download the app, then being told if we wanted to split the bill by 4 we would have to pay at the checkout and then having to stand at the checkout while it was all done made it feel like we were in a self service restaurant and ruined our experience in the Eton, Windsor restaurant yesterday.

Appalling and unfriendly service, food sub standard, dry and unappetising, plus they overcharged on the bill!
(This was for their Chichester restaurant)
Avoid if you can.

This was a "treat" for me to celebrate a landmark birthday with my son.
I've been a longstanding customer of Cote and have had some fabulous meals in the past. However, this was not one of them for one simple reason - the Starters menu was off-limits to me. I have an allergy (onions/shallots) that can be "challenging" but can usually find at least 2 things that are safe - not at Cote.
Having perused the Allergy Tablet all seemed well at first - but then the breakdown of ingredients showed the presence of shallot or onion in everything, with the possible exception of charcuterie and a beetroot salad. Being a keen cook I was gobsmacked to find shallot in the potted lobster, ditto the pan-fried prawns. In the end I had a Fougasse with garlic butter, not because I wanted it but to keep my son company.

The steak I had to follow was excellent, but the lack of a starter turned what should have been a memorable celebration into a less than special occasion. A great shame.

Do not trust Côte promotion for the saver menu although this finishes end of January. We visited the Clifton Bristol branch after receiving a saver menu promotion £15 for two courses or £19 for three. We also received a promotion for a free glass of Prosecco. We ordered the two courses and showed the waiter the Preseco promo on my phone he did not tell us that we could only have one of the promotions. When I asked for the bill I was shocked not only to see the Preseco on the bill at full amount but also service charge. So the Meal for two we ended up paying £51. Never worth the money and I would suggest if you intend using the promotion always check the small print. To add insult to injury they then offered me a free desert for the future on the app. Really disappointed in this restaurant

After a miserable month of wet weather we went for lunch at Cote at Hays Galleria in London to cheer ourselves up. We booked on the app and had a fabulous 2 course meal for £15 each. The potted crab starter and sea bream main were delicious and better than so many of the top London restaurants I've eaten in. Staff and service were excellent. We've always found this branch of Cote good, along with Brighton and Wimbledon Village.