Côte is inspired by the brasseries of Paris, it espouses relaxed all-day dining and serving authentic French classics made from great quality, fresh ingredients. I went along with my friend and colleague Laura to find out more.
Now, Laura is a bad influence, she may tell you that I am the bad influence on her but it must just be the two of us together, we always end up causing mischief. Laura lives round the corner from me so I popped round to hers for an apéritif. Half a bottle of Champagne later we had to start walking into town. Laura being Laura had a bright idea and instead of waiting a perfectly good bottle (or half a bottle) of Champagne she popped the remainder in a Sippy cup so we could walk through the Valley Gardens with it! Yes, even I like to drink in a park, albeit Champagne.
Impeccable service
Côte utterly pride themselves on perfect service and a warm welcome. We weren’t disappointed, welcomed by the maître d’ we were shown to our table for two, just inside the restaurant. It was a lovely evening and it felt like we’d been transported to the streets of Paris. Our waiter for the evening was the lovely, Marco who was the perfect waiter, knowledgeable, attentive and gorgeous! He kept the bubbles flowing all night long.
Food at Côte
For starters Laura opted for the crab mayonnaise (£7.25) with avocado, cucumber, capers, and tarragon with toasted sourdough bread. Laura let me try some and total food envy came over me; it’s divine crunch and fresh flavours married well with the creamy mayonnaise and the tangy sourdough – it certainly was on my list for my next visit to Côte. I had a classic bread crumbed squid sautéed (£6.50) in garlic, lemon and parsley with tartare sauce. It beats most of the calamari I’ve every eaten, it was super tender and had great flavours but the breadcrumbs were just a tad oily.
Côte’s food is all freshly made to order from high quality raw ingredients. For main Laura had the rib-eye (£15.95) steak and I had the sirloin. (£17.50). Both steaks were super tasty, with that lovely chard outer and beautifully pink in the middle. By this point I think we’d had nearly a bottle of Champagne each. We got to know our neighbours and Marco very well. It was such a jolly trip out I know it wouldn’t be long till my next visit (which was a week later with my girly friends).
We also felt rather full but Marco persuaded us to try the chocolate and praline crêpe (£5.95) with caramelised bananas and crème Chantilly. Personally delivered by Marco they’d popped hearts on the plate – it’s so cute! The caramelised bananas were gorgeously sweet and who doesn’t like a chocolate crêpe? It took me back to my childhood holidays in France – c’était beau!
Laura chose Côte’s special crème caramel (£5.50) traditional set vanilla pod custard with dark caramel and cream. I also managed to snap a shot of our neighbours dessert the frozen berries with white chocolate sauce (£4.95) frozen summer berries with warm white chocolate sauce which looked pretty tantalising!
Overall experience
Côte pride themselves on being good value and although our meal was quite expensive it was down to the Champagne. Their lunch and early evening menu is priced at £10.95 for two courses and £12.95 for three courses (before 7pm) and I’ve heard their breakfast is good too.
Laura and I staggered back to her place for a debrief and we both agreed it was faultless. Marco was personable and attentive. We both wish him well in his studies this September. And hello to our dining neighbours; I hope you found my blog and have enjoyed this read.
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P.S. Thank you to Côte for their kind hospitality.
