Cote restaurant. Review. Click.
What did I think of the new kid on the high street?
I surprised myself with this review as cote restaurant isn't really what 'the quintessential' is all about. The exterior gives the impression 'how far will my money go?' The advertising board on the other hand paints a completely different picture, emphasizing the lunch and early evening menu, two courses for £9.95. 'Cote restaurant' has received positive reviews in Good food guide since 2009. So expecting quality service and hopefully great food, I gave it a go.
Greeted by the manager opening the door and asking 'where we would like to sit?'. Great start, from this point though the service did have it's up's and down's, these will become clearly through the review.
The set menu had variety but the seasonality did come into question. The 'a la carte' menu seemed more appealing to the other members of the party, however, I was staying true to my reasoning behind the visit but I would be eating a starter by myself.
The 'coarsely shredded pork pâté with toasted sourdough and cornichons' produced a large grin on my face which reflected the portion size placed in-front of me. For me there isn't anything worse, than not enough bread to go with the pâté, not a problem I uncounted. A well dressed salad brought a fresh element to the rich pork. The presentation interested me, I'm sure we have all seen the explosion of restaurants using wooden boards to give a rustic feel, something I like, cote brings formality to this presentational approach by placing the board snug on top a plate. This for me sums-up the character of the restaurant.
The main course came out quickly, something Luce and Eric seemed very happy about, however, my 'sauteed butternut squash and chickpea cake with baby spinach salad, wholegrain mustard sauce and poached egg' came without the poached egg, bit of a fail in my eyes. Before the manager left the table I pointed this out. By the time the egg arrived Luce and Eric had started, worrying their food may become cold. The completed dish was so good I had forgotten to take a photo by two mouthfuls.
Eric went for the 10oz rib-eye with the green peppercorn, cognac and cream sauce. The real triumph for him being sauce, explaining that he sometimes finds the peppercorn over powering in other restaurants making the dish difficult to finish. Luce at the end of her meal was still hungry considering a second portion of chips to go with her 'half chargrilled chicken with wild mushroom, crème fraîche and thyme sauce' though she did not once fault the taste or presentation.
Eric finished the meal with strawberry ice-cream, banging. I find in some restaurants now their ice-cream selection have things like earl-grey flavour, even though tasty they have forget the quintessential flavours. Strawberry ice-cream for is the bench mark, if they do strawberry good, the rest will follow.
My set menu blew me away, I worried at the beginning of the meal if the price would reflect on the quality and quantity. Both points did not come into question and I will be returning again. Though I shall return with the same intention as before, I felt paying extra for the 'a la carte' menu only gave greater variety and not much else.
For all details please follow website.
http://www.cote-restaurants.co.uk/Cote_Oxford.html