Our favourite spot in Bristol...Not any more...❌ Dirty plates and non existent service... Very sad having to do this.

My wife and I reserved a table for Friday night at our Favourite Cote restaurant. For the past six years, we have enthusiastically recommended this place to our friends and colleagues and have dined here dozens of times ourselves. We return frequently for our favorite dishes and the lively, cozy atmosphere.

However, our experience today was disappointing. We arrived early and were informed that our table was not ready. Instead of being invited to sit at the bar for a drink, we were offered a table either at the very front near the toilet (which we had previously requested not to be seated at) or at the very back, which we reluctantly accepted. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that the service in this area was neglectful. A runner took our order, and another person inquired about our drink preferences. We were never brought water and had to request it, which the waitress then forgot. My wife ordered mussels for her main course and was given a fork and knife; we had to ask and wait for a spoon after the meal was served. We also had to request salt and pepper because both the mussels and the crab mayonnaise were bland and lacked basic seasoning. We found ourselves waiting repeatedly: for the waitress, the spoon, and then the salt. It was frankly frustrating.

What we find incomprehensible is the inclusion of a service fee when the service provided was clearly subpar. We did not receive the usual level of hospitality, and more concerningly, my wife's starter was served on a dirty plate.

Her starter arrived on a plate that was visibly stained and had an unpleasant "dish cloth" odor. After a brief discussion, we attributed this to a possible dishwasher issue and the plate being improperly cleaned. However, the dish itself also had a foul taste, which was completely off-putting.

The server attempted to rectify the situation by removing my wife's drink from the bill. However, I want to emphasise that the issue is not the cost but rather the poor service and disappointing food hygiene.

The question to ask is the staff overloaded with work? why allow bookings if there is not enough staff to cover the whole area of the restaurant? Our evening was spoiled and if we knew that we will not be accommodated appropriately we would have chosen another place. As simple, as that.

JUSTIFICATION for the ratings:

FOOD: calamari was too salty, mussels and crab Maison bland(no salt and pepper). Steak and peppercorn source perfect as per usual. SERVICE: the waitress that served us tried to rectify the issue and apologised for the issues that, clearly aren't her fault. ATMOSPHERE: we have previously informed the staff that we do not wish to be offered a seat at the very front or back of the restaurant, this especially being next to the toilets. We were seated at the very back today and there was no atmosphere there at all for our liking.