The True Food Kitchen — Restaurant in England

I really wanted to like this for lovely location and interesting menu, but our experience left me wondering if the bizarre lack of hospitality was racist or classist in nature.

We saw this place on a long walk. Waited for some minutes at the entrance - the hostess saw us, walked over to take another table's order, then came to us. I asked for one of the empty tables in the shade with a sea view and was told that they were all reserved, but we could choose any other table on an elevated platform in full sun. It was disappointing to me personally (as I'm very pale and burn easily), but oh well, nothing to be done if it’s all reserved, I thought.

At some point I was looking around at how guests were distributed. On our side, a family with teenagers, a family of tourists, me (not a native English speaker) and my partner (he’s Black) - all dressed casually or in sports/hiking clothes. On the lovely side with the flowers, the view and the coveted shade (yes I was feeling burned & irritable at this point) - white British patrons, all dressed up or in smart casual, some celebrating with champagne on a table.

None of the free places in the shade were filling up until another older wealthy-looking white British couple arrived - they had no booking, but were warmly directed to choose from any of the 3 free tables on the lovely side.

It might seem a small thing, but if a place is a "high-class affair" (not my words, it’s on their website), it’s in the very least bizarre, in 2025, to create VIP areas on the floor that are based on questionable profiling at the door. When leaving, I expressed my disappointment to the hostess - she said, dismissively, that they had to "keep some tables empty during the day in case someone wants to book online last-minute”. Why would a hypothetical online customer be prioritised over an actual request? And if someone didn't show up for their reservation on that particular table (or even all three!), why not offer to reseat a guest who asked? She also didn’t add a word of apology, goodbye or thanks.

Overall, mussels with an asian twist were great, IOW segregation experience - not so much.

PS: website: “Please let us know in the notes section if you have dogs or small children in your party so we can seat you comfortably in the restaurant”. Translation: “If you absolutely insist on coming with your kids, let us know in advance so that we book you to that designated tent in the back, weeeell away from our...

Not quite sure how this place has such good reviews! The view from the table must be so lovely that it overpowers the quality of the food?

We booked for my birthday. I noted in the booking that it was my birthday. When we arrived the host checked the booking and notes but no one said anything. At any restaurant with a similar price point I would have expected at least a 'happy birthday' or 'thanks so much for choosing us for your special meal' etc.

We ordered a cocktail and a glass of wine. They did make me a spicy margarita on request, which was lovely and appreciated, but that is where the positives ended.

The veggie katsu maki dish was sushi the quality of coop sushi with some very small slices of red pepper and courgette(?) tempura fried and sat on top. The small dots of 'truffle garlic aioli' were mayo. The bao buns were even worse, served cold to the touch and obviously sat out for a while, as when I lifted it to eat is cracked apart at the bottom (rather than tearing as a freshly and correctly steamed bun would). The tempura prawn and mayo on the inside was a similar cold, soggy, and bland experience to the maki. The wasabi potato salad had not a trace of wasabi (which would be the only ingredient to justify the price) and was essentially Sainsbury's Taste The Difference with some capers mixed in.

This is where we stopped even trying to eat the food and instead sat without touching it for around 15 minutes before the server even came to check if everything was okay (even though he'd seen that we were not eating any of the food a while ago). I let him know we'd like to send the uneaten (minus one small taste of the aforementioned) food back and just finish our cocktails as we were quite unhappy and wanted to salvage what was left of my birthday lunch.

He did have me explain what was wrong with each dish before going to check with the manager that he could take the food away. No one then checked on us at all again until I had to flag the hostess down to pay for our drinks.

The Smoking Lobster Cowes was, on the other hand, accommodating and phenomenal. I'd say it was also much more reasonably priced with better portions even if the menus look similar at first glance. They saved my birthday in the end.

I'd say, walk down for the view and skip The True Food Kitchen then head to one of the two Smoking Lobster locations (or Prickly Pear Cowes) for fancier dining, or the Buddle Inn for pub fare...

We came for a meal today, we hadn’t booked but were able to be accommodated. I ordered catch of the day with boiled potatoes & capers with a slaw. The Seabass skin was over cooked, which made it very crunchy. The meal cost £29 & I was given only one fillet of seabass. The boiled potatoes had been shallow fried which was unexpected & were topped with alioli, the potatoes were fried past over cooked & the oil was too over powering. The various flavours in my meal were not working in harmony, however the coleslaw alone was lovely. There were at least 3 members of waiting staff & there was only 1 other table occupied(they had to call the staff over after a long wait) They wondered if they could have some bread which the restaurant did not offer. We were waiting over 15 mins for the staff to take an order, one of the waiting staff was busier using her phone. At no point during the meal were we asked if our meal was ok. The cost for lunch was over £61 which we both thought was overpriced. Food portions small. A small latte is £3.50, A side order of coleslaw is £6 (as are all the other side dishes including the fries) Deserts are over £10 which we decided not to have due to the price. There was an option to leave a tip but felt our bill was already over priced for our experience. For any smokers I would not recommend as there are signs up in their beer garden stating no smoking, on questioning the staff we were told “to smoke in the car park!” There is no access to the beach which we found disappointing.

Over all I would recommend this place for a drink with a nice view but would not rate highly on service or food quality/food price.

Me & my friend have both had many years working in hospitality including the kitchen & we feel there should be some management overseeing this. It did not seem that the staff had a leader.

I never really leave a review online but I felt that for such a remote location that people shouldn’t have too high expectations especially if you arrive &...