Côte Horsham — Restaurant in Horsham

Lunch 02/09/25 This is somewhere we've eaten quite regularly, usually with no issues, unfortunately that was not case on this occasion.

It started when being seated (possibly by the duty manager?) and we were not given a children's menu for the little one, no biggy but it does slow thing down when it comes to ordering, and the waitress found one off us.

All went well with the drinks and starters, neither took long to arrive and all seemed good. It was then where it went downhill. After the starter plates were cleared, we waited and waited, saw people around us make orders and receive food, but no sign of our mains (and an increasingly restless and hungry 2 year old).

After around 30+ mins the man I assumed to be the duty manager came over to say that he was letting people know there was a delay due to being busy (a surprise at lunchtime apparently), and we'd be served soon and he'd get us another bottle of water. He only came to our table, so it would appear we'd been forgotten but he didn't want to say, we'd have been more understanding if he was honest. He then went on to imply it our fault as we hadn't booked?? Being a High Street chain, I'm pretty sure prebooking has miminal impact and they rely on walk ups? and, as if my magic, the mains appeared. The plates were extremely hot, but the food was dry and tepid at best, with wilted garish on my wife's fish, almost as if they're spent a long time under a heat lamp as opposed to being served, so pretty disappointing. He never reappeared with the water, and seemed to stay far away until we left.

On a positive, the waitress (Jerusa) was lovely, otherwise I'd have had the 'optional' service charge removed...

Like many big chain restaurants, cote looks stunning and have spent big money on the building and decor. The food ( as expected) was okay, absolutely nothing to write home about, but was also not terrible.

Unfortunately almost everything served tastes bought in, I doubt the chefs ( if you can call them that) get to make much fresh food from scratch other than opening a bag of salad. But that said, what came out of the kitchen was acceptable.

Would I go again? Maybe, it's the building and atmosphere that I liked more than the food and service, but the latter were both passable.

I asked for my tuna pink, but it was more well done and the salad with the chicken said water cress on the menu but it was actually rocket, but who really cares? This is not a place for connoisseurs of fine French food, this is a casual chain bistro, a cash machine for the investment funds who own and operate these chain restaurants.

Your food was not chosen and created by chefs, it was more like accountants and hedge fund managers who decide the exacting portion sizes and prices.

If you can stomach the soul-less event of dining out in one of the chain restaurants that dominate our high streets, this one is probably one of the better...

We visited for breakfast and unfortunately it was a bit of a mixed experience. The restaurant was about half full when we arrived, yet it took around 45 minutes for our food to arrive. It was getting busier as we waited, but I feel that’s still quite a long time to wait for breakfast.

I ordered the Cote Breakfast, which looked great on paper but ended up being rather underwhelming. At £14, I expected a bit more in terms of portion size. The bacon was very sparse, the beans, while tasty came in such a tiny ramekin that they were gone in a single mouthful, and the whole plate was lukewarm. The same went for the rest of my party’s meals. My toast was oddly stale, which was disappointing. The sausage was missing from my plate initially, but to their credit it was brought out quickly when I mentioned it. I appreciated that they happily swapped mushrooms for avocado.

The highlight was the coffee,absolutely excellent. Our waiter, I believe his name was Cameron or Callum, was also fantastic, friendly, attentive, and he apologised for the delay without being prompted. Shout out to him 🙋

Overall, great service and coffee, but the food and value didn’t quite live up to...