Côte Salisbury — Restaurant in Salisbury

On Saturday my boyfriend and I went to Cote for breakfast to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. After dining in Cote in Bath last year where the food and service was exceptional we were excited to go for breakfast at Cote in Salisbury. Unfortunately this experience was not one we would like to experience any time again soon, as was horrendous from start to finish. On arrival we were seated and given menus, after 15 minutes no one had come to take a drink or food order. We finally managed to call over a waitress who eventually took our order. When the breakfast came out my order was incorrect, I had ordered the French toast with berries and they brought out French toast with bacon. The waiter took it back to the kitchen, no apology, just huffed and puffed, making me feel like an inconvenience. Around 5 minutes later the waiter returned with the correct dish, unfortunately this time the French toast was completely burnt. All the slices of French toast were black, not really how you expect it to be served. Yet again, I had to send back the order again, again no apology. During all of this my boyfriend is having to eat his breakfast alone otherwise it would have got cold, not the anniversary breakfast of eating together we had hoped for. He had ordered extra bacon and the bacon served was completely inedible. It looked more like strips of fat than actually having any bacon on it. Needless to say he was not able to eat this, and when the waiter took the full plate of bacon away was never asked how his food was. When my breakfast eventually came out for the third time, it was much better. However the plate was put on the table, no apology for the delay and inconvenience. The lack of customer service and care for the food you are serving is horrendous. I believe your staff need training on how to provide a good service. We acknowledge that things can go wrong, but having staff who can provide good customer service can be the difference in having returning customers. We regularly dine out and are loyal to great restaurants but unfortunately we will not be returning to Cote. A terrible experience and one we won’t forget for...

Oh dear Cote, what have you done. They do say that if a thing isn’t broken there’s no need to fix it. Cote wasn’t actually broken, at least not from a customer perspective. Unfortunately, it is now. The whole of my family have been regular Cote diners for over 20 years and we have used their brasseries at Bournemouth, Salisbury, Dorchester, Bath & Winchester so one could say we are experienced enough to judge Cote standards.

Regrettably, the relaunched brasserie menu is a disappointment. The complimentary baguette was stale and the Calimari was overcooked and very peppery. The free-flowing frites were not frites, they were bog standard chips. The mussels in a cream sauce were in fact mussels in a watery garlic gravy. Not very tasty and not what we expected from Cote.The chicken salad had a generous helping of chicken but little else, other than lettuce. There was no tomato, onion or peppers etc. in a word it was boring and lacked taste. The belly pork dish was very fatty and not at all crisped on the top. This dish was also very peppery. The chicken and chips (they were not frites) was no better than one could purchase from the local chippy for half the price. I don’t mind paying for food I enjoy, but today was not good. If I could offer some advice from a customer perspective, it would be go back and start again, you’ve thrown the baby out with the bath water.

Sorry to burst your bubble but I’m afraid that if this is the style and quality of food you intend to serve from now on, I, will not be returning. I am very, very...

I mean… this was a pretty poor experience to say the least. The food came out quick but the chips were very obviously Birds Eye oven chips, the steak was so watery and flavourless, there was no salad (even though there used to be) and when I asked for a medium glass of wine I got charged for a large. When I questioned this with the waiter she told me 250ml is a medium glass, which it is not, 250ml is always a standard large glass of wine, and 175ml a medium. She then demanded I pay for the large size as they didn’t have 125ml available on their menu, even though as someone who works in hospitality I explained that a medium is 175. For a two course set menu and a glass of wine I was charged £40, which is frankly daylight robbery for what I received, the quality wasn’t even up to scratch of an M&S ready meal, especially considering the hospitality was pretty appalling and rude, especially if a customer has made it clear they ordered a 175ml glass of wine. Cote has gone so downhill it’s almost a joke, but rest assured after this experience I will NEVER be returning to the company, not even for a “deal”, it’s not worth it, there’s many better restaurants around this part of Salisbury and I’m ashamed of myself for coming here because I thought it would be reliable, quick, delicious and semi affordable - the only box it managed to tick was quick. The customer should be of priority, but clearly lining your pockets (cote) is much more important by decreasing the quality of your food to...