Côte St Albans — Restaurant in St Albans

Rude staff and bland food.

We came in without a reservation and stood waiting for the host who was talking on the phone. We were there for a minute without even getting a look of acknowledgement from them. Bad start! We understand they were busy on the phone but just a look and a smile is all we expect from a host who is supposed to be welcoming people. This should've been our sign to leave but a waiter quickly walked up to us and gave us a table.

We ordered two portions of bread which come with butter and olive oil. The waitress brought only one portion of each side. We requested to have the second portion explaining how we ordered two and each should come with both sides. It took a bit of explaining as if this was an unreasonable or unusual request when it was what we were paying for. She walked off to grab the missing items with no apology and without saying anything. My partner also requested ketchup to go with their burger and never received it. Poor people skills and a misunderstanding of their job and how a waitress in a restaurant treats their customers. It felt like asking a grumpy teenager to do us a favour.

The rest of the meal was fine although I found my steak disappointing. Tasted more like something I would make at home with supermarket quality meat, edible but not a great experience. Then when we were leaving we said goodbye and thank you to the waiter standing at the door and he completely ignored us! Why stand at the door if you're going to ignore your customers leaving?

My impression is that they took the bad reputation of Parisian customer service and left the actual culinary experience in Paris.

Côte is 5 minutes away from me but will never be going back again. I'll take bland food but I draw the line...

If I could leave zero stars I would.

Went here for my mums birthday and the whole experience was completely ruined by a lack of communication between the serving staff and the chefs as well as the chefs simply not caring one little bit.

We sat down, ordered a starter and it had been on the table for 5 minutes and then the mains arrive. The server continued to try and put our mains down despite it being visibly obvious that we only just got the starters. Not one apology or acknowledgment for the error. We saw the dishes taken back to the kitchen and sat on the warm plate. We politely spoke to the manager and asked to ensure we were not served the same food which was sat on the hot plate for a good 25-30 minutes, we were assured it would not be served to us and he requested the chefs made fresh dishes. The chefs were discussing our complaint and staring at us during our starters which also made us feel uncomfortable. And then at no surprise it was served my salad leaves were burnt and crispy, my sisters burger and chips cold and my mums salmon was dry with a skin over the cream sauce from being sat under the hot plate. Completely careless and no regard for the customer. People spend their hard earned money to come out for meals and with the cost of living crisis it’s very far and few between where people are able too and it’s such a shame that big businesses and chain restaurants such as this simply don’t care…. Just a number. Will never return. There are fantastic independent restaurants in St Albans and these will be the only places we shall visit from...

Friday 9/7/21 at 8pm. The food was exceptional. The service was impeccable, the atmosphere was great.

I booked this restaurant for my girlfriend's birthday as a suprise, we were not disappointed.

The restaurant customer service was top notch, from when I rang to book the table, until we left. We both left the restaurant talking and feeling like we had gone out for a nice meal. Now I know this sounds silly, but I've paid a lot of money to eat out in restaurants and they've been dirty, run down, cheap looking etc... not this place.

I ordered the Devon Crab Maison for starter.... I didn't want it to end!!! My girlfriend asked me why I was taking such small mouthfuls? My answer was it tastes so Good! My main was the Brittany fish stew, sea bass, prawns, squid, mussels, chilli and white wine, every mouthful was a different flavour. Delicious.

When I phoned to book the table during this difficult time with Covid-19, I said to the person on the phone that it was my girlfriend's birthday, and they said to leave it in their hands... When we sat down the waitress complimented my girlfriend's dress and then bought out two glasses of champagne and wished her a happy birthday. The ambience was perfect, it felt like a date night. As customers, the staff made us feel comfortable and happy. The service was perfect, I couldn't fault it.

The bill... I've paid over triple the price for very average food. The whole experience was one of the best I've had... We had Olives, 2 glasses of French white wine, 2 starters, 2 mains for £70... We both are looking forward...