Côte

I visit Birmingham twice a year for a week at a time whilst attending exhibitions at the NEC and Cote Brasserie is one of my favorite restaurants — their steaks are to die for & are cooked to perfection. When anyone asks me for a recommendation of where to eat in Birmingham, this wins hands down…

Having visited Cote once before and had a fantastic meal, I’d hoped that it would be much of the same and it was.
It was evening meal on Tuesday, and I took my dad as part of his Christmas present, which was a trip to the theatre.
The atmosphere was lovely calm but with a mumble of activity, the service was excellent and very attentive, but the start of the show was the food.
We each had a starter prawns and calamari and then for main I had the swordfish off the specials menu and my dad had the lamb we also ordered two sides of green beans and red cabbage, slightly to much but we managed it as it was so tasty. Having been nattering away the whole evening we ate is silence, that’s how good the food was and we were enjoying ourselves so much we didn’t realise the time and had to dash to the theatre.
All in all it was fantastic and will certainly be returning.

Amazing food. I couldn’t find fault if I tried.
Service was attentive, polite & friendly whilst not bothering you whilst you’re enjoying your meal.
I had the steak tartare to start which was full of flavour, and melt in your mouth steak. It was a rather generous portion for a starter too, and well worth the reasonable price tag, coming in at under £7.00.
My duck main was the best duck dish that I’ve ever had. This paired with a well balanced bottle of merlot shared with my partner (who thoroughly enjoyed his steak main) made for an excellent meal.
I would have loved to have tried one of the scrumptious looking desserts if I wasn’t so full! In fact, the whole menu is well put together and there were several options that I’d love to try.
I’ll definitely be returning.

I’m a big fan of Côte. Chains I try to avoid or not really shout about too much, especially on Unilocal,however seeing that it has had some negative reviews in the past I think it deserves some praise.
Côte is the kind of place you can go to and get premium services, where the waiters really care about your experience and are happy to accommodate you but without having to pay premium prices or have that stuffy feeling. It’s somewhere you can go for a nice date night or family meal and maybe dress up for the occasion but still feel you can be yourself and not worry about any faux pas.
Each time I’ve been the food has been very well prepared, I have not had to wait long for food to arrive and it has been very tasty. I also used the Gastro Card here which gets you a free bottle of house wine, the red BTW is a great wine (it was even a cork bottle!). We arrived once just before 11pm and they were happy to have us and serve us until close.
So go on, give this place a go. Especially lovely on a summers night as you can sit alongside the canal.
Bön appetite!

I think Cote is one of the best chains around at the moment, offering good French fare in chic surroundings.
Cote is one of the new (er) kids on the block at the Mailbox and occupies a really nice space beside the canal, with a large and leafy outdoor seating area that always looks bustling on a sunny day. Inside the restaurant is fairly large but still feels intimate, with low lighting and stylish, 1920s/​30s inspired décor.
I’ve eaten here several times now and the food has always been good. The menu offers a range of breads and starter dishes, various salads and light dishes, mains, grill options and desserts. Of the dishes I’ve tried I can recommend the garlic fougasse (French bread with garlic and sea salt, which is great to share), roasted seabass, roast duck breast, poulet Breton and tarte fine aux pommes — all delicious! If you’re hungry the poulet Breton is a good choice — a seasoned half chicken served with fries and your choice of sauce. On my last visit I had the roast duck, a more decadent choice, which was served pink with gratin potatoes and a cherry sauce.
As for lubrication, Cote offers a good selection of wines. If you possess a Gastro Card you can use this to bag yourself a complimentary bottle of house wine. I had the house red and it was actually very nice.
The staff are always very smart and attentive, and the excellent service makes eating here an even more enjoyable experience.

I’m not in the habit of spending my hard earned pounds on chain restaurants but they sure do serve a purpose; you know what you’re getting.
However I went to Cote for the very first time — under duress, Michael McIntyre was in town for his sold out run a the NIA which meant even at 6.30, all the restaurants had a waiting time. The BF and I were hosting some out of town friends who were going to said comedic sell out and we just wanted to find them somewhere nearby to eat. My first choice, the Ikon Café, was table-​less.
So we ended up here and the service was quick as we asked. Having had a glorious lunch gig with the girls earlier at the delightful No9 restaurant during a day out at Stratford Upon Avon, I was only going to have a light snack (another reason why Ikon Café’s tapas menu would have been perfect). So i opted for the goats cheese tartine whilst the other 3 went for half a chicken dishes — which looked good. However what I ended up with was goats cheese on 3 slices of toast.
So you don’t always know what you’re getting in chain restaurants. Hence only 1 star (the others may have given 2 – 3 for their chicken).

I was there last month they had an offer for 3 courses £11.99 i believe.
Excellent food at a very good price… I am very fussy with my food but i found this excellent value and at very good price.

Nice French restaurant with plenty of space for larger groups but also a place to go out for dinner. They offer a two or three course menu for special price until 7PM.
I had Rillettes as starter and the Cassoulet as main course. The quality and the amount of food was good. You can’t compare it with a top place in Paris, but it exceeded my expectations. They only have bottled french beer…
Only the service level was a bit strange. One meal they completly forgot and after the main course the waiter has disappeared.
The price level is ok.

Just opened in the Mailbox
fabulos meal servings were good size staff were very attentive but not overly so they were actually interviewing staff whilst we were eating our meal were given a good window spot its really nice
good amount of nice smoked salmon dressed just so with capers and sour cream with warm toast another starter was the £6.50 asparagus with hollaindase mmm very nice
next was lamb shanks mustard mash and some buttered green beans could not fault anything lamb falling off the bone comfortably full we chose crème brûlée and crêpe with strawberry and chantilly cream wow both were superb must return for the homemade crème caramel which unfortunately was off merlot nice smooth red great with the lamb all in all brilliant