Cote

Very centrally located & friendly staff! loved the manager he even took our order & asked where we were from & we chatted for a few minutes. I had a filet with fries & a side of creamed spinach… WONDERFUL & fresh! Liquor portions were small but refilled our drinks fast when we asked for more.

Popped in for lunch
The food was ok actually however it was let down by the poor service, really slow taking order, bring your drinks, bringing the food, bringing more drinks, bringing the bill etc etc
You get the point they were really slow, turned a hopeful 1 hour lunch in to over 2 hours for no apparent reason
As I said food was fine … Got the pork belly which was tender and moist, then the crème caramel which I thoroughly enjoyed as I’m a bit of a caramel fiend! However I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy the food in other places, nothing to blow
Me away that makes me think hey I’ll come back and endure that service again.

Not everyone’s favourite chain for certain employment practices ie alleged tip-​fiddling, or service charge as they call it, but my understanding is that they have changed their policies in the staffs’ favour so I thought I’d give it a try.
Nice place I have to say, a chain restaurant that looks a bit better than that, comfortable, subtly lit and really quite a formal service, the staff deserve to be treated well by the company, because they certainly treated us well. I would have preferred beers on tap, but hey bottled will do.
I started with the tuna carpaccio, it came very quickly, just lightly seared around, with tiny capers and small salad leaves. The issue with it was that there was too much dressing, it overwhelmed the other flavours in the dish, and left it oilier than I like, and quite a lot too vinegary. It wasn’t horrible though, but a bit of a waste of a great fish.
My beef bourguignon — why not call it boeuf bourguignon instead of a franglais term? — came out along with my partner’s minute steak like an eel on a skateboard. I was a bit miffed at first, it looked a little small, it was lucky I ordered a side of French beans. The boeuf (now I’m doing it!) had potato and chive purée, chestnut mushrooms and lardons with it. Awww yes, it was nice! Maybe it’s because I love rich sauces, but this made up for the starter, everything about it was balanced just right for me. My beef was beautifully soft and her minute streak was cooked to medium rare perfection too!
The bill was smartly delivered when asked for too. I hate restaurants that take their time with this. A wee surprise though is that they still do a discretionary 12.5% service charge, but to be fair our server did point it out and apparently it is now split properly between the staff.

I went for Christmas lunch with work colleagues. I don’t ever expect much at this time of year in restaurants, but I was immediately pleased to see to see no turkey — not that I dislike turkey!
I plumped for the ham terrine which was served with chutney and toast. It looked nice on the plate.
For mains I had the chicken supreme with dauphinois potatoes. It was tasted but the presentation was a bit messy.
Finally I had a very tasty, if uninspiringly presented, chocolate mousse.
So it was a tasty lunch, that inspires me enough to return for something more a la carte.

The Italian and I decided to try this new place during my birthday lunch! I can pretend to be a princess on a budget right? Haha Cote has lunch deals; 2 course for 9.90 pounds and 3 course for 11.90 pounds so #WIN
We entered and were already impressed by the fanciness of the space. I was in a tie-​dye shirt so I was basically reassuring myself by saying «I’m a designer. It’s fine» hahahaha whatever. They didn’t seem to be picky about dress codes but I suppose it’d be nice to dress smart casual at least!
Anyway, so we were seated and the staff members were pretty amazing. Very professional and attentive! I like! We order some wine (at 1pm but hey) and food. I ordered the tuna flake appetizer, the wild mushroom risotto for main and the crème caramel for a dessert while the man ordered beetroot goat cheese salad for appetizer and sea bass for main!
Personally, the appetizers were not that interesting. The tuna flakes were basically … yup … tuna flakes … served with bread and salad. I hope at least it wasn’t from a can! The beetroot salad was nice but again, nothing special, just ok. My risotto was awesome though! Super delicious and the Italian approves of it! He really liked it! The sea bass was nice too, it has a creamy sauce served with it which complimented the fish. The risotto was still the best though!
But the highlight was the crème caramel! AMAZING. I loved it so much! I’m such a crème (anything) kinda person! It was cold, refreshing, soft and had just enough sweetness! IN LOVE! Really liked it.
Anyway, I think i’d definitely recommend anyone to try this place out. I’ll maybe go again for dinner, just to tr it out, but the lunch is good value and quality! 2 thumbs up!

The menu is full of so many options to choose from and it’s fair to say we are all notoriously indecisive when it comes to food so we took a while to order. So much so we were kindly given a pissaladière with caramelised onions and reblochon cheese as well as some olives to munch on while we contemplated our choices
After making light work of the flatbread and with some help from the staff, we finally decided on the calamari, chicken liver parfait and charcuterie board to start.
Even though I am not the biggest fan of seafood, I couldn’t stop digging into (and reluctantly shared) the crispy squid with garlic, lemon and tartare sauce.
The parfait with toasted brioche and apple chutney was equally delicious and was quickly polished off by us all. The chutney was warmly spiced and made the perfect counter point to the pâté.
For the main I chose (again, with help from the waiter) chargrilled chicken with a mushroom, crème fraîche and thyme soon and potato gratin.
I hate to say I left a a little on my plate. However this is because I work in an office where there is an allocated shelf for biscuits and cake only and I have no willpower. It could also be because I didn’t stick to my own plate, sorry girls!
The fillet steak was perfectly cooked and melt in the mouth. I’ll vouch for that as I had a ‘couple’ of bites. The bearnaise sauce was perfectly creamy, but if we are honest the fillet was so good on its own so we didn’t use much!
My friend had the haddock wrapped in bacon with pea purée which she said tasted very fresh and firm. Again, I’ll agree with that after having a forkful.
The dessert menu was presented with immediate reactions of rubbing our stomachs and shaking our heads declaring we were too full, knowing full well we would cave and at least share one.
The lemon tart was amazing — extremely citrusy with a slight crispy topping. Tarte au Citron is clearly a French classic and Côte paired it with Normandy Cream and fresh raspberries to make it absolutely perfect.
My friends will definitely be making another trip here. Working on George Square means they can take full advantage of the lunch and pre-​theatre menu which seems like a steal at £9.95 for two course and £11.90 for three. Côte also have a breakfast club that comes with a super cute croissant keychain that gets you a free hot drink with any breakfast on a weekday. Croque Madame anyone?

I chain you say… well this cosy French vibe really doesn’t feel like a chain. Sunday evening dining is a fave of mine something quite relaxed about it and no need to get dressed up! I think cote is a place you could spend a full day watching the world go by with a bottle of wine… or two!
The menu is a little different, we started of the evening with complementary Kir Royal’s next up for me was the King prawn! Huge portion! I was lucky enough to try a bit of the. Crab mayo and the calamari and I would be happy to have any of them again!
As I said the menu is a little different so I decided to get something different– the duck. Served pink!!! Oh tasty doesn’t even cover it! After all of that I decided not to have a desert so I went for a espresso. Very good!
Staff were very pleasant they came out at the end with complementary Gin (might had something to do with a local celebrity) but unfortunately Aly G and I were sadly the designated drivers so we watch the rest enjoy!
Good menu and really doesn’t feel like a chain! Great night.

So Cote is a French style chain restaurant. I had never actually heard of it before it appeared in Glasgow, but when Pammi G suggested we go along for a meal I was happy to say yes and give something new a try. (There ain’t many French restaurants in Glasgow)
Being honest first impressions were a bit average. The table was a tight fit and there was quite a delay before we got drinks. Once I heard the beer menu I also felt a bit sad. Three options and none jumped out as sounding that tasty. I went with a blonde beer and TBH I would not rush to get it again.
Happily that is where the average impressions ended. The food was great. I got to try three starters. Crab Mayo, tiger prawns and calamari. All 3 were tasty, but the calamari was the outstanding dish. For mains I had the fish parmentier (fish pie) and it was bloody brilliant. Creamy and laden with haddock, cod, king prawns and other fish that I now can’t remember. On the side I had a share of tiny chopped potatoes with bacon and again it was lovely. This was all ended with a crème brûlée. One of my favourite desserts and it again was brilliant, sweet and indulgent. A lovely finish to the meal.
On the drinks front once the beer was forgotten, I had a kir royale, a couple of glasses of white wine, a cognac and a gin liqueur of some sort. After initially being slow the service ended up being very good and the staff were attentive without hovering at our table to much.
Due to the celebrity guest we had with us we got a couple of nice perks. The kir royale and gin liqueur were complimentary. We also had a 70 quid voucher that was split between the five of us so the meal came out at 25 per head, but would have been 39 without the voucher. These additions obviously helped make it a fantastic night, but I would happily go back and pay the full price as the food and service really were great.
All in by the time the night was over I definitely had, had a five star evening. So I’m gonna give it the full star rating. Great food, good service and a nice venue. Who cares if it’s a chain?

The décor at Cote has a relaxed upmarket brassiere vibe, we were in after dark and with the low lighting and flickering candles on the tables it felt cosy and intimate. A spot I could happily hang out in for a few hours whither it is for a breakfast or dinner, it’s a nice space — interior designed to the max but nice none the less.
The staff were great — friendly, patient and very accommodating of my occasional weird menu request. When I walked in I mentioned to the assistant manager that I was excited to have the calamari starter again, a few minutes later our waiter arrived at the table to say there was only 1 calamari left and would I like it saved… erm YEAH!!! Phew, crisis averted.
I liked the menu… it’s not in your face french but more french inspired.
My Calamari starter was just as good as I remembered it from my first visit — the portion was massive so I didn’t mind sharing it was the rest of the table. They were well cooked, not rubbery or chewy in the slightest. It came served with lots of creamy dipping tartar sauce on the side — I would highly recommend this dish.
For my main I was super good and went for the Chicken and Walnut salad described as — chargrilled chicken with avocado, baby gem lettuce, baby spinach, shallots, French beans, walnuts, croutons and a mustard dressing. I ordered mine without the dressing.
The salad was a little different which I like — lovely mixed leaves and big chunks of avocado, the french bean and walnuts added texture and gave the dish bite, and the grilled chicken was well seasoned and beautifully tender. As far as salads go it was one of the nicest.
I also tried some pommes rissolées (sautéed diced potatoes with bacon lardons) which were delicious. The potato was diced much smaller that I expected but they were little morsels of potato gorgeousness.
For dessert I couldn’t see passed the Praline Crêpe — a chocolate and praline crêpe with caramelised bananas and crème Chantilly.
Dear lord!!!
The bananas were sweet and crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, the chocolate was dark and perfectly bitter, and the crème Chantilly was sweet and velvety. I would go back to Cote just for this dessert.
A lovely evening with my friends with copious amounts of booze consumed — I had my first every cognac which I quite enjoyed… they even asked if we wanted them served in a warmed glass — fancy pants!

I will happily go back to Cote again because it was a bit different and the food was really good.
It’s definitely worth checking out!

Cotê has been on my list to try since I seen a picture of a delectable looking steak on Instagram. It’s stayed in my mind, and we decided to try it tonight as its Martyn’s birthday next week.
The restaurant looks small from the outside, smaller than I had expected it to be. Inside it is still quite small, but the high ceilings and lighting make it feel quite large and airy. The tables are well spaced out and the décor is modern and slick.
We were taken to our table and immediately brought complimentary water in a cute little capped bottle. We read through the menu and I could honestly have eaten every single thing. Every dish just seemed so tasty, and I changed my mind every time I seen the waiter pass with another customers food! I eventually settled with the Calamari to start, and Martyn chose the Warm Tiger Prawn Salad.
The Calamari was coated in Panko breadcrumbs with garlic and parsley, with a wedge of lemon to squeeze and some delicious tartare sauce. The squid was tender and not at all stringy and the breading was soo crisp and tasty. Martyn’s salad consisted of a rocket and frisée salad with tiger prawns and cherry tomatoes and a delicious chilli, lemon and parsley dressing. I had a little try and it was deliciously light and flavoursome.
For my main I decided on the Pan Fried Pork Belly on Braised Cabbage with an Apple and Calvados jus and Potato Gratin. Oh my! The crackling on the pork was crispy and salty, but the meat was just so so juicy and tender. Paired with the sweet fruity sauce and the creamy potatoes I was in absolute heaven! Martyn had the Pan Fried Cod with Peas and Broad Beans in a White Wine Cream Sauce with a side of Frites. Never have I seen fish so well cooked. Golden and crispy from the pan fry but flaky and juicy at the same time, he absolutely devoured his plate, which says something for him! He’s normally a slow eater but the speed that this was taken down speaks volumes!
I don’t know how, but somehow we managed puddings. Martyn went with the a Chocolate fondant, which was oozing and rich and chocolatey — just perfect. I had the Tarté au Citron with Normandy Cream. It was so tart yet sweet with the cream with crumbly pastry. Thoroughly enjoyed!
Cotê is the perfect place for an intimate meal, or a first date. I really couldn’t fault it at all — food and service was exceptional! I’d be back in a heartbeat. The bill came to £70 which I’m happy to pay for such quality food in the city centre on a Saturday night. I’m already planning my next visit!