Côte serves up French classics in stylish surroundings

The classical building which is home to the Brighton branch of Côte remains one of smartest venues in the city and like the popular French brasserie is smart and stylish without being too stuffy.

Côte has been offering French-inspired contemporary all-day dining since 2007 and is in rude health post-pandemic, and operates 80-plus restaurants across the UK.

A reputation for good quality food at the higher end of casual dining, has stood the group in good stead and when we visited on a pre-Christmas Friday lunch time it was absolutely heaving with punters.

The ambience was nicely buzzing and completely chocka in the restaurant’s well-lit ground floor.

We were ushered to the relatively quiet of the huge ceilings and slightly brighter next floor, a new one on me, and surroundings which my lunch partner somewhat dreamily described (after a couple of glasses of vin rouges) as like a dance hall on a cruise ship.

It had a nice vibe and gave us the advantage of a crescent sofa and table, and some wonderfully warm and attentive service from the slightly less put upon upstairs staff.

Accordingly we were congratulated on our choice of first course, Côte’s rather fetching sharing board.

Sharing isn’t always caring when charcuterie and melty cheese are are involved but we politely took turns on the excellent slices truffle saucisson sec and Coppa sel Sec, and there was a semblance of order as we plunged pieces of toasted baguette into the baked Camembert.

We calmly picked our way through some garlicky olives and reached an accord, of sorts, over the tempting honey toms, I ate them all and she polished off the cornichons.

Next up we were recommended two classic French dishes which were appropriate to the changing of the seasons and we chose a bottle of Comté Tolosan Tuber 2020, a plummy medium-bodied unoaked Malbec and a good allrounder.

The beef-cheek Bourguignon was a familiar six-hour slow-cooked dish of big meaty flavour and comforting textures, with mushrooms, shallots, bacon lardons and a mound of potato purée.

Long-time Côte fans will also recognise the poulet Breton, responsibly reared in Northern France and corn-fed chicken, served with an herby butter over the crispy skin.

But a look at the menu showed that Côte is broadening it’s horizons beyond the classics with dishes like squash taboule, inspired by Marseille’s North African quarter, using ingredients such as giant harissa couscous, chickpeas, and coconut yoghurt.

Our excellent shared pudding (enthusiastically promoted by our ace waitress on the grounds of both size and gorgeousness), a vegan chocolate salted caramel tart, was another example of contemporary influences.

A great lunch was punctuated in suitable Gallic boozy style with a couple of warming glugs of Sassy Calvados from Normandy to put a spring in our steps and a chaleur dans nos coeurs.

Visit https://www.cote.co.uk/restaurant/brighton/menus/