Côte Winchester Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food served up on hot plates and what I ordered was first class the dessert was the best ever."
• "The food was amazing! It was so nice to see so many Vega options, especially for a French restaurant!"
• "The duck - it’s their signature dish and it’s mouth watering delicious!"
• "Really good food. Everyone in our party (12) all agreed how good the food was."
• "All food was really really good and it was reasonably priced."
• "The food was excellent, and very well priced."
• "One of the best meals we've had in a long time."

Cons:

• "After having waited well after others had been served, the two of us who had stroganoff found it tough and the tagliatelli undercooked."
• "Errors with food including unwanted olive stone in my starter and lamb chop had plenty of bone and hardly any lamb."
• "Tastes like water with a hint of onion flavour, and got very bland very quickly."
• "The calamari was crunchy but overcooked, and the cassoulet strangely had a load of croutons in it."
• "Massive overuse of garlic butter on everything."
• "Food tasted like it had been sitting out under a hotplate. Food was greasy and chicken was dry."
• "The steak frites was very average and too moist."

Service

Pros:

• "Service was very slow we waited over 20 mins to order drinks and a further 20 minutes to order our food."
• "Attentive staff."
• "The service was amazing - very prompt and polite."
• "Really friendly service, with lovely staff."
• "Service also polite and friendly."
• "Caught out on inclusive gratuity, but the service was good and friendly."
• "Professional, friendly, smiley, on time, hands-off, relaxed."

Cons:

• "Service, apart from the ever busy front of house person, was either missing, chatting among themselves, and just slow."
• "Service was confused and poor."
• "Disappointing. Service was average with waiting staff laughing and joking together at the counter."
• "Dreadful service. Group of 12 of my family including my sisters from Switzerland that we had not seen due to covid for 3 years."
• "Not busy lunch waitress was lazy."
• "Service was very slow. 45 minutes for starters and another hour for main."
• "Nice food and very friendly staff but service was slow."

Ambiance & Decor

Pros:

• "Lovely ambiance as you walk in."
• "Decor is glass & chrome, rather cold feel."
• "The restaurant atmosphere was great."
• "Beautiful venue, on multiple levels, a large restaurant, clean, old world charm, warm and cosy, inviting and conducive to good conversation."
• "The restaurant interior is chic and inviting."
• "Very nicely lit and spaced-out seating."
• "Cosy yet stylish, really tasty and authentic."

Cons:

• "Ok atmosphere but errors with food."
• "If a little bland in terms of decor (compare the 'Ivy' as alternative...)"
• "The evening was cold so when we sat down we needed to keep coats on and every time the door opened we were chilled by the draft rushing behind us."
• "The restaurant has a bizarre layout with tables around corners and out of sight."
• "The cold coming in through the door meant we all had to sit with our coats wrapped round our legs."

Value

Pros:

• "Very good value at £12.95."
• "The food and drink was of an excellent standard and very reasonably priced."
• "Very reasonablely price for the quality we received."
• "The set menu is great value and the food quality and portion sizes are perfect."
• "Posh but price was good for the quality."
• "The food is high quality and priced very reasonably in comparison to similar restaurants in Winchester."

Cons:

• "Possibly not the place if you are in quite a hurry and not the cheapest place to have lunch."
• "Quite expensive for what it is."
• "Care prices..One glass of Cotes du Rhone £10,25.."
• "In that context a 12.5% automatic gratuity was excessive and leaves a bad taste."