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| An exhaustive 1135 words from walsall10 on Sunday, May 01, 2011
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| Food: |
Value |
Service: |
Decor: |
Rating: |
Cost/head: |
Suits: |
| 8/10 |
: 6/10 |
6/10 |
8/10 |
70% |
£45 |
Small social group |
We had dinner here with friends on Saturday night. As others have said Cote is next to Pizza Express in the Mailbox.
We were warmly welcomed by an elegant lady in black who then unfortunately was not much seen for the rest of the evening.
The interior is casual and comfortable although the tables are a little close together and we were offered bread and olives (to buy) and filtered water (complimentary). We had some very good fougasse (a flat garlic bread) and some reasonable olives to nibble on while deciding.
The menu is largely simple food - steaks, chicken, fish with some interesting starters.
On ordering it became very clear that our waiter had very little knowledge of food or drink - the soup was declared as pea, mint and courgette (I think ) with an offer to check but no return to the table to confim after it was ordered. A request for a kir royale and some beers led to all the wine glasses being taken off the table whereupon we had to say that we would be ordering wine as well. A request for a bottle of viognier from the decent wine list was received with confusion and mispronounciation but the correct wine did arrive and at £18 was very pleasant.
Between the five of us we had calimari (well cooked and attractively served in a pan), soup (not served with any bread which seemed rather mean) , rilletes of duck and pork (declared excellent) , goats cheese with a passable tapenade and some very good artichokes and prawns gratinee (which were eaten with enjoyment but no further comment)
For mains we had duck with griottine cherries and dauphinoise potates, cod goujons and fries, 2 rib eyes with pepppercorn sauce and a fillet with roquefort butter. There was some confusion with the steaks as the waiter did not seem at all sure which was which either in cut or how cooked (one was rare and one medium on the rib eye) and the sauces had been mixed on the fillet and the rib eye steak - thus the fillet eater had poured on peppercorn without realising (although decided to just have it rather than wait) - after pointing out the errors a new jug of peppercorn arrived and we were told that we would only be charged for the butter rather than the extra sauce as "it was our mistake" -I thought that was the very least that should have been offered. Another waiter (superviser?) came along to apologise again and check everything was ok.
The mains were good - with good quality ingredients cooked accurately - the duck was pink and tender with a lovely sauce of boozy cherries and the steaks were cooked as required. Fries came in little pots and were declared good. The cod goujons were, let's face it, posh fish fingers, but again well cooked and came with a tasty tartare sauce. The main issue was that the food was served on cold plates, so after just a few minutes of sorting out the steaks and getting everyone sorted the duck and the edge of the dauphinoise were getting cold. It was not so much of an issue that it warranted sending the food back but if someone can cook meat well and present it nicely, it is just bizarre that they would serve it on cold plates.
Desserts were offered and between us we had a good apple tart with vanilla ice cream, a gooey chocolate fondant with the same and a perfectly decent creme brulee. These were quickly delivered without checking any further drinks were required and one of our party was left asking for another beer to the retreating back of a waiter.
At this point the service really started to slip - our "trainee" waiter was too busy dazzling the party of girls next door to check we were all ok, the lady in black had disappeared and the guy who seemed to be in charge was conducting an in depth conversation in the entrance area with some bloke who had come in the restaurant yet was not eating. We were intrigued as to whether this was a long lost brother/ex lover or a really important food critic who merited customers being abandoned with only a trainee looking after them. The staff had started to stand around chatting amongst themselves with their backs to the restaurant and there was no one clearly in charge. Oh, and there was another small scary blonde waitress who informed 2 of our party sternly that they could not smoke outside the restaurant - this despite the fact there was no one in the outside eating area - a polite request to move further along would have been better if even necessary.
We were eventually returned to and ordered further drinks - a request for an Amaretto and a Drambuie was treated as if we had asked for some exotic cocktail in Swahili. Several patient repetitions later - "That's Am-ar -etto and a Dram, not not Jam, buie" resulted in a very puzzled face and a more experienced waitress coming over - and confirming that they did have some other spirits and liquers but not Drambuie - and they were not sure what they were but my friend could go and look at the drinks cabinet if she wanted. Well, no not really, she didn't want to wander across the restaurant and stare into the drinks cabinet like a desparate friend of Bill W -she settled for a Baileys.
The bill arrived - £234 for five although that included £85 of drinks - no complimentary mints or chocolates (I have been spoiled by the petit fours of Edmunds and Purnells) - and it included an optional 12.5% service charge of nearly £26 already on. We felt that was a little steep on the service charge all things considered but not enough to make a fuss about.
Overall the birthday boy summed it up - it was nice but we won't be rushing back. The bill felt a little steep considering the service issues and the cold plates. I have worked in restaurants and know that people have to learn but at least know what is on your menu, check if you don't know and for goodness sake check that new staff are properly supervised. If you are in charge for the evening, check your customers are happy before attending to your own personal conversations.
The restaurant was probably only half full throughout a pleasant Saturday evening and if they want to succeed they really need to tighten up on the small things. Free bread, warm plates, sharper service. Not too much to ask for really
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| REVIEWS
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| WALSALL10 |
| REVIEWS |
| No.of reviews: |
2 |
| Average Rating: |
78% |
| Highest Rating: |
86% |
| Lowest Rating: |
70% |
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