Review : Côte, East Street, Horsham

It’s huge inside, and like neighbours La Source, Côte has utilised the almost cinematic scope of the East Street location to create a mezzanine level, with three huge five sphere lighting units dropping all of 20ft from the ceiling.

The Côte colours of dark blue and burgundy may be safe and conform to the contemporary restaurant blueprint, but the huge strips of textured golden wallpaper are a little more daring and give the town’s newest eatery some edge, as do wine racks under and at the top of the stairs, and a long, sleek bar area.

It cost very close to £1million to put together. As we said, no expense spared.

But hold on, what’s this? Tiled flooring, of a ‘retro’ style similar to the lounge wallpaper your grandparents might have had in the late seventies.

It’s as though the owners suddenly ran out of money with just the front flooring section to do so popped down to a car boot sale!

It turns out that there is a reason behind it. It’s a feature of Côte brasseries (there are now eight in the young chain and more will be opening very soon) and it helps create a more informal vibe for those wanting to simply pop in for a light bite or even just a coffee. It warrants a mention though as it’s strikingly out of touch with its surroundings. It’s almost homely - you half expect to be served a cup of tea in a ‘World’s Number 1 Dad’ mug.

Dodgy tiles aside, it’s our belief here at The Resident that Côte will be an immediate success. It simply possesses all the right ingredients (location, atmosphere, price, food, variety) and will likely be one of the two places thirty-somethings immediately think of (along with Strada) when organising a civil night out with several friends. 

It seats 120 people so fitting you in shouldn’t be a hassle, and the staff are extremely courteous and efficient (having said that, it’s not like they’ve had time to grow weary of the workload yet!)

And so we move on to the food.

Let’s start with a surprise - for all the fancy dishes and embarrassing pronunciation dilemmas the menu throws up, it is the French Fries that are utterly insatiable!

So nice that you could easily fall out with a friend or loved one who feels the need to help themselves. No, not for sharing!

Firstly though, we’ll have a look at the starters. The servings are generous enough to allow scope for sharing. We tried the heavily breadcrumbed calamari, which is tasty enough and served with a superb tartare sauce and scallops, but both of these seafood dishes were second best against a lovely shredded duck and pork pâté with toasted bread. 

Pissaladiere - a traditional flat bread from Nice with caramelised onions, caught our eye, and intrigued we tried two varieties - Anchovy and Reblechon. 

If you love onions, we won’t hold you back, but it was overload for me, and although it worked well with the strong flavour of anchovies, you’d have to love both to not favour the safe option of Fouggasse (garlic bread with parsley and sea salt).

As for mains, you’ve pretty much got the choice of chicken, steaks and seafood. There’s also Duck Confit and Lamb Shank on the menu if you’re the type that likes to be different.

The chicken is all free range from the Les Landes area of South West France, and the half chargrilled chicken is complemented by those super fries, and a choice of three sauces (you can’t go far wrong with any of them).

It’s tenderly cooked if a little ordinary, and you might feel the need to order a side, perhaps of minted peas, to stop it looking a little lonely on the plate.

The seafood is a case of a job well done - a smiley face from the teacher but not quite a gold star. There are similarities between the Strada menu (you’ll have to try the linguine and the mussels to see if it’s preferable to East Street alternatives).

The fish in my cod stew (again, from the specials board) was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi, but that was compensated by it swimming in a delicious sauce - perfect for throwing in my side order of fries.

And we couldn’t walk away without sampling a steak - one of Côte’s signature dishes. Cote serves Brannigans Irish  “aged on the bone’ chargrilled steaks - and they’re delicious, particularly with the Roquefort Butter sauce, and cooked to perfection.

If you can find room for dessert, you’d need an extra special craving to look beyond the speciality, Creme Caramel. Truth be told, it’s not quite as irresistible as the Crema Catalana served up at El Bodegon in Piries Place, but it’s delicious all the same.

The Tarte Fine Aux Pommes (that’s apple tart to those of you who opted for German at Key Stage 3, or like us, didn’t pay attention in class) is good but at £5.15 not a cheap option. The best bit about it is the vanilla ice cream, and you wouldn’t regret opting for ice creams and sorbets instead.

For what it’s worth, next time I eat at Côte it is my intention to disregard the sweets (unless I’m in the mood for the caramel) and opt for the cheese board - Roquefort and Reblechon served with bread and grapes.

There is a breakfast menu, which we haven’t had the opportunity to sample as yet, but  we know it offers everything from a Full English (£7.35) to your traditional French (pain au chocolat is £2.20). Breakfast is served from 8am-midday.

 There’s also a very good lunch time and early evening special menu, with two courses for £9.75 and three for £11.70, with most of those signature dishes  on offer.

And it would simply be unreasonable to criticise Côte for that reason. You will find better food in Horsham, even in East Street, and you will find cheaper food too, but you will not find better food at these prices anywhere in town.

Others run them close already, and many more restaurants will have to consider their prices as the competition grows stronger by the week (Sanmae opened last week..)

And  so Côte is not just good news for East Street, now enjoying its best footfall for many years, but good news for our pallette and our pockets too!