Viva Lewes Issue #156 September 2019

FOOD REVIEW
Côte
Lovely Friday lunch
We like Côte. It’s probably our
venue of choice for a family birthday
or other treat. And we like it
especially when we get one of their
booths. (I like the online booking,
which always seems very efficient,
and allows me to express this preference.)
I like the fact too that the
building is the old Lloyds Bank,
which always flashes through my
mind when I walk in. Where I had
my first ‘student’ bank account so
many moons ago…
But I digress. Today, one August
lunchtime, we slid into our booth
seats gratefully and I impetuously
ordered a Pampelle Spritz (£6.95).
Cocktails aren’t my thing, but this
I enjoyed. The waiter alerted me “you have to
like grapefruit…” Well, I do, and the spritz was
refreshing and soothing with a serious grapefruit
kick. Good.
We ordered bread. My companions (family) dug
in enthusiastically, all saying how much they like
the Côte bread. Narrow slices, fresh and crispy,
served with butter on the side, you get all the
satisfaction of bread-while-you-wait without
denting your appetite.
I went with the Lunch Menu (two courses
£11.50, three courses £13.95), starting with the
Zucchini Fritti, which were delicious. Just breadcrumbed
enough to give a crunch and shift of
texture but not too much to obscure the lovely
courgette, and beautiful dipped in Mayonnaise
Verte. “Currently our most popular dish”, our
waiter said. Pete chose the Prestige Menu (two
courses £15.95, three courses £18.95), and opted
for the Moules Marinière to start. He said the
mussels were lovely and fresh and the sauce
“not too creamy, good consistency,
garlicky, just right, finely chopped
onion in it and fresh herbs, and a
generous helping”. He approved
of the “spoon to deal with the
sauce”. One happy customer.
The boys had Calamari, complemented
beautifully (as was my
Zucchini) with lemon to squeeze,
and tartare sauce. They then went
on to the Steak Frites, which is
both of their favourites. It’s just
perfect – good sized steak (not too
enormous), and served with garlic
butter “which makes it”, and excellent
crispy fries.
Pete had Sea Trout for his main,
which he also raved about. Again,
the sauce caught his imagination – “gentle,
mustardy, just the right amount of dill” – but he
also enthused about the “perfectly cooked fish”
and “melt-in-the-mouth new potatoes”. He liked
the presentation – “bright green petit pois”, etc.
My Chicken Salad, meanwhile, was also excellent.
Lots of strong flavours – including Roquefort
cheese, capers, endive and brioche croutons – all
held by the smoother gem salad and crispy grilled
chicken.
We managed two puddings. Again, the boys both
chose Coupe Noire, “chocolate sauce mixing
beautifully with melted ice cream”. Pete loved
his “Crumble Aux Pêches” served beautifully in
what looked (to me) like a mini Le Creuset, it
was “luscious mm mmm”, he said. “Velvety, with
finely chopped peach”.
This, we all agreed, is what lunch in a restaurant
should be like – both food-wise, and the decor…
Charlotte Gann
82 High Street. cote.co.uk/restaurant/lewes/
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