Côte St Albans

Lovely food lovely staff and great atmosphere. I think the chef in St Albans is a particularly good one. We keep going back again and again. It’s our happy place!

We ate at the St Albans Cotes on Thursday the 25th April, having the 3 course set menu pre theatre. All four of us were so pleased with the food. It was superb and I did thank the Chefs. Everything was beautifully cooked, really well presented and lovely and hot. The staff were lovely too, professional and friendly. Great food, great experience, great value, thank you. Cheryl

Incredible value set menu, great size portions and excellent quality food. Very good service too and a nice atmosphere. The best by far of the ‘chain’ restaurants in St Albans

My main arrives cold. Whilst everyone apologised and my dish had to be taken away and warned up, this changed the meat from tender to well done. I felt I should have been offered some money off of at least offered a glass of wine. This is my first disappointment from a restaurant I usually love. There were hardly any of people in the restaurant in Sunday so my food should not arrive cold.

We all really enjoyed our mother’s day meal. Service was good so the children didn’t get chance to get bored. Tasty food! Excellent meal out. Thanks

Great service and lovely food! Will definitely be returning soon!

The noise level was so bad that it was impossible to communicate with my guests. Service and staff excellent The food was good but the noise level completely spoilt our meal. My wife went home with a headache.

The food was delicious and the staff were very attentive. We had the duck breast and steak frites which were both juicy and flavoursome. We will definitely return soon.

Excellent food and service as always, at a reasonable price.

Thank you for a perfect evening of good food and good speedy service for my 44 guests at my leaving party. Everyone had positive comments about the food and venue. Thank you

Booked a table for 4 for 5:30 on Saturday 23 March. Bubbly, happy, pleasant staff. Food and the service was excellent. Will go again. Recommend the Duck.

A lovely building, wide menu, great service and delicious food. It was very noisy because it was busy and it is a big space which made it a strain to be heard and chat comfortably.

Great food, good service. Highly recommended. I always find dining at Cote a good experience, having now visited a few branches.

Excellent service and food. Beverage service was quick and food service followed shortly after. Definitely recommended for a speedy breakfast. Coffee particularly good although hot chocolate could do with some improvement. Take a leaf out of the Belgians guys.

We always have a great meal in Cote and last night was no different. Both food and service were excellent!

Excellent waiter. Food and drinks were delicious. We will definitely visit again.

Food very good. Service not at usual standard. Asked for ketchup and fresh napkin but neither arrived. Waited so long to order desert we gave up. Also asked for a little bit of bread to go with starter and charged for it, seems very mean.

We eat regularly at Cote St. Albans. At least one a month. Our dining experience is always excellent. The menu is large and the selections are wonderful. We absolutely love Cote

Very good service. The food was very good. I had the roast pork. My husband had a steak and my mother had the veal chop. The steak was cooked to perfection. Thank you for a lovely Easter lunch.

Excellent food, attentive service, a very enjoyable experience. We were in the restaurant for two hours and this felt very leisurely. The prestige menu was very good value.

Free cocktails didn’t taste nice Good good as always, felt a little rushed

Food was very good though the service was a little slow.

Was a perfect brunch and loads of choice Staff were friendly and efficient Good value and unexpected experience Would definitely recommend it For A family get together

We love Cote St Albans, the staff are efficient and friendly, the atmosphere is perfect, not too noisy and the food is delicious and good value. No wonder it is such a success with us.

Lovely meal, good service bit too cold in seating area

We had main courses from the special April menu. The rose veal and lamb rump were both cooked beautifully. As usual the service was excellent and the ambience superb.

Good food,good service and a great location That's why we are regular customers

Delicious breakfast great food and good value, love going. The breakfast and lunch offers are fab so great excuse to treat yourself!! Had the crepe breakfast for the first time... it was amazing.

Good food and service but when there are only three tables occupied why were we put right by the bar and next to the disabled/baby changing toilet? A very big restaurant with plenty of empty tables. We did change tables but very draughty. We were not offered the evening menu. We were served 6 glasses of the G And T cocktails immediately we sat down. Unfortunately 5 of these were not wanted but no alternative on offer.

the food was incredible as was the service. I had the lamb which was so tender I almost didn't need a knife to cut it. this was served on mashed potato and petite pois which were sweet and tender. I decided to have the banana & chocolate crepe which was pre-made. The meal was finished off by a superbly made Irish coffee. The portions could perhaps be a little bigger but on the whole I definitely would come again.

My experience was a bit flat - something felt missing from this restaurant. The waiter was pleasant enough but the food was really disappointing: the squid to start was a bit ‘deep fried’ greasy, and because of this I suspected it was cooked from frozen. However, most disappointing was the beef bourguignon - no shallots, no chunky veg - just a small-portioned bowl of salty beef. If I was being unkind I’d say that it looked like half a tin of stewing steak had been emptied onto my plate; a more generous description would be to say that what was there was OK. I guess I’m just disappointed - the price is high enough for them to do a better job (£16 for my main). I like Cote and I expected more, based off previous visits. I hope this is a blip and they’re not slipping into that dreaded third phase of the restaurant lifecycle - decline; after growth and consolidation. It’s the path we see so often when chains get too big and just focus on the bottom line, rather than just enjoying doing what made them popular in the first place. I’m not sure whether I’ll go back. I don’t go out that often (young children) and if it’s 50/50 whether I’ll get a decent meal it may not be worth the risk. Shame, really.

Great food and excellent value, however service needs to be more attentive particularly around shift change in the afternoon. However would visit this restaurant again .

Upon arrival the person greeting us tried to seat us at a table in the front window in an entirelty deserted and "cold" area of the restaurant, I understand how diners visible through the window attracts other customers in but it the diredct cost to the first two who's experienced would be blighted by the complete lack of atmosphere and iscolation. I asked to be seated at a table firther into the restaaurnat hwere there was a nuimber of other guests and a very convivial and hospitable buizz and atmosphere. The two Elderflower Gin & Tonics (the subject of this month's promotion) were delivered upon request. Neither had any effervesance whatsoeer and I can only conclude that the tonic water used was devoidof gas. Additionally the glasses were both sticky suggesting that one of the indredients, some sort of syrup (?) had been spilled down the outside of the gleass when ithey were being prepared. I asked for them to be changed and the replacements were in clean glasses but the drinks were not much more sparkling than the first ones. But they were acceptable and enjoyable to drink. Except for the ridiculously small half filled pots of accompanying sauces (chaged for separately) for the Breton Chicken,the food and wine was excellent in all respects - the coffee too. We were served by a really excellent waiter "Dillon" who really made our evening. Only the two issues mentioned at the beginning of this reviewed prevented me from awarding you 6 stars!

The service of our main waitress was poor and the whole attitude of the staff was not at all professional. The food was ok but nothing special.

Absolutely loved my breakfast experience. The breakfast deal is great value for money and delicious. Would have every week if I could!! So much choice and the staff are very attentive and friendly

Always good service and the lunchtime special is always fabulous value for money. Served promptly so you can go in your lunch hour without fear of rushing

I booked for my Birthday celebrations. We all received a free kia royal which was yum. The food and drinks as usual lovely and delicious. Every member of staff working that night was amazing, so accommodating and friendly. They're a real asset to your business. Thank you Kelly

Went for Mother’s Day. We had the set menu which was very good value. Lovely food , cooked perfectly. The service was very good too. Very professional. Definitely recommend it !

Excellent food, well-presented. Wine good and service fine. Very good spot for lunch.

Great food, service nice, ambience very nice. Table of 8 . We had a lovely time at during a 5 pm sitting , service slow to start but soon git inti the groove and all went well. We love Cote. St Albans

Four of us had a two course lunch and each course was delicious.

Amazing time at Cote St Albans. We served by a young Italian waiter who was simply superb. Sorry forget the name of the young man but he was brilliant! We had the duck and loved it he also sorted us muscles to start and they were lovely. Desert was cheese which we shared and they even put a candle in it for my birthday! Thanks Guys!

Went for breakfast as a couple. Lovely food within a good deal. Good service as waiters/ waitresses were very attentstive. Highly recommend for breakfast/ brunch. Will definitely be back.

We had a really excellent evening tonight with friends. The food was excellent, well presented and cooked to perfection. The sparkling wine is excellent value compared to other restaurants and is very palatable!! The desserts were all delicious and we will certainly be returning again in the near future.

We had a really excellent evening tonight with friends. The food was excellent, well presented and cooked to perfection. The sparkling wine is excellent value compared to other restaurants and is very palatable!! The desserts were all delicious and we will certainly be returning again in the near future.

Always a good meal/service/value - recent visit was a big birthday - thank you.

I love this restaurant, and visit frequently, but on this occasion my mum and I were spoken to so rudely by our server that we had to leave. My mum has dietary issues so politely asked if something on the breakfast menu could be adjusted so she could eat it, and our server barked “NO” before she’d finished speaking. She was rude and cold, and when we mentioned politely that we’d found her attitude unpleasant she became argumentative, insisting that “no, I wasn’t rude” and physically blocking us from leaving the booth. It really tainted our nice Mother’s Day outing and I think it will be a while before I come here again.

Food is amazing value service excellent in a lovely relaxed environment perfect

Real Anglo French atmosphere. Leasurly service without pressure and good food too. The staff are pleasant and helpful and the general feeling is not confined having space for privacy.

As always Food very good. However table we were given was much too close to the bar which was quite noisy at times while staff prepared various drinks Etc. It seemed that all the tables in that area were much too close together and as it was quite a busy time most of the tables were full and therefore made the noise level at times quite unbearable, as quite a large part of the restaurant wasn’t being used we felt it necessary to shout when talking as did the other diners. Are the tables packed close together to make it more convenient for the staff?

very good service and food , vegan diners were well looked after too