{"id":783,"date":"2015-08-03T13:17:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T12:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/wp\/?p=783"},"modified":"2026-02-07T19:04:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T19:04:58","slug":"cote-dinner-in-kingston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/cote-dinner-in-kingston\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00f4te \u2013 Dinner in Kingston – restaurant review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"C\u00f4te This is a lovely spot on the River Thames and well patronised by shoppers during the day and socialisers in the evening. But despite its modern fa\u00e7ade, Kingston has history and how a lote of restaurants such as C\u00f4te.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It belonged to the king in Saxon times, as its name suggests, and was the earliest recorded royal borough. It was first mentioned in documents as far back as 838 and it lay on the boundary between the independent kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. Kingston\u2019s historic Market Place has been a centre of the community since around 1170. Over the past 800 years it\u2019s been used for the punishment of criminals as well as the sale of food.<\/p>\n

We wanted an evening by the river after a hot summer day. This stretch of water has inspired books, films and TV. It is where the Victorian novel Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome has its opening scenes. The area around Kingston Bridge is now a thriving caf\u00e9 and restaurant neighbourhood, and that\u2019s where we were heading.<\/p>\n

\"C\u00f4te<\/p>\n

C\u00f4te\u2019s Brasserie is a branch of a chain but let us not be sniffy about that. If one didn\u2019t know then one would think that this restaurant, at least, was just a rather nice independently-run contemporary space selling French food. Its location would likely ensure its popularity for much of the year but the quality of the food will keep it full for most of the day and for all of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Piquant Mixed Olives – spicy marinated olives with rose harissa, caper berries and cornichons – were our nibbles as we leafed through the wine list (many by the glass) and food menu. It\u2019s not a huge bill of fare but it\u2019s comprehensive and offers a real flavour of France \u2013 good traditional dishes that have had many pontificating with such phrases as \u2018Well, nobody does it like the French\u2019, even when we do!<\/p>\n

The Charcuterie Board was my starter and proved to be a substantial spread of jambon de Savoie, smoked duck breast (outstanding), saucisson sec and duck rillettes with baby gem salad and chargrilled pain de campagne on the side. This would constitute a small lunch in some quarters! Beautifully presented meats.<\/p>\n

My guest\u2019s starter was Baked Crottin, traditional goat\u2019s cheese from the Loire Valley, served warm atop a lamb\u2019s lettuce and apple salad, walnuts, croutons and sultanas. This is a classic combination with the tang of the soft cheese contrasted with the sweet fruit.<\/p>\n

Traditional Breton fish stew was my main course. Sea bass was arranged on top of a sizeable portion of mussels, clams, prawns and squid with tomato, white wine and chilli. It was served with a bit of theatre as the domed lid was removed from the bowl. Under \u00a314? A remarkable price. It was heavy on the fish element and has enough delicious broth to make some French bread an essential mopping-up side dish.<\/p>\n

\"C\u00f4te Poulet \u2018Breton\u2019 is a speciality here at C\u00f4te. It\u2019s corn-fed chicken reared in Brittany in the west of France. Half Chargrilled \u2018Breton\u2019 Chicken served with frites and wild mushroom sauce made with cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche and thyme was my guest\u2019s main course. Nothing fancy or too cheffy, just chicken and chips done right, with the quality of ingredients shining through. The sauce was a masterful touch and full of earthy flavour from real wild mushrooms.<\/p>\n

C\u00f4te Chocolate and praline cr\u00eape with caramelised bananas and cr\u00e8me Chantilly was a shared dessert. This was a delicate finish to the meal. The pancake was light and the bananas were a delightful combination of crisp and soft. Very French but with a little exotica. This was worth waiting for, although the apple tart had sounded tempting, too.<\/p>\n

C\u00f4te Kingston is both contemporary and traditional. Its food can be enjoyed by the whole family without breaking the bank. It\u2019s great value for money but quality had not been sacrificed. Service is professional and the ambiance is vibrant. Well worth a visit.<\/p>\n

C\u00f4te Kingston
\nUnit 6, Riverside Walk
\nKingston Upon Thames
\nKT1 1QN<\/p>\n

Phone: 020 8546 9422<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Visit C\u00f4te Kingston here<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read more articles about hotels and restaurants in Surrey here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Restaurant review by Chrissie Walker \u00a9 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a lovely spot on the River Thames and well patronised by shoppers during the day and socialisers in the evening. But despite its modern fa\u00e7ade, Kingston has history […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,7],"tags":[1908,75,208,8,209,9,140],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european","category-restaurants","tag-cote","tag-french","tag-kingston","tag-london","tag-riverside","tag-steak","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25783,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions\/25783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}