Côte Brasserie has unveiled its most extensive menu transformation yet, so naturally we volunteered to investigate the returning Prix Fixe menu, the restored French favourites and as many desserts as professional duty could reasonably justify. Manager Christina and her excellent team welcomed us on a particularly hot day with a Cherry Blossom Spritz, a refreshing opening move and considerably more civilised than collapsing face-first into the nearest ice bucket.
Hard work, certainly. But someone had to do it.
A Fresh Start at Côte Brasserie Tunbridge Wells
The Royal Tunbridge Wells brasserie has the relaxed assurance Côte does well. It feels smart without being stiff, lively without requiring diners to conduct negotiations by semaphore and recognisably French without turning the room into a theme park.
Our nominal mission was to examine the returning Prix Fixe menu. Curiosity, however, has ruined many carefully constructed lunch plans, and ours soon expanded into a wider tour of the refreshed offering.
The new menu launched on Tuesday, June 16 and stretches across breakfast, brunch, lunch and all-day dining. The Prix Fixe option is available from 11.30 am, Monday to Friday, with two courses priced at £19.95 and three at £23.95.
That is an appealing proposition at a time when even opening a restaurant menu can feel like the beginning of a minor financial enquiry.
Three Starters and Not a Sensible Decision Between Them
Rather than endure the emotional turmoil of choosing one starter, we assembled a sharing selection.
The Pork Rillettes arrived with pickled cucumbers, celeriac remoulade and seeded sourdough. Rich, savoury pork was kept in line by the acidity and crunch of the cucumber, while the remoulade brought creaminess without tipping the plate into excess.
The Marinated Tomato Salad offered a fresher counterpoint, combining chèvre cream, rocket, raspberry dressing and brioche croutons. Tomatoes and raspberries may sound like two strangers placed beside each other at a wedding, but the sharp, fruity dressing made a convincing introduction.
Garlic & Chilli King Prawns completed the opening trio. Served in a cherry tomato and white wine butter sauce with sourdough baguette, they delivered the sort of sauce that renders cutlery largely ceremonial. The bread did not so much accompany the dish as perform essential recovery work.
The flavoursome test had been passed. Unfortunately for our waistbands, the kitchen had barely begun.
Fish Parmentier Brings Proper Brasserie Comfort
The Fish Parmentier was the most immediately comforting of the main courses: haddock, prawns and smoked salmon in a white wine and leek sauce, covered with potato purée and a burnished cheese crust.
It was cooked beautifully. The fish remained distinct beneath the topping, the sauce had sufficient richness without drowning everything beneath it, and the cheese crust delivered precisely the sort of golden resistance one wants from a dish built around seafood and mashed potato.
This was not lunch designed for nibbling while pretending to answer emails. It was a proper plate of food requiring attention, appetite and, ideally, no urgent plans immediately afterwards.
Beef Bourguignon and Duck Confit Return to Familiar Ground
The Beef Bourguignon brings five-hour-slow-cooked beef cheek together with mushrooms, bacon, carrots, and creamed potatoes.
Slow-cooked beef cheek needs no gimmickry. Its entire case rests on patience, depth and the ability to surrender at the slightest pressure from a fork. Here it supplied the deep, savoury character expected of a French brasserie classic, while the creamed potatoes handled the sauce with admirable efficiency.
Then came the returning Duck Confit: a crisp duck leg with orange and passion-fruit jus, wild mushroom creamed lentils, and Tenderstem broccoli.
The duck provided the contrast the dish demanded, with crisp skin giving way to tender meat. Orange is an established companion, but the passion fruit added a brighter, sharper edge that stopped the plate becoming too heavy. The lentils were earthy and comforting, making the dish feel familiar without being entirely predictable.
We were also steered towards the French beans and the free-flowing frites. The recommendation was sound. Unlimited frites may not solve any of civilisation’s larger problems, but it represents progress of a sort.
A Menu Refresh Driven by Returning Favourites
Côte’s Executive Chef Steve Allen, formerly an Executive Chef for Gordon Ramsay, has shaped the new menu around both regional French influences and direct customer feedback.
Steve Allen, Côte’s Executive Chef, said: “One of the best parts of my job is hearing what our guests think. And over the last few months, I’ve heard one thing rather clearly: guests missed some of our old favourites. When we introduced our last menu, we made some big changes. While many were well received, there were a few dishes that you weren’t quite ready to say au revoir to.
“We’ve brought back some of the dishes you’ve been asking for, alongside new recipes inspired by the regions, flavours and traditions that make French food so special. I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you.”
The return of Duck Confit and Poulet Grillé suggests Côte has listened rather than assumed every menu change must involve abandoning familiar dishes for something involving foam and an architectural garnish.
Alongside the returning classics, the Prix Fixe selection includes dishes such as Crispy Whitebait, Fish Parmentier, Creamy Tomato Mafalde and Steak Frites.
Côte’s New Menu Looks Beyond Lunch and Dinner
The refresh is broader than the Prix Fixe offering.
Côte brasseries now open from 8 am Monday to Saturday and from 9 am on Sundays. Breakfast choices include bowls, homemade granola, pastries, baguettes, omelettes and filled croissants.
Weekend brunch runs until 2.30 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with Free-Flow French Toast allowing diners to choose their toppings and return for unlimited refills. There is also a Brunch Burger and an optional 90 minutes of free-flowing fizz, which should be sufficient time for most respectable plans to become considerably less organised.
Elsewhere, Plaice Frites gives British fish and chips a French brasserie adjustment, pairing fish with crushed petit pois, house-made tartare sauce and signature free-flowing frites.
The all-day menu also includes Provençal Fougasse, a build-your-own Charcuterie Board, Breton Fish Stew, Risotto Vert and a Steak Haché Burger made with Côte Butchery beef and served with peppercorn sauce.
For diners hoping to remain functional after lunch, a Lighter Mains section features dishes under 800 calories, including Crab & Prawn Linguine, Creamy Tomato Mafalde and a build-your-own Caesar Salad.
We noticed this section. We simply chose not to involve ourselves.
Cherry Crêpe and a Chocolate Mousse Built for Mischief
At the point when any reasonable diner would have requested the bill, the mysterious second stomach made its traditional appearance.
The Cherry Chocolate Crêpe came with cherry compote, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Warm crêpe, cool ice cream, dark chocolate and sharp fruit are not exactly an experimental combination, but there is a reason certain arrangements survive repeated scrutiny. This one disappeared quickly.
The Chocolate Mousse for One was more theatrical. Based on Côte’s original recipe, it came with salted butter biscuits, hazelnuts, dried berries, extra virgin olive oil and Maldon salt, allowing the diner to customise each mouthful.
The olive oil and salt sharpened the chocolate rather than competing with it, while the biscuits and hazelnuts supplied texture. “For One” is technically accurate, although it may create diplomatic difficulties if placed within reach of anybody carrying a second spoon.
A selection of Côte’s exclusive wines and dessert wines accompanied the meal. This did little to improve our chances of returning to the office in a state useful to commerce.
Is the Côte Brasserie Prix Fixe Menu Worth Trying?
The returning Prix Fixe menu provides the clearest value proposition, particularly for a weekday lunch or early dinner. Two courses for £19.95 or three for £23.95 gives diners access to freshly prepared brasserie cooking without turning lunch into a major financial or ceremonial undertaking.
And when a takeaway from McDonald’s or KFC can already take a sizeable bite out of a £20 note, spending only a few pounds more on a proper sit-down meal made with fresh ingredients begins to look less like indulgence and more like common sense. One option arrives in a cardboard box; the other comes with table service, real crockery and no need to eat chips in a car park.
Its greater strength, however, lies in flexibility. Diners can stay disciplined with Prix Fixe, move into the broader menu, order lighter dishes or launch an organised assault on the free-flowing frites.
Our own approach lacked discipline but produced few regrets.
The service from Christina and the Royal Tunbridge Wells team was warm, attentive and well-judged. Courses arrived at a comfortable pace, recommendations were useful, and the room retained an easy atmosphere throughout the meal.
The food was rich, generous and confidently prepared. This is not minimalist dining conducted with tweezers. It is food designed to be recognised, enjoyed and, in several cases, wiped enthusiastically from the plate with bread.
Leaving the restaurant was easy. Returning to the office without falling into a food coma required rather more character.
Some assignments are unforgiving. This one merely demanded another helping of frites.
