Cote Brasserie - Lewes in Lewes

It’s really difficult to pick out one thing. The staff at this Cote definitely make it special and the food here is much better than the London Cotes I’ve been to. We’ve eaten here a few times and it’s always been a special memory meal.

Our Waitress really good. Looked after us so well

Côte is an absolute gem! I celebrated my 40th birthday here and couldn’t have chosen a better spot. This was our 3rd visit. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, with just the right balance of elegance and comfort. The staff were attentive, friendly, and made the experience extra special with their thoughtful service. The food was exceptional - every dish was beautifully presented and bursting with flavour. Everything was cooked to perfection and tasted divine. The wine selection was also impressive, perfectly complementing the meal. If you’re looking for a place with amazing food, wonderful service, and a charming setting, Côte is a must-visit. I’ll definitely be coming back!

We celebrated our son and future daughter in-laws engagement here. The staff were brilliant and treated them to a glass of bubbles and cute congratulations motif on their desserts. It was great to have an exclusive little room to ourselves and we felt unhurried and relaxed. Thank you

Everyone's food was excellent; they came quickly, and the staff were friendly and welcoming.

Our hotel had a sudden power cut so we looked around Lewes and remembered this chain from another town. The welcome we received was fantastic and genuine... the ambiance was wonderful and the Christmas menu was absolutely superb! picture is of the Turkey Ballotine; quite sublime. Everything about our experience here was wonderful and the management should be proud of their staff as everyone was happy and helpful. Recommended. p.s. the Christmas cocktail was excellent too!

At Côte, Lewes, East Sussex: Consistent Excellence My own dietary choices are fundamentally vegetarian; however, I eat oily fish being mindful of the health benefits that may bring; but my nutritional hypocrisy reaches its nadir when it comes to the soupe à l'oignon at Côte in Lewes. My understanding of French onion soup is that it contains beef stock but I am ashamed to report that I have always chosen to overlook that possibility when dining at Côte. I remember vividly watching onion soup prepared in a small restaurant in the city of Carcassonne. Sad to report, the chef was oblivious to the fag ash which occasionally made its way into said soup from the Gitane that dangled precariously from his lower lip throughout the whole process. Fascinating, but not to be commended (although, I believe we still had the soup!). So, visiting for the hundredth time (I exaggerate for effect), I had onion soup, my wife having salmon. Both meals were delightful, including the simple, yet flavoursome beetroot entrée. Service was unpretentious, friendly, concerned, and polite. What else can we say? Moreover, the food here is, above all, consistently excellent. How many restaurants are there which change the quality of their dishes from chef to chef? Or, from washer-up to washer-up? It really does depend on who is in the kitchen and, alas, some places seem to get through their staff like lemmings over a cliff. Now, we all know that restaurants often add free this or that as inducements for customers and so it was on our most recent visit. However, if free onion soup were on offer, I would be there every week. This review refers specifically to Côte in Lewes; but it is part of a ‘chain’ and that can, sometimes, suggest poor quality and a certain lack of culinary imagination. For instance, there is another branch quite close to Lewes which may be equally consistent except for its ambience. I have to confess to hearing loss and the Côte to which I refer is a disaster area for people like me; also, I dare to say for most people who go to restaurants in part to converse. Some places have loud and tasteless muzak so loud that the only way to chat is to try to shout over the background noise. How has this situation been allowed to develop? Who makes the choice of tracks and why is muzak thought to be a good thing? (Not an issue in Lewes, by the way). Another fond memory: Picture a small alleyway in the sunshine with a delicious culinary delight from a small Greek tavern. Now add an acoustic guitarist with only low amplification strumming through his repertoire. Such is not disturbing, such is atmospheric, such is acoustic so good for our hearing, such does not inhibit conversation. By the way, soft good music does not exist exclusively in Greece but it does seem to be lost in the UK. Schroeder24

Didn't particularly enjoy my experience here. The food is incredibly overpriced for what it is and you don't get a lot for your money. My son and me both had the sirloin steak (£25+) which was quite tough and grizzly. Also the waitress came across as a bit condescending. Not a great experience.

Lovely looking restaurant. Comfortable, classy. Servers apart from the manager were sweet and attentive to start with. Starters were ok, nothing amazing, had Camembert, had to use knife to scrap out. Ordered fillet steak, tiny and bone dry and fatty, sent back, second came out worse than the first and cut in half obviously to see if cooked. Took over 40 minutes for puddings to come out. By this point given up. Had to ask for the bill twice and we were just left. No apology from the manager who said absolutely nothing. Poor young server had to apologise. Been to Cotes all over the place and never had an experience like this. Gutted and so disappointed. We were going to book this for our work Christmas do! Ha

Plenty of space, but it was a Tuesday. We enjoyed the Soufflé, it wasn’t outstanding but nice. I had the burger which was very good, my daughter had the Belly Pork which was also very good. We skipped dessert but had surprisingly good coffee.

We had the best time enjoying a breakfast at Cote for my birthday. The staff were so accommodating and friendly. They were attentive and nothing was too much trouble. We will be back.

Our waitress and colleagues were incredibly attentive and understanding considering our table size and number of children. Attentive to our needs and good conversation, food was very good and great experience overall.

Eat here a lot not as good as usual, we did inform them of the shortcomings.

Lovely staff who do their best to see that you have good time. All the courses arrived hot and fresh. Not sitting on the pass waiting. Very good food and good value for money. Can't fault it. Thanks for a lovely evening.

Great little restaurant; fantastic service and great dishes. Good atmosphere, value for money, good lighting, comfortable, clean, all round 5 stars!

Top experience all round: communications, restaurant staff, menu choice food quality and value, all in a very pleasant environment.

Decent menu. For groups you submit a spreadsheet in advance. All as ordered. Friendly staff.

Been here quite a few times in recent years. The food is never super good but on recent trips it has been poor. Steak tough and tasteless. Salad not fresh.

Very attentive staff, good food, fixed menu good value and good quality

Went for breakfast. Good food, and a good deal if you want a hot breakfast, hot drink and juice.

Amazing food, staff, ambience and well priced

Excellent service really happy staff was a joy . Thank you. Food was good too

Wow! We had a voucher to spend as a gift for our 25th silver wedding anniversary and we were not disappointed! Great food great value great staff and super service…we sent our compliments to the chef because from the red pepper tomato soup/white bait to start, chicken and frites/pan fried sea bass with spinach and green bean sides to share, polished off with a crepe and chocolate mousse, each mouthful was heaven! We felt like we were on super chef and certainly would have given 10 out of 10 as the tasters! A very happy meal with happy memories thanks so much for the chambers on arrival and a delicious raspberry mojitos cocktail. We will definitely be going again. Really tasty great portions not too much or too little. £70 for both of us for such a special occasions was a bargain for top notch quality food so we can’t recommend this place highly enough.x

Both the food and the staff were spectacular. Every bite was delicious, we recieved a very warm welcome and great recommendations from the menu.

Great venue for an impomtue date night, good night had by both!

Great experience for a family meal out. Lovely efficient staff and super food. Very tasty salad and burgers. Loved the board starters too. Will definitely be back.

Nice atmosphere. Attentive, polite and efficient staff. However 2 x chosen choices had run out..mussels and dessert g/f chocolate mousse..very disappointing. Hopefully next time all choices will be available.

Google strikes again! Fake reviews masking poor quality overpriced food. We had the £20 beef cheek bourguignon which was all grissle, and the £15 haddock pie which had 3 undercooked prawns and some small pieces of fish beneath a sloppy potato "crust". Service was great but what's the point if the food is bad?

We visited as a post registry office wedding with close family on Friday. The generosity of the team was so lovely, we are very pleased we chose to book Cote. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal. Special thank you to the team working on Friday afternoon for their kindness towards our booking. Many thanks again!

We were there for a wedding reception. It was a really lovely restaurant, the area used by the wedding party intimate and cosy. The food was absolutely delicious, I heard no complaints from anyone. The wine was really quite good. The waiting staff were great. We'd return that's for sure.

We had our wedding reception here, Robert, Suzi and the team are fantastic and are a credit to the Cote family! Since day one if meeting them they have been incredible. I cant thank them both enough. Also Robyn who was looking after us all evening. Her attention to detail is on point! All food was perfect! Compliments to the kitchen staff! Everyone loved their food. Also great detail for allergies. We had a coeliac, nut allergy and dairy intolerance and they all mentioned how well they were looked after! If you're getting married in Lewes, this is the place to go after! Our day was perfect.

We went to Côte especially to have their Soring special of Asparagus frites which is absolutely the business! It ends tomorrow so if you can, get to a Cote and eat it! We also couldn’t help ourselves and shared the Cote de beuf and finished with their heavenly crème caramel. The service was fantastic, the food was great and when the beef was not to our liking (it was medium to well and we had ordered medium rare), they whisked it away, brought us some bread to keep us from starvation 🤣 and the didn’t charge us for our puddings! This was a true measure of the place , we were happy just to have the meat cooked again and didn’t expect the free puddings. Things can go wrong in restaurants, it is how they deal with them that matters and I cannot fault how they dealt with it. They also accommodated my assistance dog very well. Run don’t walk for a fantastic meal and great customer service!!

I have had wonderful experiences here previously. Good and efficient service ,excellent food ,all at a reasonable price given the quality. My recent visit however was sadly and surprisingly a virtually wholly opposite experience,essentially on all levels . To the extent whereby sadly I won’t be returning .

I fully recommend Cote Lewes. We recently had our wedding reception there, and I have to say that even though we had 30 guests and the restaurant was also full, it was amazing. Everything from the amazing food, lovely atmosphere, and above all, the ever so helpful management and staff made our evening a memorable one.

Good meal! Our server Jess was really nice

Delicious food and very helpful and considerate service from Will today. Very happy

Exemplary food and wine. Super service.

Absolutely great service, attentive,warm, helpful and accommodating service from your Lewes staff on duty tonight, Holly and another. Perfect hosts, a credit to your restaurant. Thank you we enjoyed it very much with excellent food..

As usual the food and wine were really nice and we were well looked after by the team.

Great experience eating here. Unfortunately we won't return as they are card only. Cash is legal tender.

Very expensive for what you get, quite small portions but you definitely pay for the experience.

Alisha was absolutely fantastic, she was so unbelievably kind and smiley and really made our experience extra special. Thank you!

Great little brasserie. Visited here on Mother's Day having booked. We had a table right by the window which was nice as some of the tables towards the back looked a little dingy. Both opted for the Côte breakfast, a mimosa, and a pot of tea. No complaints. Will likely be back for lunch.

My family and I had a lovely time here for our first visit. All very much enjoyed our food and the service we received was great. Definitely recommend if you fancy some classic french dishes

We took Mum for a Mother’s Day treat and the whole experience was top notch. The whole team were friendly and well-trained, the food was great and our waiter (Bartosz) was excellent. He was happy to swap out potatoes for extra veg on one dish, and spoke knowledgeably about the vegan options. More importantly, he was hospitable, warm and charming. Thanks for an all-round lovely lunch!

We had an evening menu fix Prix which we really enjoyed. The manager was helpful, the food was excellent and we would return.

Côte is invariably reliable and this particular outpost in Lewes is no exception. My friend and I had booked in advance and we were warmly welcomed by Bartosz who gave us a choice of table and also stowed our suitcases as we had arrived straight from the railway station. We were quite a bit early but Ellie and Bartosz could not have been more considerate in bringing us cocktails and then waiting for us to place our order. We both had the two course lunch option and everything was perfect. The plum clafoutis was an absolutely divine pudding. The restaurant itself is spacious and comfortable but be aware, should you have mobility needs, the lavatories are downstairs and quite a distance along one maze of a corridor. Beautifully appointed, of course, once reached! Thanks to the excellent staff (who were one member down that day and managed a busy room impeccably) we had the most convivial of lunches. Special thanks to Bartosz who is possibly the most personable waiter my friend and I have met in a long time!

Frankly, either the chef was having a day off or they need a new chef. I had to send my leather-like burger back. Tough as old boots when if I'm going to eat a burger (it was my first for years) I want it moist and luscious. The fries tasted like they'd be fried ages ago and reheated in an oven - dry and overcooked. I sent the burger back and had a beetroot salad instead. It had the appearance and taste of a miscellaneous bunch of ingredients put together by an inexperienced robot. And don't get me started on the rock-hard croutons. I know Cote is not a fancy restaurant but from my experience in Brighton Cote it specializes in taking simple dishes and cooks them well. Not here. The only (and big) redeeming feature was the staff member's readiness to replace the burger and not charge for it and offer a free beer. She couldn't have acted better but no amount of customer care can compensate for really poor cooking.

We had a lovely, relaxing lunch, for four, the service was very friendly and efficient, and the food was beautifully cooked, we will definitely return soon.

A shame to post this as I've had an amazing meal in Cote Brighton, I had the diots and Breton fish stew, both really nice. Unfortunately my partner's burger was very overcooked, it was replaced but I had finished my meal before it was brought out so we were both eating alone. It was removed from our bill though so not all bad. I would still recommend eating there, just maybe don't get the burger.

The whole experience was very positive right from the time we arrived, food was great but the service we received from Chloe and Alisha was superb, very attentive, polite, nothing was too much trouble, a real credit to Cote. Please thank them for us and we will definitely be back again, lovely ambiance at the Lewes restaurant.

We came here for lunch, looking forward to trying their alpine menu. We chose cheese gougeres to share to start with, cheesy choux buns which were ok. I then had a warm beetroot salad, I loved the addition of the pistachios. My friend had the beef bourguignon and my partner had a big comforting dish of Tartiflette that I had to help him with. The food overall is great and doesn’t taste like a chain, and we love the promotions they do, like free cocktails with mains. It’s just the little things that let it down with service, like my menu was dirty, we weren’t given plates with the starter, giving customers a spoon when a dish has a lot of sauce, pouring the wine from a wine bucket for you, helping with the door if someone has mobility issues. Also despite the cocktail promotion still having these appear on our bill. So the food is great but the service lets it down a bit

I had been visiting friends and they told me that a table had been booked.we arrived early and were happy to wait. We were treated by smartly dressed polite members of staff who willingly accommodated or needs food orders drinks arrived. Linen napkins and beautifully clean cutlery. One of my friends remarked on how good the coffee was and ordered a second one. Myself choosing tea ginger and something. It was delicious and the teapot was beautifully proportioned. Breakfast arrived the butter was generous jam and marmalade in individual jars. Sadly the English breakfast was very disappointing bacon had been left to long on the plate and was a tough leathery. The sausage was small and overcooked. Poached eggs were adiquate.the sour dough toast was very good but each slice(2)were very small. I ordered another serving. The bathroom for those with mobility needs was on the same level this was very helpful. One of our party remarked that you needed a route map to find the toilet that they used. I chose not to say anything about my breakfast as I was a guest. On reflection what we received for the price paid was disappointing.cote your chef let you down.

A fair bit out of the main centre of Lewes, and a quite subdued atmosphere. Maybe as it was mid January etc. Not a lot else nearby, just one pub. The food and service were up to normal Cotê standards (which I've always found to be good), and I think my only real gripe is the location, which isn't going to change. Will I go there again? Probably, but maybe in the summer when there might be more people about in the town.

Amazing place, lovely staff and great food. Highly recommend

Fabulous service, asked for more of the carrots for our little grand daughter which they did happily, and done a happy birthday cake and writing for my step daughter couldn't ask for more, even corrected a miss order and didn't charge us

Group of chums meeting for a yearly get together. Had the small room. Perfect for our needs. Asked for music to be turned down. It was. We were in early to get the early and cheaper menu. Excellent. And great service. A memorable evening. Thanks.

Superb food and waiter staff. Well worth a visit. Cuisine is good and our duck was full of flavour. Puddings on the expensive side but main courses very reasonably priced.

Set menu but service added automatically and it is embarrassing to request its removal. Once drinks, service and surcharges added, not such a reasonable deal. Good food but service was slow and inefficient, had to remind a couple of times for courses to be brought e.g. my desert was forgotten for 15 minutes but brought immediately when prompted. Extra £ for truffle on the chips; I’d go as far as to say no truffle flakes added at all. Unhappy with service and seemingly inexperienced staff. Paid a lot of money including alcoholic drinks for mediocre service. Good clean decor and popular spot.

Have never had anything but a superb experience here. Karolina looked after us and she was fantastic and made us feel so welcome. Thanks so much

Overpriced with small portions. Poor vegetarian options. Service staff polite but not particularly welcoming. First course was forgotten, when finally received was rightly taken from bill. Did not feel it was a special experience going to this restaurant. Will not go to Cote Lewes again.

Had a fab breakfast at Cotes with friends on Christmas eve. Even though it was very busy the food arrived hot for all of us at the same time. I had the vegetarian breakfast which was delicious. Service was friendly and outstanding. Would definitely recommend for anyone that wants something a little more special to go out to eat.

The most perfect setting for a truly beautiful reunion

If going for lunch be sure to ask for the set menu - good food for vastly cheaper Only problem is they don't tell you about it you have to ask for it

Excellent service and well prepared, perfectly cooked good food, but at a price. I'd say Cote is quite expensive, but is a fair price for the quality.

Had a lovely overall experience in this place. I had Sea Bream for the first time and it was delicious...perfect for anyone who doesn't like their fish "too fishy" like me. Alcohol free cocktail and pear and almond with ice cream dessert was great too. Prices were fairly reasonable and there's a 10% service charge...I much prefer service charges to having to decide how much to tip...I just hope it goes to the staff who serve you rather than the company profit margins. The ambience was great and its a nice touch when they dim the lights and bring candles around when the sun goes down. All the staff we dealt with were lovely and they clearly have a great staff culture and get along very well. The only slight thing I'd say is that i've never been somewhere where it's such a trek to get to the toilet! It was a bit like a maze down those stairs! You turn corner after corner and the toilet never comes! Although no a problem for me, it could be for some people so be a aware of this if you have the unfortunate combination of a weak bladder and any mobility issues.

Just want to commend suzie and the wonderful team at cote on squeezing us in at last minute regardless of being extremely busy this evening, after booking a table two days ago at zorba for this evening to be turned away as they had a private party, no apologies offered either, regardless of the booking we had made, I have since seen this seems to be not just us this has happened to recently. We love zorba, but this isn’t acceptable. Hats off to cote and their staff! Incredible service and an also incredible meal. If you’re looking for a lovely evening meal, would highly recommend, as already looking forward to our next time dining with them! Thank you cote! X

We had dinner here with our neighbours recently. Saturday night so absolutely rammed and very noisy (cost of living crisis?). The wine was excellent, a fabulous Bordeaux c. £40 and a pleasant rosé. But the food….there were TWO green beans at the bottom of my chicken dish, the one with the dried up sauce. The fish came equally undisturbed by vegetables. We all know that the hospitality sector is struggling but just taking a bit more care and providing portions that the chef can be proud of, would surely bring more people in (not that there was room for more the evening we were there)? There’s also a sense that the kitchen can’t cope, food that has been left under a heat lamp and has dried out for example. We really like Cote and will eat there again, and so should you, but they need some encouragement to get things right.

Came to this restaurant for a date, very lovely atmosphere, food was amazing! Was served by Suzi, at the restaurant in lewes, very welcoming and lovely despite me forgetting to order my starters before my mains, overall lovely! Will be back!

This was a large group meal arranged as part of a reunion weekend and we could not have been made to feel any more welcome. We enjoyed a lovely meal, excellent service and friendly, helpful, professional staff. Special thanks to Suzi who was extremely helpful when planning this and in accommodating some changes to our booking. We wish that we all lived nearer so that we could visit regularly!

A very lovely relaxing afternoon spent here with family. Each of us really enjoyed our food it was superb. Service was great and a wonderful atmosphere! I would highly recommend for any occasion.

Well conceived menu, nice wine list. Very helpful and attentive staff. Very enjoyable.

Excellent food and very responsive service

Great food, lovely staff; will definitely keep coming.

Great choice of dishes on the menu, together with drinks. Fabulous service from Aleisha, she kept checking on us throughout our meal, really friendly and welcoming. All the staff were great also. My husband and I had the Beef bourguignon and it was delicious. Will be visiting again.

Such a lovely evening last night at Cote for their annual canapés and fizz evening. Amazing food and attentive staff, will return for more soon !

From the start, staff were friendly and attentive, food was to die for, onion 🌰 soup was the best, and as for my main - belly of pork 😋 - incredible, cotes at Lewes 10/10. See you again, Richard

Our table was not one we had requested when booking. Service very slow, so did not have enough time for a dessert and my main meal was not what I had ordered 😕. Very disappointing experience.

Really good restaurant. Excellent food and service!

Good food choices in a good location in Lewes. Very good staff on the evening we were there

We came for our anniversary meal on Halloween and had a lovely meal - delicious pork belly! Wanted to highlight to great service from the staff that evening - just the right level of attentive (particularly the girl who greeted &t on our order) We were also surprised with complimentary welcome cocktail and chocolate desert as we were celebrating. Such a nice touch! Will definitely return.

Always great food with amazing service.

This was our 2nd visit here and both were very good. The service is excellent with very friendly and helpful staff. The food is very good and there is a good selection available. They have a wide variety of wine on offer and some cocktails as well.

Overall poor. Gone downhill since our last visit. Tall manager, wearing a mask, scruffy clothes. Not impressed. Serving staff no heart in service. Food mediocre. This restaurant used to a pleasure, now no life in it.

Steak was like leather....Please use another butcher

I love the ambience of the restaurant located on High Street. I asked for meal recommendations, and I loved every bit.

Lovely warm welcoming staff, excellent service, great food and drink.

We were warmly welcomed. The service was very friendly and efficient. The food and wine arrived promptly even though it was busy. The ambience was very congenial, altogether an excellent venue for an enjoyasble meal. The steak frites, confit of duck bigarade and the sea bream were all excellent as was the creme caramrel.

Exceptional food and service in this elegant and spacious brasserie in the charming town of Lewes. The service is personal and gracious. Bartosz is a uniquely talented manager and helped us with great panache through the wonderful à la carte menu. We had the prix fixe, two dishes for £ 16.95 which was excellent value considering the quality of the ingredients but the manager treated us as if we were prize customers !The charcuterie, soup, grilled chicken with mushroom sauce and the moorish vegetarian dish were all delicious and cooked with care. The French red wines we picked were all excellent, particularly the Merlot. The lovely and intense chocolate mousse was a wonderful treat to finish this excellent dunner. Highly recommended.

Meet with old friends, staff arranged for seating at the rear of the restaurant which was nice, albeit a fairly quiet lunchtime for business. Some had starters which were fine as was the chicken main. Sirloin however did not meet with everyone's favour,  a bit...

Great lunch time service. Well cooked tasty food.

Were very well looked after by Karolina. The Crab Maison was delicious, and the ambiance was lovely.

The service as always was attentive and friendly - small details like offering to take coats make theg difference. Food was fresh and tasty. As an older person I found the subtle lighting made it harder to read the menu, but I realise it contributes to ambience.

The usual good standard you expect from Cote.

Visited on stop off from Brighton to Essex on Thursday late afternoon.. Food was delicious and management and staff were so friendly . Really looked after us . Thanks again . Minute steak was huge . X

Very good food and service. Great value for money. Fantastic staff.

Food was great. Staff went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. Interesting old building. Great meal out.

I live in Brighton so usually go to that restaurant, which is lovely too, but as this occasion was my sister's birthday and we decided to meet in Lewes we came to this restaurant. We both love Cote Brasserie. The food is always of a high standard and the ambiance, setting and staff are always perfect. We really enjoyed our lunch here and it was great to see some customers also enjoying a Friday lunch, but good for us that the restaurant wasn't crowded, which we prefer. This particular restaurant was laid out really well and I think I preferred it to the Brighton branch. Thank you so much.

Cote is in a beautiful old building and the inside is surprisingly large, but quirky. We were met by a very charming, I assume, manager who gave us a little tour and asked us whereabout we would like to sit, which I thought was lovely....

Beware - this is a cashless restaurant