Côte Dorchester in West Dorset

Usually food is fantastic but tonight was disappointing

INCREDIBLE! I Had scallops and for starters and steak and mushroom sauce for main. Deserves a Michelin star

I can't remember the last time I had such a sense of satisfaction from a meal out! I went with my mum and had a tuna niçoise salad and a chocolate-type dessert with vanilla ice cream. We realised we had long been starved of excellent food and service before coming here. In a world with such diverse food options, it's nice to go back to classic French cuisine and realise how wonderful it is. Plus the Christmas decorations were beautiful. Thank you to the amazing chefs who cooked for us and the lovely serving staff.

Good, efficient staff. Good selection on the menu and all very tasty!

Great welcome, fabulous food, overall experience excellent

Food was outstanding for both of us. The staff were lovely- attentive without being in your face. Great way to have a birthday lunch.

Went for dinner and the food was fantastic! The staff were so lovely & attentive. They catered to my allergies (shellfish) really well, making notes for everything and making sure it was labelled with a little flag. It wasn't too busy when we went in, but as a very anxious person i quite liked that. Would recommend to anyone and looking to go back for my birthday next month!

Would have given 5 stars but the portions were small for the price; if you have a large appetite you could leave still hungry. However the food was good and the staff were excellent.

Fantastic Quality to the Breakfast and Super Service from Start to Finish.

Lovely atmosphere, excellent food, friendly staff, good wine list - about as good as a town-centre chain restaurant branch could get. Definitely recommended!

Very nice restaurant. The service is excellent and would highly recommend for great food.

Lovely lunch with friendly, efficient service. The food was very good. Nonalcoholic cocktails are great, and I appreciated the wine guidance on the menu to pair with my main course. We both had seafood main courses, which were nicely cooked and presented. Mini puddings with coffee were delicious, and very good value.

Our server Maddie was so friendly, so welcoming and very attentive. The food was delicious and we had a lovely visit!

We were felt to be made very welcome and special by all the staff. The menu we chose was the set vegetarian which was explained to us in great detail. We were amazed at the choice and quality of the food.

I'm a tad bias to this establishment as I love the food and atmosphere here. Although it's a chain restaurant , i still feel like an individual as a customer. The staff treat you really well and give you a personal experience. The menu pricing is at the higher end of the market but as a treat, I think it's worth it. For those on a tighter budget, they offer a set meal menu before 7pm. The morning breakfast menu is also quite good. The reason I pay a little more to eat here is because I feel satisfied with my entire dining experience. I'm not a fan of the 10% gratuity that's automatically added to your bill. I feel the customer should decide what the service is worth, not the company.

This was the first time visiting Cote in Dorchester and it hit the high standards of all other Cote restaurants I’ve visited. From initial contact to excellent friendly service to excellent quality food at an affordable price. It has a relaxed atmosphere and nothing is too much trouble for the staff. Excellent!!!!

Food was fresh hot and well presented venue was a little noisy for my liking. But it was a busy lunchtime so to be expected.

Lovely lunch, perfectly cooked! Lovely atmosphere and staff were amazing

A wonderful evening, exceptional service and gorgeous food! We will be back. Thank you

We eaten here many times. The service is excellent, every time. The food is wonderful - it's so good to have somewhere that serves proper food, including a diverse range of beautifully cooked vegetables. We are vegetarian and the reason why we choose Côte so often is because their vegetarian and vegan dishes have a rich variety of protein choices - eg beans, pulses, eggs, nuts etc. (Too many places in this area seem to offer cheese as THE ONLY protein choice.) And of course, the food at Côte is delicious and leaves you unable to eat more (and we can both be fairly greedy!)

The food was some of the best we have eaten with friendly welcoming staff and a great restaurant atmosphere

We had a lovely evening, catching up with friends whilst eating delicious food. Each course was served at a good speed, and we never felt rushed. Our waitress Alice was super polite, smiley and gave excellent tips on the puddings! She's a credit to your team. Thank you

Great service and atmosphere. Food is awesome.

We've been going to Cotes for many years and you have never failed in all of the above. Your food is fantastic, your staff are always warm, friendly, not too attentive (which is good) and always serve with a smile. The whole restaurant is lovely and we always recommend it to our friends and family. For a chain restaurant, you are one of the best out there. Keep it up.

Great place, lovely food, friendly staff

Another wonderful meal at Cote. Delicious food and excellent service as usual. Chris

Good food, nice decor and cozy restaurant

Good food at reasonable prices and good service.

Party on the tongue, yum yum 😋 food was absolutely tantalisingly delicious, fresh mint tea +++, French toast with butter or with crispy bacon 🥓 😋 😀 😍 😉 hell yeah.... yes food was quality vs quantity hence expensive 😅... customer service could be more refined, but I guess due to the popularity this is probably not much of a priority...one incident of poor service due to no booking... other visits customer service was much improved 👌

Was good Not perfect but good. Was alot more pricey for what you get. I would expect more sides than just chips with a steak for 30 quid... and then you pay extra for the sauce too. The steak wasn't of great quality either. A good chunk of mine was inedible. The cheese souffle however was the best item we had. And the cocktails were pretty good Service was very slow though and it took a while to order and then get the food.

Went here for dinner on thursday and the food and service were excellent. The confit pork belly i had was delicious and the servers were attentive but not fussy, we had a lovely evening.

A decent Cote in the newer development in Dorchester. Staff were very attentive when we were there and food as good as always.

A very lovely dinner, mussels were good & plenty of them. Had the cafe gourmand for dessert & that was nice. Service was good though a little slow on taking our order & when we wanted to settle up. They also gave us the wrong coffee & wrong dessert but quickly rectified the error. It’s not wow but lovely traditional French cuisine.

Went today for mothers day. We didn't book as it was an impromptu decision whilst we were in town. The place was packed, but the staff made all efforts to allow out booking. All the food was perfect and the staff were lovely. Really great restaurant.

Very warm and friendly welcome. All the staff were very helpful. The food was amazing and was a lovely meal. We were visiting before going to the cinema, and all food came out on time. Was allowed to pick which table we would like to be sat at which was great. Will definitely be returning again soon

We have been twice this week, excellent food and service both times. Special thanks to the waiters, always there when needed/wanted, without being intrusive.

Visited Cotè tonight for my nieces birthday and we had a wonderful time Food, drinks, service and atmosphere was excellent. I was a well run restaurant and we never waited for anything. Well done everyone and thank you for making our special night even more special.

Great value menu and lovely atmosphere. Staff very polite and attentive. Will return!

This was a very shocking experience, we got there for 5.30, our starters came out in 30 mins of us being there following on we was waiting for our main meal which took 2 Hours bare in mind 3 out of the 2 meals was steak and chips that should take no longer then 20 minutes at the maximum, the other two was Children’s menu, one of them was pasta that looks very disturbing and tasted very bland and seems to be microwaved we then had to send one of the steaks back as it was awfully chewy and tasted like it was cooked in boiled water. The waiters are lovely it’s just the staff in the kitchen that we are very disappointed with. We then got overcharged by £100 but thankfully the manager was able to sort this out. We will definitely not be going back here again and I definitely do not recommend it to anyone!

Went for a family Xmas eve breakfast and be warned the full breakfast isn't an English full breakfast as we know it , no black pudding , hash browns, beans etc. The mimosa we ordered where 1/2 glasses and when asked why they blagged it that they used different glasses but it was still a full amount and after seeing several others come out in glasses twice our size we realised they had taken the #@ss . My wife ordered granola and the portion size was enough to just about sort out my grandson and at £6 a bowel it works out at £1 a spoon full..... total con. As far as breakfast goes it was tasty and the best scrambled eggs I've ever had but over all it was over priced precocious rubbish. We all agreed we wouldn't entertain the idea of going here for breakfast again wich is a shame as the dinner menu is spot on. Final moan the service charge is automatically added wich I hate, we should at least be asked if we want to tip after all its our money .

Great atmosphere and service. Lovely music and great croque Madame. Very reasonable prices. We had a very relaxing brunch, we will be visiting again

We had a late lunch on a day when the weather was dire, sleet and snow. We were warmly welcomed by the staff who took our coats and scarfs and hung them up to dry. The service was excellent and the selection and quality of the food and wine was superb. The dishes arrived on time and hot. A very pleasant experience that I could not fault.

Nice atmosphere, reasonable prices, good food, good service- all in all a pleasant experience- would recommend.

Lovely staff, great ambience and excellent food

We love this place. Every time we come to Dorchester, we have a meal there. The staff is always friendly service very good and food very tasty and fresh.

I’ve been served by Isabelle twice now, once on my birthday and another last night, she has made the experience great both times, really attentive and checks in regularly, willing to check about information on certain menu items. Great experience, will definitely be back

Able to accommodate our party of 4 people at short notice. We were booked in at another restaurant but because of the awful weather we decided to try our luck at a nearer restaurant and we were successful. As it was our friends 50th wedding anniversary we were given a glass of 🍾 bubbly on the house and upgraded on a bottle of wine. Thank you to the manager, Zachary for a lovely experience ,

Reliable food at a sensible price. Perfect for pre-theatre.

Simply the best quality home cooked French cuisine. The Tuna Niçoise salad is a thing of beauty. Totally recommend. Get a booth.

Always a great vibe. Since Luciano's went down hill, this was a perfect substitute and have now been coming here for a year since 😊🙏

Always a happy place to be. The menu is amazing and incredibly good value. The staff are attentive, professional yet approachable. Love it!

A great staple restaurant, nothing spectacular but reliable and reasonable value for money, especially their lunchtime and midweek evening offers

Was seated on a table next to a woman breastfeeding, not what I want to see when I'm having an evening meal. Not impressed with their payment policy of card only either. Cash is king in my opinion & I would like to be given a choice!! Will not be returning. Sorry.

Very good value. Lovely to be able to sit out in the Square

Lovely meal with family to give my daughter a good send off to Uni. Great food and service. My only struggle is the acoustics as I had trouble hearing, it's quite echoey, anyone with a hearing issue will get what I mean. Great place though, highly recommend 👌

A tasty bit of food, Thank you.

Welcome by the staffs we sitting outside, but I have my little dog with me. We always come here for food to So tasty and very good value for money . especially thank you for Maria for looking after us even the manager Zackary bring water for my dog. Make me and my dog so welcome to come here again such a good value for money and food at it so good xx

I was taken here for a birthday meal by my mum. I had the mussels to start, the pork belly for a main and the chocolate torte as a pudding. The food was all absolutely delicious, service was as I would expect. I throughly enjoyed my evening. The only niggle I had was that it got incredibly hot inside and I did have to step outside to cool down! Can't wait to eat here again.

Very friendly and helpful staff. Great food and drink.

Really delicious food and great service!

Our welcome, the atmosphere and the quality of the meals were outstanding. Staff very attentive but never intrusive.

A piece of France in Dorchester, really good 👍

Good service and fantastic food! Lovely birthday drink too

Waiters walking around, not proactive to serve. We arrived for breakfast and they didn't have many of the items on the menu, so just had a coffee and left. Very disappointing.

My friends love this place & decided to book for lunch. Foods delicious & service from staff is 10/10!

Staff very friendly and Happy to help. Food is fantastic. Great value for money and food quality and portions. Would recommend and definitely visit again.

Lovely restaurant, lovely staff. The food was amazing, had salmon croquettes and garlic bread for starters, followed by the fillet steak cooked to perfection, and for desert a caramel tart. Will be going back soon

Fantastic food, service, and atmosphere. Chocolate mousse to due for! Fantastic service from Stephen.

Had a lovely experience at Cote Dorchester. Excellent staff, lovely menu and food. Thank you for the Excellent range of gluten free food on a separate menu which made our visit much more relaxed. A new favourite, we shall definitely visit again.

I go there a little too much! Cote in Dorchester is my favourite restaurant. Attentive and friendly staff who ensure your evening is as perfect as it can be. Food is always stunning and faultless. So yes... I go there a little too much but it's never a disappointment! There is something to be said about consistency... You know you get what you like... Every time!

My wife and I went to Cote Dorchester for the first time this evening and I have to say it was a fantastic choice! The staff were great, the service was sharp and the food was exceptional, I'd definitely recommend it!!

Very friendly service, we were seated quickly and cheerfully. Waiting staff were very professional but friendly too. Food was good quality and well priced. Very clean too! Cannot fault it.

Delicious, never disappointed, thank you.

Enjoyable lunch from prix fix menu

Wonderful food, wonderful wine, lovely occasion with my wife, felt special.

Great food and service. Friendly staff good atmosphere.

Excellent enjoyable evening at Cote will definitely go again. Loved our food...,❤️

One of my favourites, great food and service!!

Just ate breakfast here and strongly recommend. Service superb and food good quality.

Great food i had the chicken and my wife had the salmon we both thought the food was excellent. Nice staff nice place.

They drew me in with the Cheese soufflé which had not tasted before We have been there multiple times now We've had the lamb, pork belly, French toast, desserts and sides. Every time we visit we are never disappointed. The only thing that could be better is being able to rate more than 5 stars.

Great food and lovely staff very attentive and helpful. Very very good

Very nice place, staff very attentive, good service and would definitely visit again, even asked if the service charge was ok, don't normally get the choice on that so well done 👍

Several excellent lunches since last year and extremely impressed easy time. Actually three times and always a tidy and clean restaurant with superb service at a good price. Dessert was indeed one of the best I have ever had!

Hi we ate at Cotes last night. The staff were lovely and helpful. The meal itself was just OK. I expected better

Food and staff are great sometimes the acoustics are noisy

You know what you're going to get at Cote (not my choice btw). Up market boil on the bag food and a very dated, slightly over priced menu. Our lunch was ok but unmemorable. The atmosphere was like sitting in a posh old peoples home at dinner time. I'm sure those of you who like identical, bland food every time you visit must love it. It's not for me.

Food and service always excellent

Amazing food, staff where very accommodating, perfect meal there again

This was my birthday treat. Not only were the food and drink delicious but the atmosphere was buzzing and lively.

Very attentive staff, pleasant surroundings, good food .

Wonderful French restaurant, excellent menu, great staff and super atmosphere. We had the beef bourguignon and the tuna nicoise and both were very good.

My 'Wednesday Treat'! Always buzzing. Excellent coffee, quick, friendly, helpful staff, who take the trouble to remember you. Can't ask for more!

Always great food, welcome and service. Our “go to” restaurant in Dorchester.

Wonderful food. Service was excellent and the staff are very helpful and friendly.

Visited for a late lunch just as the main lunch customers were leaving so it was nice and quiet. Several items on the menu were not available but what we had was fine. Friendly helpful staff.

Probably one of the best meals ever,and the great service just topped off the perfect meal

Great evening made less great by sitting at a table right next to a very drafty and cold side door

My partner and I love this place and use it often with friends also.

Chicken was over cooked and bit dry, altho tasty and veg was nice. Sirloin steaks were fatty and tough, triple cooked chips? Really? Very expensive for what there was, although wouldn't have minded price if food was good. Staff were nice, however didn't know what the dishes were and didn't no different cooked steaks. Had to ask for one of the veg sides. All in all, very underwhelming even though I have previously had excellent experience