Côte du Reading
Côte du Reading
After a fabulous weekend of serious alcoholic celebration of the Royal Wedding and the Reading Beer Festival, Sunday proved to be an equally chilled day starting with a full Irish breakfast in O’Neill’s and then a wander around the wonderful waterways and landmarks of Reading in the sunshine.
After a stop off at Copa sitting in the sunshine and having a well deserved Erdinger or two we ambled along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon up towards the Oracle with a bite to eat in mind.
Wandering into The Oracle we stumbled upon Côte which has only been open for a couple of weeks replacing the hideous venue that was Brannigans. The restaurant has a very welcoming frontage and did it’s trick of enticing us in.
We were early birds so it wasn’t very busy but it did enable us to take in the surroundings and decor. Black and tans compliment the vast array of bevelled mirrors lending a very soft art deco feel giving the ground floor a very airy disposition without losing the intimacy that belies that by the carefully positioned covers. Shared sofa seating, banquettes and neatly positioned tables in alcoves and booths add to the charm and atmosphere. It is also certainly somewhere where I would feel just as comfortable dining on my own as when with company, so all you lone diners out there and travelling business folk, fear not.
We were promptly seated and asked what we’d like to drink and ordered a bottle of the house red. Always a good test as to what a restaurant is prepared to lend it’s ‘house’ name to. A complimentary bottle of Côte water arrived in an attractive Côte branded earthenware bottle.
The menu is studded with typical French dishes and enticements. We plumped for a fougasse, which can loosely be described as a French version of focaccia. It was deliciously salty with a delightfully balanced garlicky undercurrent. As well as the fougasse we had the pissaladière flat bread with a covering of caramelised onions and chose the topping of reblochon (I love my cheese!). During our breadfest the staff were attentive but not intrusive by topping up our wine and replacing our water bottle.
Our next course was delivered, with The Chap having the ubiquitous steak & frites and me the ‘Breton’ chicken. The Chap enthused about how perfectly the steak was cooked and how the smokiness achieved from the chargrilling made each mouthful a delight and ready for the next. The Breton chicken is a beautiful corn fed, crispy skinned chargrilled half a chicken. I chose mushroom as my choice of accompanying sauce, which was rich, earthy and dispersed with a wonderful assortment of wild mushrooms…yes, The Chap couldn’t resist dunking his frites in it! The plates weren’t overloaded and the frites delivered in a cheeky little bucket.
Resting and slurping more wine, the decision of to dessert, or not to dessert, arose. The dessert menu has all the typical Gallic offerings from apple tart to crème brûlée. The Chap has a penchant for chocolate (just call him Greg Wallace) and I do like a crème brûlée, which I believe is another good benchmark. So I ‘brûlée’ and The Chap selects the chocolate mousse, only for us to be disappointed when the manager informs us that the mousse is not quite set and chef is not happy to send them out. We’re both pleasantly satisfied though that the kitchen is overseen with pride of the quality of the dishes served, hopefully on every service, so a switch to chocolate fondant is made.
Now call me picky but a cocotte is not a brûlée dish, the clue is in the title. So I was a tad disappointed when my dessert arrived. Being cooked in a cocotte meant that there was too much custard underneath making the dish rather sickly, having said that they were creamy, velvety, guilty spoonfuls of vanilla heaven. The other small critique is that the crunchy, sugary topping was too thin and lacking in the ‘crack & crunch’ satisfaction levels. The chocolate fondant was an airy, light sponge with an unctuous, oozing interior, delectably dark, sweet and slightly bitter which was off set by the happy partner of vanilla ice cream.
Has to be said that we were both suitably sated and at a very reasonable price too.
It is certainly somewhere where you can easily lose time enjoying the variety of choices from the menu or watching the world go by outside with a beer or coffee and maybe a sneaky dessert.
I for one will be going back for more.
Great to have your musing on mouthwatering dishes and venues in Reading! Missed your blogs! This definitely sounds like somewhere to visit!
Thanks Nigel