"I had a disappointing experience at Cote. My mother had just moved to the area today and we were looking for a quick bite to eat, before we started to unpack. Despite the restaurant not being full and having empty tables, the waitress on the door was very rude and immediately told us that they were full. There were a few empty tables which could clearly be seen in the windows. I have been to other Cote chains many times before and have never encountered such behavior. I quickly went online and found that there were indeed tables available, so I made a reservation and returned to the restaurant, hoping to wait at the bar and have some drinks. However, we were not allowed in and were told that our reservation was for 15 minutes later. I went away and, to my surprise, our reservation was canceled even though there were empty tables. I was surprised and frustrated that Cote required reservations. It's not even a high end restaurant, and the prices are reasonable FiveGuys is more expensive and that's a fast food restaurant. If they had simply told us politely that there was a dress code or some other issue, it would have been more acceptable. Unfortunately, they were rude and unaccommodating. As someone who lives in Richmond, I am disappointed that my first experience in Esher was ruined by the poor service at Cote. We ended up going to Coppa Club in Cobham, where we were treated much better. I hope that Cote can improve their service in the future so that other customers do not have the same experience as we did."
