Côte is a French brasserie chain, and in Bournemouth it has landed somewhere fitting: a pale Art Deco building on Westover Road, opposite the arcade, with a balcony on the first floor. The formula is familiar — steak frites, moules, a proper crème brûlée — but the room is handsome and the doors open early, so it earns its place as much for a mid-morning coffee as for dinner.
The food
The menu is brasserie standard in the best sense: dishes you can picture before they arrive, turning up more or less as you hoped. Steak frites is the house order, the frites topped up as you go; moules marinières, tuna Niçoise and a rotating plat du jour fill out the rest. Breakfast and brunch run alongside, from pastries and eggs to a weekend spread, and puddings lean on the classics, crème brûlée and crème caramel among them. Gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan menus mean most tables are catered for, and there is a children’s menu. Portions are sensible rather than vast, and the cooking is consistent, which is the point of a brasserie like this: you order knowing roughly what will arrive.
The setting
The Art Deco frontage is the giveaway — clean lines, tall windows and a pale facade that stands out on Westover Road. Inside it is the polished, banquette-lined brasserie look the brand does across the country, comfortable rather than surprising. The balcony is the detail worth asking for: a first-floor perch over the street, a good place to sit with the doors open when the weather allows.
Where it is
Westover Road runs down toward the seafront, so Côte is central without being in the thick of the shopping crowds. The Lower Gardens are a short stroll away, Bournemouth Pier and the Oceanarium a little beyond, and the beach a few minutes down the hill. From most town-centre accommodation you can walk to the door.
Good to know
Côte serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week; times shift with the season, so check before an early start. Tables can be booked online, which is sensible in the evening and at weekends, and the balcony seats are worth requesting in good weather. There is no car park of its own, but town-centre car parks are close and much of the centre is walkable. For nearby alternatives, see the restaurants guide or where locals eat.