All reader reviews by jamiechelsea

Chez Bruce

I treated my mother to an early day mothers day lunch as we walked up to Chez Bruce aving never eaten there before but well aware of the reputation. When we booked the lady made us aware we were sitting on the first floor and for me this was no problem. Downstairs is where the main action is, upstairs is more intimate but with an excellent view of the common, the windows were open, the day was hot and it was very relaxing. However if you do not like being too close to other diners there are three tables of two very close to each other so book downstairs.

When we were shown to our seat and if anyone from Chez Bruce reads this its the two seater in the corner upstairs, the table had a bad wobble. I asked to be moved to the only other table that was luckily free. Had there been none I probably would have walked out as this is just a basic. I mean honestly, come on.

The bread was served and accompanied by rock hard butter straight from the fridge, I asked the waitress is this normal policy and she replied that if they left it out it would become soft ( isn't that the point ? ). Whats the point of serving butter that you cannot spread - again, a basic thats easy to rectify. so by now I wasn't a happy chicken.

My first main course was a so so tagliatelle however my mothers chicken parfait and foie gras was superb and simply delicious, amazingly light texture. During the first course my mother was not happy with her glass as it had a smell to it so she mentioned this to the Maitre D and he said no problem it would be replaced. He simply forgot and the she had to ask the waitress some time later for a replacement.

I opted for the roast cod for main as other reviews has stated this was the best they had ever eaten and it was excellent, the olive mash was superb too.

I was looking forward to the cheese plate as one should at a well reknowned French restaurant but my heart sank when the waitress told me that this was downstairs and would take a long time to come upstairs. I appreciated her being honest so I cancelled the dessert but I don't go to places like this to suffer their problems, if they are aware of this they either need to have another trolley or figure a workaround, you don't offer something on your menu to then effectively not be offered it or to wait an unknown period of time because of your seating location.

A final noticeable moment was the shortcakes that were offered twice ( before and after dessert ) to the couple next to us and only once to us. You must treat all your guests equally without equivocation.

So all in all very disappointing, and I mean that from a service point of view, as one knows you can visit a restaurant and have a magnificent time but this is a combination of food, service and surroundings. If however the service fails it lets the other parts down - I do however have memories of some of the dishes which is also what commend a great restaurant and more importantly pulls you back.

Sunday, April 03, 2011
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8