Cafe Rouge

When up in Edinburgh a few weeks ago we spotted Cafe Rouge. My fiancée is a big fan of French food, and when we spotted the fixed price evening menu which was £11.95 we had to pop in. The restaurant was very busy, as it was the first Sunday of half term. The tables were quite close together and we actually made good friends with the couple on the next table since we couldn't help but be involved with one another's conversations! There were quite a few choices on the set menu, around 6 starters and 6 mains. The starters looked quite appetising although the mains seemed plainer. For starters my fiancée ordered the pate while I went for ...  Read the complete review

As a fan of French cuisine I am always seeking out places to acquire this. Often the only available places are very expensive and only serve the more elaborate end of French cuisine. After years of disappointments I finally stumbled upon Cafe Rouge when they opened a restaurant in one of my local towns. Cafe Rouge is a chain of restaurants with nearly 90 properties across the UK. They open for breakfast, lunch and dinner but you can also visit just for coffee or a drink. My local restaurant has a selection of tables outside and on a summers day it is very pleasant to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine with friends in the early evening. The ...  Read the complete review

I'm a big fan of French Cuisine but sadly there are very few restaurants of that sort where I live, so I tend to get my French fix at my Cafe Rouge. Try as they might (the decor is French-inspired), it's no substitute for the real thing: you won't feel as if you're sitting outside a French Bistro on the Champe Elysses, but the menu does offer a fair selection of French classics. Unfortunately, the atmosphere (or lack of atmosphere) is very much that of a chain restaurant: despite quirky features the feel is commercial, impersonal...the layout is too generic, the menu too extensive, and the staff too disinterested to achieve a unique dining experience. ...  Read the complete review

I will keep it simple. I have been to two Cafe Rouge outlets. One in Hays Galleria (near London Bridge in London) and one in St. Katherine Docks (near Tower Bridge, London). These one would think would be two of the better versions of Cafe Rouge because they are in prime position for well heeled "City" workers. The news is not good. They charge high prices for most items on the menu and it is in my opinion very average food indeed. On the menu is a lot of "French" food but to my palate and to my wallet it tastes like food cooked by the English and charged at quite high prices. I am very unimpressed and feel that ...  Read the complete review

We lead very busy lives, with my husband and I both having second jobs in addition to our full time ones, and with two very active teenagers, whose sporting hobbies lead us all over the country at the weekends. So, time together, doing normal things like having a conversation, is not a frequent occurance. Everyone seems to be dashing about, notes are left by the kettle for each other, and generally speaking this is how we have lived our lives for the last ten years or so! Making time for ourselves as a family has become one of those things that we have to book into or diaries - don't get me wrong, I don't want to change the way we live, and the ...  Read the complete review