Cafe Rouge: French food in a town near you (Cafe Rouge)

Member Name: DaveChorlton

Product:	Cafe Rouge
Date:	16/06/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice food and relatively well priced

Disadvantages: Not as nice as some independantly owned restaurants

Cafe Rouge if probably my favourite chain restaurant due to the quality of the food. The restaurant's menu is styled around predominantly French cuisine, offering dishes such as muscles in a white wine sauce and various different varieties of steak. The restaurant chain is owned by the bigger Tragus Ltd group who also own Strada and Bella Italia. According to their website they serve on average 20 million meals per year. Cafe Rouge became better known due to numerous mentions in Bridget Jones's Diary.

The restaurant certainly has a very nice ambience that doesn't make it feel so typically like a chain restaurant. It has very much been styled around the dining experience in France. Staff are also polite and helpful and often are French which adds to the authenticity of the dining experience. Service is attentive but not suffering.

The restaurant is relatively well priced. A dish of steak and chips would cost around £13 or so. The restaurant also partner with Tesco's to allow customers to use their clubcard vouchers towards the total cost of the meal. This can make the meal very good value for money.

The food is very nice, with the menu offering main meals, lighter snacks, starters and salads. There is also a very extensive wine list and more unusual drinks such as Hoegaarden beer are available. All in all, a very pleasant dining experience that doesn't feel too much like a chain restaurant.

Summary: Well worth a try, always abover average for a chain.