Whnd Cafe Rouge burst onto the scene a number of years ago I was eager to try it out being a total francophile! I have not set foot in the place since - until last night when stranded in Notingham and looking for somewher to eat that was reasonably priced and not full of screaming hen parties and young men who only seem intent on trouble!
Cafe Rouge in Nottingham is actually in quite a nice quiet location, in the city centre but on the edge of "the action" and I nearly missed it as it was quite dimly lit form the outside. My wife and I cast a critical eye over the menu and could see it was not actually over busy for 7.45pm (not such a good sign perhaps as all the other places we had tried without reservation were full and couldn't offer a table until
about 10pm!). But I was hungry and was ready to give it a go and we were relieved that there was no problem for a table.
This was quite a large establishment with plenty of tables and high ceilings - nice. The pseudo french bistrot decor was pretty impressive and the original(?) posters and the unobtrusive background music were all authentically French (classic songs ranging from Piaf to more modern day classics which were instantly recognisible to the trained ear)
The menu was extensive with a nice range of starters, salads, main courses and dessert which included a number of French classics - nothing too adventurous or pretentious. In addition there were a couple of "blackboard specials" which gave us the biggest laugh of the day - the mispelling of Bouillabaisse, which ended up translating back into English as something decidedly unpleasant!
As a starter I opted for Crevettes a l'ail (prawns in garlic) while my wife chose deep fried camembert. These were both over £4 and in terms of value for money we felt these were a bit pricey - I had already noticed that a basket of bread costs £1.75 - if this were truly a french restaurant there would be a riot at the suggestion that one pay for bread! We declined the offer of bread as a result. My starter actually came with three reasonable chunks of baguette, though not very authentically french in its taste or texture.
Main courses chosen had been selected on the basis that they should be freshly cooked (well a steak really should be, and I had hoped that a rack of lamb would also be). The steak was actually very well cooked - exactly as it should be, with accompanying "frites" and met with my wife's full approval. The rack of lamb was also very good with crisp french beans to accompany as well as a herb mash - all piping hot and very tasty, the meat was extra tender due to the cooking process. BUT this is one of my pet hates - the meat was clearly precooked in its sauce and probably in a some industrial kitchen and probably frozen or vacuum packed into a plastic pouch (well how else do they maintain the quality across the quite extensive chain of restaurants?). Such a pity but that's the nature of the beast if you do choose to eat in a chain restaurant.
The wine list was also pretty extensive - our choice of the cheapest was not a mistake - a very fresh fruity job which complemented our meat course very well. Interestingly there were new world wines on offer - I don't yet recall seeing this in a true french restaurant - but then this is England!
We declined desserts but I did try the coffee ( well only Italian beats french in this respect). It was very good. My wife had a liqueur coffee - with grand marnier to keep within the true french spirit . Also very good.
Overall the experience was more than satisfactory. At least they have really tried to pull off something that is very hard to copy - and have got very very close to the genuine atmosphere of that parisian bistrot du coin that they are so trying to emulate. I would certainly go again , though my next quest is to try out bistro pierre - which I really wanted to go to but it WAS fully booked -therin tells a tale perhaps?
I hope you have found my review informative and interesting.
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