Cafe Rouge

The world would be a better place if we all had a little French in us. Some may beg to differ, but nobody can deny that Parisians have that little bit of class and sophistication if a huge dollop of surliness at times too. So when I’m in need of a quick French fix I get my kicks at Café Rouge.
It’s a typical European style café and bar. Plenty of outdoor dining and lots of dark moody places to sit inside. It’s a nice joint, with spot on atmospheric décor and waiters who look like they’ve just come in from the Eiffel Tower. They want you to know this is French and I think they do it pretty well actually.
As for the drinks, well spot on sir, spot on. The wines are expensive but classy little numbers. Check out some of the sparkling for some fizz that’s not Champagne but tastes as fresh and crisp as the real deal. You want a good coffee? No problem either. It’s all there for you.
As for the food, top marks once again. I personally like the goats cheese salad which is rich and creamy beyond words. After all, the French know their cheeses. You can go for more traditional options or even sandwich it up with a nice order of fries with that (although I think they’ll curse at me calling them fries!).

During the day Café Rouge, and certainly this branch, is a reasonably nice posh place to go for a drink. Being situated behind the Corn Exchange and slightly off the beaten track it is usually a lot calmer than the branch at The Light and so easy to find a table. You can be sure to relax and have a good natter without the noise and hub-​bub of a busy shopping centre.
My only experience of Café Rouge as a night time bar was immediately after a virtual break-​up, so not exactly a happy time unfortunately! Having been left at the train station at around 11pm at night I had to wander around and wait for my housemate to fetch me once he’d finished his shift at a nearby restaurant. A dreadfully long hour (with lots of miserable tears) later he finished his shift and took me to Café Rouge to cheer me up. We had a few pints of lager, standard fare, and then got a cab home but (in between cursing and crying) I was able to note how glad I was that it wasn’t too busy and so embarrassing for me to be sat there in the state I was in!
I guess the moral of this story is that Café Rouge here is a nice quiet version of t’other in’t Light, with all the benefit and none of the rabble. Certainly good enough to take a friend who might need consoling in peace…

First class food good value, would give 5 stars but the service needs vastly improve