Cafe Rouge – Shepherds Bush

Yeah, should have looked at the ratings before coming. If their food was as good as the décor would have been a pleasant enough experience. Ordered the Mussels, bleh, and a very large number of them didn’t open. Definitely on my avoid list now.

Owen Daggett on his twitter page has beaten me to putting it online, but I’ve thought and occasionally said it for many years. With portion sizes like this the Café Rouge would be better called the Café Scrooge.

I live round the corner from Café Rouge. It is one of those places that I would walk past every day and not step in. Today however, my partner and I decided to pop in for a quick brunch.
It was not too busy, just the right amount of quietness and background chatter. Service however was quite slow as there were only two wait staff members. It took a while to order (they thought we had ordered when we hadn’t) and they forgot my extra semi skimmed milk. Having said that, service was by no means poor, as the manager was very friendly and accommodating. The food was ok and portion was just right.
It is not difficult to see why this place is a favourite among local yummy mummies, young professionals, and students. It is quite a relaxing place to spend a quiet afternoon, and you can even get some work done on your laptop thanks to the free wifi, coffee-and-cake-for-£3.95 deal, and relaxing background music.
I will be back, this time with my Tastecard so I can get 2-​for-​1 on mains. :P

The food here is good but nothing special– it’s more comfort food than fine dining, which is fine if that’s what you’re in the mood for. However, the service here has always been terrible. I go here with my parents often who live nearby and no matter which manager is on duty, it takes about 10 minutes to even be given a menu. No wonder it’s empty most of the time.

Normalerweise finde ich Ketten nicht so toll, und ich weiß nicht wie die anderen Café Rouge Lokalen sind, aber hier habe ich immer gut gegessen.
Quiche Lorraine mit warmen Kartoffelsalat ist sehr lecker. Das vegetarische Frühsruck oder Eggs Benedict sind einsame Klasse.
Die Einrichtung ist ‘mock French’ aber dafür eigentlich nicht unangenehm. Die Bedienung ist stets freundlich, und immer offen für etwas small talk.
Die Preise sind vertretbar, der Kaffee lecker, und einer meine Lieblingsautoren ist oft hier zu sehen :))

There’s nothing about this place that will make it stand out. I’m not sure if it was empty because of the snow, or because it’s just a bit too far down Shepderds Bush road, but aside from the party of three I was with, there was only two other people in here.
Nothing jumps up to make me want to go back, although the latte was OK. At the end of my meeting, we had a glass of wine and were offered to try a red on their specials. I tried it. It wasn’t nearly as great as the waiter had made it sound, but of course, how can you change your mind once you’ve tried something? Has anyone ever done this? How do you do it?
I’m not fussed about this place, although I think the peace and quiet would be great for working in, that’s not what should draw me to a café. I shouldn’t want to go somewhere because it’s empty. Still, maybe it was just the snow day. I just can’t imagine going back to check it out again. Too bland for me.

The food was really very tasty. The 10oz rib-​eye steak was succulent and the glass of Bordeaux went down a treat. One friend had the moules frites (mussels and chips). While this wasn’t presented in the usual French way (in a black pot) but a china bowl, they said it was tasty.
Another friend had the sea bass which they said was good but didn’t sound over enthusiastic.
The staff were friendly but we struggled to convince them of the correct terms and conditions of the 2 for 1 vouchers we had, despite checking when we first arrived that we could use them. That may be a little embarrassing to those of a more sensitive disposition.
It’s not somewhere I’d go if I didn’t have a 2 for 1 voucher for the main meal as the prices are rather prohibitive. In fact it’s only the second time I’ve ever been to one and the first time, it wasn’t me that paid!

I have come here a couple of times in the evening with my wife. Its usually very quiet, in the evening it may get half full at best. You can be sure its a fairly quiet place to eat and drink.
The coffees here are well made, and the orange juices are always freshly made, with a strong taste. We often get the sharing platters, such as Camembert, and caramelised bread, which go well with coffee and a glass of wine in the evening.
Its a little bit expensive I think, but overall, its reasonable value for money, although i’m not sure about the main meals.
One negative, is due to the location, you often have some really mad people walking past and sometimes trying to get in. Last time I went, it seemed like they have a regular homeless guy coming in every evening, but then somebody immediately shows him the door. But hey, that’s Shepherds Bush!

This chain is probably one of the few chains that manages to pull it off. If you didn’t know it was a chain I’m not sure you’d realize– they’ve done a good job at giving this place a true French feel to it and it really does look like a Parisian café. The décor, the bar, the tables and even the staff uniforms look authentic. They have lots of tables crammed next to each other and small round tables to sit at and smoke outside.
The food seems quite pricey but I can’t such much as to the quality of it as I’ve never eaten there. It is, however a good place for a coffee and a croissant.

You can enjoy some french food in this cosy restaurant, and if you dont want to go all the way french you do not need to, the restaurantfine day. I really like the way this restaurant is red and this applies to the branch in chiswick as well which is also bigger, I guess all the branches are red.
The staff are quite pleasant as well. serves sunday roast, fries and burgers.
You can eat your meal outside, seat outside this nice red restaurant on a

Over-​priced and over-​French.
I think staff employed to work in Café Rouge cafes are told to pretend to be French or I am paranoid about the proliferation of French people working in a faux French café.
It’s alright for a coffee but I heard the food is all pre-​prepared off site and I generally think it’s a bit too expensive.
I go here for a post-​tennis beverage when the Olive café is closed, but I go reluctantly.

Over-​priced and over-​French.
I think staff employed to work in Café Rouge cafes are told to pretend to be Fre