I was in-between jobs and therefore had some time off, what a perfect opportunity to go for lunch with my mum. This time we decided on Cafe Rouge - an all time favourite of mine. We went to the Solihull one as its fairly local. I always like the food here, the serve French cuisine all day and usually have a very good lunch time offer. I don't usually rate chain restaurants but this one is usually very good and I hoped this time would be the same!
I love the interior inside the Cafe Rouge restaurants, this particular day was actually very busy, surprising for a week day but we managed to get a table promptly, however the quick service didn't last too long…
I was starving! The menu has lots of choice from lunch time sandwiches, steaks, main meals, salads and nibbles. It was very hard to decide what to eat as it all sounded delicious. But as it was lunch time and I would be having dinner later on that evening I didn't want anything too heavy.
Salde Paysqanne - with sourdough croutons
£11.25
Mum went for the Mussels and we got a side of Frites to shared for £2.95. The salad I got consisted of Chicken, Bacon, Avocado and Parmesan - it was almost like a Caesar Salad but with Avocado, it had Vingerette Dressing on it too. It was a very good portion as I did feel £11.25 was a little expensive for a salad but this was a very big salad and incredibly filling, they definitely didn't skimp on the portions, there was a lot of filling in the salad and all of it tasted very fresh and was delicious. I have no complaints - the fries were yummy too! I really enjoyed this lunch, not too much of a 'light' lunch though!
However, the service went down hill from here - they took ages taking away our plates, no check back was given half way through the main courses, they took around 20 mins to give us a dessert menu and then a further 10 mins to take our order! There was also a fire alarm going off for nearly 5 mins - all in all, this did ruin the experience which was a shame as the service started very good and the food was yummy.
We did decided to share a dessert because, well.. why not?!
Tarte Au Citron - with creme fraiche
£5.25
There was a slight problem with this tart - I ordered the Passion Fruit Tart but I was informed they weren't up to scratch and therefore they wouldn't serve it so I swapped to Lemon Tart, and they put a side of the passion fruit coulis on the side which was nice of them! This was presented very nicely - it looked colourful and appetising on the plate and the taste was even better! The lemon tart was very good, it had a lovely taste of citrus against the crispy pastry, it went very well with the strawberries and creme fraiche and WOW - the passion fruit coulis was to die for, it was so sweet but tangy and complimented the tart perfectly. A very good dessert and the coulis made up for the lack of the first dessert I ordered and helped make up for the service.
Another good experience at Cafe Rouge, although the service let it down and I feel the staff could've been more efficient but the food was yummy and I can't complain about it. I would go back, but maybe not to the Solihull one.
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