Cafe Rouge – Cardiff

It’s not often that I feel the burning desire to praise Britain’s most promiscuous supermarket but, thanks to the voucher I bought with my Tesco points, I had a lovely meal out at Café Rouge.
Any linguists out there will be able to grasp that this restaurant serves French food. Now, I hope you’re thinking of delicious creamy and well-​seasoned food eaten outside the front of the restaurant with an air of proper Parisian chic.
Any geographers will build on this knowledge and think how can such a restaurant located inside a Welsh shopping centre really capture this mood.
Well, the answer is simple and built on the knowledge that, aside from an appreciation of the beautiful outdoor surroundings and the sensation of the sun on your back, the appeal of sitting outside lies in the fact you can people-​watch to your heart’s content.
My good friend Nat S. and I did this in style last week and made the most of the menu by ordering as many small portions as my Tesco vouchers would allow us, and sharing everything.
You may not get a tan from sitting outside here and you certainly won’t see the Eiffel Tower, but this is cuisine straight from the commercial heart of Pays de Galles. Lush.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Spot someone wearing a blue and white striped jumper

Overpriced and pretentious there is nothing I really liked about Café Rouge apart from the fact it looked pretty from the outside.
I found the staff quite rude and it took absolutely ages for my Croque Monsieur to appear and don’t get me wrong it tasted ok just I don’t think its worth going again because of the price.

This Café Rouge is all wrong. It really doesn’t fit in a shopping centre environment and this definitely has an effect on the overall experience.
Every other Café Rouge I’ve been to has had that slightly posh, charming Parisian café feel to it that is decidedly lacking here in St David’s.
Still, the menu is the same (and I also discovered that Café Rouge can provide a menu in Braille which I’ve never noticed before, nor seen anywhere else). It is quite expensive, especially as far as lunches go, but the food is really good. The waiting staff are all lovely, and seem to be happy in their work which makes a lot of difference to how much I enjoy eating in a place.
The atmosphere is definitely better in the Bay, but if you’ve got children, this seems to be the more child friendly of the two.

As a vegetarian Café Rouge like so many other places has a menu that is very limited to my cuisine needs. When dining here recently with friends though, I found that the waitress serving me went out of her way to make sure there was something I could eat. I ended up having a croque-​monsieur, minus the ham with extra cheese (and of course the chip accompaniment). If there are any vegetarians reading this I can’t describe how heavenly it tasted, and can only suggest that you go asap and try it out (I’m sure they’ll be accommodating).
Aside from the food I’m not overly keen on eating in shopping centres, especially when I think of the lovely views of the Bay at Cardiff’s other Café Rouge. If however, you’ve been shopping in St Davids 2 and fancy a bite, Café Rouge certainly fits the bill.

Hmmm what to say about Café Rouge that won’t make my experience seem very average. Maybe it was from the expecting I built up from the brilliantly French décor… All in red surprisingly. There’s a real chic, gold classic look about the place that makes for a pleasant habitat.
I got my self a chicken baguette essentially which came with chips. I got it in a decent time from ordering but was little disappointed as it didn’t have a lot of taste to it and would’ve thought this place would of been very good on that front.
Service was fine and the waiter was accommodating, I just felt left wanting more from the place unfortunately.

I don’t think I’ve ever had such an expensive Croque Monsieur, better know as a cheese and ham toastie to most of us! Once the price of a glass of wine was added I was quite shocked. Didn’t intend on spending so much at lunch time.
It is a nice looking place and the inside has a lot of charm and waitress serving us was quite charming too. I went in at lunch time and it was really quite busy. Seems like a very popular place for a Friday long lunch in the city.
I would defiantly suggest the bay version over this one for a dinner. Its smaller but has more personality and great views.