Café Rouge, 11 Little Clarendon Street, Tel. 310194

Reviewed
Mar 2004

With its location alongside Pierre Victoire, La Plaza and The Duke of Cambridge, Café Rouge is the sort of restaurant which really needs to set high standards in order not to be overlooked and, for the most part, I have found it to be a generally pleasant place for a meal. I have visited it on three occasions - twice on a Sunday lunchtime (where the clientele comprised mainly students out with their parents) and once on a Friday, where the place was packed with groups of friends and the odd couple enjoying the bustling atmosphere. With the beige and red interior, selection of ferns and French menu, for the duration of your meal you could almost be in a café somewhere more like Paris than Oxford.

Feeling rather peckish, my companion and I started by sharing a platter of baked breadsticks and 3 dips. These were fantastic and just about the right amount to whet our appetites for the main course. We opted for penne, with pesto and chicken and the bacon and cheese tarte which came with a portion of chips and a small salad (the dressing on which had been rather too generously applied!). I pronounced the penne to be nothing out of the ordinary, but the chicken which came on the side did provide a nice contrast, as opposed to being smothered in a sauce as it often comes. The tarte, chosen from a wide selection, suggesting something of a house special, was a little dry, and quite heavy on the stomach. We washed down our meals with two glasses of wine from the extensive wine list, and finally greed got the better of me and I ordered a crepe with bananas and chocolate sauce and a side serving of vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, I fear this may have suffered a small detour on its way between the kitchen and our table, as it was stone cold by the time it reached me, a good half an hour after it had been ordered. The total for a large and calorific lunch was just under £30, but given that the food was a little disappointing, and the service on my final visit was not really acceptable, this seemed less of a bargain than it might have been.

Victoria Head