Needing a quick lunch in Bristol, I popped into Café Rouge.
I have always preferred having a starter over a desert so I went with one of their Petits Plats, Merguez, spicy beef & lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise.
I was a little surprised as I was expecting to get a whole sausage, not a sliced one. However I guess it was presented in this way, as the Petits Plats are designed to be shared.
I felt however that as the sausage was cooked (or possibly re-heated) sliced it lost a lot of what makes a decent merguez sausage. I’ve certainly had better at Café Rouge was a little disappointed. It should be noted that the flavour was good, but the cooking process and presentation let the dish down.
For my main course I went with the chargrilled rump steak baguette with Dijon mustard & oregano mayonnaise, French fries and a salad garnish.
I asked for the steak to be rare, and it was delivered medium! Apart from that the steak was okay, there was no depth of flavour, but I kind of expect that, this isn’t a steak house, it’s a chain! I think I would have preferred the Bavette I have had before.
The fries were crisp and were not overseasoned which is normally my experience, and the salad was fresh.
Overall I enjoyed my lunch and the service was excellent, which made for a nice change and I hope is the norm rather than the exception.