Café Rouge menu pour enfant feedback thread: find out how the MNers got on checking out the new kids' menu! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This is the thread for the MN families who were invited to go and check out the new kids' menu at Café Rouge.

Café Rouge say "Using only the finest ingredients served in a stylish and relaxed environment, Café Rouge’s carefully designed menu has been created to tickle even the pickiest youngsters’ taste buds. To cater for fussy eaters, Café Rouge is offering easy first courses of warm fougasse bread finger with d’signy butter and crudités with a tomato dip. Other (hopefully) tantrum-busting dishes include the new tasty Macaroni Cheese, Le Burger which uses the best Aberdeen Angus beef and the sautéed ‘Poulet Ooh la la’ with all the trimmings. For children who like to eat like an adult, there is a selection of mouth-watering desserts such as traditional French crêpes with chocolate sauce or children can get their ‘five a day’ the Café Rouge way with a simple bowlful of fresh fruit salad. Ice cream is a classic summer indulgence and is available in six tempting flavours. All of the petits enfants favourite dishes can be washed down with flavoured milk, bottle green cordial or a selection of soft drinks. We look forward to hearing your verdict!"

Reviewers - please share on this thread your responses to the following questions

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
How would you rate the food quality?
How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
What about the food for adults?
What was the best part about your experience?
How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
And lastly, would you go again?

We'd also love you to add a review on your relevant MN local pages (find restaurant reviews under - On the High Street>Going Out>Restaurants)

Thanks - everyone who adds their feedback on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where two MNers will win a £75 voucher for Café Rouge. Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Good luck
MNHQ

PS for non participants - there's a great offer here for Café Rouge

Angelie , just tried to add my review to my local site as requested but there isn't a listing for Cafe Rouge on there?

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Bath, Saturday 15, 1pm

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
Lovely. All of the staff were really welcoming to us as a family, and really friendly towards our children. The little extras - activity sheets and the colouring set were a fantastic touch - like other posters we liked the fact that crayons weren't rolling everywhere and getting lost. We were able to pick our own table, which I liked as we could find somewhere which suited us best, and it was lovely and clean and not noisy, despite being relatively busy by the time we were eating.

How would you rate the food quality?
Very good - we all enjoyed everything we ordered.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
Really good and well thought out - I agree that they have tried hard to find something for "every" palate. DS1 (age 7) tried a taster pot of snails(!) at his insistence. He said they were "nice and meaty" but then went off them quickly when he found a "lumpy bit", so they were ultimately a bit of a failure - I thought it was brilliant that they offered the opportunity to have a 'taster' for a reasonable price (£1.95). He then went a bit more traditional with a burger, followed by a crepe. Lemonade to drink. He loved it all, but struggled with the portion size - and he will normally eat until he bursts. DS2 (age 3) had sausages and mash, followed by a crepe. He is rather more picky about food, but really enjoyed the sausages once he could eat them - they were absolutely nuclear heat-wise and so he had to wait until we had practically finished until he could start. He loved the crepe. They also both enjoyed their starters (a small baguette and crudites with a fresh tomato dip) - DS2 absolutely adored the dip, and so actually ate some veg for once. Win!

What about the food for adults?
Lovely - again, it was really nice to have a range of different choices, as DS2 and my husband are rather limited with what they will eat, so it was brilliant to eat somewhere which we were all happy to eat! DH had a burger with cheese and ham, and I had moules frites. Both were delicious. For dessert we both chose the fondant aux chocolates, which was delicious. DH had a bit of trouble choosing a dessert as he does prefer more plain food, and other than the ice cream felt there wasn't much choice for him.

What was the best part about your experience?
Other than the food, it would be the service. Our waitress was absolutely brilliant, really friendly and genuine and added to the atmosphere as a whole.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
As above - definitely.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No, I had no idea. I assumed it was more adult oriented.

And lastly, would you go again?
Possibly. We really enjoyed ourselves, but there is a lack of dessert for DH (dealbreaker!) and it is rather pricey compared to other places. It would be somewhere I would request for a birthday treat, or suggest taking my Mum, now I know more about it, though. And I do want to try their breakfast, as we were given a money off voucher...

Firstly, thank you so much for choosing us to visit Café Rouge.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
We visited Café Rouge in James Street, London at 3pm on Thursday this week.
Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
It is a lovely branch of Café Rouge in a lovely road that has lots of eating places. This branch had lots of children of all ages and as it was raining people did stay for quite a while.
How would you rate the food quality?
The quality of the food was excellent and was definitely freshly cooked.
How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
My daughter had the Petite Starter of Warm Fougasse Finger and Crudites which looked lovely and she said the tomato dip was fabulous. She then had Poulet Goujons which were 3 large chicken fillets with chips, peas and sweetcorn. For dessert she had the chocolate crepe with strawberries, chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. All the portions were a good size and all for £6.95 which is extremely good value.
What about the food for adults?
I had king prawns in a garlic and chilli sauce and then steak and chips with a garlic sauce to pour. It was lovely!

What was the best part about your experience?
The food was so fresh and there was a lot of care taken in the presentation of it.
How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
All the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.
Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
I did not know about the kids menu at Café Rouge. For the price of £6.95, the food is such good value and looks very different to the way kids meals are usually served.

And lastly, would you go again?
I definitely would love to go again.

Thank you for choosing us and here are our thoughts on our visit:

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week? Oxford at 13:00 on Saturday 15 August

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family? I think it has made an effort to be family friendly but ultimately that isn't what the restaurants were originally designed for. For example the toilets were up two flights of stairs and in my experience this is frequently the case in Cafe Rouge branches.

How would you rate the food quality? Pretty good overall.

How would you rate the new kids menu? I was impressed, it has improved since the last visit when we took our daughter, in terms of the range of dishes provided. I thought it was good value for money at £6.95 for three courses plus a drink. There is no choice for the starter, although given it contains bread, a dip and vegetables, I am not sure that is a big issue. Very good selection of mains and desserts. Also I was really impressed with the drink selection, one of the best I have ever seen and refills were provided.

What did your child choose? As mentioned there is no choice for starter so she had the bread, crudités and dip, which she enjoyed. Although the bread did fill her up quickly. She then had the burger and fries - this was huge! Also the fact it was chargrilled was maybe not so good for child palates (generalising I know), she found the charred bits "nasty" so then went off it a bit. However my DH said the meat was good quality and was impressed it wasn't the usual processed rubbish. Obviously she loved the chips and that the waitress offered her some ketchup! She only had one bite of the huge burger bun (which did look nicer than the norm). Then she chose the fruit juice ice lolly for dessert as she was full (after originally being very excited about ice cream with marshmallows). This was great as it was a 'push up' style rather than on a stick, which gets very messy. She had apple juice to drink.

What about the food for adults?
We had the duck croquettes and fougasse which were very tasty. Then DH had the smoked trout salad, which looked really good and he confirmed this. I had the smoked haddock fishcakes, which were okay but looked less impressive, a bit 'school dinners' - they tasted better than they looked. I also suspect they were deep fried, which seems rather unhealthy - I may be wrong.
We then had the cafe Gourmand (coffee with small dessert each) I had the tarte tatin and DH had the chocolate fondant. Mine was nice, not too sweet but a mini fondant never really works as the melting middle is almost impossible to achieve. He liked the freeze dried raspberries on it though and said it tasted good.

What was the best part about your experience? Nice crayons and colouring for DD and the restaurant wasn't very busy which was nice and relaxing, especially for a Saturday lunchtime in Oxford.

I notice you don't ask for the worst part about our experience, which I found odd for a consumer test!? So I've added a section as we thought you'd like the feedback if you're trying to improve service for families. So here are our thoughts:
Our 3 year old DD's drink was served in a glass - some plastic beakers would be a good idea for the small ones. Or with a lid & straw (Like Giraffe use)
Full size adult cutlery for a 3 year old was difficult, again some small sized cutlery would be great.
Our Cafe Gourmand, which was meant to be a tiny dessert served with coffee (love the idea of this as I am always too full for a pudding - Pizza Express have done it for years) were served 5 mins apart. So the coffees arrived, but the desserts not until 5 minutes later, by which time we'd half finished our coffees.
No cutlery was provided with which to eat our mini desserts (we used our teaspoons for the coffees)
We sat with dirty plates in front of us for nearly 10 minutes before they were eventually cleared and we were offered dessert menus. Not a big issue if its really busy, but it really wasn't busy.
Despite giving my name when we arrived and telling them we had a booking, our bill just came without the pre-paid bit removed. This was then a little embarrassing to get rectified.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming? Yes the staff were friendly and checked that our meal was okay, offered additional drinks etc. Just right. We left a decent tip as we felt awkward after having to point out that we should have had £50 pre-paid on the bill and didn't want to appear cheap!

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this? Yes

And lastly, would you go again? Yes, although it is not cheap, so not often.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Windsor branch on a Saturday at midday. Peak time!!

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
It was very nice. Didn't feel overcrowded and was warm and welcoming.

How would you rate the food quality?
Much much nicer than I remember. The food seemed fresh, there was a good selection of meals and everything tasted nice.

How would you rate the new kids menu?
It was good, much more choice than I thought and my eldest was very impressed with the dessert selection.

What did your child choose?
My 8 year old chose the pesto pasta followed by the chocolate crepe and 3 year old had the burger followed by vanilla ice cream. The pasta was a little over done but there was enough pesto. The burger was huge!! Far too big for my youngest and the chips were very salty (great for me though!) The burger was cooked perfectly and tasted lovely.
The starter was very generous, much more than Zizzis which we favour as the children are pasta fiend! The bread was soft and warm and I think the carrots slightly steamed to soften them a bit. That was a great idea. My eldest loved the salsa!
Regarding the crepe, I have been told (!) it would have been better warm and would have been nice to have an alternative to dark chocolate... But that's a very personal view and she ate it anyway!

What about the food for adults?
We had the set lunch. Mushrooms followed by goats cheese tarts and pate, followed by steak and then the creme brulee. We also had olive and bread to nibble on.
I thought it was generally good value for money and generous. Although the olives were expensive for how much you got. The drink selection was fine. All in all very nice and tasty.

What was the best part about your experience?
Just having some decent family time in a relaxed environment! And enjoying some nice food (I tried everyone's )

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
The service was excellent. No sense of being rushed or waiting for ages. Everyone was very friendly.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No I didn't and I was impressed.

And lastly, would you go again?
I would now that I know the menu exists and I'm always on the lookout for alternatives to Pizza Express and Zizzis.

Thank you for the opportunity to do this, we had a lot of fun trying it out :-)

I forgot to add about the colouring in! Both children liked the crayons and it stopped my three year old from exploring too much.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
We visited the Stratford upon Avon branch on Saturday at lunchtime. We were 2 adults and 3 children which was my sister and myself, my boys aged 9 and 10 and my niece aged 10.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
It was nicely decorated and in a very convenient location in the town centre, near the river, but I didn't think the building itself was very family friendly. It is in a narrow old building so feels cramped. The toilets are upstairs and there are steps up to the main door. There is a ramp at the side. We didn't have pushchairs but if we did it would not have been easy to access the restaurant and I don't know where we would have put a pushchair while seated.

When we arrived there were no other families and when we left only 2 other groups with children. Most of the clientèle seemed older.

The toilets were very clean.

How would you rate the food quality?
The food was OK, fairly standard chain quality. Nothing special but perfectly acceptable.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
The children's menu had a good range of dishes although I did notice the only vegetarian choices were cheese or tomato pasta or toasted cheese sandwich which I thought was a bit dull.

The children's starter was good with fresh vegetables and tomato dip although the carrot sticks were wet and appeared to have been cooked a little. They certainly were not raw.

The children had:

Poulet Goujons
Pasta with tomato sauce
Fab Fishcake

All the portions were adequate for the ages of our children but would have been too big for younger children. The chicken and pasta were good and my DS liked that he could add his own cheese to the pasta. The fishcake was dry and was only serve with chips. It needed some vegetables or a side salad as it looked very plain.

They all had ice cream for dessert and they enjoyed choosing their own toppings. All commented that the ice cream portion was too small.

All the children wanted to try a pot of snails but when they saw them they were all put off except for my older DS who tried one but won't again! At least he had the experience.

The drinks they were served (2 cokes and a sprite) were all small and we had to order extra drinks for them.

What about the food for adults?

We shared a bread platter to start with. The bread was fresh but I think it was pre-made part baked bread.

I had minute steak which had a really good flavour and very tender but when it came it was swimming in juices which I had to dry up with a napkin to prevent soggy chips! The chips were lovely, really thin and crisp.
My sister had steak baguette which was good although she did think the Dijon mustard was missing.

We both had crème brulee for dessert which was excellent, nice and cold but with a crisp sugar top.

What was the best part about your experience?
The best part was being able to share a meal with my family and for my boys to spend time with their cousin as they don't meet very often. The children had a good time together using the pencils and colouring books provided to play games and generally chat to each other.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?

We were not greeted in an over friendly manner but when we were shown to our table the waiter who served us (Tom) was excellent. He was great with the children, very friendly and helpful. He was knowledgeable about the menu and offered more drinks and checked we were happy with everything. When we came to pay he was unaware of the Mumsnet discount so hopefully that meant that the excellent service we received was the normal level, not just because of the test we were taking part in. The problem was soon solved once he spoke to the manager. The manager had been aware as he spoke to us earlier in the meal.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
Yes I did.

And lastly, would you go again?
Yes we would.

Thank you for choosing us. It was a lovely get together and enjoyable food.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
We visited the Liverpool branch at 6pm on Saturday.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
It was OK. I had probably chosen one of their busiest times to visit - just as all the shops were closing - so it was very crowded. It's also quite cramped - tables are close together. A big problem with this restaurant are the massive windows which meant that half the restaurant had the sun in their eyes. I couldn't see at all and had to shade my eyes with the menu for most of the meal. I think they need some blinds! I also thought the restaurant itself was a bit tatty/not very clean. However, we had a good time here so not all bad!

How would you rate the food quality?
Again, OK. I think the kids' food was great, but not the adults.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
The kids menu was really good. Lots of choice and a very good price for three courses and a drink. It was easy for the kids to find something they wanted. They both chose the burger and for pud they had chocolate icecream with popping candy which they loved. The starter was great and there were loads of drinks to choose from. The only downside was that the main course was massive - almost a full adult portion. They could barely pick the burger up.

As for the actual menu - it was a badly photocopied bit of paper which was hard to read. I'm guessing the real menus are on their way?!

What about the food for adults?
Not so good. We both ordered a steak and it was incredibly tough and chewy. I couldn't finish it. But the rest of the food was nice - the starter (prawns) was lovely and the puddings were delish.

What was the best part about your experience?
The kids menu was much better than I was anticipating.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
Yes, the staff were very friendly and welcoming although as the restaurant was very busy, they were quite rushed.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No.

And lastly, would you go again?
I don't think so. The atmosphere in this particular branch is not very pleasant. And it's too expensive for me - we had two kids' meals, one adult starter, two adult main courses, two adult puddings and soft drinks, and it was £75. I don't think the adult food or the restaurant itself is nice enough to justify that amount. It's a shame though because the kids' menu was great.

Thank you for this opportunity - we had a lovely afternoon.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?

We visited the Sheffield St Paul's branch on a Sunday at 1:30pm.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?

We visited with our 2 DDs (7 and 10) and our friends with their baby DD on a quiet Sunday lunchtime/afternoon. All staff were very accommodating and nothing was too much trouble. There was plenty of room for a pushchair and the crayons and activity sheets were great. It was definitely a 'family friendly' place to eat in.

How would you rate the food quality?

Generally good - plenty of choice, freshly cooked and served quickly.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?

For our children, who are fairly unadventurous eaters, there were plenty of good choices on the menu. They enjoyed the crudités and bread to start but were unsure about the tomato dip. DD1 chose pasta with tomato sauce for her main course. She enjoyed the sauce but said she would have preferred a different type of pasta to macaroni. DD2 chose chicken gougons with frites and sweet corn/peas. There were three huge chicken gougons which she just managed to eat. Frites were much enjoyed! They both chose the crepe for dessert, which they said was delicious but needed more chocolate sauce. I thought the children's menu was good value for money.

What about the food for adults?
For starters, two had onion soup and we shared the Camembert and bread.
For main courses, I had the minute steak with frites. Steak was ordered rare but probably came more like medium. Tasted delicious though! We also had a confit de canard (very much enjoyed) and a demi poulet. My friend had the fish cakes which came to her surprise with peas inside them. Desserts came quickly - chocolate fondant was perfect and lemon tart very good too.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?

Twitchy posting finger!!!
What was the best part of the experience?

The atmosphere was friendly and
relaxed and the staff were very welcoming to the children, which helped us to enjoy our meal.

Service - friendly and welcoming?
Most definitely. Cynically, we wondered if our welcome would have been quite so great with the Mumsnet booking, but we couldn't fault the service we received.

Did you know Cafe Rouge had a children's menu?
We had eaten at Cafe Rouge when the girls were younger so knew they had a children's menu but the new menu seemed more extensive.

And lastly, would you go again?
Possibly. The children's menu was a bonus with good choices - more variation than Pizza Express Piccolo Menu but our food was expensive for what we had. The atmosphere was lovely but the food was probably no better than good 'pub' food but at higher prices.

Thank you very much for allowing us to do this visit.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Weybridge on Sunday August 16 dinner time. **
**
Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
It was lovely. Was surprisingly child friendly.
**
How would you rate the food quality?
Very good quality food. The meats were definitely fresh and sourced from a good butcher. The vegetables were also very fresh.
Although dd ordered apple juice which turned out to be fizzy. We asked if it was meant to be fizzy and the manager said no, so I'm slightly worried it was very off.
**
How would you rate the new kids menu?
I thought the menu was pretty good. It caters to most appetites, particularly the picky eaters.

What did your child choose?
My children really enjoyed the menu. My 6 year old had the macaroni and cheese and crepe. My 3 year old had the chicken goujons and ice cream. Both (nearly) cleared their plates. The starter did not come with butter (for the bread) but this wasn't a big deal as neither of the children asked for it. Our one year old are most of the bread so we asked for more which they were happy to give us.
**
What about the food for adults?
We had 3 adults. I had the moules, dh had steak and frites and mom had sea bass. For pudding dh and I shared the chocolate chili and lime sorbet which was delicious. Sadly they had run out of the strawberry and black pepper sorbet.
**
What was the best part about your experience?
I think we enjoyed the wine ( particularly the ability to sample before buying) and the pudding the best. The whole meal was very nice though. Which is surprising since I had always associate cafe rouge with a steak sandwich and not much choice.
**
How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
Absolutely. We had great service.
**
Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No but I would have expected it.
**
And lastly, would you go again?
Yes, we will definitely be visiting again.

Sorry for the delay in posting our review - we've had a few technical hitches over the past week! I've got a load of photos which will follow once I get them off my camera :)

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?

James St, London on a Monday at 1pm.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?

Surprisingly welcoming and lovely - definitely not what I was expecting. My last cafe rouge visit was about 10 years ago, pre-dc when we had a really disappointing meal with very snooty service. This was the exact opposite: warm, welcoming, child-friendly (crucially, without being childish) and fun.

How would you rate the food quality?

Mostly excellent.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?

Dd1 (7) and dd2(5) had the kids menu. Overall, we really liked the kids menu and thought it was well planned. Our choices were very limited because we are fish-eating (but no shellfish) vegetarians - I wasn't expecting much, but would have liked to see an option other than pasta and tomato sauce.

Both girls liked the bread and crudités but couldn't understand why they came with a ketchup/tomato sauce. It didn't go with anything else on the plate - the Dds asked me to say that this was one of their only negative comments, by the way! They would have preferred a garlic/yoghurt/hummus/tzatziki/anything else dip. There were a huge amount of veg, but the girls really enjoyed them.

The pasta was lovely and generous, but the Dds though the sauce was very bland (it was). I'm guessing this is because it's the fallback option for picky eaters who didn't fancy anything else on the menu, but it would be nice if it was cooked with a few chopped up veg and some herbs for flavour. Having said that, both girls ate the lot!

Both Dds chose profiteroles for dessert, which were a massive hit :)

What about the food for adults?

An absolute pleasure!! Ds (10) and I shared the baked Camembert (the Dds want this added to the kids menu please!); DS had the croque saumon and I had the rather amazing house salad with salmon and goats cheese. Both were fab. For dessert we shared a third kids portion of profiteroles that our amazing wait (see below) was kind enough to supply for us, despite them not being on the adult menu.

What was the best part about your experience?

The service! And my children's pleasure in being able to have fizzy drinks in a restaurant (we always have tap water) and a whole dessert each!!

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?

The service was amazing. From the moment we walked in, and saw our table decorat with balloons, and with colouring pencils and books all ready, I knew we were in for a treat. But it just got better from there: our waiter couldn't have been more kind or patient, even swapping Dds drink when she realised she wanted lemonade not orange juice, and letting DS have refillable drinks when he was on the adult menu. Lots of small thoughtful things.

I assumed this was because he knew we were there for the product trial and writing a review (cynic) right up until the end of the (nearly 2 hour, super relaxing and fun) meal when he asked if we had any discount codes for the bill. I explained, and said I knew we had gone a bit over the 50 quid so we needed to pay some of it: he looked totally blank, went off for a chat with his manager and came back to tell me there was no bill at all

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?

No - it wouldn't have occurred to me to take the dcs there ever.

And lastly, would you go again?

Almost certainly, although I would like to see another veg option on the kids menu please!

Thank you for selecting us for this trial - we all had a great time!!

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Birmingham Bullring, 5.30pm, Friday

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
Really good, they really looked after our daughter.

How would you rate the food quality?
8/10

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
Was expecting some more French themed mains, need to have a 2 course option for younger diners. My daughter had the breaded chicken, profiteroles and milk.

What about the food for adults?
Lovely, tasty food, see more on blog.

What was the best part about your experience?
Service and activities for my daughter.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
Couldn't fault it,

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No

And lastly, would you go again?
Yes but when she is a bit older and can do the three courses justice.

I have just written my review on the blog and have copied below:

I love French food and have only ever dined at Café Rouge once, only reason being that we don’t really have one particularly close, Birmingham is probably about 45 minutes on the train. I also had never thought about taking Macy as it isn’t somewhere you really associate as being particularly child friendly, am not really sure why, you just don’t expect a nice restaurant to cater for children. So when the opportunity came up to try their childrens’ menu via Mumsnet I was straight on to them to volunteer our services!

When we arrived at the Bullring restaurant for dinner on Friday night we were warmly welcomed and shown to our table, Macy was brought her highchair and straight away brought some stickers (which are her favourite things in the world! Sorry the photos are a bit blurry she was just so excited!), a multi coloured colouring crayon and also the menu which doubled up as a colouring activity sheet.

The childrens menu is £6.95 for three courses and a drink which is good value, however for younger children like Macy it would have been nice to have been able to just have starter and main and drink for perhaps a couple of pounds less. She just can’t manage three courses yet and dessert is normally the course she leaves the most of. A spoonful of something we are having is enough. So I do feel they could do with that option for perhaps under 5s.

There was a good choice of drinks, we always feel a little hard done to with things like this as Macy drinks water, she doesn’t have fizzy drinks or squash so when we saw milk on the menu we were really please, there was a good choice of juices and fizzy drinks also. What we did like was that her starter was brought out straight away, before ours so that it kept her quiet and she wasn’t sitting there getting frustrated because she was hungry. There wasn’t a choice for starter, it was artisan bread with cucumber, carrot, tomato and a tomato dip (the menu stated it came with butter but we didn’t get any?) – she loved it, she really enjoys little bits of different things so this was ideal for her and she polished it all off!

For main course there was a good choice of a couple of chicken dishes, burger, sausages and mash, fishcake, pasta, cheese toastie. I didn’t feel it was a very French choice, would have been nice to have a bit of a better fish dish with some nice veg – Macy loves fish, it’s healthy and would have been lovely in some garlic butter. We ended up ordering the breaded chicken because it was one of few dishes that came with some veg – in this case peas and sweetcorn. However the meal arrived and there wasn’t any veg to be seen, only salad! We spoke to the waiter and the bowl of veg arrived quickly.

For dessert there was more of a ‘French’ choice including crepe, profiteroles, also fruit salad, ice cream and ice lolly. It was a bit of a cold day so I didn’t fancy ordering any ice lolly or ice cream and she eats loads of fruit so we went for the very French profiteroles – also I knew she wouldn’t eat many and they are one of my favourites! Lovely profiteroles filled with crème patisserie and a little dish to dip them into which was nice instead of drizzling the chocolate on top. As I suspected Macy only really managed one so I had a couple and they were lovely.

I have to say they really looked after Macy, couldn’t do enough for her and our waiter was fantastic with her and she loved all the attention. They brought her out her own cutlery on a napkin placed beside her and she thought that was great and felt very grown up! The only reason I wouldn’t return is that she really doesn’t do the three courses justice just yet so I feel it is a bit of a waste, perhaps in a year’s time.

An opportunity to learn a bit of French on the activity sheet

I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network ResearchPanel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.

While I am reviewing I will say that the menu for adults was lovely also, couldn’t fault our meals:

Champignons a l'ail - mushrooms in a cepe & garlic cream sauce on grilled rye & caraway bread - really tasty decent sized portion with plenty of sauce.
Crevettes - king prawns in garlic & smoked chilli butter with baked in house baguette - really tasty but it was a little tricky de-shelling the prawns in a very hot sticky butter.

10oz rib eye - this was served with garlic butter and cooked as required perfectly, just could have done with some veggies or grilled tomato?
Boeuf Bourguignon - slow-cooked beef in red wine with smoked bacon, mushrooms, baby onions, green beans, carrots and herb mash - this was beautiful, so rich and tasty, the beef melted in my mouth, however there just wasn't enough beef, I counted about 6 pieces!

We had the chocolate ganache to share for pudding and did find the chocolate, chilli and lime sorbet rather vile! We have eaten at plenty of nice restaurants with Michelin stars etc so are not unaccustomed to unusual flavour combinations but this was really horrid, the ganache was lovely though!

Thank you very much for choosing us to try this - we really appreciate it!

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
We visited the Trafford Centre at 1pm on Saturday.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
There was plenty of space for the pram, which was great. It was quite an epic journey down corridors and through doors and up stairs to find the toilets which was tricky with a toddler. The colouring page and crayons were good for keeping DD entertained when we arrived.

How would you rate the food quality?
Very good - nice and hot, tasty, good size portions.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
Excellent - the starter was great, it was delivered to the table very quickly which kept DD busy while we were choosing what we wanted to eat - she loved the dip! The main course was a very generous portion (poulet goujons), perhaps there could have been more vegetables, but DD is a veg monster to maybe my perception is a bit skewed in that respect. Again, her dessert was lovely, she loved the profiteroles, particularly the ramekin of chocolate sauce to dip them in. Originally she was brought over the wrong dessert, and somehow ended up with a crepe as an extra - DH ate that and said it was very nice. She thoroughly enjoyed all of her food. The milk that we ordered for her drink as part of the kids meal deal never arrived. It was a shame that the waitress took her main meal away when she cleared our plates and there was still more than half a plate of food there - it happened so quick that it was gone before we had chance to stop her, we were both just , I've never known a restaurant take a childs plate with lots of food on it without checking that it really was finished with, I clearly should have been guarding it better!

What about the food for adults?
We ordered starters (garlic mushrooms and king prawns) but unfortunately they never arrived so we can't comment on those! The main courses (rib eye steak and poulet breton) were both delicious, particularly the mustard mashed potato, but we were both left feeling a little unsatisfied - though that could be because we had saved ourselves so were really hungry and then had no starters! Desserts (chocolate torte and creme brûlée) were lovely, we were really pleased with our choices.

What was the best part about your experience?
The host was fantastic - he was warm, welcoming, great with children, knowledgable, happy to swap a drink when DH ordered the wrong thing for me and he overheard me expressing discontent to DH and very apologetic about the starter mix up. To be honest, the service on the whole was really poor, but his fantastic attitude really made up for a lot of the faults. I hope they realise just how valuable a member of staff he is!!

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
As above, the host was great. The waitress was friendly enough but the comedy of errors that happened throughout the meal rather soured the service experience on the whole.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No.

And lastly, would you go again?
Probably not - it was very expensive! We were told that our starters were taken off the bill as we hadn't eaten them, and the bill was £62, for two main courses, two desserts, two softs drinks, two hot drinks and a childs meal deal. If we had been paying full price for that meal I would have been very unhappy.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week? We visited Windsor, at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. Our party consisted of myself, my mum, DS (11), DD1 (8) and DD2 (4)
Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?As soon as we were sat down the children's menus appeared, together with packs of crayons. This included DS who often considers himself above the children's entertainment provided. The restaurant was roomy, spacious and quieter than I expected.
How would you rate the food quality? we were very impressed with the quality of the food.
How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose? DD1 chose the macaroni cheese, followed by the Chocolate ice cream with marshmallow; DD2 chose the burger and strawberry ice cream, DS chose the sausages and mash. The children were disappointed that there was no choice of dip with the starter as they don't like tomato, but they all tried it. The butter didn't come with their starter and we had to ask for it. The carrots were described as too wet and a bit floppy. The macaroni was described as delicious, but hardly tasted of cheese at all to me, the burger was beautifully presented in a glistening brioche type bread roll, but it was so huge I think it put DD2 off. It was beautifully cooked and delicious. The sausages looked great, but DS wasn't sharing as they were divine. Unfortunately he didn't get the gravy, but dipped into my sauce instead as he had nearly finished when he realised. The ice cream was very creamy and the children liked that they could choose the sweets to accompany it. They thought the desert portions should have been a bit larger. DS who normally eats like an adult was happy with his meal, plus the half burger DD2 couldn't eat.
What about the food for adults? a very full menu with plenty of choices, even for someone fussy like me but currently on a diet so more restricted than usual. I chose Bouef bourginon, whilst My mum chose Salmon. We really enjoyed it.
What was the best part about your experience? it was a restaurant we hadn't visited before and now I know we can easily take the children there to eat.
How about service: was it friendly and welcoming? the service was welcoming, but they could have been a little more available as when we needed someone we had to wait to find one. I think a little more attention to detail (thinking of the missing butter and gravy) would have helped. However, every thing we asked for was provided happily and quickly.
Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this? no, I wasn't aware that Cafe Rouge had a kids menu.
And lastly, would you go again? yes, I'm sure we'll go again. DH was put out that we visited when he was working.

I can't find cafe rouge in the restaurant listing of the local page - should I add a new listing?

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?

Birmingham Bullring, Friday lunchtime.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?

It was lovely, we had never eaten there before as I'd assumed it wasn't really suitable for children. We usually go to Jamies Italian when in Birmingham. I noticed that there weren't really any other children dining, it was mostly professionals having lunch and adult shoppers. I was perhaps a bit worried about keeping them quieter that usual so that they didn't disturb anyone's lunch.

How would you rate the food quality?

Good, we all really enjoyed our meals. No complaints at all.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?

The kids menu was great, it was clear from the descriptions what was in a dish. For example DD2 wanted fishcakes but the menu stated they were salmon which she doesn't eat so we were able to stay away from that choice. Dd2 didn't eat much of the starter as she doesn't eat salad but she also only ate a few bites of the bread which is unusual for her. DD1 helped her finish it! They both had burger and chips and ate really well. I tasted the burger and it was really very good and the fries were delicious. The only thing I will say is that the fries came well seasoned and I don't usually let them have too much salt, it might be a better idea if kids chips came unseasoned so the parents can make that choice. For desert DD1 had ice cream which was delicious, I think she was a bit gutted when she saw her sisters crepe though as it was huge! DD2 was quite full at this point so DD1 had to finish it for her anyway

What about the food for adults?

Delicious! I had prawns to start, they were gorgeous, really plump and juicy. I shared with DD1 who loved them too. For the main I had duck which was cooked perfectly and came with yummy cherry sauce. If I had to be picky I'd say the potato dauphinoise wasn't as creamy as it should have been but it was still lovely- I really must make some soon

What was the best part about your experience?

Trying somewhere new and having the chance to have a lovely meal with my girls.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?

Service was fab, the waiter was lovely. Very warm and friendly. The manager was on the floor leading the team and was very friendly too.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?

No, I assumed it was an adult restaurant.

And lastly, would you go again?

Definitely, we all had 3 courses and the bill only came to about £43 which I found very reasonable, I had expected to have gone over so was pleasantly surprised when it was less. We have found somewhere else to go when we're in Birmingham!

We visited the Sheffield St Paul's restaurant at 6pm on a Sunday.

How did you find it generally?

It was excellent. The restaurant was bright and really clean. There was a nice atmosphere and the music was just right - although it wasn't busy we didn't feel as if we had to whisper. We were greeted warmly and shown to our table where menus (including the children's menu and 'crayon stick') were ready for us.

How would you rate the quality of the food?

No complaints at all. I wasn't sure about DS's choice of pasta but he really enjoyed it. Everything was well cooked and served piping hot.

How would you rate the new kids' menu?

There was plenty of choice for the main meal although, like other posters, I would have liked to see something a little more adventurous. The starter was perfect for DS who loves 'dippy stuff' but another choice might have been nice.

What did your child choose?

DS had the starter, pasta with tomato sauce and then the ice lolly. No complaints at all except that he would have liked the bread 'less crunchy' but that's just him! He also had a fair amount of our food and declared it all very good.

What about the food for adults?

I had the crevettes to start and then the super salad with goats cheese (and fries) and I couldn't fault any of it. DH had the snail/mushroom ragoût followed by boeuf bourguignon and pronounced both to be excellent. Neither of us managed dessert but there were a number of things that we might have chosen.

What was the best part about the experience?

We really enjoyed going somewhere that we wouldn't normally have chosen and have a family meal that was a bit different. We take DS out to eat a lot but Café Rouge seem to have found a good blend of family-friendly with great food and service.

How about the service?

The service was exceptional and we did wonder whether the 'mumsnet factor' was involved but everyone seemed to be treated really well. Our waitress managed to be attentive without hovering around the table. She was very friendly and seemed very genuine. The manager (?) came to speak to us at the end of our meal and again seemed as if if genuinely cared that we had had a great experience.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids' menu?

Not really but I would have assumed that they did something.

Would you go again?

Definitely. We had a great experience and will find a reason to go back.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?

Wokingham Sunday @ 4pm

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?

Pleasantly suprised! Staff were great with the children, very accommodating.

How would you rate the food quality?

Great.

How would you rate the new kids menu?
Nice range, impressive portions and plated easily....no chopping boards in sight

What did your child choose?
Both had the breaded goujons - I had a cheeky taste and it was actual fillet not processed crap.

What about the food for adults?
Delicious and v healthy sized portions.

What was the best part about your experience?

The staff! They were lovely. Friendly, engaged with the kids offered suggestions on the menu and we never felt rushed even when the kids got a bit hyper! Really lovely family restaurant which suprised me!

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?

Yes - see above!

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?

No
And lastly, would you go again?
Without a doubt! We used to go for breakfast a pre kids but always thought it wasn't an appropriate kids restaurant but now we know it is.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Visited LiverpoolOne branch at 6pm on Thursday evening.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
Generally ok but it would have been cramped/difficult with a pram.

How would you rate the food quality?
Good.

How would you rate the new kids menu?
Really good. A range of choices, my two were spoilt for choice and would have happily eaten all the dishes.

What did your child choose?
4yo chose chicken goujons, 2yo chose sausages.

What about the food for adults?
We shared some bread to start, DP had a burger with ham speck, I had the risotto.

What was the best part about your experience?
A nice quiet meal out which turned out to be our last baby free evening.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
It was friendly and unobtrusive. We didn't get any colouring stuff others have mentioned.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
No but the branch we visited seems to do a limited menu

And lastly, would you go again?
Yes. It was nice and quiet compared to the other restaurants around it at that time of evening.

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week? We visited the bath restaurant at 6 on a Friday night.
Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family? The restaurant was lovely; very inviting and the staff were welcoming.
How would you rate the food quality? My girls really enjoyed their started which was fresh bread tomato dip and vegetables, everything seemed and cooked to order with care and attention.
How would you rate the new kids menu? I think that the kids menu represents good value for money. For £6.75 they had 3 good size courses with more than just the option of ice cream for desert.What did your child choose? Both of my girls had the starter followed by chicken goujons and then one had profiteroles and the other a chocolate crepe.
What about the food for adults? The food for was amazing, my husband was unsure what to go for so the waiter recommended the sea bass which delicious! The dish was beautifully presented and was a perfect combination of the fish veg and potatoes. The crème brulee was equally good for desert!
What was the best part about your experience? The best part for the girls was the choice of pudding, being able to have a small fizzy drink rather than just water and feeling like they were in a grown up restaurant!
How about service: was it friendly and welcoming? The service was great; everybody was very welcoming and our waiter ( who I wish I had asked his name) was very attentive and helpful.
Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this? No
And lastly, would you go again?definitely!

Thank you for choosing us to try out the new children's menu, we were all really excited, especially the children!

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
We visited the Windsor Cafe Rouge on Saturday at 6pm.

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
Overall it was very disappointing, sorry. Everyone was very friendly, but there were a lot of mistakes that meant that we didn't feel that the meal was worth what we would have paid.

How would you rate the food quality?
The quality was patchy. Some things, like the pesto sauce, the sausages and the icecream/sorbets were excellent. Others weren't so good.

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
The menu had some great choices, my children easily found things that they'd really like to eat. My two had the starter (no choice, but bread and salad is always popular), the pesto pasta, the chocolate pancake and chocolate icecream, and a bit of a mess - my elder daughter ordered the salmon fishcake and chips. She ate the chips first, and then tried the salmon fishcake, except that it wasn't the salmon fishcake, it was the smoked haddock fishcake. We called someone over and they explained that they had run out of salmon, and substituted from the adult menu without telling us. My daughter doesn't like smoked fish, so this didn't work for us at all, and I think that it is pretty bad customer service to substitute anything from the menu without checking with the customer first! Particularly as there was no way of knowing that it was wrong until she'd bitten into it. She asked for sausages to replace the fishcake, which arrived with vegetables and mash. The sausages and the vegetables were both very good quality, but it did mean that a child had to wait for their meal when everyone else had already been served. We were told that we wouldn't be charged for the second meal, but I don't feel that this was much in the way of compensation as she couldn't eat the first meal as it wasn't what she had ordered! The whole situation wasn't helped by the fact that the starter didn't arrive with butter, as stated on the menu, we had to call someone over to ask for it, and when she ordered her icecream she asked for popping candy, but they substituted smarties instead, again without asking. So none of her courses arrived as described.
The pesto pasta had a great pesto sauce, very fresh tasting (we all loved it), but it seemed a bit cheap to have just a bowl of pasta, especially as the sausage meal was such good quality.
Both children had chocolate milk to drink - it was great to see milk as a choice, there was a wide selection of drinks for the children. This came in a small plastic cup, which is a very practical choice, but was a bit small. I've seen earlier up the thread that the drink was refillable, but we weren't told this.

What about the food for adults?
This was patchy as well. DH ordered mushrooms to start, very nice, and I had blue cheese which was very ripe, not to everyone's taste, but we like it. The smoked haddock fishcake main was very good, but the vegetable risotto was a big disappointment. Just as the children's meals, I felt that all the love had gone into the meat dishes, and the vegetarians were left out. The risotto was described as having champagne, roasted butternut squash, tomatoes, peppers, peas and pea shoots, with a lemon dressing. It was so creamy that I couldn't taste any wine at all, in fact it was very bland, with almost no flavour, like eating an unseasoned savoury rice pudding. This wasn't helped by the fact that the squash was steamed, not roasted, and there was no lemon dresssing at all. I actually double checked the desciption on the menu when it came back for the dessert course, as I wondered whether I'd misread, but I hadn't. The icecreams and sorbets for pudding were lovely, but the tarte tartin was very soggy and the caramelised hazelnuts were just raw hazelnuts, it was nice enough, but could have been a lot better.

What was the best part about your experience?
Going out to a "grown-up" restaurant with the children, they were really excited, and parts of the food. Otherwise, it really wasn't great. My daughter was very upset that they didn't serve what she'd ordered. I felt that my expectations of the food were realistic, I've eaten in lots of other chain restaurants, Pizza Express, Strada, Prezzo etc., but this food wasn't as good.

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
The staff were very friendly, and did sort of the issues with the menu promptly, the missing butter etc. Having read the rest of the thread, I was a bit disappointed as we didn't have balloons, activity sheets etc., just a small packet of crayons and some plain paper. I also felt that they weren't at all apologetic about serving the wrong food to a child. This is a big mistake, even if it was for an adult. I was very impressed with my daughter and how well she took it, but a few years ago there would have been a melt-down, and I'm sure that Cafe Rouge want all ages of children to eat there, not just older ones!

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
Yes, because we've eaten at a Cafe Rouge before, this children's menu was better.

And lastly, would you go again?
No, sorry, not unless we win the £75 voucher. Other chains are much more consistent, it wasn't worth the money on this occasion. Thank you very much for the opportunity, however, based on the experience described above, when we take our family on the next meal out that would cost £65 I would choose somewhere else.

We went to the Trafford centre for lunch and arrived at 12
It was a great place to take the family. The children loved the crayons, and balloon at the end
Food quality was good, however, there were no mussels or onion soup, which we would have chosen if available
Overall the kids menu was very good value for money. But my ten year old would have liked a bit more choice. Perhaps something different than burger, sausages or nuggets. Both the children did enjoy what they ordered and both had the mini croque with frites with ice cream to follow.
The adults menu had lots of choice, and we had pate, garlic mushrooms and both had steak as a main, which was cooked nicely
The best part was taking the children to somewhere that felt a bit more grown up
The service was good and the food arrived hot and quickly
I have never been to a cafe rouge before and would certainly go back again!

Which Café Rouge location did you visit and at what time of day/ day of week?
Bath. Saturday lunchtime

Generally - how did you find Café Rouge as a place to visit with the family?
We found the staff very welcoming, we were able to choose the a table that suited us best (a booth) and our DS was given crayons and colouring sheets soon after being seated. All the staff were very chatty and friendly with him.

How would you rate the food quality? the food was really lovely, the sausages on the children's menu were of a good quality and really tasty. My Rouge burger was homemade and really tasty. The garlic bread starter was very very nice!

How would you rate the new kids menu? What did your child choose?
Our son chose the sausages and mash for his main, the menu was simple but had plenty of choice. He really enjoyed the starter and it was nice to only have one starter option. The portions were very generous and there was a great selection for dessert. He didn't have room for his profiteroles so sadly me and DP had to eat them instead!

What about the food for adults?
We loved the huge selection available on the menus, I chose the artisan garlic bread to start and the rouge burger for my main, DP chose the garlic bruschetta followed by poulet Breton which was delicious!

What was the best part about your experience?
The food really was amazing!

How about service: was it friendly and welcoming?
Yes the waiters and manageress all gave fantastic service the whole time.

Did you know Café Rouge did a kids menu prior to this?
We didn't - we thought the restaurant would be too grown up for toddlers.

And lastly, would you go again?
Yes we really enjoyed the whole experience and felt it was good value for money.