Café Rouge – Breakfast and Dinner - The Printworks, Shudehill, Manchester M4 3JS

Article: Cafe Rouge, Printworks, Manchester - review

Day of the week and time: Friday 10.30am (for breakfast), Wednesday 6.30pm (for dinner).

Ahhh, I love having a fancy breakfast. I think I deserved this little treat with my hubby considering I had just handed in coursework nice and early for University.

Café Rouge is a nice little café/restaurant that has many chains across the UK, so it’s very likely you’ve heard of it, and perhaps, sat in and experienced a bit of France. OK, I wouldn’t go that far, it really doesn’t give off a French vibe, but how would I know, I’ve never been to François. Nonetheless, I love the hospitality from the staff here at every chain I’ve been to (London and Manchester mostly) and the décor - rich reds and a collage of French-related paintings splattered on the walls. The atmosphere is very sophisticated but casual.

For breakfast, we tried the Salmon Benedict, which was an easy choice having tried it before. This is a plate of sweet toasted bread, coated with smoked salmon and poached eggs, topped with hollandaise sauce (see pic below).

The salmon is lovely and delicate, not too over powering (for those fish-haters). It goes well with the hollandaise sauce soaked up by the sweet bread. The hollandaise sauce is at a nice consistency and tastes mild, not taking away the salmon smoke. I love the balance of flavours this meal provides; every bite is a piece of fancy heaven. The egg is lovely too and the yolk gooeyness adds a lovely additional sauce. I shall certainly be serving up this fancy breakfast for my parents and sister who will be visiting over Easter!

I want to add that Café Rouge have recently added a potato and onion mix to accompany the salmon Benedict, which is perfect as the meal becomes satisfyingly filling and you feel that it’s worth the money (£5.50). This accompaniment is lovely and light, giving that extra carbohydrate to get you through until lunch. Moreover, with a TasteCard, Café Rouge do 2 for 1 for all their breakfast and dinner dishes, so our meal cost us £5.50 for two here - Tres bien!

We had dinner at the Manchester, Printworks chain, but were a little disappointed with the lack of welcome. Waiters took several minutes to notice us and a few other hungry customers at the door (very shocking!). They were busy, but there is no excuse - I had to wave down a waiter myself.  However, service was friendly and our waiter was attentive but a little rushed off his feet by other customers, once we were seated.

We ordered the Saumon à la Niçoise (salmon fillet on a mixed leaf salad) and the Cromesqui d’Eglefi n Fumé (haddock fishcake on spinach with butter sauce).

The Saumon à la Niçoise was nice in taste, but ooh-la-la, the portion size is dedicated to the calorie-counter (not me). The salmon was gently pan-fried, the outer light and crispy, and with a slice through it, the fish flaked into beautiful pink fragments. The salad was made up of mixed leaves, totato pieces, potato and some egg – not extremely inspiring – I’ve cooked up this meal at home without referring to a recipe, minus the egg  and anchovy addition, and I’m no cooking whiz. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a classical French cuisine, more like a dish from Nigella Lawson’s guide to quick and easy cooking (don’t get me wrong though, I love Nigella Lawson!).

On the other hand, the Cromesqui d’Eglefi n Fumé was delightful. I unfortunately did not order this - my hubby did… so I was filled with hunger pangs and jealousy when I took a few forkfuls of his choice meal. The creamy and buttery sauce was calorifically heavenly, and there was plenty of it too , so as advised by the waiter, we ordered extra new potatoes (side dish – £3.00) to lap up the excess sauce until finished. The haddock fishcake was huge, and I mean HUGE – not a great presentation really. However, this big ball of light and fluffy goodness melted in your mouth joyfully, although failed to fill you up. The haddock was mild, not too overpowering. I would strongly recommend this dish if you like all things buttery and j'adore your poissons, like moi.

The quantity and quality for breakfast dishes at Café Rouge are splendid, and I will certainly treat myself to a morning-off there again. However, dinner was mildly disappointing – the servings were modest and the meals lacked inspiration. I was left hungry and even opted to go to a chippy and get myself a chip-butty to satisfy my tummy. If a restaurant leaves you hungry, I don't think that could ever be a good thing!

I am now eager to find an authentic French restaurant for classical French cuisines, and when I do, you’ll be the first to here about it!

p/s can you tell I'm learning French? : )

My palate's choice:

Breakfast

Salmon Benedict £5.50

Poached eggs & smoked salmon on toasted brioche with Lyonnaise potatoes and Hollandaise sauce

Main

Cromesqui d’Eglefi n Fumé £10.95

Panfried smoked haddock fishcake on a bed of wilted spinach with a lemon butter sauce

Saumon à la Niçoise £10.50

Pan fried fi llet of salmon with a French bean, olive, anchovy, new potato, egg, tomato, red onion & mixed leaf salad tossed in our house French dressing.

Ratings

Ambience = 7/10

Food = Breakfast: 8/10; Dinner: 6/10

Service = 6.5/10

Speed of food = 5/10

Restrooms = 7/10
Alcohol: unfortunately served

Price: with TasteCard = 7/10; without TasteCard = 4/10

Room For Improvement

1. Produce more inspiring dishes for the main menu.
2. Improve the portions for the main dishes, bring in some French-ier dishes.
3. Dishes are overpriced - for example, salmon on a bed of leaves for £10.50 is a potential choking hazard!