Enjoy French-inspired, relaxed, contemporary dining at Café Rouge, Covent Garden. You’ll be spoiled for choice with a dish to delight every diner for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Afternoon Tea, including plenty of plant-based and gluten-free options, alongside classics like our Steak Frites and the new, incredibly delicious Bouillabaisse. Best of all, enjoy 2 for 1 on our selection of gourmet burgers, every Wednesday. Join us at Café Rouge Covent Garden, for a true taste of France, whatever the occasion.

PRICE RANGE

£0.00 – £100.00

CUISINES

French

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

FEATURES

Reservations, Highchairs Available, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Accepts American Express, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Gift Cards Available

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3.5

341 reviews

Excellent

131

Very good

Average

Poor

Terrible

Ian C

London23705 contributions

Enjoyable Pre-Theatre Meal

Feb 2020 • couples

The atmosphere is of a Parisienne Brasserie and, even though it was a cold February night, there were hardy souls sitting outside having a drink. The restaurant is popular for the pre-theatre crowd, so you are advised to book ahead and also allow a reasonable time. We booked for 5.30pm, arrived a few minutes early and had finished just before 7pm with plenty of time for the theatre. The staff were friendly, and we were shown to an excellent table. Opposite was what I would call the 'naughty boys' table in the worst location in the restaurant. You can tell how busy it became when this table was alighted upon and occupied by a grateful couple. We had a reasonable bottle of Merlot along with tap water, French Onion Soup for starters (what else would you chose?) And then between us we had the Poulet Breton and the Rump Steak with peppercorn sauce. Sadly, there was a shortage of potatoes to make the mash for the Poulet and we were offered fries, which were ok but not the same. We had a discount voucher for the main courses, so the bill was a pleasant surprise - at full price it is still good value for money.

Written 8 February 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Peter H

Leicester192 contributions

Nothing Special

Feb 2022 • none

I will certainly not be using my Tesco vouchers at Cafe Rouge again or be visiting their restaurants. Very miss leading information that must be used off the Al La Carte, well they only have a "All Day Menu" so we chose the set meal off that. When we came to pay was given a lecture by the waitress telling us could not use the Tesco vouchers on that and how much difficulty that had caused them. The same items on not using the set menu option cost £14 more! They then tried to add a1 0% service charge on to the bill. Average service, being lectured to and nothing special about the interior of the restaurant, never again. The food was OK but not a lot of it.

Written 13 February 2022

seasider2020

Lytham St Anne's372 contributions

Disappointing food shortages

Sept 2021 • couples

We know the Cafe Rouge menu fairly well - let’s face it, it doesn’t change much - but we were a bit thrown when neither our starter, main or wine choices were available. The fact that they had no Frenchman Onion Soup even, suggests that everything is shipped in and microwaved. The meal I had certainly seemed that way- a very dry burger with with dreadful french fries which were totally flavourless. My starter of mushrooms was acceptable. My husband had pate and moules. Pâté quite light and pleasant. Plenty of mussels, but again, not a lot of flavour. The service was a bit quick, as soon as our starter plates were cleared, the mains arrived. Won’t be rushing back to the cafe rouge chain.

Written 12 September 2021

Ellie Bayliss

Birmingham2 contributions

Treated badly by staff and food wasn’t up to standard.

Feb 2020 • couples

My boyfriend and I were gifted a Virgin Media Experience Days voucher for a date and we went early evening. There was an issue with the voucher on their end and instead of sorting it out quickly so we could eat, they made us feel as if we were trying to scam a meal out of them as we are a young couple (18 and 19). It made us feel extremely awkward and took around 30 minutes in total to sort it all out, despite the fact the table next to us who got there well after us using a similar voucher for afternoon tea had the same issue and were given their food around 15 minutes before us. The food was okay but I would never pay full price for it as we just didn’t feel it was up to the standard Café Rouge claim to hold. We were also never given the glass of sparkling wine we were entitled to with the voucher, despite asking for it. By the end of it we were both feeling very stressed out and couldn’t really enjoy the meal. It has really put me off Café Rouge as a whole and I don’t think I’ll be returning to any of the restaurants.

Written 22 May 2020

Antony Waddingham

Broadstairs122 contributions

Coffee...Sorry..Lack of

Feb 2020 • none

Apart from being able to use their charger for my phone this was rubbish. NO COFFEE MACHINE FOR A WEEK for a restaurant..total joke. Breakfasts were warm and poor. Undercooked bacon, watery beans, rubber eggs and a total disregard for any sort of service. Gave the order once and she came back 5 minutes later as it had disappeared. Upon leaving the clients who had just had a breakfast delivered was poach egg free. Her meal was sent back, he sat on his own eating his brekkie. My tea when poured out had a brown discharge floating on the tea which I can only presume was a dirty tea pot.

Written 29 February 2020

kjwould

Surrey31 contributions

Avoid

Aug 2021 • family

I love cafe rouge especially the mussels in the white wine sauce but this visit saddened me and my family. Our service was slow although polite and sweet they just couldn’t cope. 1.5 hour for our starter which was over cooked calamari and then my mussels came in a sauce that was buttery and not like it usually is. I counted over ten closed mussels so it obviously wasn’t cooked. My sisters medium rare steak came out blue. We asked what was wrong but he explained in a rush bless him I felt sorry for him and he gave us discount but it’s a shame a popular restaurant a flagship restaurant just doesn’t have the best of best chef and enough staff. I counted about 5 families walk out leaving their half eaten food. :(

Written 5 August 2021

jacqui43

Spalding716 contributions

Love this restaurant. This

Feb 2020 • family

Love this restaurant. This is our third visit to a Cafe Rouge in six months and I am still very impressed. Our waiter was so friendly and was quick to take our order. We used Tesco vouchers and they are great value for this restaurant chain. I ordered a Beef Bourguignon burger which was absolutely delicious, I normally order steak so this was a complete but excellent change. My dessert order was the rhubarb and ginger crumble which was amazing and again a change from the lemon tart. Drinks are expensive in here but comparable to other bars and restaurants in London. We loved it so much we are coming back again in March.

Written 23 February 2020

Tina U

Canterbury7 contributions

Avoid Food And Service Awful!!!!

Aug 2021 • family

I purchase two Groupon Vouchers for a three course meal. This was for my daughters 21st Birthday treat before the theatre. We arrived at 17.10 and were seated, once they realised we were Groupon they ignored us completely. We were given a different menu with options for Groupon which was fine, however we were told they had run out of most things on the menu so we were limited to what we could order. We ordered Garlic Mushrooms on Ciabatta bread for starters. 40 mins later we still had not received our stater. We asked the Manager who said it would come shortly, 5 mins later it arrived. Mushrooms on one slice of cheap brown bread. Really!!! 40mins wait and no sight of Ciabatta bread. We complained to the manager who said they had ran out of Ciabatta bread, yet a couple on the next table who ordered after us and we’re not Groupon received Ciabatta bread. We refused the starter it was so disgusting. We tried to hurry the main a long as we had now been in the restaurant an hour and a half with nothing to eat. The main arrived Beef Borgnine, I can’t describe how awful it was, one piece of beef with what looked like a tin of vegetable soup tipped on top of it. Needless to say we sent it back. We left the restaurant without eating a thing. I have since asked for a refund of my Groupon Voucher. The food was disgusting not worthy of the Cafe Rouge name. They were short staffed and my heart goes out to the two waitresses that tried to keep the whole restaurant going. The manager seemed completely overwhelmed and unable to take control of the restaurant. Choose another restaurant there are plenty more in Covent Garden that delivers good food with excellent service, Cafe Rouge in Wellington Street may benefit from a visit by Gordon Ramsey. They need lessons in the hospitality business. Excellent food followed by excellent customer service.

Written 5 August 2021

Becky

Twickenham6 contributions

Poor quality food

Sept 2021 • couples

We visited this Cafe Rouge on our way to the theatre. The service was poor, although the waitor who showed us our seats was wonderful, all the other staff seemed totally disinterested in us. I ordered the macaroni cheese which was very bland and dry, it was like eating a dish of plain pasta, there was hardly any sauce at all. My husband ordered the sea bass, which was terrible. The presentation was awful, the "hassleback" potatoes were just boiled potatoes, and the piece of fish he had was tiny and flavourless. The fish was actually served upside down which was probably because they wanted to hide how small it was! Very disappointed as meals we've had at other Cafe Rouge's around the country have been lovely.

Written 24 September 2021

LJE19671967

Oswestry144 contributions

Poor food and poor service

Jan 2020 • none

We chose to eat here after a trip to the theatre and I was very underwhelmed. It was very busy so happy to wait but they put us in a tight little spot nowhere to sit, we were in everyone's way and we weren't even allowed to have a drink while we waited. Eventually when we sat down the waiter said if we didn't hurry up with our order he would be gone and not come back! I had mussels which were tasteless and luke warm. None of us really enjoyed the food, not like other restaurants I have been to in this chain. Won't be going back.

Written 10 January 2020

racheljrainbow

Oxford174 contributions

Booked lunch given lunch menu but told we couldn’t order?!

Oct 2021 • family

So frustrated and annoyed. I booked a lunch slot on the website for 11.30am and was confirmed. We came in on time and given the lunch menu. When we went to order we were told they were only serving breakfast (there was no breakfast menu given to us either ??) Also staff are rude and unapologetic - we walked out and went to another place around the corner which was much better on service and organisation.

Written 31 October 2021

spenspuma

Faversham487 contributions

Very Slow Service - Best Avoid going before Theatre

Jul 2021 • couples

Visited here as we were seeing the Lion King over the road at the Lyceum. The theatre started at 7.30 so I booked a table for 5.30 (giving us 2 hours) We arrived and it didn't seem that busy which I was quite surprised at. It's quite a small Cafe Rouge so doesn't have that many tables. Because we knew what we wanted we ordered the 3 course set menu and ordered straight away. The starters took 40 minutes to arrive - we had to chase them twice. The main course then took another 35 minutes by which time we were concerned about the time...so we had to wolf the main courses down and had to rush them to bring our desserts out which we had a few very quick bites and rush out to avoid being late for the theatre. The food was 'ok' nothing special, but the service was terribly slow and I could never risk going here again before a show.

Written 30 July 2021

linpoly

Portsmouth25 contributions

Nice staff but dreadful overpriced food

May 2022 • none

Front staff were rushed off their feet but still smiled and were very pleasant but goodness knows what happens in the kitchen. we both ordered from the a la carte not the special offer menu. Fairly simple dishes... 2x french onion soups and 2x caesar salds, one with anchovies and one without. Soup arrived was barely warm and quite tasteless, the french bread supposedly topped with cheese as stated on the menu and is the norm for onion soup.... sliced french stick ends with no cheese to be seen or tasted. next came the salads, both were dreadful. the baby gem lettuce had not even been seperated it was about 6 clumps per serving, tiny drizzle of a very poor caesar dressing and no parmesan as a caesar should have and stated on menu, but about a teaspoon of grated tasteless cheddar. Crispy croutons?...... chewy large chunks of french stick! No anchovies to be found so the waitress had to go back to the kitchen to bring a seperate bowl of them. These caesar salads did not remotely resemble and certainly did not taste like any caesar salad we have ever had. When we paid, the waitress asked us if everything was ok, I told her that it was dire but that it was not her fault as we could see how hard they were working but whatever is happening in the kitchen needs sorting. We paid the bill, not cheap just under £60 for those dreadful dishes, one beer & one wine. We decided not to ask for the service charge to be removed as the service from the front of house staff was good, Just the food that was awful, Certainly would not recommend.

Written 15 May 2022

chrisb1233

Poole348 contributions

Good Staff

Mar 2020 • none

Lovely atmosphere but temperature of food a let down. Our starter of Mushrooms was barely warm. The burger was cold so had to send that back, so by the time I got a hot one my partner had finished eating. Manager did apologise and reduced the bill accordingly. However it shouldn’t have happened.would not return there.

Written 13 March 2020

RajeevD

London54 contributions

Outstanding service - limited menu

Aug 2021 • couples

I have always been a fan of cafe rouge. I like the simplicity of the menu and the service has always been good. Coming to Cafe Rouge in Covent Garden this evening was.a bit of a mixed bag. 7:45 evening booking and the menu was extremely limited with many options not available. This was disappointing. One of the dishes ordered was also not the best. In fairness this was deducted from the bill. One very positive point was the service from Angela. Simply outstanding. An absolute credit to the restaurant.

Written 29 August 2021

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CAFE ROUGE WELLINGTON STREET, London - Covent Garden - Restaurant Reviews & Phone Number - Tripadvisor