Cafe Rouge Windsor

I rarely walk out on a restaurant but this place earned it. My cousin and I came in here, and no one was seating. We seated ourselves, and were moved from a shitty table to an even worse table.
After menus came (eventually), no one came to take our orders for more than 10 minutes.
The table next to us kept trying to flag the waiters, who ignored them. I saw that the waiter saw them, and willfully ignored them.
So I walked out.

Came here to meet some friends for an americano, pain au chocolat and a croissant. We were seated on the patio under the train station cover. There is a lot to like about this place. The style is french, seating is cute with benches, and sitting on the covered patio watching people go by with all the nearby shops. It’s a great place to people watch.
Coffee was good. Both pastries came out hot and there was some Maman jam on the side which was nice.
I’d go back!

Friendly folks who serve food that is quite French quickly and are great with kids. Great for lunch when doing a little light shopping.

The service was not bad at all compared to the reviews below (maybe we got lucky). However the food was horrible. I got the chicken and mashed potatoes with olive and it was terribly bad. The hot chocolate was watery and extremely sweet yet tasteless.

Handy place to sit and the food is exactly as you expect from a Café Rouge. It is in a fantastic place in Windsor and it’s nice a large so lots of space you probably don’t need to book. They do a good breakfast and are usually very busy at lunchtime. Less busy in the eveining as there is lots of competition but they’re really near the castle if you’re visiting.

I stopped by this place on the way through a tour of windsor castle and as soon as I stepped in it was one dissapointment after the other.
When we walked in there wasn’t a clear table available as most of them had dirty plates and glasses on them (without people being at the table), as the waitresses didn’t seem very bothered and spent most of time talking in the corner.
After we got seated there was a 10 minute wait for our drinks and about 15 minutes for a waitress to take our food order.
The starters were average standard and came out quickly, I had the chicken pâté, which was tasty. We then waited about another 30 minutes for the main course, which was served while out starter plates were still on the table. I had ordered the lamb cutlets medium rare and they were served very well done, so I had to send them back and wait another 20 minutes to get them to be served correctly. After our mains we ordered dessert, I had the tart tatin, whch was overcooked and didn’t have much flavour.
All and all it was a bad experience, which is a shame as the place has so much potential with it being in the heart of windsor. If they had more staff who cared about there job and a manager who can look after the image of the restaurant and maybe a chef who puts passion into the food he/​she serves, I could easily see this Café Rouge standing out from others.

Ok for the view, menu selection psudo french obviously. Slightly over priced, staff were helpful and polite. Don’t get the coffee, realy!

We headed here with a voucher, our first time in any Café Rouge. Two thirds of the place seemed quite continental with tight small tables but we chose a more formal roomy looking section which eventually filled up with families with well-​behaved small children and prams that perhaps wouldn’t park easily in the other parts. Clean, appealing place to be sat, with lots of art on the walls and atmosphere.
The waitress was superb. Delightful and efficient.
I had the lamb with mash and green beans. Beautiful, and a £14 dish on a two meals for £12 voucher!!! My wife loved her croque Monsieur and our boy had splendid chicken Goujons (I finished them) with fries, salad, milk and an amazing sundae as his children’s meal. Bread to start had been lovely and everything arrived in a timely fashion.
Only thing was, near the end of our meal, doors by our shoulder were thrown open to create a thoroughfare for more custom from outside so suddenly, in winter, it was like dining outside without wanting to. Freezing!
That lesson aside, the experience was that good, we’ll be back soon (though on a warmer day if they insist on throwing doors open). We’d even go without a voucher! Praise indeed.

I agree with the comments about the slow service. Regardless, I still enjoyed my meal here. I opted for the pumpkin, red pepper, and sunflower seed adorned salad with a light vinaigrette. The portions were tiny, but the salad was fresh and light. We also ordered a small side of hummus. Though flavorful — the portion was extremely tiny, and we found ourselves still craving more food once our lunch was complete.
For a casual lunch with a friend — this place is OK. It catches a lot of sunlight and has some Parisian charm to it. But for something filling and more reasonably priced in regards to portion — you’re better off checking out something like Wagamama or the burger place a couple of blocks down.
Trust.

Super slow service.
They seem to have supply problems: when trying to order the pancake with bananas and vanilla ice cream, we were told «let me check because yesterday we were out of bananas.» Upon checking: «we have bananas but we’re out of vanilla ice cream.»
Hard to get a sample of soup for my 4 year old before deciding whether or not to buy her a bowl of it.
And the best part… My molten chocolate cake desert was served not with crème patissière as the menu suggested but with sour cream. A really poor combination. And no, it wasn’t crème fraîche as our waitress suggested.

Nice to sit and people watch (we all do it… Don’t pretend!!), but the food is fairly average and it seems to lack a bit of atmosphere. There are so much better places to go in Windsor for fodder!

We visited in the summer, at the height of the tourist season, toward the end of a busy day. This may account for why they had no bananas for a «signature» dessert, got our order wrong (twice), and had a bunch of gristle on a minute steak. Or it could be a tourist trap that we should know better to avoid.
But what was good was good, and we left mostly satisfied with the meal. Given our experience, the whole meal should have been less expensive than it was, but this is what you get for eating 300 yards from the Queen’s back garden.

perfectly acceptable chain ‘french’ style food
But seems a shame to eat here when there are so many more original places just a few minutes walk away– try Café de la Mar, Latinos, Green olive or a little further for the two brewers (still only a 5 min walk)