Cafe Rouge Solihull is it all that  Va Va Voom ?

You often wonder with make overs are they going to be rather superficial and a bit gimicky well i'm pleased to say that Cafe Rouge have made a real statement. The building is beautiful anyway with its gorgeous listed fireplace as you go through the door and the real french feel to the décor but now with the added tribute to the towns motorbike heritage in the form of numerous motorbike artwork and lighting it looks fantastic.

The restaurant is very spaceous and upon entering we were warmly greeted and were lucky enough to get a window seat so in true parisian style could sit and watch the world go by as we enjoyed our meal.

After being seated we were immediately given menus and our drinks orders were taken, bread and olives were also offered and gratefully received as we perused the new menu.

The service was excellent our waitress Vicky who deserves a particular mention was very knowledgeable about the new menu and gave us some excellent recommendations both on our meal and the wine choice. She was attentive to all her tables and service appeared to flow seamlessly.

Upon vickys recommendation and after sampling a taster pot of snails in garlic butter I decided to choose the Ragout D'Escargots my wife plumped for the rather tasty Crevettes (king prawns in garlic & smoked chilli butter with fresh baguette). Having never tasted snails before but always being rather curious I was very pleasantly surprised. I was told if I like mushrooms the texture was very similar what I wasnt prepared for was the amazing sauce in the Ragout. A beautiful combination of mushrooms in a duck jus with truffle oil and a puff pastry top made my taste buds tingle this was a great start.

The fresh baguette we had when we sat down came in very handy for both our dishes mopping up the tasty sauce.

Our very clean starter dishes were removed and our thoughts turned to more drinks so Vicky returned with the wine menu. As we had both decided on choosing fish dishes for our main course white wine was the obvious choice and we plumped for the LA CÔTE FLAMENC PICPOUL DE PINET not too dry with lovely citrus flavours the name means literally Lipsmacking and it was, another great recommendation from our waitress.

I must confess to being a drinker and not a taster so its always good to get a recommendation on a wine you havent tried before.

Following a nice break to allow our starter to settle the mains arrived I had chosen Sea Bass fillet with tomatoes, basil olives, sugar snap peas and new potatoes the plate looked a real picture and tasted fantastic.

Ann had chosen good old fish and chips a gorgeous thick piece of hake in beautiful beer and mustard batter with pea shoots and frites, I do admit to stealing some of her frites and just had to sample some of the lovely crisp batter.

Our plates were cleared we sat and chated looking out and watching the world go by we were not rushed and did not feel abandoned either . We had a really tuff decision now after seeing some of the deserts coming out to the other tables we knew they looked lovely “ would we like to see the dessert menu” we were asked! How could we say no!

We decided on the Creme Brulee with a strawberry and black pepper sorbet and the double chocolate fondant . Hot chocolate fondant with a melting chocolate centre and chocolate & raspberry fondant ice cream it was sublime.

The real surprise was the black pepper sorbet really refreshing with a peppery kick at the end which on paper you think that cant go together but in reality does and adds an extra dimension to the dish.

The meal was beautifully rounded off with cappuccino's and allowed us more time to sit and enjoy our surroundings before I was talked into visiting the plethora of shops in Touchwood virtually just next door.

The overall impression I was left with was of a friendly well situated and attractive restaurant serving a wide range of dishes throughout the day of a consistantly excellent standard. Will I be going there again ? Most certainly, and I would not hesitate to recommend to anybody else either. Excellent service and food 10/10