It's a great shame as this place is in a prime location. It is a lovely building with plenty of space. If Chelmsford got its act together and weaned itself off the chain restaurants and managed to attract some independent restauranteurs it'd provide a great premises. Instead we have Cafe Rouge: a ground-floor fit to burst, the deafening racket as we dine cheek-by-jowl and only 3 waitresses.
Seriously. The meal took over 2 hours. I don't mind their food so much; it's not great but it's about as good as you'll get in Chelmsford centre. It depresses me that I could go to a proper restaurant and have an excellent meal for the same price, but then we'd have to drive out of town. Cafe Rouge's menu is not complicated- most of their dishes come with a simple dressed salad and skinny chips. So what the hell was taking so long? Either they were severely short-staffed in the kitchen too or they were having to grow the vegetables from seed. I was not having a starter, so by the time my main course arrived my belly was emitting some odd noises- I suppose there was one advantage to eating in a noisy environment...
In the past I've met up with people during their lunch break for a quick meal. The quick meal has not been forthcoming. I have pretty much given up going there as the quality of the food does not justify the wait.
