Cost – £25.00 for two (April 2018) (we paid £19 for two with a voucher from Travelzoo)
Parking and Access – There is a multi-storey car park quite near to Café Rouge in Park Street. There is also on road parking with meters but these are further away. There are steps up into the building. There are toilets available inside but these were not visited so I have no idea of the access.
Background – I received an email from Travelzoo with an offer to try Café Rouge’s new Afternoon Tea plus either a glass of gin and tonic or a mocktail for £19 for two. We decided this was something we had to try!
Café Rouge is situated in Bridge Street in Cambridge, between Magdalen Bridge and the Round Church. It is in an old building, so the layout is a bit higgledy piggledy and the tables are a bit squeezed in.
Contents – Three square pieces of croque monsieur each. One large fruit scone, a mini Bonne Maman jar of strawberry jam and a small pot of clotted cream. Two pieces of chocolate red velvet cake, one piece of lemon cake and a piece of chocolate and raspberry cake between the two of us plus a mini dessert of mousse au chocolat.
Options Available – A glass of Prosecco each can be added for an extra £5.
Comments – We were shown to a table in a small area off the two main rooms. After a short wait, the waiter asked if we wanted Prosecco. We explained that our voucher included either a gin and tonic or a mocktail each. We chose a mocktail from the list of five options. We both chose a mixed berry spritz.
The drinks arrived quickly, served in a Bonne Maman jam jar. It was delicious. However, we expected to also receive a pot of tea, which we did not get!
The Afternoon Tea then arrived on a metal stand with chunky round white plates.
The croque monsieur was hot, with crispy cheese on top and ham inside.
It was delicious.
The scone had been split into two and then heated either in an oven or under a grill. It was still warm but had toasted slightly on the split edge which made it a bit dry to eat. There was enough jam in the mini jars but there was nowhere near enough clotted cream for us.
Unfortunately, this was another Afternoon Tea where there were not two of each cake. However, there were two of the mini desserts and two pieces of the red velvet cake. We were able to cut the other two pieces of cake in half so that we each had a piece of both. The cakes were fresh and light. The cakes with chocolate in them were tasty but the lemon cake, whilst nice enough, was not very lemony at all. The mousse au chocolat was very good but was rather small!
Service was adequate but the staff were clearly inexperienced in serving Afternoon Tea and struggled with our voucher.
| Savoury | 1.5 |
| Scone | 1.0 |
| Jam | 1.5 |
| Cream | 1.0 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.5 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.5 |
| Drink | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 1.0 |
| Value | 1.5 |
| Total | 13.5 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 