Dinner At Cafe Rouge, Center Parcs Sherwood Forest
Published On Friday 8 Dec 2017 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Dining Out Reviews | See All Recent Reviews
After arriving at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest and getting checked into our lodge we left Chickadee to go and have a twilight swim and sort a takeaway from Dining In whilst The Man and I headed off to Café Rouge for our dinner reservation.
At Café Rouge we had a bottle of the house Rosé wine, described as a good all rounder and it certainly did the job for us.
My Brie and Chive soufflé was superb; light, fluffy and chock full of taste. There was a nice onion chutney underneath it which really popped flavour-wise next to the cheesy soufflé and the crunchy Walnut pieces gave a fab textural component to the dish.
His Nibs had the Classic French Onion soup for his first course, and this smelled incredibly good when it arrived at our table. Turns out, it tastes every bit as good as it smells, hurrah! The lovely rich meat stock has plenty of onion within it and is topped with sourdough croutons and a layer of melted cheese; His Nibs’ taste buds were dancing in glee :)
I had Moules Frites for my main course and The Boy Wonder had Boeuf Bourguignon. A huge pot of steamed Mussels was placed before me and as I lifted the lid a gorgeous waft of wine and garlic hit me; my French fries were in a separate little pot and were perfect in every way. Maitre D’ Paul brought out a finger bowl and spoon and another member of the team, Lorna, thoughtfully brought me extra napkins. There were plenty of large Mussels to chomp at and I enjoyed every mouthful; I did ask for some bread to mop up the cooking liquor too, which was very quickly brought out.
The Man Bird couldn’t believe the size of the Beef chunks in his Bourguignon, and to be quite honest, neither could I! There must’ve been a good 8oz of beef in there, easily. A definite red wine note was discernible, as was Garlic, and just a few very finely sliced vegetables were in the sauce. Accompanying this French “stew” was a huge mound of smooth, creamy mashed Potato and a couple of whole roasted Carrots.
Our original plan was to just have 2 courses, but having been so impressed with the food so far, and spying Tarte aux Pommes, we decided to take one for the team and have pudding. His Nibs had the Lemon Posset with Strawberry and Black Pepper sorbet, and an Almond Tuile, and I had the aforementioned Tarte aux Pommes with Tarte Tatin Ice Cream.
A thin round disc of puff pastry provided the perfect bed for slices of apple and gently caramelised sugar and its sweet, welcoming smell was one of those soul-melting experiences that make you smile. I eagerly cut into it and savoured the first mouthful whilst grinning madly across at The Man Bird; when I had my first mouthful of the Ice Cream the grin got even wider!
The Boy Wonder loved the sharp bite from his Posset, and the sweetness of the Strawberry sorbet contrasted really nicely with it; Black Pepper provided a heat on the tongue that played against the coolness of the sorbet brilliantly. Slices of Almond on the Tuile gave a lovely crunch in the mouth, satisfying that crucial textural element.
After stuffing ourselves silly we decided a walk was in order, so we headed out into the cool night and went up to Foresters’ Inn at the Country Club for a couple of coffees. A set of very well deserved 'Hot Wings' awarded to Cafe Rouge.
Read The Full Review Of Our Center Parcs Visit
| Sunday Lunch At The Prince Of Wales, Baslow It's been a fair while since The Man and I went into the Prince of Wales gastropub in Baslow, but I'm happy to report that nothing has changed since then; the super-friendly team and relaxing Read The Article | |
| Dinner At Olive, Belper After A Couple Of Cocktails At Gatsby's Those who know me, know that I don't do naps; unless I'm ill, but then that tends to be proper sleeps. However, this weather has got me spinning and, after having a read Read The Article | |
| A Return Visit To Hickory's Smokehouse In Gamston, Nottingham Having been fortunate enough to visit the southern states in America several times when I was younger, I got a taste of proper smokehouse meats Read The Article | |
| Sunday Lunch At The Restaurant At The Renishaw It was another Sunday (where are the weeks going this year?!), which meant a jaunt out with Mummy Bird for a roast dinner. The Man had done some scouting around and consulted our list Read The Article | |
| Sunday Lunch At The Robin Hood Near Baslow Before you all jump on me, I'm just going to clarify that I do like the warmer weather. But.... Come on, 30 degrees+ is just too much for a pasty English Rose; I can't function: I'm sweaty, lethargic Read The Article | |
| Dinner At Roka Turkish Kitchen In Ripley After a day at the Spa, the last thing either myself or The Man wanted to do was cook! We scratched our heads as to whether to get food delivered, order pick-up takeaway or just bite the bullet and go out Read The Article | |
| Dinner At Nicco Restaurant & Bar, Pride Park, Derby The Man and I have eaten in Pride Park before, but this was our first visit to Nicco Restaurant and Bar. I'm happy to say that the car park is a decent size and we found a spot for the jalopy Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At The Merchant's Yard In Tideswell I've always been a huge fan of our stunning scenery here in the Shire, but I'd forgotten just how glorious the scenery is on the drive up to Monsal Head. Even with storm clouds threatening Read The Article | |
| Sunday Lunch At The Bulls Head Inn, Foolow The Man and I had kindly been invited along for the Sunday Roast at The Bulls Head Inn at Foolow and, I tell you what, you'd be hard-pressed to find a traditional English village Read The Article | |
| Sunday Roast Platter By Hogbroast At The Mixing House, Derby Well, what a blast from the past! The Man and I were kindly invited along by Matt and Jordan of HogBroast to sample their Sunday Roast Platter at The Mixing House Read The Article | |