Caf Rouge has a knock-out location in York's historic heart, but is the food

as impressive? MAXINE GORDON finds out...

OUR window-side table overlooking Petergate at night must rank as one of the best dining spots in the city. The Christmas lights straddling the street outside enhanced the magical ambience that is Caf Rouge, famous for being Bridget Jones's favourite haunt. OK, I know it's a chain, but it does try hard to recreate that casual-yet-sophisticated bistro atmosphere you would expect to find in a metropolitan French caf.

You may have read in the Press that owners Whitbread have put the Caf Rouge chain up for sale, but the plan is to sell it as a going concern.

Let's hope so, I'm a bit of a sucker for its faux-French charm. And so it seems are other Yorkies, because the caf was fairly busy on Monday evening when I visited.

The service is pretty impressive too. We were greeted promptly, shown to our table, coats taken and informed - with apologies - what was no longer available from the menu, which amounted to a couple of dishes and two types of wine.

This wasn't a problem because the menu at Caf Rouge is extensive and the wine list should cater for all tastes too.

I chose French onion soup (£2.95) followed by salmon and prawn fishcakes with fries, salad garnish and a lime and coriander mayonnaise dip (£7.45).

My partner Nick ordered a Caesar salad (£3.40) and the Filet Classique, a 7oz prime fillet steak with Bearnaise sauce, creamy garlic potatoes and a julienne of carrots and courgettes (£13.95).

For drinks, we plonked for a glass each of Argentinian chenin blanc - which was dry and crisp with a well-balanced fruity flavour; a small glass cost £2.75, large £3.85 or bottle £10.95.

Our starters soon arrived. My soup bowl was about half-full and contained an oak-brown broth full of soft, slippery onion slices. Unfortunately, the dominant flavour was salt.

Nick said his salad was "tasty" and liked the sticky parmesan dressing. Again the portion was small - but adequate as an appetiser.

My next course was equally disappointing.

The fishcakes and fries had been in the deep fryer too long.

The fries were bronze-coloured rather than golden and the cakes' breadcrumb shell was too hard while the fishy filling was a bit dry. The mayonnaise dip added a welcome touch of moisture, but the dominant flavour was lime rather than coriander.

Nick's main course was much better. It was really quite good. He had asked for his steak to be pinkish, and it came pinker than he likes.

"It's not long out of the field," he joked, but added it was delicious: moist and tender and full of flavour. The potatoes and vegetables were perfectly cooked and oozed wonderful flavours and aromas of tarragon and garlic.

For dessert, we asked the waitress for a recommendation. Her eyes lit up as she recommended the Marbr au chocolat (£3.65), described as a 'warm, moist chocolate and croissant pudding served with fresh cream'. She suggested we have it with vanilla ice cream instead of cream. I was sold.

The creme brule made with creme fraiche and raspberry compote (£3.55) was Nick's choice. I ordered a caf au lait too (£1.95).

It wasn't my lucky night. My dessert was akin to a chocolate bread and butter pudding with a brioche-like sponge served upon a gooey chocolate-custard base which was surprisingly bland. The ice cream, however, was divine.

Nick had scored again. His brule was yummy; the tart sweetness of the raspberries combining well with the cool, creamy texture of the creme fraiche and the toffee crunch of the burnt-sugar topping. But at least my coffee was just how I like it: strong but milky.

As we waited to settle the bill (which took a while, my only criticism of the service on the night), I visited the loos.

I only mention this because they were a bit run-down and smelly... a shock given how pleasant the restaurant is. And repainting the fading 'Mesdames' and 'Messieurs' on the door may save others from Nick's faux pas of going into the ladies' loos!

But I am pleased to report that Caf Rouge has dropped it's previous practise of adding a 12.5 per cent service charge to the bill.

And I was even more pleased when the waitress said she hadn't charged me for the pudding she had recommended and which I had been unable to eat.

The excellent service and wonderful ambience of the place went some way to make up for my disappointing dinner.

But since Nick's meal had been much better and there were a lot more dishes on the menu which caught my eye (such as fish casserole, braised lamb shank and Toulouse sausages with garlic mash), I would happily go back and give York's Caf Rouge a second chance.

Fact file:

Food: hit and miss

Service: very good

Value: resonable

Ambience: cosy bistro

No disabled access

Telephone: 01904 673293.