Cafe Rouge - St Katharine Docks in Waltham Forest

What happened in 1 year...? I had very good memories of this restaurant during my previous stay in London…. Clearly the quality has declined, and the service is non-existent. Fortunately the location remains!

Looks nice and inviting from the outside. Restaurant decor is tired. I ordered a steak and salad which was quite a simple dish but the salad was stale and the meat was tough. My son enjoyed his pasta dish. It’s not the cleanest and there was cutlery on the floor under our seating. Overall very average if not below. Staff were friendly.

Had a nice walk and chanced upon this restaurant for a light pit stop. Delicious food

Very old-established, beautiful café. Delicious cake. Nice and attentive service. Clean toilets

Very lovely breakfast experience here. Arsenijus was our server and he was very kind and had great recommendations. The food is great and very fairly priced. We recommend!

The food was decent but THE SERVICE was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. They kept forgetting everything - from cleaning the table to what we ordered to second round of tea. And worse, each they forgot and we reminded them, the staff said "it takes time". Getting ketchup takes time too?

Quiet night, not the greatest atmosphere nor the warmest welcome. Only two staff visible and only one actually doing the work. Food was quick and nice enough, but no idea how random Italian chains like this are still in business. One couple were there for date night. I felt very sorry for them!

We stopped here for breakfast while waiting for our room to be ready at our hotel. It was a lovely setting by the docks. We had a full English breakfast which was very tasty. The prices were reasonable and the service was very good.

Service was very fast & friendly. Our child loved the sausages & mash, and we had a delicious vegetarian Wellington. Pretty quiet on a week day

I used to love the food at Cafe Rouge but I was disappointed this time. The French Onion Soup tasted like Bovril and artificial flavouring. The chicken dish with leeks, mushrooms and mash was served in what looked like a desert bowl and there was an overwhelming taste of tinned artificially flavoured mushrooms with pieces of rather flavourless and dry chicken. I would have been ashamed to produce this dish for a weekday evening meal using leftovers so to be presented with it as part of an evening out was a disappointment. On the plus side the young lady who served us was lovely and very attentive. The toilet facilities were spotless too. The restaurant was mostly empty and rather cold. Overall I think the franchise has lost its USP and I doubt I will be back anytime soon. Such a shame. I found myself wishing Gordon Ramsey could take them in hand!

Nice place, great atmosphere, kind staff, amazing food.

Great service, food was good only downside was the steak wasn't pink and was charged for sweet potato fries which we didn't get. Didn't realise so didn't request refund

Leek and potato soup and Beef Bourguignon are the best!

The location was promising with views and the waitress was nice but the food just took it all down… steak was fully cooked and thin, the fries were almost burned, and the salad which came together with was just few rocket leaves with no dressing. Excuse my french but what a hell was that??? When bill arrived I was shocked to pay £67 for 1 worst ever steak; 1 camembert with baguette, 1 beer and 1 glass of gin tonic. Are you serious?? Shame to be called ‘french’ kitchen as it is nothing a like. Would never come back as it is a rip off and poor food quality. Save your time&money and thank me later folks!

Beautiful Cafe tucked away at St Katherine Dock. Great breakfast and service were first class. A must go to Cafe with an awesome view.

Had a lovely meal after a long and tiring day. Wonderful location, sat looking out over the docks. Tremendous, attentive service - Marisa took great care of us and was amazing with our tired and cranky 6 year old. The food was great to boot!

Was a quiet day but was made to feel welcome staff were lovely

Gross food, rude staff, take your business else where

Our waitress Shivani deserves real credit for the service we received from her. She remembered all our orders with a smile and made our dining experience exceptional Well done Shivani

The tea is very rich and very complete. The attention is fine. A little slow, but everything is very delicious. Good atmosphere next to the old St. Katharine docks. Recommended to spend a quiet and relaxed moment having a drink next to the moored boats.

Breakfast was a little disappointing - porage very dry a toast overly crisp.

Nulla di eccezionale, gelato messo un poco ovunque a caso, la torta di mele decente, sicuramente da elogiare il personale invece che è gentilissimo

Nothing exceptional, ice cream placed randomly everywhere, the apple pie decent, certainly praiseworthy of the staff who are very kind

20 minutes d’attente pour 2 chocolats chauds et un cappuccino tiède…le service est déplorable et en plus le restaurant n’était pas très rempli

Very fast service and delicious food in a cozy French themed cafe overlooking the docks, I'm vegan and the lentil wellington was very good and not too heavy either!

Good and apparently well-prepared food. I had the Beef Bourguignon which was very good, but after a few bites I bit into something hard and sharp. It was a white chip of something, and when I pointed it out to the staff, I was told first that it was the shell of a pumpkin seed and then that it was a chip from a meat bone. I expected an apology or a reduction in the price, but I didn't get that, as sharp splinters of bone are apparently to be expected here.

We experienced excellent service when we visited last Thursday. We have a nut allergic person in our family so we have to careful when eating out, however, both the waiting staff and kitchen staff were very accommodating which allowed us to have a lovely meal.

Delicious, affordable food. Would definitely recommend :)

Shivani was attentive and welcoming. When quizzed on the menu her knowledge was great.

Good choice of menus and dishes including gluten free options listed on menu.

We went for the afternoon tea. It was delicious, and the staff were great when we asked for refills. Would definitely recommend and would definitely go again.

The waiter is rude and inconsiderate

Great place with a fun atmosphere. Service was wonderful as well as the food. Shivani was the best!

Is very good coffee for breakfast, I is beautiful place and very good location.

This was embarrassing.I invited my friends for a drink to this restaurant.When I had to use toilet there was no toilet paper and all toilets look very dirty .I told the barman to let someone know but he didn’t do anything and when I when again I had to take from some tissues from the table.It is such a shame for very popular place in heart of London provided very poor experience.

Slow paced, relaxed cafe. So much so, I watched families leave because they didn't get service fast enough! Haha delicious food and friendly staff.

Calamari buoni, Schiacciatine insomma. Vino rosee buono, servizio ok come anche prezzo, abbiamo pranzato fuori, bella atmosfera

Had breakfast, good value and choice, worth a visit

Was turned away for dining at 3.30pm as "short staffed".

Lale was just fantastic! She recommend me lunch dishes and the food was delicious. Amazing service by her

Service today by LALE was extremely good!!! She was simply amazing from the beginning till the end. Big smile and menu knowledge! Highly recommended;))))))

We live in Germany,we come to London very often .My husband and I had dinner at your restaurant last night.it was a very nice dinner for us, thank you very much for the beautiful hospitality and kindness of Mrs. Lale. There is a restaurant that we will always visit when we come to London and we recommend it to everyone, thank you very much again to Mrs. Lale and all the staff.

Was met by what I assume is the owner who was not pleased to see a family of 5 entering her restaurant. She said she could set us up on a table for 5 although they only had 4 seat tables. But I was left henging by our table after she threw the menus down on the table in front of us. Needless to say we got up (the other 4 who were seated anyway) and left, never going back there....

Meant to open at 9am and didn’t open until 9:30, we went elsewhere, will go to Côte from now on. I wonder they are all closing, so poor.

Awesome place for afternoon tea and drinks. Some open airing dining right on the docks but plenty of inside seating.

I was given a voucher by Cafe Rouge management to compensate for the poor service on a previous visit. Things went down hill the moment I arrived at the St Katherine's Dock branch. I was greeted by a gentleman, but he immediately then turned his attention to talk to someone else in mid-conversation with me. I decided, on this occasion to disregard his disrespect. We were waited on by a young lady who was very pleasant and engaging. When our order arrived, my dining partner's dish was missing the blueberries, but this was quickly rectified. My fries eggs were over-fried with unpleasant burnt and crispy edges. See picture. Making a booking for Cafe Rouge at St Catherine's Dock was a total nightmare. When I wanted to book a breakfast for two, the website only allowed breakfast bookings for a group of 15+ (see pic). When I phoned the restaurant, they directed me to a robot that couldn't understand the word "breakfast". Overall, Cafe Rouge has been a disappointment. It used to be a large but charming and well-run chain of bijou restaurants all over the UK. But sadly, they have allowed their standards to slip, the quality of the food and service have declined, and there's now only a small handful of branches left in the country. I've had my last visit to Cafe Rouge, and this is my sad epitaph to what was once a great cafe I used to look forward to visiting.

It has a nice neighbourhood facing the St Kathrine's dock; however, service is very poor. We went there on a not-busy afternoon and it took about 10 minutes for staff to take our order and we only wanted coffee and cake and it took about 15 minutes to bring the order and had to wave multiple times for them to notice us and bring the bill. Inside atmosphere was so dull and not pleasant experience overall.

Had an traditional afternoon tea. The waitress was very nice and got me a decaf tea since it was already a bit late in the afternoon. The sandwiches were warm and crispy. Really like the one with mushroom with truffle taste. The cakes could be a bit warmer, but it's also acceptable since there are a lot of things on the tray. Something is going to get cold anyways. Overall probably not the best afternoon tea option in London, but for the affordable price I was quite satisfied.

The full English left much to be desired, did scratch some sort of itch but the last 20% was missing. The dish and a coffee will run you about £16 so would only recommend if you can't make it elsewhere. Nice view of the dock mind so that counts for something

Horrible service, waited for 45 minutes to order until we had to grab someone's attention to order and when the food arrived they got my order wrong. I had the feeling only one competent person was there.

Reasonably priced and often a voucher can be found online to bring it down further. We loved the Camembert and the garlic bread. Would definitely return when next in London. It’s a shame so many have closed around the UK as it was tastier than other chains.

We went to Café Rouge late on a Saturday afternoon, there was little movement and we waited a looong time to be served. We asked a waiter or manager if we could choose a table, but he rudely replied that it depended on what we were going to eat. We just wanted to have a cup of coffee… A girl came to serve us very reluctantly. Another girl brought the coffee (after a long time) lukewarm, horrible. I noticed that the treatment was no different from another table who had ordered coffee and something to eat. Rude people. Menu photos May 2024.

Came with a group of 56 students. Execrable welcome, both from the managers and the waiters!!! Refuse to serve our students at the counter and take a commission of 50 pence per student for table service, even when the students are at the same table!!! Very average fish and chips, fries like at MC Do. In short, absolutely avoid!!!

Excellent food, friendly helpful professional staff. Lovely atmosphere, clean and a nice ambiance.

I went with my child to try the afternoon tea set, but there was too much left, so I asked them to pack it for me, but they said no, so I left everything. I think it was too much, and the price isn't cheap.

Very well located; great service; fair prices!!

Good location, the chocolate fondant was amazing too, but service so slow. why wait 20 minutes for the bill to come when the café is obviously empty.

Came here as a school group, totalling 55 people. We’d pre-ordered our food. On arrival we were seat and served efficiently. Great views over the docks and just a stone’s throw from Tower Bridge.

Lovely view of the docks. Good food and staff were lovely with children. Service was good. Conveniently located near Tower Bridge and atteactions

Nice service and great coffee☕️

Food was good. Service was not the best in the world. They took our Oder and gave us our food that was it. Had to find someone to pay our bill.

Bad service, cold food 2x, manager impersonal and all service condescending when complaints came to them. Do not go.

Attended a lunch for 6 with family. Having seen much discourse online about Tescos vouchers being accepted or not, I feel obliged to mention that mine were accepted without issue. The service was fine if not a little slow, but the food was enjoyed across the board, especially in the context of the reasonable prices. The restaurant interior was cosy, and the St Katharine's Dock location makes for a really pleasant dining setting. All in all, a nice and affordable meal; I would happily return.

The food was generally good and tasty , although my husband’s medium rare steak arrived blue. But it was rectified straight away. I used to love Cafe Rouge and visited frequently various locations in London before pandemic, unfortunately the company was dissolved a couple of years ago and it is reflected in an outdated decor and attitude of the serving staff, it looks like they stopped caring. Sad.

Fantastic service, food and ambience!!

Service was excellent. The waitress initially said we couldn’t use our Tesco vouchers but the manager caught us as we were leaving and said we could as the policy had changed. Service was excellent and they catered for all our needs. Even packed some croissants and scones for us which we enjoyed later. Would’ve been lovely to sit out on the docks but heavy rain. Would highly recommend.

Ate here on Saturday 18th May, off the set menu - limited choice, but reasonable value, for location. Food was okay, fine enough, but nothing to write home about. Service was very poor throughout. Shown to our table fine, attitude was a little brusque from front of house. The young waitresses were generally friendly, but had no training /experience in restaurant trade seemingly, leaning in front and over food, telling us to pass food along, handing over cutlery after several requests and holding eating part as passed over. Waited over 20 minutes for our drinks when ready on the bar - no staff in restaurant for this time, then all came back in together. Incorrect orders - were corrected. Service automatically added to bill, said we would not pay this, but that the food was fine. Manager / front of house came to see what was wrong - passed on this information and said she would have words with the staff who had served us and that she hadn't served us, and that it was so busy - incorrect on all counts - not full, or that busy for a tourist destination and she had indeed been exactly the same as those she had blamed. She did apologise, but did not offer anything - though we had paid by that point. It was a shame - have eaten in other Café Rouge around the country and enjoyed - With a hit more effort and training this could be a much better place. Food generally fine, but a little more effort / finesse, again could make this much better. There are plenty of other places to eat in this location and think they will be getting Café Rouge's custom.

I recently had an incredibly disappointing experience at Cafe Rouge that I feel compelled to share. Our party of 20 had made a reservation well in advance, yet upon arrival, we were given a table that could only seat 10. This was just the beginning of a series of frustrating and unprofessional encounters. The service was abysmally slow. We waited an unreasonably long time for our drinks, and at one point, we were outright refused service when trying to place additional orders. The staff's attitude was shockingly rude throughout the afternoon and upset a number of my friends in our party, we were made to feel very unwelcome, adding to the overall negative experience. When the food finally arrived, it was exceedingly late. To add insult to injury, the cakes we ordered were dry and far from the quality one would expect from a reputed cafe. The entire dining experience was marred by poor service, inadequate seating arrangements, and subpar food. To top it off, the bill was completely wrong and we were over charged £150. I had to challenge it and the waiter tried to justify the discrepancy by saying it was their system error. This finally got resolved after a lengthy discussion and I refused to pay any service charge which they had the audacity to be offended about. This was the worst dining experience I've ever had.

We went to cafe rouge with a group of 20 to celebrate friends from abroad were in the country. The table they gave us was too small - turns out there was a second table for us that they didn't tell us about when we all squeezed in... We pre-ordered the afternoon tea but it took them over an hour to serve us. It wasn't busy otherwise. When I asked when the food would be served (as my 1 and 3 year old were disintegrating because of hunger), the waitress was incredibly rude.

I 200% recommend very pleasant waiter, super good brunch and magnificent setting with the little extra of Princess Diana next door

Evi provided an outstanding service to us. Food and atmosphere were also great. 10 stars for her professionalism and great service. Thank you EVI.

We had breakfast here on Sunday 12th May 2024. I thought it was a Lovely breakfast . The porched eggs were done to perfection . It would have got 5 * if you had used normal bread and not sourdough, which, when toasted breaks your knife ,not just your teeth. My husband on the other hand was so disappointed ,you didn’t have either brown sauce or red sauce… So we didn’t come back to eat breakfast . The next couple of days of staying in London ,we had breakfast not to far away from yourselves ,in a restaurant that had brown sauce. I know you are a French restaurant, but if you are going to do English breakfast you need to supply brown and red sauce…..

RACIST TREATMENT My family and I came to this place and there was racist treatment at the time of food delivery. We are from Mexico and the food took too long to arrive (approximately half an hour) and meanwhile, there were local people who came to the restaurant, ordered and in 5 minutes they were served exactly the same dishes that we ordered (I'm not exaggerating). The food is super tasteless and the meat is full of skins. Zero recommended. I hope they do something about it because all the staff were rude to us and not to other people.

Avoid Cafe Rouge at all costs. I had an NHS Blue Light discount, which they wouldn't honour, due to their unclear terms & conditions. I tried to confirm this voucher when I booked, but they have an AI booking system, which didn't give me accurate information. A service charge is added to the bill, without asking. Lastly, the croque champion was full of garlic, to which I'm allergic, so I felt really sick afterwards. I wasnt expecting garlic in a high tea. Never again...

Food was average, I ordered the Harrissa burger and I'd personally give it a 7 out of 10. The restaurant clearly needs ventilation as there was a strong smell of food in the indoor seating area. There was only one option for soup which was the French onion soup, and it wasn't available. The service was also reasonably slow, as there was only one waiter available and the food took a while to be prepared.

Good breakfast in a convenient location.

Short staffed. Please hire more people. Mac and cheese lacked cheese. It was just pasta with a hint of cream.

Well, honestly I have never been in such a disastrous establishment. First, the dish was cold and consisted of frozen food. In addition, the water in the jug was hot and when I pointed this out to the waitress I felt like I was annoying her. Then, regarding dessert, an ice cream with mold on the bowl and after changing the pot the ice cream “crunched.

never come, detestable staff, non-existent cleanliness, overwhelmed staff when the room is empty. plates served with pieces of food from a previous dish and mold present on the cutlery and the edges of the dishes. TO FLEE !!!

Didn’t get a chance to try the food due to a particular team member. I should have got his name in hindsight. We sat down and looked at the menu the restaurant was pretty much empty ( for a marathon day) there was 1 big table for about 7 people. We asked the waiter how long the food would be as appreciate on a day like today it could take longer and we was in a slight rush to watch the marathon. The guy was extremely rude and said I don’t know then asked how long we had and he couldn’t guarantee how quick it would be. So we asked him to ask the chef he stropped of round the corner loudly saying “for god sake” then 2 seconds came back and said he’s not going to ask the chef coz he’s cooking food, this was said in a manner of rude and horrible manner, I brought this to the managers attention and the manager quietly had a work with the guy, at this point we had decided to leave any way. He gave me evils all the way up to the door and then came storming towards me calling me a liar shouting making me feel very attacked by a much bigger and taller male. As a female trying to just have some food I felt extremely vulnerable and don’t understand how this man manger to get a job in this place. I hope they take me complaint seriously and take action against this member of staff as they watched half of it unfold

Food was great, but service was dismal. We will not be returning.

Third time here. I ordered and waited for eternity and… left. Really a pity because the location and atmosphere are great. Slow service, if any, and personnel don’t seem to remember what guests ordered.

A hostess told that the venue would be fully booked and it's not possible to get a table without reservation. I made one immediately online and enjoyed the dinner in the almost empty restaurant. Great french cuisine, good selection of wine, excellent coffee. Not a beer place, definitely.

Great experience. Arsenijus provided amazing service! 5/5. Would recommend.

We had been on a day out, used the taste card for value and it actually worked (a surprise)… Lale was looking after us and whilst understaffed and a few things were off the menu she was amazing, like a traditional maitre’d. If we still had restaurants in the family she would be poached for sure. After our dinner which was swift and great value it was late and I stood at the bar having a conversation and turns out they were 2 staff down but by god did the rest of the team make up for it. We love St Katherine’s dock it is one of my favourite places and fond childhood memories, taking my children there is a nod to the past cafe rouge last night was the right place at the right time. Fillet steak was very tasty and perfectly cooked. The french onion soup again, great. The value for money that you get from a 3 course children’s menu is superb. Thank you

We were there for breakfast. Food was tasty, price/performance acceptable for London standards. The service was rather bad. The waitress didn't even know what was on the menu. The kitchen was already at its limit when the restaurant was 2/3 full. The location is great. However, there is no sense of French flair inside. A bit of a waiting hall character. Pictures of the Côte d’Azur on the wall are no use.

REALLY bad service, they didn’t have behaviour with me, when I go somewhere the only thing that I expect is respect the same way I give everybody but they don’t! The food is okay, don’t have the best apresentation but it was okay but the experience I had there made everything taste bad for me!!

Food was mid pals thought it was rancid service was bad

Terrible service, rude, listless and not at all welcoming waiters, they treated us with an arrogant and judgmental air. No attention to the customer who didn't even finish the meal, without clearing the table, they served dessert. The food is nothing special. Don't advise him

Very tasty and (for London) cheap breakfast. The service was great, the waitress was nice. The food was on the table quickly, there was nothing to complain about. Since it is close to the tower, you can fortify yourself there before visiting the crown jewels.

The food is a joke. Ridiculous portions that don't even satisfy children. The Caesar salad consists of a small green lettuce and cheese. With the meat there were 5 fries etc. Felt like a tourist rip-off next to Tower Bridge.

They’d bride lunch event onSaturday, they’re shouting and playing game, manager never warned at all. All other customer was annoyed too…! Also French soup quality was poor

Terrible place, that waiter is rude.

Café Rouge is a popular French-inspired restaurant chain known for its cozy atmosphere and delicious cuisine. With its menu featuring classic French dishes like steak frites, croque monsieur, and crème brûlée, it offers a taste of France in the heart of London. Whether for a casual meal or a special occasion, Café Rouge is a reliable choice for those craving French flavors.

Fantastic cafe. We was staying locally and had breakfast at Cafe rouge every morning. We were a group of 3 adults and 3 children. the service and staff were amazing and food was very quick and tasted Fantastic. Highly recommended cafe.

Good food, good atmosphere and great service. Especially when cham cham arrives, and doesn't give you water😍😍😍I would go back if I wanted to die of dehydration.

Decent food, catering for a group of 16 very well.

We visited on NYE2023 with dinner package. Nice atmosphere, nice staffs. Located at St.Catherine dock. Food is very good, tasty.

Simple and efficient... Pleasant server! Great breakfast to start a day in London....

The food was good. The place was not full but it still took longer than expected to serve us and attend to us.