The Cafe Rene Experience - Food Review
After a meeting in Gloucester we stumbled upon Café Rene tucked away down one of the old alleyways, Greyfriars. It came as quite a surprise as it’s not what you expect from the outside. It’s a real old fashioned pub with beer barrels and beamed ceilings. The staff are one big happy family - another welcoming feature of Café Rene.
The lunchtime menu caters for just about everyone and we were spoilt for choice. The chef Ian Smith has been at the Café for three years and has built up a reputation for serving good food with his tried and tested menu selections. I decided on the cheddar ploughman’s and Jerry, our designer chose the Caribbean curried lamb. I do like a ploughman’s and they do tend to vary a lot, but this one was spot on. It consisted of crusty granary bread, two big wedges of cheese, pickled onions, apple, celery, grapes, pickle and salad and beautifully presented. Had I ploughed a couple of fields that morning I’m sure it would have filled me up and would probably have one of the real ales or ciders on offer to go with it. However, as my morning had been slightly less laborious I opted for a glass of wine. The lamb curry was served with gungo peas and rice and was accompanied by a poppadom with mango chutney and raiti. This I am told was a wholesome meal which ticked all the right boxes and would be highly recommended to others. (Although the home-made Desperate Dan Burger was also very tempting - oh well, next time)
The food at Café Rene can be recommended and is excellent value for money. It’s a great place for lunch during your Christmas shopping in Gloucester or an evening meal in the restaurant.
A nice comment on their menu sums up their ethos...
“We do not serve fast food. We serve good food as fast as we can!”
Café Rene also host various events throughout the year and for Halloween it’s the starting venue for special Ghost Walks.
The Christmas menu is now also available and Christmas bookings are being taken.
15 October 2007
Explore Gloucestershire
