Event: Cafe Rouge Secret Steak Supper Club

Cafe Rouge is one of my go-to spots for dining. As naughty as the menu can be, I try to pick a steak with salad if I'm in need of a treat.

I was recently invited down to try out the new Autumn menu at Cafe Rouge at The Mailbox as part of their Secret Steak Supper Club series.

Greeted with fizz and canapés, I held out on these as I knew we were in for an evening of dining.

Sitting down at the long banqueting style table, I sat down next to the lovely Sian Victoria and her mum, and we spent the evening talking all things blogging.

After an introduction to the Supper Club, we were invited to choose a starter from the menu before the team from Matthew Clark came around to go through the wine list.

I ordered the Pate, with gluten free bread, my mum ordered the same but not gluten free, and Sian had the Crevettes.

My pate was perfection; a huge portion that was more than enough to cover the two small slices of gluten free toast it was served with, alongside some fabulous spiced apple and pear chutney.

Sian's prawns were large and meaty and had really beautiful colour too.

Next, we were educated a little in wine, with the team explaining that all the wines were picked to be easy drinking styles. We were able to try three reds; a malbec, merlot and cabernet, and these were all native to south France.

By now, it was time for steak tasting! We gathered round to try cuts of sirloin, fillet and cote de boeuf, alongside dauphinoise potatoes, green beans, and more sauces than you can shake a stick at.

Cote de Boeuf

Fillet

Sauces

Dauphinoise Potatoes

There was a mad rush for the steak and many approving sounds coming from the assembled audience! Thankfully, I was able to try all three steaks as well as some of the fabulous sauces. I love any kind of steak, but I have to say it was a rare treat to try the fillet; a perfectly pink piece of perfection. 

As for the sauces, if you haven't been ordering them you've been missing out. There are six sauces o accompany steaks on the menu including bordelaise gravy with bone marrow, beef dripping Merlot gravy, snails and garlic butter (I didn't try that one!), peppercorn, Bearnaise and Roquefort. Most of these are gluten free too.

After all this, we were still only halfway through and went back to our seats to order our mains. I went for the Confit de Canard, as it's something I wouldn't usually try. Mine was served without the cherry or orange sauce, as I assume this is not gluten free, but it did come with gluten free dauphinoise potatoes (shock!) and green beans. My duck was beautiful, crispy on the outside, but a rare indulgence. The dauphinoise potatoes were divine, however, and I will definitely be ordering these again.

I also tried some further sides for extra vitamins, including the Spinach and Green Beans.

My mum opted for another steak and Sian went for the tart.

I did of course steal a few chips, and I adore the crispy french fries served at Cafe Rouge.

If you thought we were skipping dessert, you'd be wrong, and we did manage to try some of the desserts thanks to a mini sharing platter. This contained the Rum Baba, Tarte au Citron, Creme Brulee and Tart aux Pommes.

Incredibly, the Creme Brulee and Tarte au Citron are both gluten free, and it was a real pleasure to enjoy the lemon tart as it's so rare to find this made gluten free.

The whole supper club experience was really fun and friendly, a great way to meet people and socialise, and a good opportunity to try out new dishes.

I'd really recommend trying out the new autumn menu, especially for any gluten free readers as there was plenty of choice, and the main menu itself is marked G or GO to indicate dishes that are gluten free or can be made gluten free.

*Thank you to the team at Cafe Rouge for inviting us to dine complimentary.