After ploughing my way through the mass of snow that’s accumulated during the last 24 hours, I finally make it to Le Rouge/Le Bar on Österlånggatan in Gamla Stan. (Don’t mix this up with its sister – Le Rouge brasserie – which is just around the corner on Brunnsgränd).
There’s a bar downstairs and hidden in the corner lurks a staircase to an upper floor which is a dining cum bar area. Everything is red or with red hues, velvety and plush and it reminds me of a Parisian bistro mixed with a scene from Moulin Rouge. That’s exactly what owners Daniel Couet and Melker Andersson are aiming for since opening the adjacent bar and restaurant in 2007.
The food menu in Le Rouge/Le Bar is scanty as it is, after all mainly a bar. There’s several French-inspired small dishes (assiettes) like mini croque monsieurs, mini pizzas and larger dishes like a plate of oysters and specialities of the day, which today is veal, gnocchi with gorgonzola, walnuts and pork and their in-house burger. Desserts include the usual favorites like crème brulée. Meanwhile, the drinks menu is quite extensive with everything from cocktails to beer. Expect to pay around SEK 100-140 for a glass of wine.
So after trying to decide whether to order three of the small dishes (they start from around SEK 35), I opted for the hamburger which for SEK 185 was a touch on the pricey side. It comes in a wholemeal bread bun topped with fresh tomato, lettuce, melted cheese, onion and bacon with a generous portion of fries on the side. Unfortunately, it was also a bit on the raw side. The staff were friendly when I asked them to leave it in the pan a bit longer and voluntarily offered us a complimentary coffee as compensation at the end.
Service is “comme ci, comme ca” . The staff are very polite and friendly but once the place starts to fill up they disappear. Once our food had been served, our wine glass was empty and the coffee cup drained, that was the last of our service (even though we sat there for another hour) until we waved our credit card around for five minutes to pay the bill.
To be honest, the burger wasn’t worth the money. For SEK 185 I would have expected a bit more. However, I would go back to Le Bar/Le Rouge for a cozy drink with a friend. It’s a nice place in the wintertime to chat over a glass or two of wine … and maybe a snack or two. But, I’m curious to check out the main Le Rouge restaurant.
