I recently had the pleasure of eating at Café René for the first time. Located in the heart of Gloucester city centre, this pub-come-restaurant is where you can enjoy some really fantastic food and a chilled-out atmosphere.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a lovely waitress and seated at our reserved table. It was pretty quiet, but it was a Monday evening and they did have a few large groups in there.

The interior is amazing – not only do they have a fountain in the middle of the bar, but the entire ceiling is made of wine bottles – it’s worth visiting just to go and see inside! The place is hugely spacious, with a lively atmosphere even on a quiet evening, it’s got a great feeling of local pub mixed with live music venue (they run a lot of live music nights here) and have an extremely well curated menu.

Known for their grills – there are lots of steaks on the menu – I found it hard to choose which dish to order, as there was so much choice. I even struggled to choose a starter, and finally decided on the Tomato & Mozzarella with Balsamic Vinegar and Pesto – essentially all my favourite things on a plate. It was a great choice, the tomatoes were fresh and juicy, the mozzarella was lovely and creamy, and the dish was well seasoned (plus I felt healthy, despite the cheese!).

For my main dish, I ordered Cajun Chicken Breast, with Salad and Sweet Potato Fries (which were on the specials board - I swapped them with normal potatoes). The chicken was perfect - crispy and spicy on the outside, and succulent on the inside, with the flavour of the juices coming through. The sweet potatoes were baked rather than fried, and they had a great texture to them – something I’m never able to get when I cook them!

My friend had the Vegetarian Sweet Potato & Goats Cheese Pie, served with Pan Fried Potatoes with Rosemary & Garlic, which looked fantastic - the pastry was light and fluffy, and the pie was filled to the brim.

Having enjoyed such delicious starters and main courses, we couldn’t leave without trying their desserts. Often, I find it easy to select a dessert as menus have either one of my two favourites – something chocolatey or a Sticky Toffee Pudding. Not Café René - they had both!

Between us we thought we’d try a couple of different options – we ordered the Black Forest Cheesecake (which was a special) and of course the Sticky Toffee Pudding. It was gigantic! I would have been happy with half a portion, and only managed to eat some of it.

But it was delicious. It was sticky, and gooey in the middle, with a tasty pool of sauce, and a lovely side of vanilla ice cream. My friends’ Black Forest Cheesecake was creamy, sweet and sharp all at the same time, with a crunchy biscuit base and she managed to polish it all off.

I was really impressed with the service at Café René, the waitress was attentive and friendly without being overbearing, we barely noticed that she was there, in a good way!

All in all, we had a fabulous evening. Café René is perfect for a good, hearty, meal which will warm you through in the newly cold weather. If you need to get yourself some delicious comfort food, Café René is the place to go.