Time Out rating:
<strong>Rating: </strong>2/5
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<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5
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Time Out says
Thu Oct 13 2011
Popular with all ages, this spacious café is sited on a gentrified backstreet, flanked by local businesses and workshops. Decor has been freshened up since our last visit, with pale grey walls softening the old deep maroon shades. Velvet drapes, glinting fairy lights and sturdy church-like furniture remain unchanged, adding to the quirky appeal.
The broad menu covers regular café staples – burgers, pastas, risottos and sandwiches, but also the likes of duck confit and quinoa salads – and is perhaps trying too hard to tick all the boxes. A tapas platter didn’t deliver: houmous paired with focaccia was an odd marriage, while an orange-coloured chicken pâté was bland and offputting. Mains were average too. Fish stew had a pleasing tomato and garlic flavour, but was soupy in consistency and marred by an abundance of overcooked salmon.
The downward spiral continued: tough and gristly ribeye, topped with squishy onions, was redeemed only by crisp fries on the side. Hugo’s isn’t cheap, and service although well meaning, is slow. Drop by for a traditional breakfast or brunch for a more rewarding experience.
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