Reviews in County Durham

One of the first places I tried when I moved to Darlington. A lovely tapas restaurant that is hidden behind the front of a typical pub.. It has a great selection of both Spanish and Greek tapas dishes and the quality has been both excellent and consistent. So much so that I have introduced other friends to this Darlo treat!

Sticky toffee pudding was the best I've ever had and I've tried LOTS of different kinds so people who know me will understand the magnitude of this accolade! The staff were very helpful and courteous, actually the best hospitality we received whilst we were in the area -in comparison to the local competition we visited. We shall certainly be back to the Blue Bell for food (and laughter) again.

We have been so disappointed by only other 2 mexicans in the area that on my birthday I drove from Newcastle to Durham and drank Coke just to try Tia's out. What a fab place, decor a bit cafe-like but the food and service were fab. Everything was excellent and we will come back again and again. At last a decent Mexican restaurant in the NE!!!!

I went to this restaurant yesterday with my friend as we were staying in darlington and were unable to eat at the hotel as it was fully booked. We walked round the town looking for venues and liked the look of the menu so chose the blue lagoon. So pleased we did. The food was delicious, portions huge and all the staff were lovely. I was full after a starter and main course but my friend opted for a pudding too, well it was her birthday. She was definitely not disappointed when a huge portion of treacle tart and custard arrived. I'm sure that next time we're back in town will be heading straight there.

really nice well cooked food very helpful friendly staff that make you feel welcome once your inside the door.

I went last night before going to the nearby theatre. An ideal start to a evening. Real homemade tortilla chips and salsa arrive at the table immediately. This was followed as a huge plate of Nachos with lots of cheese and sour cream dotted with jalapenos. The standard fare of tortillas, stuffed and fried were available either with rice or chips. The re-fried beans were to die for. This was really good Tex Mex food at great price. The service was was really good. With a jug of Margaritas i could think of a better way to spend an evening in Durham.

a lovely place to eat, the food always good and the staff very helpful and friendly, garlic nans are to die for.

really enjoyed your pudding and pie night last month- also pleased to see the new menus have a good choice of food and certainly a fan of your monthly wine offers!!

wonderful new menus! we haven't been for a while and have recently moved back to the area. So pleased to find this place is still serving fantastic food with a friendly, relaxed setting. see you soon and keep it up!!!!

Just reopened seem to be trying really hard. Always got a decent guest beer on soon be doing food and also local community activities.

smiths arms i highly recommend this restaurant for its outstanding food and service and also not forgetting the great wine

Had a meal here on Sunday and it was lovely, the restaurant is decorated to a high standard and the food was great especially the Thai Green Curry and Caramelized Bananas. I would recommend that you give this place a try!

The Derent Walk is in a superb location with beautiful views over the Derwent Valley it is next to the Derwent Walk so handy to stop by and have a drink when out for a ramble. Even bowels of water out for your dog in the Summer. The food is always delicious and freshly made, my favourite is the Sizzling Mexican Chicken Fajitas there is enough on the plate for 2 people. Well worth a visit highly recommended

Best restaurant in Darlington - food, service and ambience is excellent - Sally, Raymond, Wendy and all the staff make dining out a delightful experience.

Having recently moved to Darlington, we tried most of the local Chinese restaurants and take aways but found nothing particularly good. Then a menu for Peking Chef was popped through our letterbox. It was quite far away from our house, but we decided to give it a go. I am so glad we did, Peking Chef is by far the best Chinese food in Darlington, and is as good as any we have tried anywhere else. Beautiful food, at very reasonable prices. I am happy to drive a bit further to collect from this fantastic take away. If you have not tried them yet, then I suggest you do, they also deliver. They are in the high grange/faverdale area.

The Centenary was taken over by new management a few weeks ago. Before that My family (eight of us) dined there at least twice a week, lunchtime and dinner time. Last Friday (16th Oct) we ordered our meals at 5.30pm as normal and had a glass of wine and waited and waited. At 6.40 the time we are usually leaving to go home, we had not received our meals and neither had the people around us. I went to the counter and asked about the hold up and was told that there was a two hour delay because the under-manager and manager were cooking the meals as the chefs had not turned up. Why was I not told anything about this when I ordered? I asked for a refund as one of our party, my grand-daughter is 16 months old and she was getting tired and grumpy. The waiter that I asked, Dan, went straight into the kitchen and asked the new manager to come and see me, this happened three times and the manager would not come out to even talk to me. I opened the kitchen door to ask him to come out to talk to me and then realised that the new 'manager' was a very lazy miserable faced ex-waiter and the undermanageress an ex -waitress. The manager refused to come out to talk to me and threatened me with the police if I didn't shut the kitchen door. I went back to my table to find that two of the meals had arrived and the waiter told us that the hold up for the rest was going to be quite a while because the chicken had been dropped on the floor. We left the restaurant and will not be returning.

Had a great night out with friends in the new Mexican restaurant in Darlington. excellent food prepared right in front of our eyes, flavour was full on and different to what you get any where else. I also sat at the bar for half an hour where the bar man told me all about Tequila. Very recommended

this takeaway is the best in the town if not the whole of England! Egg foo young is out of this world and the chicken balls are the size of your fist! Highly recommended to go any where else would be a crime