Spanish Omelette
The Old Yard Tapas

The Old Yard Tapas

98 Bondgate (at The Old Yard), Darlington, England, DL3 7JY, United Kingdom

Spanish • European • Vegetarian • Mediterranean


"Heading to the Hippodrome I looked for somewhere we could have a pre show dinner but not too heavy. The Old Yard Tapas Bar was sporting a tempting Spanish Tapas and Greek Meze Vegan Dinner Menu so gave it a bash. In the evening each table is candlelit, intimate but can be open for good chat for groups. Bar is well stocked, music was pleasant and staff attentive with a nice ambience. There is a different vegan lunch and vegan dinner menu which are extracts from the main menu with some dishes changed to suit vegans. The vegan dinner menu sported 9 Spanish Tapas and 8 Greek Meze choices, with 11 sides (see picture). Unlike many places which brag about a good a menu but in reality they don’t have half of the ingredients, only 2 were not available due to being let down by suppliers. We choose carefully to ensure the tastebuds had a different sensation or texture and we were not disappointed. The ‘Breadbasket’ to start with had soft olive bread with vegan butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A lovely appetiser while the food was being cooked and very cheap too. Spanish ‘Patatas Ali Oli’ was warming comfort food consisting of tapas fried potatoes topped with a vegan ali oli (see picture) Spanish ‘Morcilla Y Chorizo’ tasted just like real black pudding, but was a vegan black pudding with soy chorizo, topped with red onion. Amazing. Spanish ‘Chorizo Con Pimentos Asados’ delighted our tastebuds. Rich with no obvious indication it was vegan at all. It’s a soy chorizo with roasted red peppers and pan fried in brandy and garlic. Delicious. Greek ‘Boorekakia’ was really tasty and while the texture may put some off (very soft and slippery) it tasted really nice. It’s sliced aubergine, rolled and stuffed with vegan feta cheese and topped with tomato and vegan parmesan. We also ordered the Greek ‘Halloumi’ but it was off the menu so they served at feta version instead (and never charged us for it it was on the house). It’s is pan fried vegan halloumi (feta for us) served with oregano lemon on top. Refreshing and real palate cleanser. Washed down with a jug sangria, it felt like we were on holiday. Without doubt we’ll be back next time we’re in Darlo try the vegan lunch menu next Updated from previous review on 2022 03 31"

De Nada

De Nada

12a Market Street, Guildford, United Kingdom

Fish • Meat • Tapas • Seafood


"I 'll be completely honest, we went to this restaurant following glowing reviews and we were a little disappointed. I felt that the service we received wasn 't amazing and I wasn 't overly impressed with the food either. When we arrived, the waiter wasn 't very welcoming and told us to choose where we wanted to sit, he brought us menus and told us where to find the specials and then didn 't return for a while, when he did we ordered food and drink as we waited long enough that we had already decided our food order. For our whole stay we were not given table water like every other table and the waiter who served us wasn 't very polite. It was difficult to get his attention and honestly, he wasnt very approachable, we felt like he wasn 't in a very good mood! The food was ok and it did come out very quickly, which was great, but the scallops were cold and the battered squid was a little burnt. Once we had finished eating, the waiter took our plates away, we said we hadn 't received a dish to which he responded rudely and abruptly 'oh really, well that 's why I said are you done? '... surely they would know!! The kitchen confirmed our dishes were all sent, but when he came back over to confirm the dishes we ordered, there was one that definitely didn 't come out, so he organised that. This dish then of course came much later then all our others, but at least he apologised. It wasn 't removed from the bill or anything as a good will gesture, which to be honest is something I probably would have done. At this point we also asked if we could order another drink, given we had no water and hadn 't been offered another, we thought we would take this opportunity! When the waiter returned with a new drink, he took away my partner 's drink which was still a quarter full! Again, we didn 't quibble due to how the waiter was being. They offered us a dessert menu and when we decided not to have a dessert they looked annoyed... strange. We didn 't even get a thank you and goodbye when we left! I won 't be recommending this restaurant with the glowing reviews we had received about it and honestly very unlikely to go back."