Darby’s Playa Flamenca — Restaurant in Orihuela

One of the best dining experiences of our Holiday!

I rang to book a table for ten people and spoke to Charlie, she was so pleasant and accommodating on the call, which was a great start.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by Nathan. He brought us immediately to our table and gave us a few minutes to get sorted and then ask us for our drinks order and within seconds our drinks arrived (in other restaurants we visited on our holiday, we were left waiting for a while before we got a drink).

The menu was quite extensive and a wide range of dishes available, when we ordered our food it was very quick to come out to us. The service was very good and presented beautifully (Full marks to the chef and his team). The food was delicious and piping hot. All of the staff were so nice and friendly.

We dined inside and on a very hot night, the air conditioning and cool air was so comfortable. The attention to detail was kept to a very high standard.

The bar area was well stocked and noticed that the barmaid dried every glass that came out of the dishwasher and the glasses were spotless and all of the drinks were served in the correct glasses (i.e. Wine glasses, Guinness Half and Pint Glasses, Heineken Pint Glass)

Their toilets were spotless and very tastefully decorated. I would have no hesitation in recommending Darby's Restaurant and would say treat yourself and make sure to book a table soon.

The price of the food was excellent and very affordable. Full marks to Charlie, Nathan and the team in Darby's.

P.S. We also had breakfast there one of the mornings for five people and the small breakfast and pancakes were delicious Terry our waitress was so nice and welcoming.

Thank you for a very enjoyable experience guys.

Regards Alan Hennessy The...

Naming and shaming DARBYS in playa flamenca, we were 13 adults and 3 small children ( including family members who arrived from australia to spend christmas. We had a reservation made back in September. Understanding that christmas is a crazy busy time for staff and restaurants and the need to be patient however it was an absolute disaster and after nearly 4 hours of waiting there we had to leave without any christmas dinner!! We arrived as requested at 1 o clock, everyone seated.. 40 minute wait for the first round of drinks... another 1 hour wait for the second round... starters arrived 2 hours after we got there.. baring in mind we have 3 small children/babies.. We repeatedly approached staff for an approximate time to expect food/drinks.. The few workers who were there were run ragged but getting nowhere.. Even as other tables we leaving without their dinner we tried to hang on in the hopes it would arrive. As you can imagine, trying to keep 16 people calm after a 3.5 hour wait for their christmas dinner... 2 drinks each in the whole time... no answers from staff, no apologies or excuses we finally gave in at 16.30 and had to get up and leave, with half of the family going to kfc just to have something to eat on christmas day! I am still flabbergasted as to how it was so bad, it seems impossible that it happened.. a christmas day for the family...

Building work was taking place so some noise and dust outside. Serving staff are very friendly and efficient. We had menu del día which was 14,95€ for two courses plus extra for drinks. The pork was tough (how can you have tough pork in Spain?) and the sauce was cold. The steak pie was not good, pastry was mush and the meat was jelly ish . We were asked when commenting on “how is your meal?” But while they offered to change it the waiting time was too long and would have meant the other customer would have finished well before the replacement arrived. Then the offer of more sauce but not worth waiting. There were only about 3 tables with customers so they were definitely not busy. Got the the bill with no comment about the food we left as “not good” so we paid in full and left so 1st and last time there. Spoke to another couple in Torrevieja who said they have had similar experience last week and would not be back. No smoking allowed outside so customers have to smoke on the street but dust from building works is...