Darcy's Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Dacorum

We went to Darcy's for lunch. It's located right alongside the Grand Union canal, (the site was formerly Woody's cafe), and as the weather was good, we sat outside.

We ordered the Smashed Avocado, Darcy's Pancake Stack and a Banana Blast milkshake. Staff were very friendly, obviously excited at opening and were still learning the ropes a bit (which was understandable).

The food was well presented, good quality, but a touch expensive for the amount you got. In particular the Darcy's Pancake Stack which I think I can best describe as a tasty disappointment.

Ordering this for £9, I was expecting (as the menu I think suggested), an American style and sized, pancake stack. Unfortunately what arrived was American style pancakes but in a British sized portion. In other words it was way too small and came with only two rashers of (admittedly tasty) crispy bacon. Had this been £6 or £7 it would have been acceptable but at £9? I felt slightly robbed and was left still hungry at the end. I think if they actually went American sized, they would be onto a winner here as it's rare to find a place that does "proper" American breakfast pancakes, plus all the elements were there already, it was just too small.

The ambience of the place is very laid back but one thing we noted was that inside the Bistro (and audible outside), some up tempo dance music was being played during the lunch period. This was absolutely fine on a sunny spring/summer's day as we were able to sit outside and could still talk, but on a cold rainy day I would not want to sit inside with that playing. I can't imagine going for a relaxing coffee and a cake with that in the background. Another thing to note was that there was no visible kids menu so if going with kids I'd ask before sitting down.

With that all said, we will go back for sure, and it's great to see another business in the Apsley Lock area after the site sitting empty for so long. The canal setting is stunning and like the food, you'll just...

NOT SAFE FOR GLUTEN FREE OR COELIAC!! I'm really sorry to have to write this review as one of the waitresses was really nice and apologetic, and didn't charge us for anything... But I went for brunch here and after ordering gluten free toast from the 'gluten free' menu, the waitress serving me didn't ask about whether it was an allergy/intolerance/preference. She then delivered my food which I started eating. I thought my toast didn't taste gluten free so I asked to double check. The waitress then told me it was so I ate more. A couple of minutes later, she came over and said 'let me take that away for you' (no apology), so I asked why and said 'is it not gluten free?'. Rather than apologising, she just said no... I have an allergy and was given food I was allergic to after specifying 'gluten free' and this waitress didn't really seem to care. The other waitress later came over after they had made me a new one with gluten free bread and offered to take the drinks off the menu. It was only after I said AGAIN that I'd been given food I'm allergic to that she took everything off the bill. This was really nice of her, but it was definitely necessary to leave this review for the safety of others going to eat here as I've since had a reaction and am still absolutely fuming with the lack of care and attention.

I've also seen multiple other reviews with the same experience as me. It's bad enough this being a one off, but clearly nothing has been done after multiple incidents. This place should be reported and should NOT be offering a gluten free menu if the staff are clearly this incapable of fulfilling orders. Cheers Darcy's for making me ill, will be seeing if I can take...

The staff are friendly enough when you arrive, which is probably the best thing about the place, although the service feels a little slow and inattentive. Our drinks arrived halfway through our meal.

Despite having a menu mainly consisting of tapas, the food isn’t even remotely authentically Spanish.

The food isn’t bad, but it’s not really great either. All the bread that accompanied our dishes was stale and chewy, and none of the food had any kind of wow factor. Portions are huge but it’s very much a case of quantity over quality. It was clear that most of the food had been prepared well in advance and just heated up and brought to our table, because of the speed at which it arrived. Three of our dishes (the patatas bravas, the croquetas, and the aubergines) had the exact same sauce. That’s just lazy.

The decor and atmosphere is very strange. Almost like a bridal shop or something else like that. It doesn’t feel vibrant or modern and certainly doesn’t create any kind of cosy atmosphere.

It’s a shame because it would be so nice to have a really great restaurant in the area. I love the freshness and vibrancy of Mediterranean food and having travelled in Spain, even just local neighbourhood joints there that serve up simple, local, traditional Spanish tapas were far, far better than this, and for a fraction of the price.

You can get far better, more authentic Spanish food a train ride away in London for less than Darcy’s. It was our second time having a meal here and we’ve decided we...