The Old Yard Tapas Bar — Restaurant in Great Britain

A vegan pre-show delight.

Heading to the Hippodrome I looked for somewhere we could have a pre-show vegan 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...

Managed to book a table for 2 with short notice, upon entering the waiter explained how the restaurant was now working with their policies in place, took details in case they needed to contact us regarding covid-19 and we were seated - I must add upon entering the cleanliness of the bar and markings were brilliant and there was hand sanitizer for all customers. We were seated up stairs on a table of two and provided a menu card to which we were to tick which dishes we wanted - loved this idea it was simple and easy. We love tapas and haven't had authentic tapas since we travelled to Rome and Barcelona earlier this year, so reading the menu we were excited - disappointed that some of our favourites are unavailable but just due to selling out not that they were not offered. All seemed great up until we handed in our order - we ordered 10 dishes - with it being tapas we know they are smaller plates and are brought out when they are ready - our dishes ranged from simple humus and garlic bread to chicken and beef as well as skewers and different cheeses. The tables around us had their dishes staggered so they were eating little and often, our dishes seemed to take a while to come out and it was only until the a waiter brought us our second drink that we asked where the humus or bread was.. to which he went to check for us. He came back to say that most of our dishes were cooked and ready to be brought out - we both said we didn't want it all at once - we had to move tables as we couldn't not have fitted it all on the table we were sat at. The food wasn't that great, lacked basic seasoning and I cant believe the chef actually let 10 dishes for a table to 2 leave at once - that's just ridiculous! - it even says on top of the receipt how many is seated at the table so it was just really bad on the kitchens behalf. We spend £98 and left most the food because it was dry, very under seasoned and the service for upstairs was shocking. Don't think we will be returning...

We have just come back from a post wedding ceremony lunch with our extended (and newly acquired) family. We started organising the event by turning up unannounced last December for a trial run. We were convinced by the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff that this would be ideal. Manager, James gave us plenty of time and sound advice by telephone. That proved to be just the beginning. There was reassurance that they could cope with our numbers, an ability to cope with a large amount of luggage (overseas visitors), the flexibility to find us a private area, despite that our numbers fluctuated, advice as to where to drop off from a coach, and help in bringing in luggage from the coach. The restaurant opened early to make our timings work. The staff were, as before, both friendly and helpful, but what really set the place apart was when, at two hours notice, it was not an issue to accommodate 46, rather than our original 40. And then there's the food. We went for the set tapas menu (the only realistic way with that many folk to serve). It was of high quality, and the only complaint that our group had was that they couldn't finish it. Tapas elsewhere may have the reputation for being pleasant but insubstantial: Clearly, the good people of Darlington believe it should be otherwise, and we're looking forwards to reliving highlights of the meal from our fridge tomorrow. So, thanks to James and th rest of the team. My only regret - it's a three hour drive...