Houndgate Townhouse

For our first visit, I surprised my partner with dinner here for her birthday. The restaurant was busy, but Kayleigh kept things calm and professional, and Grace was just as lovely and professional. Between them, they gave us fantastic service, with spot-on timing between courses and thoughtful check-ins. They poured our water, kept smiling and were consistently polite. Kayleigh and Grace are a real credit to the hotel and its management, and a great example of how service should feel. A couple of gems 💎 I used to work front and back of house, so I know how chaotic a busy service can get. Huge credit to the kitchen as well, especially for writing happy birthday on my partner's dessert plate. The food was great throughout, though the rice was clearly microwaved and overcooked. I know things can go wrong when it's busy, and the rest tasted too good for that rice to put us off. We started with fish goujons and tartar sauce, with a lovely batter and the best tartar sauce I've tasted, plus sourdough with seaweed butter, which was gorgeous. For starters we shared the twice baked coastal cheddar soufflè with crab mornay sauce and smoked mackerel patè with pickled cucumber and sourdough crostini. Both were gorgeous. We each had the Thai yellow king prawn coconut curry with basmati, pak choi, crisp shallots and coriander, then the flourless chocolate and almond brownie with white chocolate namelaka and chocolate soil. Both desserts were delicious 😋

I was happy to find a vegan Sunday roast at Saltfish, as they can be hard to come by. I told the waitress I was vegan, and she swapped the Yorkshire pudding for red cabbage and made sure the shared vegetables were vegan too. The nut roast was delicious, and all the vegetables were cooked really nicely. My partner loved the beef, and the staff were very friendly. Thanks for a great meal, and I'd recommend a visit :) I'd love to see more vegan options, so that's why I'm giving it 4/5 stars. Still, I was really glad to enjoy a roast with my partner. Thanks for having a vegan choice.

The service was great from start to finish. The staff answered all my questions, even about our upcoming Christmas Day meal at this Hotel. We went for Friday lunch, and I can't fault the visit. We'll be back for Christmas Day and hopefully many more days and evenings. I had coffee and brandy at a good price. The coffee was delicious, with a nice kick. My partner had the roast loin of cod on celeriac mash, a tasty, well cooked and adequately sized portion, followed by a cinnamon apple crumble type dessert she raved about. I had 18 oysters prepared in different ways, though I mostly like them simple and au naturel. The cooked ones were perfectly done, and the tempura batter was the lightest and tastiest I've tried in a long time. The raw ones had no shell hiding in them, which would have annoyed me, so compliments to the Chef who prepared them. Those oysters were spectacular, sea fresh, ozoney and second to none. You must try them.

It's right in central Darlington, and the staff provide a good level of service. I didn't eat in the restaurant in the evening, but breakfast was the best full English I've ever had. There's no parking on site, though two multi-storey car parks are just a two minute walk away. I'd certainly recommend staying here if you want a central base.