Darcy's Restaurant

Do not visit! Overpriced, unfriendly staff, bad food!

We have had the most awful experience today at this restaurant! First it started when I informed the staff about my daughter's dairy allergy, which is a common allergy nowadays. The way we were treated was awful. Basically we were told by 3 different people that our daughter could not eat anything in that restaurant as everything was contaminated with butter! Although we ordered her calamari and chips which she always has in every restaurant we go, in this case they could not even provide that! We did not argue as we just wanted to have our dinner and leave. But the worst part came with the main. Me and my husband order the whole lobster to share! Big mistake. The lobster was cut in two halves and it was covered in sauce and cheese, lots of cheese. It was mainly cheese and little pieces of lobster. My husband hardly found any lobster to eat. The oil used was so awful, it's still repeating on our stomach! My sister order the seafood pasta which was not seasoned and not properly cooked. It had some tiny hard prawns and a couple of mussels. At the end of the dinner, the waiter came to collect our plates and asked how the lobster was. I started by saying that it had too much cheese and hardly any lobster, but instead he turned his back mumbling something and left. When he returned, we complained about our mains and again we didn't get any answer from him. Instead, another lady comes with our bill, which was on a piece of handwritten and she starts arguing with us in the most unprofessional way in front of other customers, basically not caring about our opinion but saying that everything was fine and we should have complained when we got our food. The truth is that we were not going to complain but simply not return to that restaurant. The reason why we complained was the fact that we were not treated with respect. We felt that they didn't really care about our experience and they were simply money grabbers. The whole experience from start to beginning was awful and this is actually the first time I write a bad review about a restaurant, as I would not like someone else to experience what we did. There are so many beautiful and much cheaper restaurants in Brighton and it is a shame for the area that restaurants like that exist.

AVOID AVOID AVOID!

I did a trial shift at this 'restaurant' and witnessed the evidence of many of these reviews. Chef smoking right next to kitchen, all sorts of frozen meats thrown into a sink of water that overflowed into the dishwashing sink over 'clean' plates. All the food is frozen - including bread and butter pudding, meat etc. The microwave was amongst the most used appliances for cooking the 'fresh' food in the frankly filthy kitchen. The older staff are rude and unkind and horrible about customers, especially non-white customers. I could go on forever but after my 6 hour, no break shift spent entirely washing dishes by hand with no gloves and no sponge with just a rag and scolding water I returned home exhausted and in tears. Please don't go and support this restaurant.

Over priced. Poor quality food. Luke warm like the instant coffee served in an espresso cup! And the cook is Italian! Lobster linguine was not fresh served with pesto out of a jar and my friend had lamb shank again this was not hot.

Service not great. Wish I had read some of the reviews first. Will NOT be going there again

Ahh, a return to the customer service I remember England for. I'm using the 25 minutes it's taking to get my bill to write this review. The location is great for people watching and 5.95 GBP decent for a Full English breakfast. The service was incredibly slow so ensure you have time to kill. I'm always very polite, but I have to admit the lady who took my order seemed to take a dislike to me. Maybe I reminded her of somebody who wronged her. Anyway, after sitting with my plate empty, my credit card out and a desperate look on my face for 25 minutes, I finally had to insist on getting my bill. It finally came with a judgmental look of disapproval. I wish you better luck.

Cozy environment and delicious food! Would visit again next time when I'm in Brighton~

Located down the lanes before Moshi Moshi, this cute restaurant attracted my friend & me with their sign for afternoon tea.

Service:
Incredibly poor. I'm not sure if it's because they knew we're American or because our waitress was just having a bad day, but she was very abrupt, rude, dismissive, & unhelpful.

Prices:
Pretty expensive with tiny portions. But hey, Americans are fatasses right? Still, it's around 8 pounds for 6 baked green mussels. You do the math. Mussels shouldn't ever be that expensive. You can pick them off a dock for goodness sakes!!

Food:
We ordered afternoon tea for tea. Waitress brings out one tea pot, one tea saucer & teacup, sugar, & one scone with two ramekins of butter & jam. One teacup for two people? Interesting. Requested for another teacup. Waitress gives us an odd look as if we weren't speaking her native English. I know we're Asian, but come on. Californian English isn't difficult to understand. There are two of us, we'd both like to enjoy some afternoon tea, bring out two of everything. The waitress informs us that the large pot of tea she just brought out is fit enough for one person. Are you serious? Because one person drinks that much tea in an afternoon while having a late lunch? 'kay. Waitress brings out another teacup & ANOTHER teapot. Why we couldn't share the teapot baffles me. Had to ask her for a scone because she didn't bring me one.

Table next to us got one large teapot, two saucers + teacups, & a plate of 4 scones. I kid you not, 4 mother effin' scones! We got 2. What is this? We paid exactly as much as they did & got less....just way more tea than our bladders could handle.

Environment:
Sat outdoors. Don't know what the inside looks like, but it was a beautiful sunny day in Brighton. If you don't mind the random on-lookers, it's an adorable area to have your afternoon tea. Too bad they probably hate you.

What is it about the upper end of Market Street? What with Il Bistro, which is abysmal, to the rather pathetic Little Shop Deli a couple of doors down, the only food of quality seems to be at the Market Inn, as D'Arcy's just adds to the wave of terrible quality that seems to run down this road. Poor service, terrible food, and horribly pokey: give it a miss.

As another reviewer notes, D'Arcy starts off badly by looking quite upmarket. Everything is quite expensive, the menu looks to be quite posh... It couldn't be more the opposite inside. The food is very poorly made, and everything I had was cold. For a place that charges extra for veg, I was shocked by the lousy selection and the amount of water in the bowl: this is dreadful stuff. Not even half worth the price. This is combined with awful service, unfriendly and snooty waiters offering warm beer and little friendly advice.

I don't want to go on about how awful this place is: I think the above covers it. Just don't go, let someone else shell over the cash for this diabolical attempt at a restaurant. For similar prices and better food, head over to La Fourchette on Western Road, or L'Eglise in Hove, as both of these can back up their prices with exceptional food. Alternatively, if you want good food without the price, Cafe Rouge, Pizza Express, Gars and Food for Friends are just across the square at the end of the road. Just don't eat at D'Arcys.

Brighton's hidden gem!
We wondered into this restaurant without any reservations and we're sat right away. The restaurant has different levels with tables in each one. We sat in the main entrance where there are just 2 tables. Although the restaurant was quite busy we had a very private dinning experience when the table next to us finished their dinner.
The owner is very dedicated to her restaurant and has so much passion for great service. She goes out of her way to ensure that everyone gets to relax and enjoy a lovely meal. The food was fresh of the boat and very tasty.
Would definitely recommend this restaurant when in Brighton!!

My husband and I were looking for a small lunch to warm us up whilst the weather was cold and rainy. We needed a break from shopping in the lanes and stumbled upon Darcy's sign outside advertising crab chowder.

It wasn't busy here on a late Sat afternoon and we were able to get a table near the window. This restaurant is pretty big once inside as they have three floors. Service was decent in here.

However when the chowder arrived, it tasted okay but unfortunately didn't have that much flavour. It came with bread and butter on the side. Maybe next time it'll be better.

D'arcys is another seafood restaurant in the Lanes, its menu selection and prices imply its at the higher end of the market so we arranged to go there for my sisters birthday as a treat. It was not an enjoyable experience. The staff were unfriendly and unhelpful, the food was mediocre and overpriced and restaurant was nearly empty on a Friday night... concerning for such a centrally located restaurant.

I would not advise D'arcy's I'm afraid, too many issues that contribute to a bad time had by all.