Darran in Caerphilly

Friendly staff, great food and good value for money

Really disappointed. Meal was ok, but all our order didn't come, so we had to ask for the rest, then by the time it arrived our meals were cold. A dog urinated onbthr Floor, another customer complained, and it took over 30mins for someone to come and JUST spray something onto it. Won't be going back here.

Went for the first time Saturday out of the blue, was passing by and dec ided to try it out..food was lovely though portions were small, lovely crispy chips and piping hot, the lady that greeted us was lovely. Will definitely be going again and recommending it to our Airbnb guests.

Bar staff great table service was excellent food was great good atmosphere all round great place

Easy to book, staff are always friendly and food is fantastic. Have recommended family and friends to give it a go.

Lovely local pub staff are super friendly and they are very welcoming to all even the four legged customers

If I could of left 0 stars I would of service was absolutely appalling food was cold The Atmosphere was awful with every customer complaining we were refused a refund. Absolutely disgusting. I definitely wouldn't recommend better off going to McDonald's

It's a solid pub with a reasonably broad and traditional menu. I would say the food portions aren't as generous as they used to be, but I suspect all pubs are suffering from wafer thing margins to stay open these days. Nice location where you can walk the canal for a few miles and end at the Darran for food or drinks. Clean interior and looks well cared for, service is friendly and helpful. Child menu is decent and portions good and you'll get crayons and some drawing stuff to keep them amused for a bit.

Food and service was good, prices were reasonable, no problems. Parking was fine.Will use again.

I've never felt comfortable walking into a pub or restaurant until I starting going to the Darren in Risca. The staff are incredible, so friendly and inviting. The food is out of this world my complements to the chef who is also a lovely guy. And to top it off its dog friendly inside at certain areas which to me is one of the most important things these days because people love there pets as if they are children and they got a dogs menu. It's definately our go to place. One thing would be nice is that they serve bottles of Coors or on tap but we can live without that.

Friendly service, reasonable prices

An absolute privilege to spend the evening here at their childhood cancer charity night tonight. Amazing entertainment, good food and wonderful atmosphere. Thankyou for allowing us to be part of it.

Very attentive to my gluten allergy, was really surprised how lovely my steak was and it was cooked perfectly! Chips were cooked fresh for me, lovely hot chips just what I love! Will most definitely be back, surprised how much of a good change this place has become!

Great pub, lovely atmosphere and cheerful staff!! Had sausage and mash! Was beautiful! Will be visiting again

Food good service was great atmosphere great

Food was cooked well but expensive for what was served. Bar service was ok. Annoyed we were harrassed several times during our visit by someone who clearly had disabilities and their support worker wasn't watching them. The disabled man took drinks and food from our table and staff and support worker did nothing

Really lovely food, all the staff are very friendly

Really good value for money. Very pleasantly presented. Staff friendly and very polite.

Lovely traditional pub, food was very nice and wholesome.

Really lovely atmosphere, polite and friendly staff, tasty food and reasonably priced. Good range of alcoholic and soft drinks

Lovely family and dog friendly pub , the food was amazing

2 nd time I have been there since it reopened meals very good social distancing spot on would highly recommend people to use this pub.

Lovely food, well priced, friendly helpful staff.

Staff friendly, delicious burger, vinegar jug needs washing, tables a bit sticky

Great food and service Katie has really made the place come alive. Will definately be going back

An amazing place with top quality food. Love this place and it's now me regular. Staff and management are amazing and you're always welcomed.

The food and staff are great, no complaints. The only negative is the smell, while nice, it is overbearing and made me sneeze and have a stuffy nose throughout my visit.

Great place and price food was excellent and dog friendly too will be returning 5*

Staff were friendly but the food was absolutely dreadful. Never again. I had a mixed grill everything was so overcooked. My steak was like chewing on leather I asked for it medium. My egg was so overcooked it was like rubber. Just awful. Wouldn't recommend.

Went to the Darren last night what a disaster ordered food waited 90 minutes for starters still never arrived very disappointed

Nice Sunday Roast but could be a bit more generous with the portions especially Mashed Potato & Red Cabbage , which was wilted . I like value for money. As we both work long hours of employment and now eating out , is a treat for us. I’m not a moaner but potion size should be more than two or three mouthfuls.

Called in for lunch as passing and looked inviting from the outside. A pleasant inside environment. Very quiet, had a table easily. Facilities clean. A nice selection of drinks, a lovely cold beer. Staff pleasant but disorganised. Confusion appears with their roles. Lack of communication as witnessed. Ordered two curries and was asked by bar staff if I would like half/half rice and chips, so agreed with that option. Meals arrived in a timely manner but with no ' naan bread ' which was on the menu... question this with two members of staff and was then informed, ' sorry, they didn't have any ' of which I should have been told when ordering. No offer of any compensation, ie.. extra pompodom. The meals were small despite the large curry bowl served in, just a third on the bottom. A few chips and a small portion of rice. It was cooked nicely with a good taste. On request for the bill I felt absolutely cheated as was charged for two extra portions of chips of which I believe was not expecting as believed due to (as explained above) this was NOT an addition to my order. I waited for a staff member to speak with but this did not occur and I had to leave for an appointment. I am very disappointed with this and I ask that all staff should be informed of what's not available on the menu and to inform customers of additional costs when this was not apparent.

Great service from Lexi; always welcoming and friendly, good at recommending dishes too! Will always come back.

Good food. Good customer service from Lexy.

Lovely food and great service. We will definitely be back. Good to see that you can bring your dog along. We look forward to spending time together in the summer.

Beautiful meal this evening. Had steak and cocktails and enjoyed everything. The beef dripping and merlot sauce was amazing!

Staff friendly and helpful food basic but good with a good choice

Went to a wake there last week and they were superb.and considerate.

Called at lunchtime to book a table for this evening,,on arrival bar staff were looking for ages , despite a sign saying no tables available inside due a large booking, our booking couldn't be found, and despite a whole host of available tables on arrival we were given a choice of two dingy tables in the corner. A notice said please wait to be seated, despite this everyone else seemed to walk in and sit were they liked with out waiting to be shown to a table. When it comes to the food, the only choice of potato was chips, my wife is not over keen on chips, so ordered a sharing nacho dish. Basically this turned out to be a bowl of cheap version of Doritos covered in a tasteless obviously out of a jar cheese, some green stuff and four slices of a jalapeno pepper, there was no chives as mentioned in the very poetic licence on the menu. Now anybody that knows me will tell you that I love a steak and ale pie, so how disappointed I was to be presented with a concrete topping being past off as flakey pastry, the rest of the pie crust could have been used in a dental practice to remove teeth. In total the meal was dreadful. We don't live in the area and picked the Darren after visiting some years ago and having a fantastic meal. I can only think that either the busy day the pub has had grossly affected the normal standards or standards have dropped to an unacceptable level

Our second visit in 2 weeks love the feel of the place and the staff and so lovely and friendly. The food on this occasion was a bit dry and was missing items. But hey, it's all good. Will be back.

Great service food is at a hight quality & the staff are great

Macaroni cheese very dissapionted small portion Garlic bread cold. Burgers like patties or mc donalds again very disappionting served in what looked like a dog bowl Will not be back.......

They were short staffed, but explained this and were very welcoming. The food arrived in good time under the circumstances and was delicious.

Being a guest from the US I was very pleased at the staff, the food, and the service. % 100 satisfied! Thank you very much! Katherine Reeder

Lovely food but the Rocky Road Sundae was disappointing as they used cheap ice cream that tasted more like ice. Other than that, a lovely experience. Nice atmosphere, my burger and fries were delicious, and the pints on tap were lovely 👌🏾

Very polite and helpful employee, she opened the side door so I could bring my mom inside in a wheelchair and offered a choice of tables. Our meals arrived quickly, were plentiful and delicious. The overall experience was relaxing and enjoyable.

My partner and I had a great date night and Jess was extremely pleasant, friendly and helpful throughout the evening ☺️

Little gem tucked away in Cross Keys! Excellent food and service, very friendly welcome. Super clean, parking, and village atmosphere with quiz and poker evenings. Very nice lunch here.

We attend every Saturday for our evening meal the staff you have now are. Excellent but a word of warning be careful who you want in charge, I am not to sure I would want someone who spends all the time in the office and not on the shop floor seeing what's going on regards Nancy P

Having recently moved to the area visited The Darran for the first time last night. Everything about the place was excellent, the friendly welcome, the efficient ordering, time the meal took to arrive and the quality of food. I went for a mixed grill and my partner the chicken salad. We were both very impressed at the value for money the food was. We will definitely be returning sooner than later. Well done!

Good food, nice people, clean pub. Excellent Guinness..fantastic mixed grill with a salad .

We recently booked last minute on the way home. Arrived to waitress with attitude who just told us table round the corner. Then proceeded to loudly dump cutlery on the table. Went back behind the bar to look at her phone. At that point we got up and walked out after no attempt for drink order, or even a smile. We went to the sister pub up the road and had a fabulous atmosphere waiter and food. The waiting staff at the Darren should take notes.

Had stunning food there with family.

Went for a meal early Dec on a Friday midday, waited 50 minutes for the food which when came was awful, the Hunters Chicken had no Sauce at all with it, but due to waiting so long didn't complain at the time as pushed for time by then. Message the Darren that evening explaining what happen and am still waiting for a response!!! Went in again three weeks ago to be greeted by female staff on their phones and looking like customers were an inconvenience, no pleasantries, no customer service whatsoever!! Last time will be visiting and this has been my local for years. Staff desperately in need of Hospitality training.

The Darren is hit or miss. It's a nice local pub and the food is good. Sometimes it's completely dead inside, and sometimes it's really busy and you can't get food. Keep in mind I only really visit on the weekend. They post out food vouchers to encourage more people to visit, but during these times you can't just turn up for food on the weekend as this increases demand. You have to book a table in advance if you want food. This is disappointing and is not typical for these kind of pub restaurants. Even the staff say they can't keep up when it's busy. This probably boils down to management falling short. When outside of these times, you can usually turn up without a booking on a weekend and it's quiet enough to get food.

I was very disappointed. Firstly no brains beer then food was very disappointing I had dirty fries it was actually skinny fries with cheese and cold pulled pork covered in bbq sauce

Highly rate The Darran for food and service. There was a error on the booking system but they fitted us in with no issues. They went over and above accommodating us and making sure the children were fed first. Jess, Keran and chef were really lovely and nothing was too much trouble. Will definitely go back again. Thanks for a great meal 😊

I'm coeliac there is a separate menu for gf and chips are done separate in dedicated fryer I was so happy to have steak a chips! I didnt care they'd ran out of mums fish and while she wouldn't normally have a bean burger she enjoyed it. Dog friendly, coeliac friendly

Very relaxing.. reasonable price..staff very friendly 😄

This is our third time in last few months that we’ve chosen the Darran for food and can’t fault the service! Staff are really friendly and the food has always been really nice! Mother-in-law had the fish and said it was bloody gorgeous! 😊 Thank you, we’ll be back! 👍

Service was good considering we were a party of 5 adults and 4 children, although we had quite a wait for desserts. Given that these mostly consisted of ice creams, we felt they should perhaps have come out a bit quicker. The main courses were ok and everyone enjoyed their meals. My only complaint would be that the portion sizeof my vegan chilli was pretty small for the price of £8.50...the chilli itself was tasty but looked lost in the bottom of the metal skillet it was served in. The portion of rice it came with was, in my opinion, too big for the amount of chilli. I will point out though that I had ordered from the lunch deal menu which I was aware meant smaller amounts. We've been here a couple of times before and would return as quality of food is quite good and prices are generally reasonable

Service and atmosphere really good , food was really tasty but portion size was very poor.

Had an amazing meal, cooked to perfection and enjoyed a wonderful atmosphere and friendly staff!

Amazing service today from the team at the Darran. I ate here a couple of years ago and was underwhelmed but something has changed. The team were brilliant I booked a table for my mums birthday put a note on the booking to say it was her birthday, a banner at our booth, bunch of flowers even. A great start. Starters went down a storm; garlic mushrooms, prawn cocktail, mozzarella bites and chicken strips all empty plates. For mains; a couple of us opted for the roast dinner, so good, very generous portions and the homemade Yorkshire puds were fab, meat was cooked perfectly and te roast potatoes were yum 😋. The teens had the cowboy burger and again empty plates. Little room for puddings but the surprise little cake and candle for my mum was the icing on the cake. 7 of us dined and with drinks less than £160. Good value, great service. Thank you and defo recommend a visit

Service was really slow won't be coming back here.

Great food, which was piping hot and all reasonably priced; staff were courteous attentive and welcoming. We'll be back.

We had a lovely time and the food was excellent we will be returning.

Not impressed. Didn't have 2 of the main meals or 1 desert. Very rude young staff member

Food was now where near what the menu said. Very poor, with staff having no clue what the menu was ! Complete waste of money

Arrived earlier than our reservation but we're able to have our table which was great. Took advantage of curry and a drink and it was delicious. Staff very friendly and polite.

Well where do I start was up there on the 17th Feb for my birthday with 24 others the steak was rubbery hunters chicken without cheese and bbq sauce.service without a smile except for lisa she was helpful as for the others well rude,unprofessional and slapped Yr plate In front of you and the beer is priced for London not for risca, so it's fair to say won't be going there again not even if it was free

Went to ' The Darran ' didn't even know if they served food ? But scampi and trimmings were ordered along with the 8 oz dump steak . The food was light and tender not chewy with all the trimmings . The staff were extremely helpful as I am partially disabled . The puddings were so good we actually had them prepare one each to take home with us !!! Parking was easy and plenty of room . A big must if you struggle getting around !!!

We had a family gathering of elderly cousins and some younger members of the family. We were very impressed with the food, both in terms of quality and value for money. The staff were very welcoming and were very flexible regarding the ordering process as 80+ year olds would not have coped with QR codes. All in all a very pleasant afternoon, just a shame Wales lost to Ireland in the Rugby.

Friendly, helpful and polite staff. Food is reasonably priced, with good service

We were a table of 5 visiting this afternoon. Food was lovely, and great service. We would especially like to thank Keran who stepped in when one of our party members fell ill. Her quick response and reaction made a massive difference. Thank you to everyone involved. We will be returning again soon.

Food was lovely other than all the soup coming out freezing but in warm bowls. The organisation needs working we were a big group but the last of the food wasn’t brought out until the first people had finished. We all ate at different times. No hot drinks were available until half way through the meal .

Occasionally the full menu isn’t available. I had a a few issues with the food but it has been replaced immediately.

From booking over the phone to ordering and food arriving, we had a quick, friendly service with a relaxed atmosphere.

Very friendly staff and reasonable prices. We weren't rushed in any way and the atmosphere was great

Sunday dinner was lovely , great service friendly staff.

Little disappointed they didn’t have the mixed grill or gammon but it didn’t spoil our evening. The food we all had was lovely in fact better than my last visit in nov. Everyone enjoyed and will definitely be visiting again. It was a little cold in there but I put that down to being within the dog friendly area as we took our dogs with us. Lovely meal

Prawn cocktail was delicious but had to empty out of ridiculous narrow glass onto plate to be able to cut into small amounts that we can eat. If you want to serve it in glass bowls they need to be wider. Main course was hunters chicken, chicken was cooked to perfection as was bacon and cheese but where was the barbecue sauce, a little dribble that you can't even taste was useless please add barbecue sauce to the chicken, enough that can be tasted.

Good food at a decent price but portions could have been larger especially the curry. Service OK, understandable as they were very busy

Couldn’t have our first choices as no fryer to do fish, etc Couldn’t have coffee as the coffee machine was broken Couldn’t have a pot of tea as no kettle I suggest you invest in some equipment as this is embarrassingly ridiculous!

Nice place, terrible food, also running out of food items is usual.

Very enjoyable Sunday roast made all the nicer by pleasant staff, thank you

Went for food yesterday with my wife, food was awful steak was well overcooked and no seasoning and tasted of cleaning product, wife's was the same also, another couple had same issue stone cold food and remade twice totally gone down hill drinks overpriced food still overpriced for the quality served and will never go back there and hopefully all the people I k ow from risca read this and avoid for food also wound not waste my money again even 1 star is to much

Nice meal out, great food, although the staff always seem slow l, as in we were waiting to be seated nearly 10 minutes after entering (only one other table was being used, and all staff were out the back). Also, it always seems to take nearly an hr after ordering until the food is brought out, even though the pub was quiet.

Lovely little chain pub. Very friendly staff. Excellent service. Food hygiene rating 5 which is well deserved as the place is immaculate including toilets. Poor choice for vegetarians and the choice for vegans is vegetarian without the dairy! No alternative milks.

Amazing food and service, will be back again

Amazing food, Came to my table piping hot. Would highly recommend coming here.

Service was very poor, hugely understaffed, waited 90mins for a burger, food was average.

Great cod and chips, best in risca

It was our staff work do and there were 11 of us. We arrived at 7:30pm. We left WITHOUT getting served our food at 9:40!!!!! Kept saying nearly done, we are serving it now.... 30 minutes later...NOTHING! Disgusting!!We even had 2 gluten free people and a diabetic, which they never contacted us beforehand to accommodate us! They took my name and number to get a manager to contact us. NO MANAGER THERE! 2 bar/waitresses. and 2 trainee Chefs! We should never have been served if service and staffing was not adequate! We should have been told there were issues 30 minutes in so that we could have made the choice to leave and go somewhere else, but they did not and kept us there on a string for over 2 hours! I have left my name and number and still have had no contact or compensation for this appalling visit! 11 Free meals please and even then do I want to go back anyway?! EMBARASSING!

This review is a weird. I brought my nan here for Christmas dinner, service was great. We then waited 2 hours for our food. It, at best was 1.5 hours. I had order a main and nan ordered a starter to come out. This is the good... The 3 women (warriors) working.... Did their best. They were polite professional kind caring a d honest. I worked in hospitality for 15 years and I got their pain. But they continued being epically awesome. The food.... Steak, over cooked. Prawn cocktail.... Where were the prawns? Front of house.... Amazing. And give these women a rise or thankyou. As without them. Your business will close. Reaward the good. And. Get rid of the dead wood. Merry Christmas. And to the 3 women who made my nans nights.... I have contacts for alot of bar and restaurant owners xxxx Craig Ball on face book

Where to start? Ordered 2 pints of Brains SA to be told they haven't got any. Ordered a disaronno, they started to pour my measure but ran out and still charged for a full measure. Ordered some pasta but they didn't have any. Then when we sat down the table was all sticky and there was food on the floor from previous customers. The wait for our food was ages. My wife ordered a veggie burger, when it was brought out the waitress didn't know if was meat or vegitable and her fries were cold. All this was in the afternoon so god help any later customers.

Waited 2 hours and 15 mins for our food, by 9.45 pm we decided to leave all 11 of us. Felt so sorry for the waitresses they did offer us a free drink but by that point we had had enough of waiting. If it had been busy I could understood but there was hardly anyone there. I have listed on social media as I wouldn’t want anyone else having their staff Christmas meal ruined like ours

Staff were friendly and helpful, even though it was a busy evening with Christmas party's, food was prompt and tasty, will definitely be back. Lauren behind the bar was fantastic

Average food, terribly poor service from staff. I get its a busy time of year but doesn’t hurt to crack a smile or look you like actually care about your customers having an enjoyable time whilst dining with you. Not to mention it was freezing cold. When it’s 3 degrees outside, you’d expect to eat in a place that can put the heating on for their customers…didn’t even to take my coat off it was the cold. Will not be returning anytime soon.

Had a great afternoon atmosphere was lovely staff were helpful and polite will be visiting again