Porter's in Darlington

we had been a few times in past , and was always nice , but a few days ago , we went back and had a terrible experience. service was slow , had to ask twice for our order to be taken . I ordered extra large cod , when it came , it was so small , and thin. very disappointing indeed .

Disgraceful I've just been told after purchasing chips and having coffee. My disabled Mam and 80 year old Grandmother were asked to leave after sitting outside the restaurant eating and drinking what they purchased and being told to leave!!!!!!!! Due to carol singers being outside collecting for St Theresa's hospice. I have never heard of anything so appalling in my life! You should be ashamed of yourself in this current market you will not be open for long............... With Facebook it won't take long SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR WHAT HAPPENED TO GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. Either the staff need retraining or the place needs shutting down!!! Tables were empty for the whole carol service, whilst my mam struggled to stand. My mam had to give her drink back (with no refund offered) however the manager did stand with her arms folded staring and refused to give the owners details. Thank goodness for the beta service that will supply details of all limited companies. His only liability appears to be his manager. They could have used the opportunity to maximise PR instead it reminded me I’m going to see Scrooge tonight. The seats they wanted to remain empty stayed empty and long May they do so!!! DISGUSTING

Great fresh fish and chips great atmosphere and the staff are always friendly the restaurant is clean and tidy too

Went in first to get tables 4 adults,1 child and Twins in pushchair which I told them. When they arrived the mum was told that they would have to leave the chair outside. As if anyone would leave their chair let alone 2 sleeping babies outside.. The member of staff was very abrupt..

Despite it being on the menu the shoppers special is available as cod or haddock. The haddock price is more than for the cod. I CAN tell the difference so today when I was told there was one haddock left I was pleasantly surprised. Imagine then how cheated I felt when I was served a tail end of cod but charged for haddock. Beware: this has happened on two or three visits before. (The cod was nicely cooked but they should not charge for haddock or fob me off.) Let me make this clear: you order haddock: you're told it's haddock but it's cod. This is not in the spirit of the Trades Description Act or Sale of Goods Act. They also expect payment before you're served your meal. Also, despite displaying a free wifi notice there is none - now only the Queen Street Centre's own free wifi is available and although it asks for a sign in there isn't one so it only stays connected for a minute or so before disconnecting. It's useless. I've found the waitresses are friendly and efficient. If you want haddock I would recommend a visit to The White Horse Cafe in Northallerton: contemporary, clean and bright cafe and excellent haddock always on offer; great staff and reliable free wifi that stays connected.

Took my friend here for his birthday as it looked clean and quiet. To be honest the food is very poor quality and very over priced for what it is! My daughters meal that was free might aswell been the left over scraps it was the bad and my jacket potato was the worst I had ever tasted with a thimble full of beans and a few leaves it cost nearly £5. My friend however enjoyed his meal but at nearly £13 for a pensioner special it was again a small portion and expensive. To be honest if my son had not been hungry and required feeding I would of left and found something better value for money

I came in to the café today, was greeted at the door and told to take seat and the lasses would be with us shorty. And a few minutes one of the girls came over, I asked if I could have the cod bites offer that was in the window. Her reply was 'that's just for take out', in a rude and abrupt way. Yes I must admit I didn't see that it was a take out only offer but her customer service was shocking. So me and my husband left and won't be back.

I wanted to make a complaint about a member of staff that was talking and looking over at myself and 2 daughters while we were eating our lunch. We did not finish our meal as we felt very uncomfortable, I approached the staff member and simply said to her that it was rude to talk about customers while they were sitting in the cafe to which she became mouthy. A lady behind the counter then said to me that it was her daughter and do I have a problem with her, to which I said yes. I asked for contact details of the owner but she would not give me them, while in the middle of serving a customers she put down the food she was serving up for him came from behind the counter and was putting her hands on my arm telling me to leave the premises. I asked her to take her hands off me, which she did as the customers in the shop were looking. I actually feel very embarrassed that I was thrown out of a cafe, having to leave our meals and not had our complaint dealt with simply because it was the mangers family member. What kind of customer service is this, it is disgusting! I have been here many times with friends/family and also with work as I support people out in the community. Shame for all the other members of staff that continually provide a great service. I have worked in retail and would never have put my hands on a customer, made such a scene or allowed staff that I was responsible for to talk to paying customers the way I have been spoken to today.

Loverly food, good value for money. batter is nice and light and not to crunchy fish was tender and chips where not greasy all in all a lovely plate of fish and chips xx

Recently ate here on a Saturday in Jan. Was getting on for 3pm so couldn't sit where we wanted as they were busy cleaning & closing that section of the restaurant. Fair Enough. Ordered 2 of the Shoppers specials, but they had no Haddock, gutted. So had to have cod, they had also ran out of mushy peas, so had to have beans. We ordered, the Tea came & bread & butter etc, few minutes later the hot food. Although there wasn't huge amounts of chips, the fish was beautifully cooked, lovely crisp batter and (even though I'm not a huge fan of cod from chippy's, I prefer haddock) the fish flaked beautifully and was very tasty. The chips were also really good. The beans were nice too, lovely & sticky, not watery at all. Overall it was really very good, not the fastest service in the world, but the staff were pleasant enough. £15.00 for Fish & chips, Tea & bread & Butter is a great deal. Will be back but please get some Haddock in :)

Having been told where to sit, we waited and waited to be given a menu to choose from. I took the ten minutes wait to observe grubby, ignorant and unintelligent staff shuffle around clearing tables and serving people that arrived after us. In the end, I asked the table next to us for their menus and we chose our requirements with the expectation of someone appearing to take our order. Another few minutes ebbed away, as did my appetite. The waitress that came to serve at the next table ignored my request for an order with a retort "I'll be back in a bit" then disappeared. Much later she returned to wipe the table recently vacated on the other side of us. At this point I left. Never have I seen such a display of rank ignorance in a service industry. Apparently the service charge is included in the price which may explain a lot. Be warned : stay away!

Was in having a lunch with the family and the attitude from the staff is disgusting. Would never recommend this place to anyone. Firstly we asked if my daughters drink can be changed as she is not aloud coke for health reasons and the woman's comment was "suppose so" then across from us a bloke accidently knocked over the vinegar and because it went everywhere the same person said "god sake" and then because he asked for cloth she said "ill get it a minute" in a rood tone of voice.... The meals are definitely not worth the price either!! Glasses are dirty too.

We have fish and chips on a Saturday lunch time and had a really good meal. The staff were friendly, helpful and efficient. The fish was freshly cooked and delivered to our table quite quickly so we weren't waiting long. Very good service and meal, we will defianately be coming back again.

I am not a picky person. I will eat anywhere and i can tolerate just about anything but on this occasion i visited with my 89 year old grandmother, and some other Family. There were t of us and the restaurant was very busy. We had a wheelchair with us and as this was our first time at Porter's we did not know about the side door for disabled access. We sat on the Tables outside and looked at the menu when a young lady came storming out shouting "you can't eat your food here unless you order to take away and then you need to use a different menu and it's all different prices" we explained sorry we weren't aware but there are no tables inside. She went away and on return said she had found us a table. We pushed the wheelchair to the disabled access and there are tables right infront of it so it was impossible for us to push my grandmother to her table. She had to try and walk. Other than the bad experience within 5 minutes of getting here. It was average. Gluten Free Mondays too so that was a good point.

A clean restaurant, great atmosphere. The food was delicious. Fresh fish, white and flaky. Batter was perfect, not too thick or thin. Taste was wonderful, just like to old days when I was a boy. Recommend this restaurant to everyone.

My wife and I had a wonderful meal here we had heard good reviews and we weren't disappointed great food cheerful staff we will definitely be back

Ate here today with friends and we had a lovely lunch, good quality haddock ! Service was fantastic and friendly couldn't ask for anymore!

We have visited Porter's fish&chip; cafe often since it opened 2015. We have always had the Cod & chips which is cooked to order and comes with bread & butter and choice of drink included in the price,take-away is also available.The café is modern and comfortable and the staff are very friendly,the fish is always white and the batter very tasty,i would also like to add that the quality is 1st class and better than some we have had on the Yorkshire coast.