The best restaurants in Barnard Castle West County Durham North East

I walked to Barnard Castle one lunch time and popped in for a bite to eat. There’s a big choice on the menu and a list of specials. I had the chicken and asparagus pie with veg and chips and it was delicious. My only observation would be that the service was a bit slow but I wasn’t in a hurry.

Bloody marvellous. Try the french onion soup and beef bourguignon. Like the warm embrace of your French lover. Thank me later.

Went here for dinner. My husband had the French onion soup (which he had had on a previous occasion) and said it was not as good as the first time he had ordered it. I just had a steak & onion baguette which was pretty average. Service was okay but no-one checked to see if everything was okay with our meals.

Lovely food. Staff were very friendly. Service very good.

We have been to the Fox & Hounds many times over the last few years and once again we found it to be absolutely fantastic with a great range of lovely food - this was one of the last times that we managed to get away with our boxer dog as she died suddenly in July but we will definitely be back again In May 2024 with hopefully a new boxer puppy. We returned in May 2024 with Ruby our new boxer and as ever the food and beer were fantastic.

Charming little coffee shop on the high street. Lovely welcoming staff, great coffee and light dishes too. Highly recommend!

As my girlfrend and I walked in we were a bit surprised that the lady didn’t look up / acknowledge us or say hello or even ‘please wait I’ll be with you shortly’ etc. I thought she must be busy so didn’t think too much of it. We waited a few minutes until the people in front of us got their order and left. By this point we were at the front of the counter and another lady worker walked in, again, didn’t say hello or acknowledge us. We both thought this was very weird and quite rude. Not even acknowledging our presence never mind saying anything. We waited another few minutes. I was trying to make eye contact with the ladies as if saying “helloooo we are here we exist!” but they didn’t even look up from what they were doing and when they did they looked past us. After 5 minutes we both thought that if the staff can’t even be at the least courteous what’s the rest of the establishment going to be like. We walked out and went to the next coffee shop and got immediately sorted there.

We discovered the Artisan Corner about a year ago as we were passing through Barnard Castle on the way from Darlington to Southport to visit my parents. We originally chose this cafes it was lose to where we had parked, but we very quickly realised that we had landed on our feet. The food, most of which is home made o site, is amazing and the people there are friendly and welcoming. On our previous visit I had a coronation prawn baked potato and this time, a lamb kofta flatbread. Both were absolutely amazing. My partner usually chooses the ploughman's lunch- which is also excellent. After the man course, (or if you just want a snack) there is a wide selection of home made cakes. Last time we chose a vegan, gluten free chocolate and pistachio cake. I had my doubts about the gluten free, as in my experience gluten free cakes can be dry- but this was so good that we bought the remaining supply to take back for my parents to try! This time we went for warm tarte tartin with ice cream. Another favourite is the French Blue Earl Grey tea with lavender and rose petals. Every meal we have had here has been outstanding, and the shop downstairs also stocks some amazing food and crafts, including stunning flower earrings made by Hannah in the shop. All in all, I really cannot recommend this place highly enough. We always stop here now on the way to Southport- or if we happen to be in Barnard Castle.

There were 19 of us booked in for a meal. They gave us a room to ourselves. We had pre-ordered our food so we had no waiting to be served. The food was excellent, the staff were friendly and polite and the price was reasonable. All in all a very good experience. Highly recommend it

This place is like Faulty Towers run by Ken Dodd, inside the bar looks like they have been ransacked and probably hasn't been cleaned in a while, however Paul the landlord is completely bonkers and hilarious, if you love banter and are not offended easily then please visit, we spent hours here talking to Paul and some locals and laughed from the minute we got there until the minute we left, we will definitely be visiting again.

Very clean and welcoming coffee shop. Staff ver friendly and welcome. Service first class. Food hot and reasonably priced.

We came in quite late in the day for coffee and cake. It was about 4.15 on a Sunday when every other cafe was closed. This place was almost full with a party of bikers. We had tea/coffee and cake. Everything was very nice and the Victoria sponge was particularly good.

Passing through on way back from holiday. Stopped for morning break. Delicious freshly baked scone and coffee. Lovely and clean quiches looked great. What a great find would recommend.

Popped in for a bite to eat and a drink. Both dog and baby friendly. Nice and quick for food to come out. Ordered some cheese on toast which wasn’t on the menu for our little one and they very happily sorted this out and provided childrens cutlery and plates.

Great pub, lovely landlord, great beer & cider plus home made pizzas. Great beer garden over a very, very quiet road. What's not to like?