There are lots of Cafes and Coffee shops in Darlington, from greasy spoon cafes, to those that mainly focus on coffee and just happen to sell food as well.
Cafe Valente is a proper small cafe located in Post House Wynd. They bake homemade pies such as their corned beef and potato pie and their homemade steak and ale pie which is packed with LEAN tender pieces of steak (yummy!) Their 'Smokey Joe' sandwich which can be ordered on either white or wholemeal bread is lovely, fresh pieces of chicken breast, basil mayo and smoked bacon absolutely packed into the bread makes for a very tasty treat indeed. On my last visit I thought I'd try their 'Wallace and Grommit' sandwich on wholemeal bread (this was made with grated Wensleydale cheese and mango chutney and some salad, I can't remember the exact ingredients, but needless to say this was also a great sandwich).
Both tea and coffee has been good when we've visited and the staff are really friendly.
I obviously wouldn't compare any small cafe to a restaurant, so my rating is based on cafes only and nothing else, great place to stop for a spot of lunch although it can get really busy at lunchtime, which I guess is a testimony in itself. read more