A lovely little bakery and café doing something a bit different from others in Darlington. I visited for brunch/lunch with my parents. My dad chose the black pudding brunch which includes black pudding bread (!), bacon, egg and mushroom. He really enjoyed it but wondered why there was a drizzle of honey mustard dressing across the plate, which didn't really mesh with the flavours or add anything. He thought that a drizzle of brown sauce would have been excellent though.
I chose the rarebit which comes as a meal with a choice of salad (which I think changes daily but on this occasion included a pasta salad, a cous cous salad, a Greek-style salad with feta and olives, or a simple green salad) or on its own. I got it by itself and it came with a pot of chutney and a small dressed side salad. It was really tasty, indulgent without being too heavy and rich. The chutney was slightly spicy which cut through the cheesiness very well.
We all ended up having a cake - my mum had carrot cake with Mascarpone, my dad had a bakewell tart, and I had a ginger, stout and dried apple cake. My cake was really good and I was even offered fresh cream with it which I obviously couldn't turn down. Carrot cake was also really good. The bakewell tart was a bit disappointing, very hard to cut into, and oddly out of three tarts in the cabinet only two had flaked almonds on top and my dad ended up being brought the one without any.
Overall Clervaux is a great option if you're in the area. read more
