D’ardys Diner

Formerly known as Madisons and after a long makeover, the restauarant has re-​opened as D’Ardys. Themed after Laurel and Hardy with bold black and white themes and with the staff having access to the required bowler hats as well as plenty of memorabilia from the pair. I can only think that the restaurant is named to avoid copyright issues from the Laurel and Hardy estate. The restaurant was pretty full but we still managed to get a table.
The staff and management are extremely friendly and helpful and very open and it was clear that they cared about the service they gave. The menu was reasonably priced and many of the dishes also themed from the comedy duo. Our party of four ordered a burger with nothing on (A Lonesome Pine), a rack of ribs in a delicious barbecue sauce (Another Fine Mess), a sirloin steak and a spicy chicken breast meal. Starters were shared and were a bowl of Nachos and two generously loaded potato skins with cheese and bacon.
The starters arrived and were hot and delicious, and most of all, generous portions. Conversation was possible but sometimes the music got a little loud so raising voices were in order.
I had overseen a few main courses arrive at other tables and it was very clear that the one thing these plates had in common were generosity in spades. One lady’s jacket potato seemed to be the size of a marrow! Our own dishes were also no disappointment. The ribs I ordered practically filled the length of a large oval plate with fries heaped against the side to hold it on. The steak was done perfectly to order, the burger was delicious and clearly hand made and the chicken was well sauced, spicy and wonderful. However while the sizes of the dishes were daunting, we soldiered on regardless.
We were looked after extremely well and the management were much in evidence front of house, meeting, greeting and talking to customers but not in an intrusive overbearing way. The atmosphere was very friendly and conducive to both meals with loved ones as well as a night out with friends.
Desserts, like the starters, had to be shared after the size of the main course and our young waitress duly informed us that the chocolate fudge cake portion was a little on the large size. It wasn’t an understatement. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a team making base camp for the assault on its peak! The Chocolate Brownie Sundae had, rather unusually, popcorn as part of the deal which managed to make the brownie taste like peanut butter when eaten in combination.
All in all a really pleasant night out in a good atmosphere with good honest simple food cooked well. I can say that I will defiinitely return and am interested to see what their Sunday roasts are like too. If you are in the Bromley Common area this is more than well worth a look