Denny’s, Swansea – The First in The UK

I have a love affair with America. I even tried to move there with my mate Danielle when we were in our twenties. Portland, Oregon called to me, with all it’s Art galleries (I studies art at college), it’s gourmet burger joints and just general grungy coolness. I will never forget Blue Corn pancakes! They are not found outside Portland! America also taught me that I don’t like maple syrup much. This confused the waiters every time I ordered Portland’s delicious Blue Corn pancakes. “No maple syrup thanks” I say as I order. You want it on the side then?”, looking at me like I had a second head! “No thanks, none at all.” I would try and say with conviction. “I’ll just put some on the side then.” As my friends laughed. “Sure why not” I would sigh, and then tuck in my pancakes with a little jug of the sweet stuff arriving ominously close to my pancakes. Apparently I was a first until  I met Daniel! But he’s never been to Portland.

When I heard that the first Denny’s in the UK was going to be opened in Swansea’s redeveloped Parc Tawe, I was excited. And it seems so was everyone else. Every time we attempted to visit it was spur of the moment, the wait was at least 45 minutes. When it first opened it was over 2 hours and the queue was out the door even in terrible weather! That means it must be good right?

Hmm. No it doesn’t. Daniel had told me that people he spoke to had said it was okay, but more like cafe food at restaurant prices. Not that there is nothing wrong with cafe food. I’m a big fan. Sam’s Cafe or Uplands diner (both near Swansea city centre) have never steered me wrong!

Anyway I digress….so we were met by a friendly host, but I will admit that the first thing I noticed is that the decor is a lot nicer than I expected. It is not your typical diner/greasy spoon, instead it is trendy, open and spacious.

Now on to the accessibility. Although there is an upstairs section with no lift, it is still very accommodating for people with limited mobility. The aisles are wide enough for any wheelchair or scooter. There is also a fully accessible disabled toilet at the back with a changing table for parents.

I liked the decor immediately, but food is what I went there for! We were served by a waiter named Perry, who was immediately helpful. As it was about 11am, we decided to go for breakfast. At this point I noticed that what Daniel had been told was correct. The prices are high for what is essentially cafe food, but we decided to try it anyway, as the vibes were good so far. I chose the Philly Cheesesteak Omlette which was approximately £12 and Daniel chose the All American Slam without bacon. I will say that the food on the menu looked pretty good and we were hungry. The portions looked substantial.

Dan is not usually a fan of hot drinks but as it was a freezing cold day, he ordered a rare hot chocolate and I ordered a mint tea. When the hot chocolate arrived, he felt like he shouldn’t have broken his rule. It was so weak it was translucent and you could barely taste the chocolate. It was just hot brownish water!

Fortunately Perry was great and replaced it for a cold drink. They do free refills of soft drinks which we recommend.

Once our food arrived, we were a little disappointed at the portions for the amount you pay as on the menu they do not match what the pictures on the menu. Apart from that our food looked pretty good. However, my toast was too burnt for me and it didn’t look or taste like it had any butter on it! I don’t usually like to send things back, I’m one of those that sits and grumbles and then never goes there again. But I love hot buttered toast and this wasn’t it! Once again though, the lovely staff replaced it for me.

All in all Denny’s doesn’t live up to the hype. It’s in a great location, next to the Odeon Cinema. It has easy access for parking, both for disabled parking spaces and young parent spaces as well as the regular ones. So it gets a really high disabled rating from me.  The decor is nice. But sadly the food, which is what most people would go for, leaves a lot to be desired.

Dan and His Meal

The Disabled Toilet With Plenty of Space

The Aisles Are Wider Than They Look

Scootie Mobility Rating: 

Links

Denny’s – http://dennysdiners.co.uk/

Scootie – https://movinglife.com/

N.B. We found out afterwards that at the time of our visit, Denny’s had a food hygiene rating of 1. Which is not ideal under any circumstances!

Edited by Tabitha Boland