Eat And Drink, Food, MANchester, Restaurants

Restaurant Review – Beldings Diner, Heaton Mersey – Stockport

Heaton Mersey can be a hard village to crack. Right on the outskirts of Stockport, there are some well established pubs but the restaurant site on Didsbury Road has had 3 different owners in the time I have been blogging. First it was Buffalo, which I really enjoyed but didn’t last long. Next it was The Boundary Cafe, which is the only time I have visited a restaurant and not written about it. Normally I write all visits, good or bad, and try to be as constructive as possible. It is one of the things I get complimented on the most, the fact that I give constructive feedback rather than saying something is poor. That said, I had a bad experience at The Boundary Cafe and I decided not to post my review. So when the guys behind 17 Below in Manchester invited me to try their new restaurant in Heaton Mersey, I was surprised to see that they have taken over the site. I say surprised, in a very pleasant way. Welcome Beldings Diner to Heaton Mersey.

Heaton Mersey was crying out for a decent bar to compliment the pubs and Beldings Diner has a cracking back bar with some signature gin serves and an impressive selection of rum and whiskey. The decor isn’t traditional American diner but dark wood, teal blue and low lighting making it the perfect place for a quiet drink or two. Gin is growing ever popular in the suburbs but, for me, the garnish makes all the difference and Beldings do that perfectly. That Boutique-y spit roasted pineapple gin served with pineapple, lime and cherry was gorgeous. Whilst we were there, a few people came in alone and sat with their laptops and a drink. It is so lovely to see a venue offering that kind of welcoming atmosphere, even if you don’t fancy a bite to eat.

Talking of a bite to eat… the menu is more traditional American diner with a brunch offering and then an evening menu. Brunch is all about pancakes and steak & eggs, with the evening menu being about burgers, tacos and boneless wings.

We decided to try some of the boneless wings as a starter and chose the Chinese and Korean. First of all, these aren’t wings. They are mini fillets. That wonderfully soft and juicy bit that is usually attached to the breast and full of flavour. The Chinese ‘wings’ are lightly covered in a salt and pepper coating with a sticky sweet hoi sin dip. There is very little spice with these ones but that salt and pepper coating is incredibly good and we struggled to leave them alone long after we were full. The Korean ‘wings’ add more heat with a sticky coating that is gently sour, as you would expect from a Korean glaze.

For mains we both went for burgers, although choosing between them was difficult. In the end we had to agree to one each and then split them in half so we could try them both. The Rachel is a thing of beauty. Admittedly, it’s not really a burger in my eyes. For me, a burger should have a patty of some sort and neither of these did. I am willing to forego it for this though. House pastrami, made on site is served in a soft brioche bun with pickles, slaw, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing. The pastrami is lightly salted yet buttery soft and melts in the mouth, the dressing adding a richness and then those pickles added a hint of sweet pickle crunch. It really was delicious.

The Tropic Thunder towered on the plate! Spicy Jerk chicken served with a fruity pineapple salsa and a finely chopped salad, which is much easier to eat than huge slices that normally come in a burger. The jerk chicken is shredded and sweetened by the salsa for a great tasting burger. I say burger, I’m telling you it is more of a sandwich but that’s the last I’ll say of the matter.

We hit the cocktail menu while we tried to decide if we were too full for ice cream sundaes. There are some classics on the menu but they are experimental too, with the Russian Spring Punch and the Forest Fruits Daiquiri. The latter is rich and perfect for the autumn months.

I decided I did have enough room for dessert so went for the Sweet Shop Sundae. The menu describes it as having a goodie bag and anyone who knows me will know I live for a goodie bag! The sundae has layers of vanilla ice cream with sweet bubble gum syrup and lashings of whipped cream. The goodie bag is a bag of Haribo that would have been perfect sprinkled on top of the sundae had I enough room to finish it. Ice cream sundaes are so overrated in my opinion but I’ll be back for another when I need some space to get some work done. Ice cream and bubblegum syrup can help the mind think creatively, right?