All Star Meal

When I think of eating in a bowling alley, I think of dubious hot dogs, flat beer, awfully loud music and the stale smell of bowling shoes within a cocoon of fluorescent lighting. Oh how it’s changed.

I dined at All Star Lanes in Manchester last night and can happily report that none of the above exists anymore – things have moved on for the better.

Instead I was greeted by happy bar staff at the typical American circular bar stocked full of bourbons, gins and various beer pumps. The soft lighting gently calms you into a relaxed state of mind and you’d never consider that you are within an enormous old railway goods warehouse.

Our friendly waitress escorted us to a lovely little booth and proceeded to offer suggestions as we perused through the menu.

This menu is nicely balanced with just the right amount of mains and a good selection of unusual sides.

The music levels are set well allowing you to chat without yelling (nobody likes a yelling date) but enough to fill in the gaps with only the fainting sound of a strike reminded me that I was still in a bowling alley.

We started off with some bacon popcorn which was very highly recommended by our waitress. I was a bit cautious of ordering it as I’d been disappointed with the same thing at another restaurant recently. It was a good call as the salty bacon with the sweet maple syrup was a killer combo with my beer.

My hot chicken wings starter with a creamy blue cheese dip was excellent; a good coating of sauce, big wings and a punchy dip.

The other starter was a light, fresh tasting king prawn taco (the hard variety). This was more Tex Mex than solid American and came across as quite a feminine dish until the pico de gallo style salsa slapped me around the chops - stunning!

At this stage I realised that we weren’t dining in a bowling alley. No, we were in a restaurant which happened to have several lanes at the back. Seriously, this menu packed some proper dishes and the chef should be proud. This contained nothing that The Big Lebowski would be eating.

For my main, I tried their new burger; the Nacho Burger. This had all the best bits of Mexican cookery with a first class pink patty. Crunchy shards, spicy peppers, creamy guacamole, it held surprisingly well in the bun. I also chose some corn grit chips to go with it and was highly impressed with these. They had the consistence and taste of one of those cheese meat-free burgers – a great alternative to fries.

The other main ordered was a Cajun swordfish steak which sat upon some nice potatoes and roasted tomatoes. This was an outstanding dish and was voted the best of the evening. It was very salty, but offset well with the sweet tomatoes underneath.

I have no idea how, but I managed to devour a warm cherry pie dessert. This was accompanied with a vanilla cream and toasted almonds which went well with the sour filling and rather savoury pastry – it brought the whole meal to a satisfying end.

I would not hesitate to come back here. Whether for a three course meal again, a light lunch, or even to sup some cocktails after work with the main others at the bar. Maybe I’ll even bowl next time, but it won’t be my main reason for visiting.

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Posted: Thursday 16th October 2014
ID: 10322 - 1231