SAINTS AND SCHOLARS

694 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, M20 2DN

Veggie friendly, A la carte menu and giant Specials blackboard on the wall, open for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner.

Saints and Scholars (or Saints and Scollops as I call it for no logical reason) is the place where me and my partner (B) visit on the way back from Fletcher Moss park, each season. After walking through beautiful gardens, a wood and back into Didsbury villiage we tend to be pretty hungry and order a big hearty dish of the A la carte menu. We’ve not visited on a special occasion so haven’t ordered from the much pricier Specials board yet. Veggie options aren’t marked with a (V) so just look out for the word ‘cheese’ which is a definite indicator. Did I mention they aren’t particularly vegan friendly?

The decor in this place could be described as whimsically charming but I prefer to call it wonderfully bonkers. British vintage advertisements, metal retro street signs, stools and even a pair of ice skates hang at wonky angles from the walls.

Starter: Greek Salad

A giant piece of feta cheese surrounded by peppers, curly lettuce (that’s it’s Latin name honest), tomatoes, black olives and a relatively large amount of onion.

Main: Spinach and Ricotta Canelloni

When this arrived I was equally surprised and delighted by the fact the top was entirely covered in melted cheese! On further exploration I found the most delicious version of this dish I have ever tried. A huge amount of spinniach cooked perfectly with a white sauce of medium to thick consistency but not at all sickly and just the right amount of zingy tomato sauce which really lifted the dish. Suprisingly it nearly over faced me (and my astonishingly stretchy stomach’s capacity for yet more food) but I bravley plowed on until I had cleared my plate… and moped up the sauce…with some bread.

My partner B ordered veggie Fajita’s for his main course. I think he was expecting all-ready wrapped fajita’s with a substantial filling consisting of Quorn or beans possibly, however everything arrived separately supermarket kit style and the vegetable filling wasn’t very – well, filling. A generous amount of dip was provided compared to an underwhelming amount of wraps. Basically, don’t rely on the Main’s to all be as equally filling as each other – which if you are planning on squeezing in a big desert can be a good thing.

On the way out I saw a giant home made caramel & apple pie sitting in the fridge but was too full to fit in a slice…I’m ordering the fajitas next time.