Hemelvaart Bier Café, Bedale

REGULAR passers by on the A684 from Aiskew into Bedale may well know the funny little building by the bridge by one of its previous incarnations.

Variously a carpet shop, art gallery and café in recent years, it’s been transformed into a little bit of Belgium by Bedale Beck for some time now.

Primarily a watering hole packed with scores of bottled beers from the little kingdom over the Channel, it appears to be a hive of activity offering music and comedy nights as well as a small but interestingly formed menu.

The opening hours are a little quirky – unsure whether to be a daytime café or night-time haunt, it doesn’t at first appear to be a good option for an evening meal. But on the other hand it can be quite hard to find somewhere serving food early doors of a night, and as owner John Atkinson explained on the phone when I booked, they’ll not chuck you out at 8pm if you’re still eating. It might be best to check the website or Facebook page for any changes to their hours, but then in any case it’s worth a look there for special events that are coming up.

We visited on a Friday night in the run-up to Christmas. It was quiet – a couple of couples enjoying a beer, everyone else perhaps saving themselves for the holiday smorgasbord. Because it’s such a tiny place though, this didn’t matter. Hard to imagine how they can squeeze in a couple of dozen or more for events, it was just on the warm side of cosy on the cold evening we called. A roaring fire would have been perfect, but it’s impossible to imagine where one would fit.

It was close enough to the big day to have the option of a festive menu, but because an Eating Out recommendation is not just for Christmas, we stuck to the regular sheet of options.

Four sides of A5, it ranges from a luxury full English morning glory (£9.75) and other breakfast fare (including eggs Benedict for £6.50 and cinnamon toast, £1.80) through sandwiches (£3.60), panini (£5.25) and into dishes more suited to after dark visits.

Croque monsieur, uitsmijter (toasted ham and cheese on bread with fried eggs), steak and chips and variants of wurst and chips were also on offer.

There are no starters as such, but we opted for a Burgundian Bord (£4) to begin with – simply cubes of salami and Dutch cheese (I forgot to ask, but think it was a Gouda) served on a board with cocktail sticks, a dollop of Dijon mustard and a little pile of celery salt for dipping.

A combination of two other potential starters (portie kaas and portie salami) it was a huge amount of both sausage and cheese, even to share for two but a great partner for the first beers of the night: a bottle of Brewdog Nanny State non-alcoholic for the driver, and a half pint of Maisel’s Dunkel German wheat beer for me.

I know little about Continental beers, was feeling too lazy to get up and browse the ranks of bottles in the chiller and so instead opted to try a little of each of the four draught options, asking John to choose the order in which they arrived.

Brewdog, a craft brewery in Aberdeenshire, supplies the tap beers for Hemelvaart (it’s Dutch for ascension, by the way), and provided the remainder of my options for the evening – Punk IPA and Santa Paws and Hoppy Christmas seasonal ales (ranging from £2.40-£3 per glass).

There’s a full wine list for those uninterested in the glorious hop, so they need not be put off by the bier theme of the café.

For mains, Anna chose moules et frites (£7.75), a decent pan of mussels in the classic white wine sauce, plenty of slim, crispy chips and a good seeded bread roll.

I had a Benteke burger (£7.50). It’s the top-of-the-range choice from a selection of burgers that include, lamb, venison, ostrich and veggie sweet potato and halloumi variants (starting from £5.50). Potentially named in honour of the Belgian/Aston Villa striker, this was 8oz beef with cheese, bacon and chilli jam in a decent bun with side salad, ramekin of mayo and a portion of fries.

I’ll never be a fan of fancy mini-frier basket gimmicky serving fads – simply because your chips seem to go cold fast when served therein – but that’s a minor gripe. This was a good juicy burger with plenty of flavour that made for a substantial meal at a bargain price.

With all that beer in my belly (the four-part tasting foray was still under way) I had little room for dessert, but we did enjoy sharing an excellent lemon tart (£4).

In all, the bill came to £37.15. When you consider that a big chunk of that had been for the beers, it made for excellent value.

Sophisticated restaurant dining this isn’t – the kitchen is tiny and clearly very judicious use of a freezer and microwave is called on. But the service is attentive – former teacher John, who looks a little like Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas – has been able to combine his passion for beers with a quietly affable light touch front of house.

It’s a place I’d like to return to with the children, as well as with some beer-loving buddies.

Hemelvaart Bier Café, The Bridge, Aiskew, Bedale, DL8 1AN. Tel: 01677 427824

www.hemelvaart.co.uk

Food served: Wednesday and Thursday, 4pm-8pm; Friday noon-8pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am-8pm.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 8, Service 8, Surroundings 7, Value 8