Beldi — Restaurant in Montana

The food here is supreme and compares favorably with restaurants ranked just below Michelin star'd restaurants I've visited in major cities across the U.S. From a pure cuisine perspective, this is probably one of the most superior restaurants in Whitefish. The menu is simple but contains a diverse selection of American foods with a mediterranean influence.

The dining room is newly finished and contains a tasteful selection of artwork across a mostly white and light-colored backdrop. You'll need to book reservations in advance because the dining room is quite small and they seem to manage a full slate of tables at any given time.

I was quite surprised by a separate waiter (not our assigned waitress) stopping by our table to jovially ask if we brought our kids to the restaurant so they might stay to wash dishes while we enjoyed dinner. Our waitress also made an odd comment about my choice to ski on the mountain that day being "rude" given that most of the town was locked into an inversion layer of fog that day.

As someone who enjoys the great privilege of living in a very progressive and diverse city in the Bay Area of California and who isn't at all accustomed to my interracial marriage upsetting anyone, I was left with a subtle but unsettling and unshakable feeling that our country's long and distant history of relegating Asian migrants in the Northwest to dish and laundry services or domestic labor and outlawing interracial marriage until 1967 played a significant part of our dining experience that evening.

Some parts of Montana hold onto traditional and regressive values and attitudes that aren't shared by many other parts of the country, but it's important for people with non-traditional backgrounds to understand that change is slow, unevenly distributed but always marching onward toward love justice and equity/equality.

5 stars for the food, 3 for the service, 4...

A companion and I recently dined here for the first time. It was a Friday evening and we didn't have a reservation, and the hostess was able to reserve a table for us within half an hour. We ordered the Salatim, along with the falafel, hummus, and crispy potatoes to share, and my dining companion ordered the chicken shawarma. The Salatim -- tiny but mighty dishes of flavor-packed veggies -- were all fantastic. The three falafel were perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside and sat atop a layer of tzatziki, and were accompanied by cold, crisp, pickled cabbage and onion. SO delicious. The crispy potatoes were tasty and perfectly cooked, and served with garlic aioli. The hummus was unquestionably the best I've ever had, as smooth as the aioli, and topped with decadent oyster mushrooms. By the time my companion's entree arrived, we were both pleasantly full, but he tried the chicken shawarma anyway. This is the one dish that wasn't a hit. There was the barest amount of delectable rice -- literally only a couple tablespoons -- and an overwhelming number of cherry tomato halves. The chicken was reportedly good but not great. Our server, Cara, was fabulous and attentive. Overall, we both enjoyed our dining experience and the fresh, flavorful...

One word - wow! My friends and I were visiting Whitefish and were told we must eat at Beldi, and I'm so glad we took that advice. The food here is next level, Michelin quality but a fraction of the price. We shared a selection of appetizers to start, the humous is the best I've ever eaten - so smooth and flavourful - but the Octopus was the star of the show. Cooked to perfection, melt-in-your mouth delicious. For mains I opted for the Scallops which did not disappoint. They were enormous! Perfectly cooked and ensured I devoured every last mouthful. My friends ordered the Swordfish - again delicious - and the steak (I'm not a steak eater but it looked amazing). Finally, we shared the nougat for dessert which was the perfect way to end what was a truly outstanding meal.

The service was not to be faulted - our server was super friendly and attentive and always seemed to have pre-empted our needs or questions. We were extremely well looked after.

And when the bill came we couldn't believe how reasonably priced it was - an absolute bargain!

I would highly recommend a visit to Beldi before they get too popular - they're sure to book up fast once...