ED’s Easy Diner does what it says on the tin.

Perched at the top of the West- Quay Centre’s atrium, it’s decked out as a retro American diner and looks like fun. Whether you’re taking a young family, or just feeding the big kid inside you, it’s pretty hard not to enjoy yourself.

The furniture wouldn’t look out of place on Happy Days, and there are mini jukeboxes on the tables playing rock ’n’ roll classics from the 1950s.

The place is well staffed and the waiters and waitresses bustling around appear to be enjoying themselves, which adds a bit of a buzz to the place.

Ed’s has plenty of competition within the WestQuay Centre, surrounded as it is by the likes of Wagamama, McDonald’s and YO!

SUSHI, to name just a few.

But manager Andreas Maragkos believes Ed’s fills a niche.

“You can’t find an authentic American diner in Southampton like Ed’s and there’s a unique atmosphere here,” he says.

The menu points out that the burgers are “always fresh, never frozen” and grilled to order.

Andreas says the main attraction is the Big Bubba, a burger promising sweet-cured bacon, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickle, mayonnaise and mustard.

That comes in at a pretty reasonable £6.95, but since we stopped by on a Friday and I was feeling a bit jaded and half asleep, Ed’s breakfast burger seemed appropriate.

It’s a rollercoaster mess of burger, hash brown, egg, cheese and sweet-cured bacon on a toasted sesame seed bun. Not for the fainthearted and not endorsed by your GP. But great fun.

My guest went for the Classic, which is a straight forward burger with griddled onions. Oh, and it’s pretty big.

Thirsty work, but there are a selection of soft drinks and beers of to wash it all down. They pride themselves on their milkshakes (£3.95), but beware – they’re almost a meal in their own right.

As you’d expect from an American menu, there is an extensive list of sides.

Atomic American fries, £4.65, come with jalapeno jelly (a new one on me), chilli, sour cream, cheddar cheese sauce and guacamole. Wet fries – chips with gravy to the rest of us – were also enjoyable at £3.95.

And if you’re ready for a dessert after all that, you’re doing well.

The Kit-Kat Chocolate Sundae was huge, delicious and something to behold. It’s essentially a giant glass stuffed with cream, icecream, chocolate source and broken up Kit-Kats. What’s not to like?

My partner in crime (and by this point, the calorie total is indeed criminal), went for the chocolate brownies. After a pitiful stab with her fork, she conceded defeat. In the interests of good journalism, I was waiting in the wings and gallantly took over. It was worth the sweat and tears I shed trying to force it down.

You will not leave Ed’s hungry and its laidback atmosphere, combined with good value for money, make it an ideal place to take the family.

  • Ed’s Easy Diner, WestQuay Shopping Centre, Southampton.
  • 023 8063 5050
  • edseasydiner.com