Pacman Chomp's review of THE DINER - ANGEL

American style diner with the reservoir dogs feel, can it serve up a tasty rack or will I end up thinking like Mr. Pink?

Now I've not been to America, the land of gluttony, but I've seen enough to guess what an American diner should look like and this place? Hmmm well you got the booth seats? Check. Neon signs? Check. American accent? I think one of the waiters was from North America so check on that front, and oh they had a pool table too!

Strolling in and getting seated was quick and easy, why? Because you'll feel like a deer in front of oncoming headlights, standing around the door, with the worker bees bobbing up and down.

We shuffled into our booth and proceeded to scan the menu, and dear god there was a lot to choose from, too much in my view but in the end the troops and I hunkered down with the below:

Eggs Benedict - £6.70
Two poached eggs on an English muffin with bacon & hollandaise sauce + French Toast (£1.50)

 

Admittedly took a bit of a tangent with the eggs Benedict but hell I needed something fancy to see the measure of their kitchen and for the most part yes it was cooked as expected but didn't taste anything worthy of a eggs Benedict which I mostly blame on the hollandaise sauce, in the end I took the maple syrup that came with the French toast (also more like cinnamon sugar on toast than French toast) to cut an end to this mess.

Arch Burger - £8.00
6 oz hamburger topped with St Louis pulled pork, Monterey jack, coleslaw & dill pickle + Fries (£2.60)

The Arch burger, the beef and pulled pork combo can rarely be done bad and the fries as extra were actually close to something from burger king (when their good). With the beef juicy and the pork tender, this was easily gobbled up but by no means the best burger you'll ever try, more like something you'd be ok with parting coin from pouch.

The Diablo - £8.80
Our signature 8oz Usda burger made from rib, sirloin, filet & chuck on a diner bun topped with bacon, jalapeno mayo and US cheese + Pulled pork (£1.50) + Hash Browns (£2.10)

Ah the Diablo, granted I added pulled pork and a portion of hash browns (hash browns infected with gigantism!) to the mix but this was desperate times, I was still hungover from a dooosie of a night. When in the world did people start drinking to die? #Shudders# Night terrors aside, I was still capable enough to dissect this morsel while chomping down like an attack dog.

The beef patty with its different cuts of beef was definitely a player, being moist and yet keeping structural integrity with each bite and the sauce drizzled over was the magic that kept me chomping away, even the pulled pork as an add-on took nothing away from this burger and would survive well with or without. The hash browns although colossus in size were tasty with a good crispy shell and medium fluffy texture inside but beware it's a greasy slab.

Would I have it again? Probably but I wouldn't go out of my way due to some craving and probably cut down on the extras if you're not starving :)

Verdict
Food was good, well above the standard of having better burgers than Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Bryon from what I remember BUT Zeus's beard it took long to get served, I'm not sure if the waiters went out to take a dump or what but 10mins of us talking to each other should be enough of a hint that "Hello? Yo? Hey hungry over here?...... Just give me a bun something! Anything! I'll even chew on a celery stick!"

Stick with the standard basics here as I don't think they've mastered more than that and nothing really memorable stands out here that you couldn't get for cheaper. Atmosphere was nice and kept the illusion of the American diner but the service in this outing was awful, tainting the experience and leaving you feeling full but dead inside.

6/10 (if I was being generous.)
Recommend? Not really, theres far better out there, unless your a pleb who goes TGI Fridays then yes go here.

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