Metro Diner

Check out these swivel chairs at the bar! 

The Metro Diner in Brooklawn, New Jersey seems to exist at the crossroads of traditional (Italian) diner and modern Americana eatery. It looks like a fortress from the outside, with multiple parking lots and (faux) stone walls. It reminds me of mega-diner Ponzios in Cherry Hill. The place was all spruced up for the holidays with Christmas-y window art, garland, and a white Xmas tree in the foyer.

The attention to visual detail doesn't stop there. This place is what I could call a diner deluxe with (what I assume is) a type of closed circuit tv screen at each booth as well as several big screen televisions mounted on the walls. It is one of the few diners that look like they spent a lot of time thinking about the interior design of things and have kept things clean in the 3 years they've been open. AND, the entire place is a wifi hot spot! This being said...they seem to have one advert on their menu upside down...

They have giant menus with plenty of inserts. It looks like they've had a hard time editing their items. Part of it includes a couple pages of specials as well as a 'light' menu with items ranging from baked lamb to swordfish. Most specials seem to range around the $9.99 area.

First came the calamari that we ordered. It was battered in onion-ring batter, so it was thick and shell-like. The squid itself was chewy, but fresh tasking. The marinara that was provided was a little watery and lacked acidity to balance out the salted calamari.


I ordered the crab cake special that came with the freshest salad I've ever had at a diner. However, I should really start secret santa-ing these places with some salad spinners because people keep giving me drenched greens. Anyways, once I got past the water, the lettuce was crisp and the tomatoes were sweet, despite the fact that they're not in season anymore.


My entree itself was actually surprisingly good. They gave me more than two (!) and despite the fact that they were a little oily, they were pretty rich in flavor. The cakes seemed to be comprised of a decent ratio of filler:crab and the crab was combo of both jump lump and claw. I actually found a piece of shell in mine (always just my luck), but because I enjoyed my meal, I just let it go.

I went for the double potato sides because I love potatoes and excess. My mashed potatoes were delicious, creamy and steaming hot. My rosemary potatoes were the grossest rendition of (roasted?) potatoes I've ever had. Super duper oily, chewy, and cold- a disappointing and stark contrast to the rest of the food.

Overall a fun, but oily, meal with a higher than average flavors. Between the food and being diligent about refilling my water (and eventually giving us a carafe), I would definitely come back again and try something else.

With the super-diner vibe that Metro Diner was giving off, I was compelled to try something a little out of the ordinary. I don't usually have cheese steaks outside of Philly, but they had a Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak and I was curious to see what this place could do. Reflecting back, I now realize how ridiculous the name "Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak" actually is. There's no steak and none of the ingredients, besides the roll, are the same as what is on a regular cheese steak. Take a regular chicken cheese steak for example, that name is fine because if you were to substitute steak back in for the chicken you would be back at a regular cheese steak. However, if you put steak into a Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak, you would end up with a buffalo steak sandwich. Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steaks should, from now on, be called Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches.

Now that I have that out of my system, the sandwich was tasty. The buffalo sauce was medium heat and I don't think it would be unbearable for any person. The blue cheese sauce that they put on the bread, not over the buffalo chicken, was not overpowering, which is always a fear when blue cheese is involved. I also applaud Metro Diner for providing me with a solid roll. A good roll prevents the sandwich from being a messy, fall-apart, greasy, heap of food and instead, keeps your hands clean and the filling between the bread. The Metro does need to fill the delicious roll, though. The picture shows the lack of filling in proportion to the amount of bread given. The fries (which cost extra!) where pretty delicious I must admit. They don't salt them for you, but they're cooked perfectly. I tried to bites of the coleslaw and was not impressed. It was more like more soup and less like slaw.

Palace Diner

we're getting artsy up in here.

(Chris)

I honestly didn't have the highest hopes for this place when I saw the name of the restaurant. Something about naming a diner "Palace" seems pretentious, but I made sure to drop any prejudices before I walked through their front door. I was surprised when I saw the inside, it had that legitimate "diner" feel to it.

The booths were worn in and comfortable, the bar had a few seniors finishing their home fries and reading the days paper, and there were plenty of families enjoying their pre-Thanksgiving breakfast. Now that I think of it, maybe it was the morning of Thanksgiving that brought these people out. The lure of having one meal that didn't require cooking or cleaning dishes might have made this diner seem more popular than it really is.

The coffee came out quickly and it was delicious. I ordered their "Southern Sausage," which (as you might have guessed) is biscuits and gravy. The dish came with your standard two biscuits covered in a sausage gravy, home fries on the side, and two sausage links (Palace does the duty of cutting your sausage for you in this dish). I'm used to having eggs with my southern sausage, so I put in the side order for two over medium. I could have left off the order of eggs. To Palace Diner, eggs "over medium" really means, "barely cook them and make sure that the white are still runny." When over medium comes out like over easy, it makes me wonder if "well done" eggs are still runny or if they come out like white and yellow hockey pucks. The home fries were acceptable. All the potato was cooked through and there were definitely some good crispy bits to nibble through. The sausage gravy and biscuits were pretty good, especially the biscuits. The biscuits were nice and delicate even under the pile of gravy, they were buttery, and they did a great job mopping up any extra gravy left behind. On our way out of the diner we saw a couple picking up no fewer than five pies and cakes for Thanksgiving dinner later that night. All the deserts looked amazing. They must be doing something right at Palace that I didn't pick up on; I'll be sure to go back and get an omelette next time before I completely label them as mediocre.

(Chi)

As with every place this time of year, pumpkin was in the air at the Palace Diner. I decidedly to indulge by having some pumpkin coffee. It was the most fragrant and full-bodied pumpkin coffee I've had and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only thing was that the waitress brought me another full cup when I was just a few sips into my first one, so my entire second cup just sat on the table getting cold the entire meal. Wasted.

I ordered two eggs medium that came with hashbrowns, a juice (orange), and a short stack of French toast to round it off. As you can probably tell from the pictures, this portions were not as overwhelming as I had expected them to do from my experience with diners. In the overall sense of things, this is probably a good thing for mankind. 

My eggs had the opposite problem that most places do; my eggs were runny. When they were warm, it tasted okay. Once they cooled, it got kind of gross even when I just dipped my toast into them. My French toast was pretty sub-par... dry, with non-spectacular butter or syrup. My home fries were the highlight of the meal, but not enough for me to come back just for them.

Disappointing. 

They must have some great baked goods though, because (literally) everybody and their mother was coming in to buy their Thanksgiving cakes and pies. I think the people in front of us were only eating dessert for dinner that night. 

Westmont Family Diner

Even though I technically live in Haddon Township, NJ now, I still consider the entire area of "Haddon" to be home. I still live very close to Westmont, and therefore, I consider the Westmont Family Diner to be my true local diner. I say this not necessarily based on proximity alone, but also on general quality. It is the diner that is our default- in a good way. I've been here at least half a dozen times throughout the year and a half and oftentimes on Sundays when I need a quick breakfast.

On this trip, Chris and I decided to finally review it, believing that its consistency of food should be something to be shared with others. We were greeted with a quick hello and a "sit where you'd like" around 8:30am on a Thursday morning. Our coffee came with water without us asking for it.

The menu is pretty standard, but the diner really shines through its specials menu that changes one or two items every few months. We both ordered off of it- I got the Greek scramble with feta cheese and oregano that came with toast, and hashbrowns with grilled onions and peppers (as a standard). Together with the coffee, it was $6.99. My toast was wheat as usual, but toasted really well, with a higher sugar content than others I've had (even at this location). My meal was yummy, and warm, with a clear attempt at more sophisticated flavors than other diner breakfasts. For example, my my onions and peppers inside my potatoes were delicious and well seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary. My eggs were also delicious, although I thought there was too much feta which kind of overwhelmed my mouth on certain bites. It was a very simple scramble with exactly what it said would be inside of it which is something to appreciate in and of itself.

I am still on a biscuits and gravy kick. And, let me tell you, Westmont Family Diner does this southern classic right. The first thing you notice is some delicious looking sausage gravy covering two flaky (but you don't know they're flaky yet) biscuits. A little bit a sausage goes a long way, too. The gravy is thick and creamy, but not to the point where it becomes like toothpaste, and the nibbles of sausage along the way add a great pork flavor. The two eggs over medium were cooked perfectly. I decided to switch up my usual side of sausage to a side of bacon. Westmont delivers when it comes to pork. They serve the thick cut bacon that falls into the spectrum of chewy and crispy. Did I mention that you can lap all of this up in the gravy that is still overflowing on your plate? Just in case you do have some gravy left on your plate and you haven't started the biscuits, they happen to be the perfect morsels to mop up the remaining gravy. Like Chi said above, the Westmont has become our default and for good reason. By the way, my half of the meal cost less than $7.00.

Unfortunately, all pictures of Chris's part of the meal were accidentally deleted. Sad.

Pat's Diner

First thing you notice about Pat's Diner is that it's super small, especially because the back room (by the tiny bar) was closed. The prep station is right in the middle of the room so you can see your waitress make/pour coffee, toast your bread, and scoop your pudding. Not only can you keep tabs on your waitress (I'm sure the purpose was to do the opposite) but you can also see everyone else which could be awkward if you're looking for a more private dining experience.

Our waitress, who I'll call Tiana (from Princess and the Frog), was super professional, and had a sweet, hardworking demeanor. She was accommodating not only to us but to a difficult table next to us with three rowdy children who all DEMANDED dessert that they couldn't share.

Soup and Salad

 Let me just say- $8.25 goes a long way at Pat's Diner. I don't think I'll ever not appreciate how cheap NJ Diner's are, and how much you can get for your money. I ordered the fish and chips, because I wanted something hearty but not saucy. I was given an extensive choice of sides (multiple ways of doing potato, rice, veggies,etc.) and I chose broccoli because I was a little apprehensive. Not only was there that, but it came with soup AND salad. Most places give you the option of one or the other, so I was totally taken aback by this generosity.

Fish and Delicious Chips

My soup, lima bean, was surprisingly tasty and flavorful. It was more than just salty or brothy, and I appreciated the effort that was put into it. It was a bit watery, but I liked that the beans themselves were big and full. My salad, was basic as I expected, but clearly fresh and colorful with big, even slices of tomato which I appreciated. It wasn't drowning in water like previous diner salads that I've had, and was generally pleasant to pick at (even without dressing).

My main entree did not disappoint me either, although it was a little strange. Fish and chips has a very distinctive look to it, slightly thicker filet cuts of white fish, battered and then fried. You know the drill. These came out more like wide pieces of fish sticks. Granted, they were tastier than the ones you'd expect from the grade school cafeteria...I felt like un tres chic 4th grader. Nevertheless, the breading was decent, it wasn't that oily, and it stayed crispy throughout the duration of the meal. My 'chips' were amazing. Who'd a thunk that this little diner hidden in a nook of a not-so-great looking part of Trenton, NJ would make delicious, delicious, French fries that were hot, crispy, well-salted and never got that weird hollow density that happens when they get cold.

The Best Side of Broccoli I Have Ever Seen

Places like Pat's Diner is why I love this blog. I had never heard of this place, didn't know exactly where it was, and was completely unfamiliar with the area. As we drove through Trenton I admit I was getting a little nervous since some of the other shops and stores on the block seemed dirty and not well kept. But, then we saw the small building on the corner and I parked the car in a smaller lot around the back. Pat's certainly does not boast lavishness; the walls were not plated with chrome, but the place was clean.

Chicken Salad Sandwich Done Right

We were seated in a corner of the main dining room and were handed an extensive menu. I thumbed through the pages until I found the sandwich section. Pat's diner has a great list of double-decker sandwiches and they're all priced around six dollars. Like Chi said earlier, a little money goes a long way. I ordered the chicken salad sandwich and it was huge, which was great since I had a long night of lessons ahead of me. The chicken salad itself was refreshing and loaded with white meat. They throw in celery for the nice crunchy texture as you bite your way through the four triangles. The mayo was definitely present, but not overwhelming. Also, if you look closely, those are thick-cut bacon strips thrown in above the tomatoes, awesome. I think my favorite part of the meal, though, was the fries. The sandwich was good, but the fries pulled everything together. Each one was crispy on the outside and filled with soft, steamy, potato-y goodness. And, every once in a while I could take a little bite of tasty, non-soupy, coleslaw. I'm excited to visit Pat's again and maybe try their Reuben, or maybe their pastrami. Here's to looking forward.

Kate's Kitchen (San Francisco, CA)

Kate's Kitchen was a memorable mark on our trip to San Francisco. Thrown off by the cool days (and cold mornings) we kept gravitating towards hearty stick-to-your-ribs food. This is why we gained five pounds after three days.

Kate's did not disappoint. It's a small restaurant with mostly two tops and 1 or 2 four-tops with a open view of the kitchen in the back where a fully-kitchen was busy over the stove and juicing carrots and apples. Colorful and warm with a family and a young baby to our left and some couples to our left, we're struck by the giant mural of the United States on the main wall. 

We start with the hush puppies (which, if you remember, I had just introduced Chris to earlier this summer). Delicious, deep-fried cornmeal goodness was presented to us with homemade (crazy delicious) jam and "pooh butter" to dip- (honey butter). Dense, with a generous portion size, I could imagine myself coming to this place once a week just to eat these.

My entree was their biscuits with veggie gravy. I have to say that they were [almost] perfect. If there was just a dash more salt to bring out the flavors that had been developed, I think it would have been amazing, but I find that over-salting is a common fear of most restaurant these days. The biscuits texturally were between that of a typical biscuit and a scone (think hard edges and crumbly bits). With cheese and green onion inside, it was pleasant to eat on its own, but definitely improved by the veggie gravy underneath. I have no idea how they made the gravy, except to say that they must have used some type of wheat/flour with some stock, herbs, etc. Delicious- and something I wish that they bottled and sold so I could take it back home to the East Coast to eat with all of my meals. THIS is how you do a vegetarian breakfast. It wasn't just a non-meat version of something, but a legitimate menu item of itself.

I must say even as a meat eater I am impressed with how the west coast does vegetarian. It actually brings me down a little when there are no items on a menu tailored to my girlfriend's lifestyle. It's not like being a vegetarian is a new concept; the Mid-Atlantic corridor seems to vegetarians will be OK with asking for the same item on a menu, but with no meat, and paying the same price. Kate's Kitchen shows more than acceptance with a unique menu with variety of items, they also show creativity and an ability to cook. They do a pretty good job too.

With all of that said, I decided to appease my carnivore side. I ordered the Big Guys Breakfast, which unfortunately didn't make me feel like a "big guy" ordering it out loud. Eventually two plates were brought to me that consisted of two cornmeal buttermilk pancakes, two eggs, two slices of bacon, one sausage patty, and a side of homefries! Talk about using quality products. Kate's Kitchen nailed it with their eggs and bacon. The over medium eggs were super rich with velvety yolks and the bacon was the thick cut stuff. The strips had awesome marbleization, they were packed with flavor and had the perfect amount of salt. The sausage, which was a chicken sausage, was even delicious. It feel flat from a lack of fat leaving it a little dry, but it was still very delicious. The homefries had the low mark of the day. Even though their potato flavor was never in question (still clearly using top shelf ingredients) they were a little burned and I'm not sure anyone through some salt on them leaving them very under seasoned.



Back to the good stuff. The cornmeal buttermilk pancakes were pretty special. The extra sweetness from the cornmeal plus the texture will probably ruin other pancakes for the rest of my life. I might even swear off of pancakes that don't have cornmeal as an ingredient. They were that good.





P.S. Coffee in San Francisco is delicious. Does everybody use Peet's or do they just have extra-spectacular coffee presses? Also, Kate's Kitchen gives you a generous pitcher of (non-individually packaged, and actually containing dairy) cream.

White Horse Diner

The White Horse Diner is literally a stones throw from the Berlin Diner. It is located on the White Horse Pike making it an easy stop for Chi and I on our way out to the Jersey Shore. The place looked a little run down with a shabby exterior and dark windows. For a moment we thought it might have gone out of business. With one or two cars in the parking lot we decided to pull to see if they were open. We were excited to see they were open since we were both pretty hungry. The interior was a bit drab with fading greens, the backs of the booths were coming loose.

dark and drab

I've held off as long as I can, but I have to say it; this was the worst diner I have ever been to. I wanted to try something new, so I ordered a Reuben Burger. This is a simple enough item to prepare, the menu made it sound pretty simple. The burger consisted of the meat patty, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and a bun. A Reuben Sandwich should be a diner classic with nice, tangy sauerkraut and rich cheese making for a flavor filled meal. The trouble for me started when I was asked four times if I was ready to order while I was clearly still looking the menu over. There are a total of seven other customers in the diner, therefore, there was no need to rush us. While that was plenty annoying, I almost couldn't believe what happened when my food came out. I was served a plate of fries with two hamburger buns both topped with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. I was incredulous. They forgot the patty? Do I not know what a Reuben Burger is? Shouldn't the burger be part of the burger? The waitress came back about a minute later after I sat there dumbfounded digging through a pile of sauerkraut and cheese looking for the the rest of the meal. I said I think something is missing and she looked at my plate and quickly took it back to the kitchen. She brought me back the same meal about thirty seconds later with a dried hamburger sitting on one of the buns.

burger fail

There are three fundamental things that went horribly wrong at the White Horse Diner. Firstly, the cook did not realize that he had forgotten to put the hamburger on my hamburger. This means that he also saw the meal go out of his kitchen and did not realize the hamburger was still on his grill. The second incredible thing was that the waitress realized something was wrong when she picked up the plate, or didn't realize there was something wrong, and then served me an incomplete plate. I was angry and embarrassed for them. The third problem was that the food didn't taste good. The burger was over cooked, there was double the amount of sauerkraut and Swiss cheese than was necessary, and the french fries weren't hot. I feel like the slough they brought out to me was just sitting around all afternoon. The White Horse Diner has made my very short list of places I never want to visit ever again.

The menu was a decent size but had nothing for vegetarians so I decided to have breakfast for lunch. I ordered the chocolate chip pancakes because I was feeling nostalgic and had a bit of a sweet tooth. I ordered them with homefries (because as you know, I'm obsessed with potato-based foods). My pancakes were slightly warm with nothing special about them. The pancake itself was tough and chewy, only accented by the awful silverware that couldn't cut through butter. The chocolate chips were charred and bitter. My butter was average- not especially creamy or salty, or any of the superlative ways you could describe butter.

In fact, there is nothing superlative about anything that this diner produces. When my homefries didn't come out, I had to struggle to find the waitress to ask her for them. She apologized and said she'd get them. She then returned to say "Sorry, it'll be a while. We have to make fresh ones. I didn't want you to get the ones that had been sitting around all day getting gross." And then she smiled as if anything she had just said was okay to say to a someone who was patronizing your restaurant. What could she have possibly meant? Did she not understand that the overarching context of what she was saying was "We don't make our food fresh here"? Any decent diner can whip up an order of home fries in two minutes- why would you ever not make them to order?

Regardless, since I was hungry from not eating the rest of my pancakes, I said "fine". She comes back later to say, "So...do you want them or no? Do you want me to take it off the ticket?". No, I do not want you to take if off the ticket. If I ordered them (twice!), then of course I still want them. When they finally came out Chris and I picked at them both agreeing that after all we had been through, at least there was some decent home fries to help ease our anger. But a swallow does not a summer make.

Thai Basil

Chris and I feel very fortunate to live so close to good food in Collingswood and Haddonfield, NJ.  People have been mentioning Thai Basil to us for years, but we’ve never gone. I’m always a bit skeptical when it comes to Asian-American or Asian fusion restaurants, just because I feel as if I have a high standard due to my upbringing. I imagine it’s the way Italians feel about Italian-American food. It’s indicative of the correct region, but yet, not true in spirit.

Something about the word "Thai" and this kind of sign display just seems...incorrect.

Regardless, we visited Thai Basil for a Saturday late lunch. We arrived around 2:15 to an almost empty and very low-lit restaurant. (Throughout the course of our meal, only one other couple showed up to eat). The vibe is very chill, very relaxed, with large comfy booths sectioned off to create privacy. The music is lounge-y, with every other song in French.

Right off the bat, from looking at the menu, you can tell that the focus of this food is “flavor”. They have two of their specials engraved into the mirrors in the room to showcase the range of ingredients they use for staples such as tom yum and drunken noodles. They also proudly boast four types of curry- red, green, panang, and massaman.

I ordered the drunken noodles with mock duck after reading a favorable review of it on Yelp. It was priced at around $12 which seemed perfectly reasonable. On the menu, it has two stars indicating its spiciness. I ask for it to be reduced in spice, to which the server said “We can’t make it completely spice less, but we can make it mild”. “Great,” I said, “let’s make it mild”.

Our appetizers came out before our meals. We ordered the veggie curry puff- a whimsical dish reminiscent of an Asian-style Jamacian spicy beef patty or an empanada. Flaky and doughy at the same time with rich aromas, it was filled with potatoes, curry, and onion. It came with a sweet chili sauce that tasted like Vietnamese nuoc mam ngoc with a bit of duck sauce to thicken it up. Delicious, and left us craving more.

The best way I can express my main meal is: a labor of love. Presented well in an avant-garde tilted bowl, it smelled delicious with aromas of fish sauce, chili, garlic, and all other things that make life great. My ‘duck’ was pretty good imitation, although some pieces of the ‘skin’ fell short. I don’t really see how you could imitate the high level of fat (and eventual crispiness) that you would get from an animal. Noodles were delish, just the right amount of stickiness and starchiness.  This being said, I could not eat more than two bites in a row without taking a huge sip of water. The spice level was ridiculous almost to the point of being intolerable. This was better once the dish had some time to cool. I know that one shouldn’t go into a Thai restaurant and tell the kitchen that the food is too spicy, but when you’re told that something is coming to you “mild”, you expect a certain threshold to not be breached. The only other customers there actually were comped because their food ended up being too spicy to eat.

As for me, I was mostly happy with the entire meal. I ordered the Laad Na off of their "Meal in a Hot Pot" page of their menu. The Laad Na's description was simple enough. I had the choice of beef, chicken, or shrimp in a pot of sauteed vegetables and seared rice noodles with gravy poured on top. I went with the beef because I was curious to see if the beef would be prepared similarly to Pho that I've had in the past. When the meal came out I was immediately pleased with what I saw. The beef was front in center, the bowl was big and deep, and the vegetables had their color. It was beautiful. Sadly the beef was a tad over cooked and not as tender as I was hoping. However, it did bring in a lot of the flavor of the sauce. My favorite part of the dish was the broad, flat, rice noodles that were soaking up the gravy at the bottom of the pot. They were extremely tender and rich. The gravy reminded me of a Vietnamese oyster sauce. It was very savory, but it definitely had some sweet element to deepen its flavor profile. The worst part of the experience was that we were seated at a table that was next to an area of the carpet that looks as though it hasn't been washed in a few years. Hopefully by the time I go back they will have already shampoo'd their carpet.

I felt very conflicted about the food because it was delicious, but for the majority of it my tongue was maxed out and the spice detracted from the layers of salty, sweet, and sour.   

Such an awful experience, but over so soon! We’re gonna have to do this one over again. Perhaps it was a fluke?

Dark, moody, and minimalistic

Extra notes:

Free soursop hard candies when you leave and it looks like they  might own a new place called Fusion Bay next door that offers similar taste profiles but in a casual dining atmosphere.