StarView Diner

Located on the White Horse Pike in Somerdale, their dominating sign caught my eye one morning while I was heading out to Blackwood for a summer class. The big, bubbly, WordArt-esque lettering took me back to days of handing in middle school lab reports that had to have a cover sheet. The pink/fuchsia and turquoise lettering made it stand out more than any other sign on the short stretch of road. My first thought was that the establishment was wonderfully tacky. I was hoping it was more wonderful than tacky, and since the parking lot was usually filled every time I took that route at 9:30 on a weekend morning I figured they must be doing something right behind their doors. We arrived at the StarView a little after 7:00 on a humid evening and greeted by smiles of the hosts and waitresses. We were promptly seated at the first booth in the diner and given menus. As soon as we were seated we noticed how the place seemed to be filled with regulars. Everyone was on a first name basis with everyone else, and everyone was in high spirits.

After my Monte Cristo during my last diner escapade I needed to go back to my standard: two eggs over medium, sausage, home-fries well done, wheat toast, and coffee, black. Let's face it, it doesn't get much better than that. I'm going to take you through this review as if you were in my seat. Let's start with the home-fries. They listened to my request of having them come out "a little extra crispy" and they gave me a healthy amount, too. But then, I slid three of my sausages away from the potatoes and noticed there was a gaping hole on the back left corner. A cover-up had taken place right under my taste buds! It's OK though, I got over it quickly once I salted them up and dug in. They were nice and well done on one side which made up for what seemed to be slightly under-cooked potato throughout. On to the sausage. Let me just say that they weren't the all stars of this meal. They didn't possess any unique quality that would make them stand out from sausage links bought at your local grocery store. Maybe I'll go for bacon next time. Now it's time for the eggs, which from the outside looked like they were cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, appearances aren't everything since they were cooked more on the over easy side. I always hope that an egg cooked incorrectly at a diner is a fluke, but once it happens, it makes me weary to try their food a second time. On a positive note, the extra egg on my plate was great to soak up with my toast. Mmm. Their coffee was, in a word, bland, even though our waitress was quick with a refill.  For me, the service outshone the food, which after some terrible service at other places, was a nice breath of fresh air. I still want to try their bacon.

This, vs.

...This

Reflecting back, I thought this place was pretty weird. I too was intrigued by its 1980's, pastel, and generally gaudy sign that made me think, "Wow! If I was a character in Jem, I would be eating here!"

But then were seated and after a few minutes of looking around and admiring upholstery, the bakery, and the general air of friendliness, I realized that yeah, I would go here, if I was a character in Jem and a possible cultist. Above the booths line these pieces of ceiling art were stars...everywhere. But, not just normal stars as you can see below. All of a sudden the decor made no sense to me, and I wonder if I was the only person who upon first visit had questioned this choice of theme. It actually is quite arresting as you can see the picture below as once we saw these pentagrams, there was no unseeing them. FYI: Also, upon further research I've been informed that one can also call these pentacles. I kept wondering, "What do these mean"? But ultimately I was too chicken to find out, but I definitely will ask next time. But, really, maybe this just matters to me- since nobody on Yelp seems to mind the decor.

Scary

Readers of earlier posts will know that I, through this adventure thus far, have started to have realizations about how I like my breakfast (specifically my eggs) done. My most significant realization so far has been that I like my omelettes well done- I believe I called it a 'step before chewy'-and that fluffy, soft omelettes are unappetizing to me. I've started to realize that I'm also developing a preference for how the items IN my omelette are prepared, specifically how large they are in relation to the actual omelette. Picky, yes. However, I never considered it as an actual issue, until I had to eat through my very well-cooked broccoli omelette, only to realize that I never really was able to bite into a piece of broccoli. The vegetable was so well broken down into little florets (where were the stems?!) and folded into the egg that ultimately I felt that I was eating a broccoli-flavored plain omelette. If it doesn't sound like a big deal, I can say that it wasn't...until I got about half-way and started to lose the complexities in flavor. Note: For the polar opposite of this phenomenon, see the Maritsa's review that will be up next week!

Have you ever just eaten something and then after a while have it lose its taste? You can tell what temperature it is, or how salty or sweet it is, but you lose the ability to actually taste the ingredients that went into it? I ended up not finishing it. However, my home-fries were bountiful (unlike Chris's) and delicious. 

Ultimately, it's not a place I would go back to, but I did enjoy our waitress who was fast and courteous and seemed to be super friendly to everyone in the house. It was a multicultural-friendly diner and even though I know that I live in a world where racism is relatively subtle and de facto at worst, it's still nice to see black and white seniors smiling and shaking hands like old friends. I like to imagine that they come the same time, every week and have made this diner a part of the rest of their lives.


Additional info:
Our meals came with free juice; usually this juice is a "small" but should really be called a mini. When Chi declined hers, I was upgraded to a medium, which once again speaks of their stellar service. This diner, being our first on the White Horse Pike has opened up the door for exploring this stretch of road, potential reviews from the Jersey Shore could be soon to come.

Used to be 24 hours, now has standard early morning and late night hours. Moderately cheap; pay at the front.