Merchantville Diner

Doesn't Get Much Cuter

You know you’ve hit a stride- or not- when your family bribes you off the couch on a Saturday morning with the promise of going out to breakfast. “We’re going to the Merchanville Diner”, Chris’s father said, “You  haven’t been there yet”.

Well, that’s true. We turned off Dogs 101 and got dressed.

This diner is pretty close to Maritsa’s (see our review here) and similarly provides the cheap eats in a small space. With a cute hanging sign store front an eight-seater (breakfast) bar that lines the entirety of one side, it certainly looked cute enough. Our waitress however, was anything but. She definitely did not look happy to be there, and it reflected poorly in her actual service, monotone voice, and lack of punctuality after we had finished our meals.

The menu is standard- consisting of eggs-your-way, omelettes, French toast, and pancakes with crepe and Belgian waffles thrown in there for fun. However, unlike many other diners right now, I could not find any special seasonal pumpkin-flavored items. Disappointing.

Broccoli Omelette

A boring menu calls for a boring order: broccoli omelette. I fought with getting another vegetarian-egg dish but caved because their omelette specials provided for the most food. (Approximately 8 bucks for an omelette, toast, homefries, with coffee and a juice). I thought mine was pretty unflavored- unsalted, un-peppered, no onions for added greasy-noms, etc. It was huge- they claimed 3-eggs per omelette, but I suspect it was more like four. I ended up picking at it, and focusing more on my home fries (decent) and our basket of toast that needed to be conquered.  The coffee mugs were also very large, rivaling the ones at the (awful) Somerville Diner, but the coffee was thankfully milder, and more aromatic. It was much more reminiscent of what I think of when I think of a house blend- it seemed as if Somerville’s was some kind of distinct regional blend that was brewed incorrectly. My OJ was, you know, OJ.

Bread Basket for the Table

Food was decent, but completely unforgettable as was the service, and overall experience. Just as a FYI, we ended waiting around for about fifteen minutes after all of us had stopped touching our plates to be acknowledged.  I actually think I prefer Maritsa’s, even with their muddy mushrooms.

Scrapple, Eggs, and Potatoes: A Portrait

It is a bit strange that my parents tend to gravitate toward these small, non-shiny, main street locations (I guess I still see chrome whenever I think of a diner). The service was upsetting and our waitress, after I ordered, seemed to become even more dejected as if what I ordered inconvenienced her in some way. Aside from that my two scrambled eggs, home fries, and scrapple were all done very well. It was by no means my favorite meal, but everything on the table was consistently good. I think the real power of consistency is that if one thing is wrong, it can ruin an entire meal especially when we're only dealing with eggs and potatoes. My scrabbled egg situation was similar to Chi's omelette in that we were looking at more than the two eggs advertised on the menu, however they were super fluffy albeit they were slightly on the runny side. The home fries seemed a little more "mashed" than other places which i supposed made them a little smoother even with a nice crisp on the outside. I was surprised by the scrapple. I ordered this item on a complete whim (maybe sausage is getting boring) and before the Merchantville Diner the only other scrapple I've ever had and liked was at the White House Restaurant on Camden Ave and Lenola Rd. Merchantville's was in the ballpark. The outside was super crispy and the inside was creamy and piping hot with a little bit of spice.

Normal Interior

Elvis

Additional Notes: They have short hours, 7am-9pm Monday through Saturday, and 7am-3pm on Sunday. Sides are cheaper here than Marlton Diner. If you've never had scrapple you should try it next time, it's a bit of a mystery meat but it's also a classic and unique to the NJ Diner scene. If it's still too far out for you, go with pork roll (more of a philly thing). People as close as Harrisburg don't know what pork roll is. Also included in the interior is a cut out of Elvis watching you eat...creepy.