January 23, 2008
The Diner (樂子)
It was SO's younger cousin's birthday and she likes American-style food. We've already done the chain places like Chili's and TGIFridays. Heard good things about The Diner and from the name of the restaurant you could tell it's classic American fare, mostly done right.
The Diner was decorated more like a coffee-house than a greasy spoon, but the bustling crowd with a good dash of Westerners gave the place a good energy and vibe of a popular spot. The restaurant itself, tucked away in an alley near DaAn Forest Park, isn't very big, so our big group was placed in the annex across the alley. Although they had to run the food across the alley from the main kitchen, we had dedicated servers so service was reasonably prompt.
No need to get fancy here. The burger was big and juicy and the stack of veggie garnish accompaniment were generous and fresh as were the side of fries. Her Philly Cheeseteak probably doesn't reach Geno's standards, the primary sin being the white American cheese-food. But at least they tried with the chewy sandwich roll, and it's hard to go wrong with the beef, onion, pepper combo. The potato chips were lame, though. Was expecting fresh-fried and got stale supermarket crisps. And no refills on the soda! What the hell is up with that? You figure they can afford a soda fountain with all the business. Nevertheless, as long as they do the basics well we'll put up with it. The Egg Benedicts looked and tasted alright, but the presentation was a bit rough around the edges. Will have to hit it at brunch-time to give the breakfast-type items a try sometime.
樂子
The Diner
台北市大安區瑞安街145號1樓
02-27001680
http://www.thediner.com.tw/