Jake

I hate Mars. I recall Vesta Lunch with great fondness......

So, I've been thinking about diners and diner food all day. Normally, one might find that odd, but in this case it was precipitated by one of the worst diner experiences in my life last night. To be fair, I did not expect much going in, but it was even less than anticipated. I was meeting some friends for a quick bite prior to the theatre, had no input whatsoever on the venue. As you can imagine with a group of people it can be hard to please everyone and this group has a number of VERY unadventurous eaters. So I am advised that the choice of the night was "Fran's" Now, honestly I love good diners. A burger, club, fries and gravy, hot turkey sandwich - hey I'm there, good old-fashioned comfort food. I vaguely remember late night breakfasts at the old Fran's a number of years ago. So, how bad could it be, right? It's bad. Don't go. Club sandwich, very little chicken or bacon, mostly lettuce and tomato, Wonder whole wheat bread, for close to $10. The burger, they advertise as 100% Angus beef, freshly made and cooked to order just like the original in the early years. It's ordered medium rare with fries, gravy on the side. The burger arrives it is extremely well done, charred black on the outside, on a stale bun and cold. Fries are lukewarm and undercooked soggy, obviously frozen, zero taste. Gravy is brownish liquid, only discernable flavour is salt. Plate is sent back, new one comes 10 - 15 minutes later. This burger is hot, but cooked through as well. Fries are hot, but still undercooked and soggy (although well done had been specified). Waitress returns and explains all burgers are pre-cooked and then reheated so you can't have them cooked to order. When asked to cook a fresh one we are told this is not possible. Plate is returned. Another order is the hot turkey sandwich (do we see a theme here -- all orders are typical diner food). The hot turkey is barely warm the first time and is returned, as is one diners hot roast beef. When plates return they are warm, not hot. The turkey stringy, full of gristle, large peices of bones and the same undercooked soggy fries. The beef is overcooked (looks like fried deli sliced beef), tough and served with barely warm mashed potatos. The toasted western sandwich was apparently fine, as was a salad, but a grilled chicken breast sandwich also came over cooked, tough and on a stale bun. We didn't try the mac 'n cheese.....at $12, who would? Service was slow and spotty, mixed orders, wrong orders, fairly poor overall; although the manager apparently authorized removal of the 4 or 5 inedible dishes without comment. He did not visit the table even though the waitress was asked if he was available (she didn't know). So, it's been awhile since I've had occasion to go out for diner food...are there any great diners left in Toronto, or surrounding area? I have fond memories of great old-fashioned diner lunches when I was a child, always accompanied by great milkshakes and floats. Where do you go for diner food, and what do you order?

IIRC, it was direct, last thing ordered was a 22 quart stockpot, good price and didn't get killed on duty at all, however exchange isn't always pretty! I've had great success with getting special orders/things from Nikolau, the guys there are awesome.

I get them at the Riverdale farmers market, SLM north market, but haven't seen them at any retail outlets in the past.

Nikolau had all-clad last time I was in, granted awhile ago. Nella used to, but I don't think they do any longer, they do carry Cuisinart. Caynes seems to only have lower end stuff in the pots/pans dept. I've ordered All-Clad direct from them with great success.

I like both Nella and Nikolau, prefer Nikolau. I have had similar experiences at the Calphalon store with lousy service. There is also this older thread on cookware shops in Toronto click

[Host] This thread IS about giving restaurant feedback, not how the Vancouver forum is perceived by anyone, let's keep it on track guys.

I have never used Paderno, however one of my chef buddies uses it at home, says it is awesome cookware for the price and highly recommends it.

We have 2 different ones, most recent one (apparently works great) picked up at Diana's, plastic handle, solidly made, really cheap - same ones they use there.

Couscous? Apricot glaze on the duck, raisins, nuts, apricot in the couscous? Where do you buy your duck?

It's worth a special trip to try the cider smoked, even if one has to do it on a Saturday morning when it's packed. Diana's may be even further afield for you, it is in the east end, on Lawrence 1 stoplight east of Warden. It is not convenient for us either, but they have the best oysters in the city that I've found. Their fish is excellent, as is the service. You don't need to know what to buy, they'll be happy to tell you what's best that week, and describe the tastes for you, often they will offer a sample it it's not too busy. I'm addicted to Beausoleil oysters, they usually have them, and the quality is superb. Depending on the week, and delivery schedule, they often have 6 or 8 different varieties. I cannot shuck at all, my other half learned via the web, and talking to a couple of the guys there, and now does an excellent job - and still has all his fingers! If you can't buy/shuck your own, go down to Starfish or Rodney's one evening and try some at the oyster bar....they'll show you how to shuck there too. I'll bet City Fish would be just as helpful, although they don't seem to have the selection that Diana's does.

Picked up some smoked salmon at City Fish the other day - lovely! Thanks, Justin! Also picked up some cider smoked salmon at Dominics in the SLM - awesome, try it. Diana's had some lovely irish oysters today, truly exceptional.

What wonderful photos, and you got to celebrate in Rome as well, how lovely. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful, Marlene. Re the disinigration - oil temp? different mix of ingredients,ie too dry?

Heirloom tomatos are also available at the Cheese Boutique if you're in the west end.

Hee, hee. Glad to know I'm not the only oddity....you should see what I travel with when we go away to visit for a weekend!! Do you like your stone? Where did you purchase? What type of knives do you use?

Lunch on a holiday Monday...hmmm could be difficult. What about upscale chinese/dim sum at Lai Wah Heen? I'm sure it would be open.

Thank you, Gerhard...it has been such a lovely escape from my days here.

Thanks, salomonrobyn! That will be a great resource for a number of people I'm sure.

A large slicing knife comes in handy for slicing cake layers evenly, I find. They are very reasonably priced (read: cheap) at any supply store. Can you chat a bit about the dressing for the slaw....it's called "Asian" why? Soy sauce? Fish sauce? Did you find it overly sweet?

Congratulations, Chad. It sounds like your sense of humour will be a definite bonus to the book. A topic, I might add, that really needs to be covered and covered well, imho. Look forward to the final product.

That's hysterical!! Yeah, you've got to go for it again, I think. In keeping with the warthog theme, how about warthog testicles sous vide wrapped in smoked springbok intestines?

Loving your blog, Gerhard, just as much as I loved the first one. If it makes you feel any better it is only 9:30 pm here, time for a glass of wine!

Yes, and I do slice my own. However, when it is requested either thinly sliced, or in a chunk and is not delivered as such it can by a minor annoyance. My other half has prohibited me from bringing my knife kit EVERYWHERE we go

Thanks for that. I don't know the owners name either, but he has ALWAYS been extremely helpful. I love their clams, and I've had lagoustines from them as well. Unfortunately, both are fairly infrequent as my other half is allergic to shellfish. Try their fresh sardines - they're great grilled and in a pinch I've used their frozen product - also good. Honestly, I've never had a bad or even mediocre product from City Fish, always top quality combined with excellent service. I like Diana's for my oysters though, selection wise.