Diner -Yaletown

[transfattyacid]

For me, the question of whether or not Yaletown was ready for Diner has been answered as some positive word of mouth is already beginning to spread. What remains to be seen is whether or not Diner is ready for Yaletown. There are several restaurants nearby where the food, drink, service, and ambience eclipse it by a factor of a 10, but this 40-seat treat is such a refreshing departure from the neighbourhood norm that it deserves to be coddled and protected like an indigenous species staring at the brink. It can also cook. So be gentle with it, people. The wait times might be long and the service a little manic, but like any good friend, perfection is not something we seriously consider.

Yes but in order to coddle and protect. We must go! and give them shiny things .

Diner can be seen as an apology for Yaletown’s occasional haughtiness and as an answer to its glaring deficit of casual restaurants. It’s arrived just in time, for the upwardly mobile crowds have been in danger of dictating thus: if you don’t plan on opening a quasi-celebrity cheffed cash cow staffed by blondes and marketed to Hummer-lovers dressed to the nines, then you should take your little pipedream and drive it back to the sticks in a rear-facing infant carseat. It’s unfortunate, but there it is.

I'll probably get some guff for that.

Maybe you will, lets wait and see. i honestly think that most people know this to be true and think it anyway. And i`m sure you aint the first to say it out loud in print .

edited `cos it was just a mess of quotes.

Edited November 3, 2005 by transfattyacid (log)

[Andrew Morrison]

We must go! and give them shiny things .

No doubt they will.

[Vancouver Lee]

I dropped in at Diner today to try the burger, and they were getting slammed. Fortunately I arrived at 11:45 and the place was empty, but when I left at 12:30, I think every table was full. Heather and Ashley seemed a little frazzled when I arrived, and were running flat out by the time I left. I got the distinct impression that Heather's pretty stressed out these days. I don't envy her one bit.

I hesitate to post this, but the burger was a bit of a disappointment. It was burnt, cooked to well done inside, and the bun wasn't exactly stale, but wasn't exactly fresh either. Toppings (onions and tomatoes) were fresh, and Ashley was kind enough to fry up some mushrooms for me, so that was good. I'm not a huge fan of the fries, but that's a quibble. The slaw is pretty good, and this is from someone who doesn't like slaw at all.

edited to add: Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Ashley told that she started making the burgers smaller today (starting with mine ) after reading Andrew's review in today's Westender. It was an offhand comment she made, and I got the impression she thought it was a bad thing that the burgers were so big. Some days you just can't win.

I didn't want to make any more work for the kitchen so I didn't have the souffle, I chose the cheesecake instead. Yummy.

Honest to God, when I finished eating I came close to offering to help them out - bussing some dishes or fetching drinks or something like that. It's amazing how much everyone seems to want Heather to make it. She's a talented, likeable person who we all seem to identify with and is clearly working flat out to make Diner successful.

Andrew, nice review in the Westender today. Reading this thread last night and the back-and-forth between you and TFA, I was struck by how high the level of debate is here. Between the many intelligent posters here and you and Jamie in print, this is an awfully literate community. Kudos to you and the rest of the gang.

Edited November 3, 2005 by Vancouver Lee (log)

[mtigges]

How many people have posted that they dropped by? This is my second post on this thread. I wasn't going to ... but we got a special treatment today

I forget who it was upthread that got the patty melt, it sounded so good, that we asked for it too. Only Heather said, hmmmm, been there done that, how about a meatloaf melt? We were in no mood to argue. It was delicious. The fries were out of this world. They were busy when we got there, but everything seemed relatively under control. The wait time had gone down from our previous visit, and there were more people, so I think it's coming around. Plus, when we left we chatted a bit with Heather, and she didn't seem too stressed. Tired, but she seemed happy. I mentioned that she's getting a bit of an online rep, and she quipped back that an online rep sounds kind of salacious.

The chocolate souffles are indeed delicious. The place smelled amazing when she popped them in to the oven.

Edited November 3, 2005 by mtigges (log)

[PaoPao]

^ Oh man, a Meat Loaf Melt? When I read that I came so close to canceling my plans tonight to go and try that!

[Ling]

The fries were out of this world. 

←

Have the fries changed?

[mtigges]

Ling, I'm not sure if they have changed. I've been to Diner twice now. The first time, our plates came out hurried, and I don't think the fries were representative of what she normally does. Today they were soft on the inside with great potatoe flavour, and very brown and crispy on the outside. And, my companion wondered if they were battered. They did seem to have some kind of coating on the outside, but I don't think she actually batters them. They were much better than the first time, which was merely average.

Mark.

[Ling]

^Thanks. I stole a fry from canucklehead's plate the last time, and they weren't bad (frozen, crinkle-cut), but nothing I would exclaim over, so I was just curious.

The apricot chutney with the schnitzel sounds like a tasty combo. Schnitzel is the schnitz.

Edited November 4, 2005 by Ling (log)

[mtigges]

^Thanks. I stole a fry from canucklehead's plate the last time, and they weren't bad (frozen, crinkle-cut), but nothing I would exclaim over, so I was just curious. 

The apricot chutney with the schnitzel sounds like a tasty combo. Schnitzel is the schnitz.

←

These weren't crinkle cut, but they might have been frozen. They didn't appear to be cut there.

[Vancouver Lee]

^Thanks. I stole a fry from canucklehead's plate the last time, and they weren't bad (frozen, crinkle-cut), but nothing I would exclaim over, so I was just curious. 

The apricot chutney with the schnitzel sounds like a tasty combo. Schnitzel is the schnitz.

←

These weren't crinkle cut, but they might have been frozen. They didn't appear to be cut there.

←

Hmmm, that's interesting.....my fries today were crinkle-cut and frozen. I guess they serve both kinds.

[inanimate]

my first time were thin straight cuts, very nice. second time were seasoned curlies, also quite nice.

[transfattyacid]

The chocolate souffles are indeed delicious.  The place smelled amazing when she popped them in to the oven.

←

Oh hell yeah !.

I knew the moment the oven door was opened, containing my souffle in it`s perfect state of doneness, as i could smell that bad boy from my seat.

My back was to the kitchen, we were sat at the booth right by the door.

Worth the explained, under stood and quite frankly not that big of a wait for this alone.

The bonus here being i got to eat it too .

[nwyles]

Heather came by last night and we had a glass of wine and chatted for a bit.

The subject of egullet came up.

It would appear that some called her and decided to give her some pointers on how she could do things better etc. and finsihed off with

" I'm from egullet ! "

Unless your name is Steven Shaw, this is so uncool.

Is it just me ? Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit out of line ?

It made a group of people who like to share experiences look like a bunch of "napkin-sniffing trainspotters".

Who in their right mind would call up a restauranteur, give them pointers on how to run their business and then tell them that they were from egullet !

I have said this before.

"Methinks someone is taking themselves too seriously."

[Andrew Morrison]

I'm glad you brought that up, Neil, as she mentioned the call the last time we talked. She wasn't upset by it, just a little surprised.

I was too flabbergasted to post about it, and caught myself apologising to her.

It's OK to call up a restauranteur to complain or compliment, but to venture unsolicited advice while flashing the decoder ring can reek of zealotry run amok.

That being said (and to my ear at least), it sounded as if the mystery eGulleter was just really enthusiastic about Diner and wanted to help with a few suggestions. I'm certain his heart is in the right place.

[*Deborah*]

*snort*

I'm sure it was with good intentions...but please, Heather, don't take the rest of us amiss! I still haven't gone, much as I want to, since I'm trying really hard not to be part of the stampede.

[BCinBC]

Didn't we cover this in TFA's thread Truths from the other side? Once again, for those who haven't read the thread, my opinion of anyone who thinks being a member of eGullet is equivalent to some sort of "status", is, you are a twit*. Good intentions or not, throwing around the phrase "I'm from eGullet" is more likely to get you a laugh in the face rather than the respect only you think you deserve**.

* Phew almost used the other tw_t word, but managed to reign it in.

** Edited but the gist is the same.

Edit #2 to note this was my 500th post. Hey I am half way to the gin and virgins benefit. Neil or Keith, should I be expecting the cougar with the can of Bud to show up any minute now?

Edited November 8, 2005 by BCinBC (log)

[Daddy-A]

[host]

Didn't we cover this in TFA's thread Truths from the other side?

And an example of what can happen as a result can be found in the "Infamous" Irish Heather Thread. This has been discussed ad nauseum. My points being:

1. We can't stop people from making poor judgement
   
2. Further discussion of this is OT and posts will be removed.
   

A.

[/host]

[makanmakan]

whoa, is all i can muster as for "the call".

i myself, cannot keep myself away from this place, it's better than crack. i was there again on friday night and had the lamb shank while my friend munched on the meatloaf. the lamb was tasty and tender. not fall off the bone, but very juicy. sauce was simple and nice and i asked for mash potatoes instead of the polenta as i'm more fond of mash. the meatloaf did not disappoint, yet again. she had fries with it instead of mash and they were very tasty, we thought. seemed like it had a light batter on it, crisp with a soft innard and flavourful. had a nice glass of red (can't remember what i had) and we finished off with the chocolate souffle and lemon meringue pie. souffle was perfect, more wet than the last time i had it and with chunks of melted dark chocolate in it. yum. the lemon meringue was good, a tad bit sweet for us and not lemony enough but it didn't keep us from polishing it off!

i was surprised to see the front and back of house so full. the kitchen had about 3 people in the back and 3 people, including heather, in the front part and about 3 girls on the floor including heather's sister. apparently they found themselves swamped last friday and were being more prepared this time. the room was full by the time we left. i'm so happy to see diner doing well and flourishing. i don't know why but i have a fondness for this place. the honest and real food, combined with a nice, down to earth girl running the joint and a good looking space. i hope that this continues.

next up, i'm tackling the burger

has anyone tried the ribs yet? waddaya think?

Edited November 9, 2005 by makanmakan (log)

[Xando Head]

are they open for lunch? anyone know?

[PaoPao]

^ Yup, they are open at 11:00 AM.

[11son]

Anyone know what their plans are for breakfast?

I was in a few weekks ago and they were saying it was in the cards, but not sure how soon. I was hoping that plans had maybe firmed up a little more...

[Andrew Morrison]

I'm not sure about breakfast, but I hope it's soon.

Jamie has written a thoughtful review of Diner in the December issue of Vancouver Magazine (plus write-ups of Senova and the HSG).

[bill_n_opus]

I'm looking forward to trying Diner.

Good way to support the family. She's worked real hard to get the place up and running as I understand.

[kontemporary]

There was a great review today of Diner in the Province. They received good ratings - A's across the board.

[LEdlund]

Hello!

My family and I will be in Vancouver for a couple of nights, Boxing Day and the 27th. Boxing Day dinner has been set (my parent's choice) and I get to choose where to have dinner on the 27th. As I have a family full of meat and potato eaters, I have perused the board looking for something that would satisfy both them and me and Diner looks like it might fit the bill. I'm curious about a few things and hoping you can help me out.

-Have they worked out the kinks in service? (Aging parents and long dinners do not mix).

-Will a party of 5 have any problems dining on the 27th? (I've been calling the number listed in this thread but no one answers and the voice mail box is full so I can't leave a message - it made me a tad nervous).

-Are they still accepting cash only as payment?

I'd love to try this place out but, if it's still to early on, I'll add it to my list for my next visit. Of course, if you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears.............

Thanks!

Edited December 22, 2005 by LEdlund (log)