Skylark Diner - Edison

[Randi]

The newly opened Skylark diner is worth a try.

It's retro - but has a "Jetsons" futuristic feel to it too. The food is way more upscale than you would expect in a diner.

My roomie and I went there today. I got an appetizer of Prince Edward Island mussels in a white wine herb garlic butter sauce (7.95). There were about 2 dozen smallish mussels, and the sauce was so good I finished it with a spoon, when I ran out of hot breadsticks that I'd been using to soak it up!

My roomie got a Thai Chicken Wrap (7.95) - Stir fried Asian vegetables, spicy peanut spread and sweet and sour dipping sauce. Served with mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette. She said it was delicious.

My entree was "Caribbean Dusted Sea Scallops with Island Couscous and an Orange Curacao Sauce" (18.95). My expectations were low - but I was VERY impressed. There were 10 nicely seasoned seared sea scallops surrounding a large ring-molded disk of couscous which was studded with almonds and bits of peppers and other veggies, and topped with frizzled sweet potato. The scallops sat on a really lovely sauce which surrounded the couscous. I was afraid it would be too sweet but it was only slightly sweet. I love this dish.

I wish I'd brought my camera.

We'd eaten there once before and were impressed with the food that time also.

We stopped at their bakery counter and picked up some goodies to take home. Not bad!

I recommend this place. There are so many things on the menu that we want to try, we'll be going back often.

The Skylark Diner

www.skylarkdiner.com

Route 1 North & Wooding Avenue

Edison

(732) 777-7878

[rlibkind]

Sounds great. But after checking the web link, I'm not surprised. The owner has a number of other diners, one of which I've tried before, The Colonial in East Brunswick, and is simply wonderful and good value. The other diners in the group are: Pines Manor, Edison, and Americana, East Windsor.

[Randi]

Sounds great. But after checking the web link, I'm not surprised. The owner has a number of other diners, one of which I've tried before, The Colonial in East Brunswick, and is simply wonderful and good value. The other diners in the group are: Pines Manor, Edison, and Americana, East Windsor.

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Yes, I should have mentioned that as well, glad you brought it up.

By the way - the Pines Manor isn't actually a diner - it's a catering hall.

[jesskidden]

The newly opened Skylark diner is worth a try.

It's retro - but has a "Jetsons" futuristic feel to it too. 

>snip< I wish I'd brought my camera.

The Skylark Diner

www.skylarkdiner.com

Route 1 North & Wooding Avenue

Edison

(732) 777-7878

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It does seem odd that the "Gallery" of photos is mostly of guests (I suppose it's the grand opening) rather than the diner- I'd like to see the outside shot of the place, since it took forever to built it (I used to drive by daily on my way to work). In the beginning, I'd heard that it was going to be the new "Dog House" (a bar that had been in a strip mall across the street, which was also owned by the Pines Manor owners, and was known for serving cheap drinks).

The site, next door to a once classic truck stop/gas station, once was the home to a nice 40's-50's era diner (can't recall the name or maker*) that was always a bit less popular than the other Edison Route 1 diners (which helped keep it "classic" for a while) but was eventually "remodeled" into bland ugliness and called "Mom's Pancake House" - which was torn down to build The Skylark.

* Did a quick search for this now-gone diner (and the other nearby Edison Rt. 1 diners that are also gone- the one across from the Ford plant and the one that was on the corner of Plainfield Ave.) in my diner books but can't come up with their names. I always hated how the various diner guides list them alphabetically by name of diner, rather than name of town.

[rozrapp]

Sounds great. But after checking the web link, I'm not surprised. The owner has a number of other diners, one of which I've tried before, The Colonial in East Brunswick, and is simply wonderful and good value. The other diners in the group are: Pines Manor, Edison, and Americana, East Windsor.

←

Yes, I should have mentioned that as well, glad you brought it up.

By the way - the Pines Manor isn't actually a diner - it's a catering hall.

←

I'm pretty diner-phobic because the several nearest my house are awful. The food at the Skylark sounds delicious -- and not very diner-ish. It's a bit far for me as diners go, but I'm on Route 18 (East Brunswick) fairly often and have passed the Colonial a gazillion times without ever thinking about eating there. I'm wondering if the menu there is much like the Skylark's, or just the same old, same old diner fare prepared very well.

[jsfein]

Sounds interesting. Rlibkind mentioned that the owners also operate several other diners, including the Americana in East Windsor. The Americana was featured just the other night on the Food Network (might have been Al Roker's piece on diners). The food definitely looked a cut above diner food and the place was way more upscale looking than any diner I've been to with a martini bar in the diner. I'll have to check some of these places out.

[jeffreys1]

The Americana on Rt 130 in East Windsor is excellent. We usually make it there once a week for dinner or breakfast. There are 4 much closer diners that we never visit since our first time at the Americana.