The Diner (Soho)

I went to the Diner on Carnaby street last week and had a great time. Hot staff, tasty breakfasts and pound for pound London's best shakes mean I have to get my Diner fix when I'm shopping in the West End.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Anyone who has ever been to New York knows the joy of finding a great neighbourhood diner to use during your stay . Long leisurely breakfasts with free coffee refills, stacks of light fluffy pancakes with that strange white butter and maple syrup. Hearty brunches and ultra thick milkshakes to set you up for a day of pounding the avenues and a great laid back atmosphere any time of the day.. It was only natural that someone would want to bring a slice of the American diner dream back to London.

Unfortunately this isn't it.

Sloppy, SLOW and often lackadaisical service (once watched while a waitress dropped bits of different orders all over the place four or five times in a row - she had an interesting haircut though) is coupled with food that bears little relation to the iconic American diner staples. Pancakes are flabby, milkshakes are made with cheap ingredients and the portion sizes get smaller with the passage of time.

Shame because the idea could be executed so well - maybe the team behind Busaba and Princi could try an authentic New York diner to show how its done?

Its a case of lost in translation here.
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Frank Enfurter
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, February 25, 2010

I visited The Diner in Ganton Street, off Carnaby Street, on Sunday 27 September 2009. It was not a busy evening but the service was very slow. This was not the fault of the one waiter there on duty, who appeared to be new and seemed to be struggling. He was pleasant enough and obliging, when you could catch his attention. Later on the girl serving at the bar called for the Manageress, who was nowhere to be seen iat the beginning, to lend a hand. That was half an hour after we had sat down.

Everything was a disaster. We were told there were no more hot dogs. Only two or the three fries we had ordered were delivered. The milkshakes were thin and watery. By the way the drinks came after the food arrived. The bill was wrong and had to be corrected three times. On top of all this, the toilet was absolutely filthy, with water and toilet paper strewn all over the floor.

I would not have gone there except the children wanted burgers/ hot dogs. However, in the end even they said that they would not want to go to The Diner again. My advice would be to avoid this place like the plague. Go to Cha Cha Moon across the road and have a cheaper and better meal in cleaner and brighter premises with service that is miles ahead.
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MLM
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, October 01, 2009

Had breakfast this morning. The place has a classic middle-america greasy spoon look and they have got the decor and feel down right.

However, that is about all this place has going for it. This place wouldn't last two weeks in the states. The waitresses are unhelpful and slow, the food is of VERY poor quality and premises are not especially clean.

I ordered pancakes, homefries and fresh OJ. The pancakes themselves were hardily edible (funny smell and taste) with no butter and only a tiny portion of imitation maple syrup for the entire stack of 5. The homefries were even worse. Tasted as though they had been fried at one point (possibly days ago) then reheated to serve. The fresh OJ, was anything but fresh, more like from concentrate supermarket brand.

My girlfriend ordered the western eggs. They weren't great by a long shot. Pretty dry and bland, but at least edible. Difficult to screw up eggs and with enough ketchup and tabasco anything is edible. Anyhow, we wound up splitting her order and leaving most of mine.

To top it off we were charged a 12.5% service fee. Back home (in the states) I would have complained and got a free meal (or left without paying). Here I doubt I that approach gets you far. Which is why places as shocking as this continue to survive.

Anyhow, avoid for breakfast at all costs. This place might be capable of doing a milkshake and burger, but judging from the other reviews on this site I wouldn't risk that either.
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Mike Geddes
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Saturday, February 28, 2009