Ed's Easy Diner (Soho)

Extremely over-priced; the quality of the food was barely passable, The bun was dry, the veggie burger very thin and insubstantial, and the salad consisted of a mealy slice of tomato, a lettuce leaf so big relative to the burger that I could taste it more than anything else and slice of pickle.

Tthe 'Atomic Fries' that cost around £4, were actually chips with a selection of sauces, all of which were either bland (guacamole) or unpleasant tasting (BBQ and jalapeno jelly). Worst of all, it was not spicy! There was no heat whatsoever. The jalapeno jelly was too sweet and lacking in flavour, but it tastes nothing like chilli and had no heat.

The milkshake I had was quite tasty, but certainly not worth the money.

In total my meal cost £15. A beer and a burger meal in a Wetherspoons costs about a third of that and is genuinely much better quality. I am not exaggerating.

The service was fine considering how busy it was. The atmosphere was nothing to speak of. The constant flow of overly familiar 50s pop hits was a bit grating in my opinion, but I suppose it may be a bit rich to go to an imitation 50s diner and complain about that.

If it were a budget dining option, the above might be just about be acceptable. But their exorbitant prices? AVOID.
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Tom Caudwell
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Saturday, March 09, 2013

I went here at around 6pm and was nothing but impressed. While the place is very small, we were only waiting 4-5 minutes for a space and when we were seated the staff were helpful and quick to serve. The food was fantastic, it isn't fine dining, but it isn't supposed to be, it's retro American fast-food done very well. The atmosphere is fantastic, what they've created feels like a set from Back to the Future, yet they haven't used this novelty factor to excuse bad food. When the bill arrived we were both surprised at the great price (just over £20 for 2x burger and chips 1x onion rings and 4 milkshakes). To take full advantage of the place you can sign up to their members club free of charge on the website which gives you access to quite a few good promotions. Be warned though, this particular restaurant is very small and I'd imagine that if there are more than 2 of you hoping for a seat you'll be waiting quite a while at peak time!
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Joel
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, March 06, 2013

I went there last night before going to see a show in the West End with my girlfriend and had a terrible eating experience. I have very happy memories of visiting Ed's when I was younger and in particular remembered the good quality of burger and friendliness of the staff. Unfortunately this seems to have drastically changed as not only was the food awful but the waiters were rude. Having being told to 'wait my turn' by the waiter I tried to speak to after waiting 15 minutes to order (having had to ask another table if we could borrow their menus) my girlfriend and I were presented with burgers that were dry and over cooked with a watery salad, a stale bun and the smallest piece of cheese I have ever seen on top of it. I am a pretty easy going guy and have never written a review of a restuarant however I felt compelled to due to the level of disappointment I experienced. I had told my girlfriend how great the food use to be here and was frankly embarrassed. Such a shame to see such a great restaurant fall so far.
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2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, February 28, 2013

My boyfriend and I were huge fans of Ed's Dinner (Moor St Soho Branch) having eaten there a few times and always coming away with nothing but praise for the place. That was until we recently, it's been about a year since we last visited, when last night our fond memories and hungry tummies compelled us to leave a party ealry to dine there.

I dont think we have ever been so disappointed about a meal. The service left a lot to be desired, this visit too. Both working in this industry ourselves we can sympathise how sometimes things just go wrong and you have a bad shift, working with the public especially hungry ones is draining. We will always overlook service if the food is what it should be.

BUT. My burger turned up lukewarm, my chese barely melted, the bun in which was grossly oversized and drowned the contents was dry and cheap. And the burger, was barely cooked medium rare and more over cooked and it was cheap terrible tasting meat with no flavour and to be honest tasted like those frozen burgers you buy at the supermarket.

Sides wise, we had the atomic onion rings and sweet potato fries which were the saving grace as we barely touched our burgers we were able to gorge on these.

And to add insult to injury the oily smell of cheap meat had managed to penetrate our clothes in the short time we were there for, so we were not only left with a sour taste in our mouth but a lingering stale stench on our persons.

We understand the concept of ED's, we don't have a problem with their prices and we are not comparing the food to other burger restaurants/ diners. We are comparing this significant decline in standards to the high standard they had set themselves and we had come to love.

Disappointed doesnt quite cover it.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Saturday, November 03, 2012

I loved eds diner my mum n step dad took me and I am defo going to disagree with all u haters ! It is ment to be relaxed food not gourmet rubbish and I would recommend this restorant to anyone and also I have been told by others it's the best, oh and the staff are wonderful and very very helpful and polite !!!
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Lauren
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 30, 2012

I went to the Soho Ed's Diner with my wife and three children for lunch prior to going to see a show in the West End. My wife had recommended it, she was originally from London, had a nostalgic feeling for the place, and wanted the children to experience a "proper" American diner (albeit a British one). I have to say that the experience was not good. The problems seemed to start with the milkshake order. There was a changing of minds about the milkshakes, there are five of us and kids being kids that is not surprising. It seems that as soon as the order is keyed into the machine that waitress has, it is sent to the milkshake station and the person operating it, it seems, started to produce the shakes while this changing of minds was going on. Upshot of this was the milkshake operator got cross, was rude, and stormed across to tell us us off for wasting milkshakes. Actually the operator (who apparently was the manager!) need not have wasted anything as the changing of orders reflected a desire for a larger milkshake rather than change of flavours. After picking our jaws up from the counter and complaining to the waitress who was only reasonably apologetic, that there was no need for that behaviour from the staff, I am surprised we did not walk out. Probably too shocked. Unfortunately the experience rather put us off our lunch and certainly spoilt our experience. We will NOT be returning. I understand the reason for the other poor reviews for this particular Ed's Diner now, in summary our experience was; rude staff, mediocre food, poor value for money. Shakes were OK though!
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1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Went to Ed's Diner once but not again, bland food and poor service which cost way more than it was worth.

Nice atmosphere but I'm afraid that's all it has going for it.

The food overall was very sub-standard for the prices they are asking. Chips were terrible and burgers were very plain, not to mention the sight of a person behind the counter handling a burger without gloves.. would definitely be better off going to a Gourmet Burger Kitchen or Byron in that area.

Poor service from waitresses. When we finally got the waitress to come to our table to ask for refills we were told we weren't allowed them because we were apparently 'sharing drinks' just because two out of the four of us did not order a drink! I find that outrageous!

Very very poor.
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Lawrence
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Saturday, April 21, 2012

tried to get in eds diner moor st soho it was just me and my wife the waiter came up to us and i said could we sit by the window he said no i asked why not he said they are for seating four people he said we could wait 5-10mins for a table for two i said well why cant we take the table by window the waiter said no its for four people we were the only ones waiting so i could not see why we could not sit there surely it would have been better to have two people sitting there than nobody at all he said do you want to wait i said no so he held the door open for us to leave i supose i should have asked for the manager but i could not be bothered to speak to anyone anymore i just wanted to get something to eat and drink good old burger king no problem there and as for eds diner marks out of ten for customer relations a big zero cant comment on your food because we never got that far and we will never know because i we would not come back again.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Just visited soho ed's, excellant service, happy staff and wonderful milkshake and atmosphere. If you want a big burger go to mcdonalds and let them cook it in a microwave for you. ED's food is cooked in front of you eyes if you wish. what more could you ask except maybe a bit of a price reduction
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Paul
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Recently I was working in Soho and, on impulse, decided to have lunch at Ed's.

I hadn't been there in over ten years, and I remembered they used to serve a decent burger.

This time, I decided to go for a hot dog instead: a very bad decision.

A "real" us hot dog is made from beef, and has a "snappy" skin to it: I'm sure any of you who tried one in New York will know what I mean.

Ed's dogs are in no way related to their American counterparts: basically you will be served with a big pork frankfurter in a bun, and you will be charged way over it what it is worth.

Service was indifferent, by bored looking staff, and though the premises look the part, the food does not rise to the occasion.

I feel sorry for the couple who have posted a review were they stated that they came to London especially to dine at Ed's.

Do yourself a favour and walk on by...
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Jools
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Monday, September 12, 2011