Hi there, Diner Nationals! We hope your Halloween was enjoyable and that you’re excited for the fall weather. Joe and I sat out for the trick-or-treaters and tried something different with the left over snack cakes from our Halloween party and put them out for the parents. Tell you what…the parent snacks were the HIT of trick-or-treating. We had fewer than expected trick-or-treaters to the dismay of the husband. His only consolation is that the parents will remember that our house has the parent snacks and will spread the word!
Anyway…this past week found us visiting our church bazaar in Absecon. There were so many amazing things being auctioned off! Lenox, train sets, tricycles, a mink coat, gift certificates and more. There were vendors and baked goodies but the mister and I needed FOOD. With only a little bit of time in between enjoying the bazaar and waiting to help clean up, a quick trip up New Jersey avenue found us in the parking lot of the Phoenix Diner.
Upon entry, we walked through a shallow foyer and into the front of the diner. Everything had a high gloss finish but there was not a smudge in sight. It was impressive. The diner is separated into two sides. To the left was a full dining room, and to the right was the diner area with more booths and the counter. Separating them were the restrooms and hostess/cashier station.
There was a pregnant pause as we waited for someone to seat us. Finally, I ventured a little farther into the restaurant to view the white board that had the specials and spied a hostess/cashier on her phone in my periphery. She looked up and asked if we needed to be seated. Ummm….yes, please?
We followed her to the right side of the restaurant as she asked us over her shoulder if we wanted a table or a booth. We requested a booth. We were handed our menus and was assured a server would be right with us. I said, “Thank you very much” and with a wave of her hand as she was turning away, she responded, “Naw, you good”. I decided to wait and see how the server greeted us to determine whether or not we were going to excuse ourselves and just hit one of the many pizza joints on the same street.
Our server appeared after a moment to take our drink order. We asked for our coffees and a few more minutes to peruse. Joe quickly decided on the Godfather Omelet while I went back and forth between French toast and a regular egg plate. After asking for just ONE more moment, I just settled on my egg plate. Two eggs, over medium with rye toast and potatoes. The waitress was mildly curt but you almost expect it with a diner pace. Our waitress seemed to be handling more than half the room on her own. The decision was made to stay.
We placed our orders and sat back to observe the surroundings. This was another diner with a restaurant feel. There were mini chandeliers over each table and the color scheme was Royal Blue with a complementary neutral pattern. I thought it worked very well. It had a higher end look to it without being garish.
Our food arrived and smelled delicious! Ironically, it was plated like diner food for sitting in a joint with chandeliers everywhere. No matter, we dug in.
Me first: The eggs were a tiny bit overdone, but not enough to interfere with my meal. It was good and exactly what I ordered. There wasn’t anything different than any other egg plate, but that’s a good thing. I love a diner that can just make what you want. You don’t always want the secret sauce or an extraordinary flair. You just want what you want and you want it to taste good. HUGE points for the buttered toast. Honestly, one of my biggest pet peeves is diners that treat butter like it’s on the ration list . My toast was generously buttered and I was a happy guest.
Joe had the highly involved Godfather omelet. Pepperoni, salami, hot peppers, sausage and onions, all wrapped up in three fluffy eggs. He opted to add mozzarella cheese for a $1 upcharge. It also came with potatoes and toast, with Joe opting for Rye. He dug in and made that face where you’re not sure if he’s rolling his eyes or deeply enjoying something. It was definitely the latter. In fact, the only thing that would have made it better would have if Michael Corleone was sitting across from him instead of me. Yeah…that good.
We got one refill on our coffees and simply enjoyed our meal in relative silence, save for the audible expressions of satisfaction from our meal. Our time wound down and we signaled our waitress to close us out.
We looked at our check and were shocked at how little we spent. Again, chandelier joint with diner prices. We left our tip in cash and headed to the register. We waited for the hostess/cashier to finish sending her text message, paid our bill and headed back to the church.
All in all, we had a good time. Despite being located between a busy town road (New Jersey Ave) and Route 30, there also wasn’t a lot of ambient traffic noise in the restaurant. That’s nice to be able to sit near a window and still enjoy the conversation of your dining company.
Well, another one checked off for the books! Until next time, Happy Eating!
Diner Nation 