The Diner

I’m a little bit obsessed with burgers. Good burgers. So it says a lot that The Diablo burger from The Diner is one of my favourite London burgers. I mean it helps that they’ll cook it rare, I always think it’s a sign of a good quality meat patty that a place will do that. And this is clearly good quality meat (it’s the premium burger on the menu so that is to be expected!). There are so many amazing delicious options at The Diner but this is the one I always seem to go for. My favourite menu items for sure.
Another favourite are the sweet potato fries. I love the sweet potato poutine version, oozing with cheese and smothered in bacon gravy. But a friend introduced me to the garlic version (on the menu as regular fries but can be substituted for sweet potato). Heavenly.
French toast isn’t bad either. Not as sweet as I like it but the bread is good and it’s nice as a brunch dish.
And the alcoholic teas! There’s one with sorbet which is just like a grown up slushy. Amazing.
I think the only dish I haven’t completely enjoyed was the Nutella crodough dessert — it was a little on the greasy side.
Oh, and possibly surprisingly, The Diner is not only great for vegetarians but they also do a kick ass vegan taco bowl!

We were all still feeling a little jaded after our Christmas party on Wednesday (I know it’s Friday… what can I say!) so decided to go out for lunch. The diner looked like it would rock all the boxes to help cure our moods so we rocked in. The place looks great so we started to get a bit excited for the food. The menu is huge so we were finding it hard to pick something as it all sounded amazing. Our waitress came over and we excitedly picked our choices. Those that ordered shakes got their drinks first then about 15mins later we got the soft drinks. We had also ordered some beers but they never turned up. Ok let’s not be too disheartened… we were supposed to get some nachos to nibble on while we waited for the food, but they never arrived. By the time the mains came out about 30mins later we were starving. We all gobbled the food down but in all honesty it was all a bit «meh». Pretty disappointing all round really. crappy service and crappy food.

I like a good American diner theme from time to time and this place pulls it off really well, with comfy booth seating, the music and neon pop art on the walls. I half expected the waitress to come over on roller skates! Instead, it was sadly more of a sleepwalk over and she seemed pretty disinterested for our whole visit. Not that I needed her to strike up meaningless conversation but a little enthusiasm/​warmth/​indication of consciousness would’ve been good!
Usually I can forgive mediocre service if the food is good, but this was a bit of a let-​down too. I was quite excited by the menu which (aside from having boozy milkshakes eek) has a nice amount of choice, especially for two rumbly tummies in need of a good feed. I chose the Californian burger with monterey jack cheese, smashed avocado and their burger sauce. It predictably turned into quite a dripping mess — the avo squelched out the sides quite easily and I’m not sure how fresh it was. The meat itself was medium-​rare pink as I’d asked for but it wasn’t as hot as I would have liked in the middle which made me a bit nervous. Overall I found the whole thing lacking in flavour too. Thank god for the sweet potato fries side order which never disappoints! My mate devoured an Arch burger and added a heart attack with a side of chilli-​cheese fries, emphasis on the cheese. I did quite enjoy my Californian IPA.
It made for a cosy stop on a blustery winter’s eve, though maybe it was the effect of it being a Sunday that the staff seemed almost half asleep?! Whatever the reason, I thought it was a shame that the fun setting and great-​looking menu just didn’t quite carry through into the execution.

Hangover time and what should we eat? Some good old fashioned heavy stuff obviously! So off we went to The Diner for our potential medicine.
The Diner is set amongst a selection of high street favourite chains such as Gourmet Burger, Las Iguanas and The Real Greek. With only 8 locations so far, is does not class as a chain just yet and it does remain quite individual. I have a choice of three near me, Dalston, Shoreditch and Old Spitalfields.
Back to our hangover and a need for a Bloody Mary first and foremost, we tackled the simple menu and ordered up some good stuff. I opted for something a little bit different than a normal burger and went for the Diner Hot Dog. A big frank, sandwiched between Swiss cheese, bacon, sour cream, pickles and a sweet bun. The sweet bun gave it a weird taste for my liking, but all of the other ingredients were lush. Valentina went for Californian Burger, which was 6ox of hamburger, served with Monterery Jack cheese, smashed avocado and Diner burger sauce in a sesame bun. For sides, she had cheesy fries and I had garlic butter fries which were stuff made for heart attacks. However, it was sooooo tasty and I wish I could have eaten it all.
My hot dog was £7.50 and her burger was £8.50, so reasonable priced for good portions. The Bloody Mary was just what the doctor ordered, with the right mix of alcohol and tomato juice.
Overall the food was good, it wasn’t mind blowing and I know Valentina will stand by Patty & Bun as remaining her best ever burger experience. But, if you are in the area shopping and fancy a burger, we would definitely choose this place over Gourmet Burger.

Best place ever if you don’t care about what you eat, and about the customer service (if you can call it that in this restaurant).
I went there to have lunch with two friends and we ordered two burgers and one salad, with fries while we wait for the food. After the fries and the drinks came, we had to wait around 40 minustes for the food, even when the restaurant was far away from being full. Food was correct, not the best burger I have eaten, but was ok. We asked for the bill, and after they bring it, we had to wait again around 20 minutes till the waiters stop joking and talking in one corner of the branch and they realize we were waiting for them to pay. I won’t visit one of their rest again.

Horrible experience, will not be back. Popped in for a little snack and went for the queso and tortilla chips. Food came out quickly, but after one bite I decided it was inedible. Thick, grainy, strange consistency and there was almost a sweet after taste — this is nothing like what a queso dip should be! It was gelatinous. I pushed it to the other end of the table and waited to see if server would check back to see how I was getting on. She never did. I had to pull her aside to tell her it was inedible/​strange and that I couldn’t take more than one bite. She asked if I wanted the bill. I was half expecting her to perhaps offer something else or give me a discount or something seeing as I left it all on plate. No such luck. I paid (including the automatically gratuity) and left. Never going back.

The burger was great, totally good.
The mac and cheese was appallingly bad. It was literally rigatoni noodles with some cheese congealed into a single layer (like a flat patty) on top. It makes me wonder whether the cook there is actually familiar with mac & cheese or if (s)he was guessing.
This is my first Unilocal review ever, I was so blown away by how bad the mac and cheese was that I wanted to warn other people not to order it.
The burger was good though, I recommend that a lot

Bizarrely rude customer service. Avoid this branch.
Food is great but the poor customer experience unfortunately ruins the whole atmosphere.
The male manager at this branch is appalling.

Really disappointing breakfast. The milk we were served with our coffee was off, so we asked them to replace it. They came back with another jug of rancid milk. Third time lucky, but by that point we’d almost finished our meal anyway. Oh, and the guacamole we were served had a fragment of avocado stone in it. We’re not planning a return visit any time soon.

Nothing special really. I had a dry burger and some chilli cheese fries that tasted like they had been made a couple of days before. Good milkshakes, though.

Meeting friends for a drink around the Liverpool Street Station area proved impossible on a Friday after work. Every bar in the area was packed and overflowing onto the street. We wandered over to Old Spitalfield’s Market and found a comfy booth at The Diner. The service was friendly and the menu was drool-​inducing. We just got drinks (totally recommend the alcoholic milkshakes), but I’ll be returning for the burgers and chicken wings.

This is an American style diner with an American style menu to match. The décor is what you’d expect to find in an old, road-​side diner.
We just popped in for a drink after work on a Friday because we didn’t want to have to shout to hear ourselves heard in a busy, loud pub. We got a booth and our drinks… an ale (they have quite an extensive beer menu), a cocktail and a cherry coke. I longed for one of their amazing sounding milkshakes but alas the lactose intolerance prevents me from such joys!
Later on there was a queue for tables so it does get quite busy. We weren’t forced out, the service was friendly. We saw a lot of chicken wings and burgers going past so I think they’re among the most popular on the menu! Would like to check out the food next time!

I’d had cocktails at The Diner previously which were fabulous, so I was excited to come back for the American style food. My friend and I came for lunch a month or two ago, and quite frankly, it was a disaster. The order didn’t go through, so we were waiting an hour for our food. Drinks weren’t offered during that time frame either. When food actually did arrive, some items were freezing cold, and we were missing some side dishes which then came even later than everything else.
However, the food we did have (especially the tater tots, when actually piping hot) were really good. Also a big nod to the vanilla milkshake here (it’s about 10,000 calories, so it tastes awesome).
The reason this place gets a 3* from me (not a miserable 1*) is that the manager dealt with our bad experience really well. She came over, unwarranted, and apologised profusely about what had happened. She didn’t make excuses, but just told us we weren’t paying a penny for anything. She seemed really genuine, and upset we’d had a bad meal. For me, quite frankly, customer service means a lot in this world. For that reason (along with the milkshake) I think I’d chance this place again.

The Diner, as the name suggests, has been arranged to look like an American diner (like the one you see in American movies).
Perfect restaurant arrangement to facilitate friends gatherings as the seating style allows everyone at the table to be able to talk to one another. From what I remember 6 people at the table should have enough space. Some say it’s also the best place to cure hangovers. Can’t comment on that though.
When it comes to American cuisine (that is from the USA) it’s not something I’d go for on regular basis and I have always been a bit sceptical about it but I must admit the Diner serves excellent burgers. And so far it is the only place that comes to my mind when I think of a quality burger meal.
Sadly, and probably because wine does not usually go with a burger anyway, although it is possible to order wine at the Diner — I would not do that. Unless you fancy drinking it from a whiskey glass ;) Nope, no wine glasses. The wine is however properly chilled although table wine only.
Staff has been very attentive, so well done!

As an American expat in London, I’ve finally found authentic American pancakes in The Diner. The restaurant’s retro-​inspired interior is welcoming and the menu is packed with favourites from my homeland — pancakes, chicken and waffles, hot dogs, shakes, etc.
After sampling the menu from at least 5 visits, I can confirm that The Diner’s pancakes and bloody marys are top notch. Other breakfast foods, however, fall a little flat. The bacon is a bit soft, the heuvos rancheros is bland, and the waffles don’t impress. Despite its shortcomings, The Diner is still a solid bet for decent American food.

I went there and they have no burgers, no hot dogs so I asked for chicken and waffle 15 minutes later they came back to say the waffle machine broke. I guess they have nothing on the kitchen. My last order I chose corned beef hash with potato and eggs. I also ordered tater tots with cheese. None of them are good, the tater tots are over cooked almost burnt, the corn beef hash is pretty nasty. The only reason why I give this place two stars is because the waiter is very nice and they do have wifi.

First off I’d like to say that the waitress who served my boyfriend and I was so freaking RUDE. She was patronising and rudely poked fun at me for asking questions about the menu. The woman kicked up a «sarcastic» fuss when I asked about iced teas, and her reaction came off as rude, not funny. At the end of our meal, my boyfriend and I were just chatting and the waitress interrupted us by saying «You’ll be wanting your bill now, right?» To be frank, we weren’t really ready and we were enjoying our conversation. If she wanted us to hurry out, there are definitely nicer ways of telling us.
The food was pretty good. I had the Hawaiian Burger with a side salad. Both were tasty but next time I think I’ll ask for the salad dressing on the side.
The food at this location was great, but the service spoiled our night out. We’ll be going to a different Diner next time.

My friend and I went here on a whim before going to a comedy night in Shoreditch and weren’t disappointed, infact we were pleasantly surprised — and left feeling stuffed!
I had the diner dog (one of the types of hot dog on offer) which was lovely and possibly the biggest fattest full to the brim hotdogs I’ve ever encountered! I also had cheesy fries, which were lovely but I was half defeated with these as the diner dog was so filling. My friend ordered ribs and he loved them too. We both ordered espresso martinis to drink and they were delicious.
From start to finish, the staff were friendly, bubbly, polite and efficient.
Would definitely return.

My stomach is seriously questioning the credibility of my eyes after the amount of food that has just been ordered and laid out in front of us.
There is one thing that can be said about the diner and that is, they provide hearty portions which is great considering the slightly inflated price of food here.
I had the diablo burger which is a classic spicy burger with plenty of flavour, however it is certainly not up there in my best burgers list as the meat was pretty greasy. We also shared a large portion of chicken wings, which again, were not all that great and certainly won’t see me seeking them out again.
Overall I would say that what we have here is a run of the mill TGI Fridays with calorific food for those that just want a good stuffing.

It took three attempts to convince myself to Diner. Randomly popping in once their venue in Curtain Rd. and seeing £12 shakes put me off for a good while. So a year on I reluctantly spent a team lunch there expecting hyper high prices for burgers and fries. Prices were average, my veggie burger wasn’t bad, but not the best I ever had for sure.
Having discovered only yesterday their new venue in Spitalfields I gave it another, third go. Being already full with my lunch, I ordered coconut milk shake that costs… £4.5 (how on Earth could I possibly see£12 instead of 5 before, I don’t know, but I’m glad I had a chance to correct this info) and it was absolutely divine! The other ones on the menu, especially the oreo and snickers ones look amazingly tasty too and if I pass by outside office hours next time, I’m definitely gonna try the alcoholic versions. Enjoying my post lunch shake with a group of colleagues, despite being vegetarian, I can only say, the meaty food looked great. If you’re not into burgers, you can also order a salad or a breakfast (French toasts for example) — all day. Everyone enjoyed their meal and the buzzing environment and efficient and cute waiters: P Despite a great range of food choices around Spitalfields the place was full, which I guess only proves it’s worth visiting.