The Diner

Hamburguesería en pleno Soho. Carta típica norteamericana con hamburguesas, perritos, batidos, tortitas…
Pedimos hamburguesa, perrito, patatas fritas y tortitas, la verdad es que todo estaba muy bueno. La hamburguesa jugosa, la ración de patatas abundante y las tortitas muy grandes.
El local es bastante grande aunque la música la ponen un pelin bastante alta, llega a molestar un poco si quieres hablar.
El servicio un poco lento, al menos cuando fuimos nosotros, por culpa de los camareros. Había alguna camarera bastante pasota y se le amontonaban los pedidos en cocina, intentabas llamar a alguien y no se acercaban pero alguno había bastante atento.

I’ve been here a few times now and the food and service is always fantastic!
Hard shakes are a definite must but remember one is enough, with the extra they give you the time I had two I genuinely couldn’t move for a good hour…
My personal favourite is getting waffle fries and Mac and cheese from their sides and putting them together! Food perfection!

Disgusting place… Dirty inside, washrooms with no toilet paper; well it was all over the floor.
But the topper was our seriously rude server. We walked out after getting her attitude. Menu looked lacking too.

Sometimes when you’re traveling you need a little taste of home, something to keep you grounded while traveling, a comfort in the memory of good food. That is where I found myself during my second day in London, and the reason why I chose to go to The Diner.
I checked out the menu online, and it looked authentic, you know truly American. There were numerous versions of hamburgers and hot dogs, basket combo’s of fried proteins with French fries and coleslaw. They even had blue-​plate specials. Now come on who doesn’t remember those from their childhood. Plus, they had a decent selection of vegetarian dishes. I was sold.
Oh, how foolish I was to think I could get real American diner food here in London. The menu may have been authentic, but the food was in the words of many Londoners, rubbish. It was as if they photocopied an American diner menu, but hadn’t a clue as to how to prepare any of the food.
The tomato soup (usually one of my favorites) was loaded with garlic and onions. Blindfolded I would not have known there were tomatoes in the soup. It was watered down, thin, and other than the onion and garlic flavorless.
The grilled cheese sandwich was far worse. It was wrapped in paper (as is usually served here in London with fish and chips), it only helped in holding in the grease of the cheese. The sandwich was thick, heavy, and literally falling apart from the grease. I have no idea what sort of cheese they used, as there wasn’t any cheese flavor, just bread and grease.
I suppose here in London, no one is going to know what true American diner food is like, but let me tell you something, nothing about the place remotely resembles it, except for the menu.
Love from my dog bowl to yours… happy eating.
Shatasdogbowl

Trendy & friendly staff, speedy service, milkshakes worth the price, tasty food. A very good experience, recommended!

This place is so barf, I can’t even.
Im a kind Unilocaler, you know me, but barf barf barfathon.
The drinks were borderline terrible. They were literally NOT meant for human consumption, and the wine was used car fuel with a sprinkle of deception and unemployment blues. Just absolutely preposterous. We didnt try the food, but good on us for not — I dont usually fancy the actual physical action of throwing up, unless Im in a really classy toilet in Mayfair.

The first time I came to The Diner (carnaby street) was for a Sunday brunch with a friend
I got sweet potato pancakes which were great. Never had anything like it before. My friend got a more bog standard eggy breakfast which she enjoyed as well. It is a great location and we sat outside in the sun! Not a bad price including a cocktail.
Next time a group came for dinner and we sat inside. It’s quite dark and loud but the waiters were nice. I got a burger (we all did) and I really thought it was average as a bit dry. Everyone else seemed to enjoy but it wasn’t amazing. With a few beers and sides it became quite pricey and not good value at all. Won’t be coming back for dinner although their hard shakes (alcoholic milkshakes) look good and food wasn’t bad just better value for nicer burgers else where.
Will be coming back to sample the rest of their breakfast menu tho!

I like the location of this Diner. Carnaby Street full of bars, restaurants and shops. Service is good. Its always full but you get a table in 5mins. Diner Fries or Cheese Fries is a cool and delicious side. And I always seem to have the Ceaser Salad. All in all, I will keep coming back.

The Diner is one of those places that feels american to people who have not been in America. That is probably due to the fact they have stuck everything American they could find in the décor and somehow booths have to make it authentic, right?
Despite that I can not say I was disappointed with my visit there. The first time I went was a Saturday night when it was quite busy but my friend let me know that they do alcoholic milkshakes and I’m never one to turn down alcohol and Oreos. Now, you will say that the oreo shake is not one of their ‘hard’ shakes on the menu, but fear not, just ask them to make it so and they will.
Then I thought I should go back during the day and try some of the food. I was quite intrigued by the Californian burger with guacamole and while not being the best burger ever it was pretty decent. Since my friend and I thought that it was very American to get a lot of food we ordered the sweet potato fries, the cheesy fries and the onion rings as sides. Both of the fries were amazing (I absolutely love fries) and the onion rings were all right. I let my other friend in the oreo milkshake secret and she lived it as well and overall we had a pretty good time.
I do want to go back to try the corndogs as I’ve never tried those before but in terms of burgers you can find better ones elsewhere.

The food here was delicious with good sized portions and it wasn’t too pricy. Will definitely go back. The only downside was that we had to wait ages for a table.

This is the kind of place you go to if you want to eat food and drink beer.
Generally if I go to the diner it’s because I want some food, don’t want to wait too long and don’t have any specific cravings (or I’m cravings burgers etc).
They do a bunch of different things, so pretty much anybody will find something they like. They give you loads of food (share chips). They do a great range of drinks (milkshakes are awesome, as is the juniper pale ale).
If you’re in the area and need a refuel I would recommend this place. It’s just a straight forward food place. Nothing fancy, not too expensive, but it does what it does pretty well.
You may have noticed quite a lot of non committal language so far. That’s on purpose. It’s good. It’s not amazing. You might have to queue a little bit (location location location…) and the food is good but it won’t change your life.

This lil diner is right on carnaby road its in a nice location but the food is not as nice…
The atmosphere and service is nice but I just found the burger I had quite dry and not very good it was 8£ plus 3£ for fries so quite expensive for a burger that can be beat by any fast food chain. One good thing was the milkshake that was quite good probably one of the best things on the menu

Love, love, love! The food is so amazing it’s hard to choose what to get. They have milkshakes to die for (and a rather generous portion at that) and yummy pancakes.

Walked in, we were quickly placed in a corner and watched people arriving at a later time being seated before us.
Everything was fine until our food was served. Not only was our ridiculously priced burgers cold but our ridiculously small £5.00 chilli cheese fries were too. Even at £8.00 a burger, fries are not included.
To make things worse, when we received our bill there was a £3.50 service charge added. When I can hands down say that was the worse service I’ve ever had. Basically a lazy group of unprofessional looking 25 year olds moping around. Disgusting.
Just as I was happy to be leaving one of the staff members, as we were stood under the shelter putting our coats on said «I know it’s raining but move out the way»…Not acceptable.

I’ve never eaten here, but my god– the strawberry malt is an experience in itself. I just come here alone sometimes to drink a milkshake to de-​stress myself after shopping on Oxford St.
It’s nice and you can sit outside too.

As an American, this place was great. Food and drinks were all American. The décor was a 50’s inspired theme, but not in the standard white and red color theme. Whoever decorated the joint had an understanding of cool, from vintage pinball back glass displayed in a frame, photographs of vintage neon signs, and a movie theatre marquee mounted above the dining counter all set against a mid-​century brown and aluminum color scheme.
We had a hard time with food in London and so we opted for this place for lunch while strolling Carnaby Street. We were not disappointed. Hot dogs, Mac & Cheese and burgers are the fare but with a American gourmet flare. Drinks are generous and strong and the staff friendly. I would give it 4 stars for the Evel Knievel movie poster alone!

Walking into this diner was like finding a little slice of America in the middle of London! There is limited outdoor seating, which is a shame as we’d have loved to sit outside, but the booths inside are nice enough. The service was great, and apparently the foods were delicious. There weren’t a lot of gluten free options and with my multiple food allergies it appeared there was nothing I could really eat here, however those I was with raved about the cob salad and the burgers.
The shakes were apparently pretty amazing too, so give it a shot (unless you’re intolerant/​allergic to pretty much everything) :D

Yet another mediocre attempt to recreate an American diner by restaurateurs who apparently haven’t been in many. The main issue here was the inconsistency: some things were great, some were terrible. The staff were absolutely bored and disinterested, and bordering on rude.
The food breakdown: Creamy Nut hard shake was fantastic, boozy enough without being too boozy; the side of French toast was fine and used actual maple syrup, though the toast was a bit thin; sweet potato fries were of the pre-​frozen unsalted variety, as expected, but no complaints.
The so-​called Reuben was totally inedible, served on cold white toast (seriously?), sauerkraut right out of the fridge, cold meat, cheese not only didn’t melt but was stiff, horrible salt beef, and of course the whole thing was stone cold. It wasn’t one of those cases of «this isn’t [insert the food it claims it is] but it’s still ok on its own merit», it was the sort of thing you’d expect to eat at a Soviet canteen during particularly lean times.
On the other hand, the Cali burger was perfectly cooked to medium as requested, though it lacked house made guacamole, and came on a decent roll, with the toppings an afterthought. Diner wings were mushy with no hot sauce, but hot sauce was made available at the table. The blue cheese dip they came with was weird, with a foamy texture, and blatantly pre-​packaged; it certainly didn’t taste anything like blue cheese dressing. Freakshow wings have an offensive name but were nicely crisp and served with a good dip.
The whole place was understaffed, and from start to finish the food took over an hour to come, which is sort of ridiculous.
The take-​away message: you’ll find things here that you really like, other things that are really just inedible, and you have to be prepared for poor service and a very long wait. On the other hand, you’re likely to get in without a huge wait for a table on a weekend brunch, so there’s that.

As a student, rarely do I go out to a place I know will be expensive, but as my brother was down in London for a layover I decided to take him to Soho.
This cool, trendy restaurant stuck out amongst the plethora of similar businesses but it’s simple design and great sign pulled us in. The atmosphere is akin to a backstage lounge yet the staff are friendly and approachable even as they are spinning cocktail mixers. My brother ordered pancakes as it was around 11, but as a Leeds-​trained Unilocaler I went for the burger to join the burger quest.
After witnessing the couple beside us who sat down 10 minutes after we did receive and finish their meal I asked our waitress how our meals were doing (accepting that burgers sometimes take longer than the apparently vegan meal out neighbours were eating) and it turned out their had been a printing error in the kitchen. The meals were out within 5 minutes of this and as an apology and goodwill gesture we got the whole experience for free!
To summarise — lovely food, lovely staff, lovely place! Would definitely recommend!

After some cheeky cocktails in Carnaby St, I (understandably) got the munchies. Well where to go for wholesome food? I shall tell you, but in case you’ve already guessed, it was The Diner. Choice made easier by the way since a friend I was with had a burger craving.
Quick service (9pm) we each plumped for an expected cheeseburger and milkshake, splitting some fries. My medium rare burger was actually medium, but I forgave the friendly (if a tad slow) waitress this since it was totally yummy. Sweet potato fries are a must here and cheese skinnies were a good option too.
The triumph of the menu here are the shakes, especially the hard ones. A hard shake, I hear you exclaim? Why yes dear reader, hard in this case means laced with a generous dollop of alcohol. I had a brandy Alexander (an old favourite) which was nicely flavoured with Nutella and chocolate pieces.
Minus top marks here for price (£7 burger is great hut you can get a better burger at better price at Grillshack) but all in all, a definite recommendation. Leaving whilst they were playing ‘Gold Dust’ was the icing note cake — top top however, don’t mosh when full. Lots of burping ensues.

So, you’ll be horrified to know that some of my friends who have lived in London all their life, and they’ve never ventured down Carnaby street. (Oh, the horror) That could be down to two reasons. 1) Clearly, I have far too much time on my hands when I should’ve been studying.
2) I’m secretly a hipster (not so much a secret now…)
So it’s like WE HAD TO GO, I mean there is no choice, I MUST show them a whole new world, like aladdin and jasmine on their magic carpet ride. I mean, it’s SUCH a hard life. (I kid!) So my birthday rolled along and I dragged them along to try out the hard shakes and the burgers.
I’m not going to lie, I never even looked at the food part of the menu. I saw HARD SHAKES and I was already sold. I mean. Bourban and peanut Butter. WIN. and do you know what else is win? They give you a scoop of peanut butter on the side of your milkshake container.
What’s not win. The gherkins were pretty rubbish. they didn’t have a POW that cut through the immense amount of meat. I ordered the arch burger which has a pulled pork topping. (Yes, I’m going through a pulled pork binge these days, AND WHAT?!) The burger started off well, but it didn’t keep me going. I think I’m jaded after burger quest. I left half my burger and just ate off the pulled pork topping. To be fair, the burger was PRETTY ginormous.
I wasn’t wowed by The Diner but it’s a sound 3 stars. And I’m sorry, the gherkins are pretty damn crucial.