salad – FueledByLOLZ

Sherban’s Diner

Last week, the owner of New Jersey and I met up at the Sherban Diner in South Plainfield. We’ve both been to most of the diners in Somerset and Middlesex Counties, so Sherban’s was one of the few we haven’t been too.

We met up around 6 pm on a weekday. There were only a few people in the restaurant.

Her website, New Jersey Isn’t Boring, has opened my eyes to so many different things the state has to offer. If you ever venture off of the turnpike, I highly suggest you check out her website.

Atmosphere: B
Sherban’s Diner has an older atmosphere too it. Not in the traditional old dining car way but it is in an older building with an older design to it. It was clean, and there was nothing bad about it, but it could use a remodel. It reminded me of a casual “mom and pop” restaurant.

Service: C
When we arrived at Sherban’s, there were only three other parties in the restaurant. After waiting several minutes for a waitress to come over, a waitress asked if anyone had helped us. We said no, and she said she guessed she would do it. She didn’t come around often, and I felt as if I was begging for drink refills. She also never asked if we wanted dessert and assumed we did not. It took another 10 minutes for dessert.

Coffee: B
There was nothing unique about the coffee flavor. I did like the cute tea mugs they used.

Food: C
When I arrived at Sherban’s Diner, I wasn’t that hungry. They had several options. I knew the “cucumber salad” was one of their signature dishes, so I ordered it, and honestly, there was nothing interesting about it. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t unique or interesting.

I also ordered the “famous” Greek Salad with chicken. The salad didn’t come with anything unusual. I don’t know why the menu states it is as: famous. It was one of the most boring salads I’ve had. Plus, they didn’t give any pita bread with the salad. It might be the first Greek salad without pita I’ve had.

I ordered the Greek bread as a side which was honestly my favorite part of the meal.

Dessert: C
I ordered the Coconut cake as a dessert to go. The actual cake was dry, but the whipped cream frosting was good. The shredded coconut was overpowering. The cake was decent but once again, it wasn’t that unusual.

Price: $$$
For my cucumber salad, Greek salad, bread, cake, and coffee the cost was $25. Honestly, it wasn’t worth the price at all. Something I found entertaining, is they charged 25 cents for a to go box.

I’ve never been charged for a to go box before. Was the price worth the meal? No.

Summary/Would I come back?
Sherbans Diner wasn’t anything to write home about. It wasn’t terrible, and everything was edible. However, it isn’t somewhere I would go out of my way to go too. In fact, personally, I probably won’t be back. You have to take the good with the bad, though.

I had a great time catching up which was the important part to begin with…You can see Cyd’s review here.

Summary:
Atmosphere: B
Coffee: B
Service: C
Food: C
Dessert: C

Overall:C
Questions for you:
Have you ever been charged for a to go box?
Do you like coconut cake?

Time to Eat Diner

A few weeks ago, Caitlin and I met at the Time to Eat Diner. The Time to Eat Diner has been on my to-do list for a while. I’ve heard it’s good plus who can argue with that name? Out of all of the names, “Time to Eat” is in the top.

When in doubt, I will close my eyes. But don't worry, Chelsea looks great — When in doubt, I will close my eyes. But don’t worry, Caitlin looks great

Atmosphere: A
The Time to Eat Diner is located in Bridgewater, NJ after a semi-confusing roundabout. It’s modern, clean and has been plenty of parking.

The inside is spacious with plenty of seating. You walk in next to a large bakery case. It’s clean as well which surprisingly has been an issue lately. We were lucky to sit in a booth towards the front.

Coffee: A
The coffee was great and had plenty of whipped cream. The only thing missing was more coffee.

Service: B
The waitress was friendly, and the food was brought out quickly. It might have been the fastest I’ve ever received food.

Food: B
It was exceptionally hot that day, and I was craving something cold. I had only run half an hour but I sweat so much, and I didn’t want any hot food. I ordered a Mediterranean salad.

Originally I wanted salmon, but they informed me they couldn’t do that, and so I stuck with the chicken. When the salad came out, I was confused about whether it was chicken or salmon. Both Caitlin and I stared at the chicken trying to figure it out: was it chicken? Was it fish?

It was the fishiest looking chicken I’ve ever seen. That being said the salad was filling, and there was plenty of chicken. When I ate it, it tasted normal, and I have no complaints. I wish there were more mixed greens, but the salad was good.

Cost: $$
For my salad and coffee, the cost was $15. It was more expensive for the amount of food, but it was a good meal.

Summary/Would I come back?

I liked the Time to Eat Diner. The meal was good, and there were plenty options. It wasn’t the best diner, but it wasn’t the worst either. It as odd they couldn’t add salmon, but that’s how it goes.

Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Coffee: A
Food: B
Cost: $10-20

Overall: A

Question for you: What’s the restaurant with the coolest name you’ve been too?

Landmark Diner

It’s funny; I swore I had been to the Landmark Diner before. It looked so familiar, but I had possibly just driven by a few times. Last month, I was lucky to meet Christine at the Landmark Diner. Before our meet up, we decided I had been there already, it was no big deal. Going to a diner twice is hardly stressful.

Atmosphere: A
The Landmark Diner has a modern and clean exterior. While it’s not metallic or shiny, it’s a welcoming building. The inside is spacious with a full bar, plenty of booths and tables. Thankfully, you don’t feel as if you’re sitting on top of anyone.

Service: A
The waitress was extremely friendly and refilled our coffee and beverages several times. Plus the food came out quickly, so I have no complaints about that.

Coffee: A
The Landmark Diner has a specialized espresso machine, so each cup was brewed to perfection. The waitress also added plenty of whipped cream. I think there was more whipped cream than coffee. So each cup of coffee had more whipped cream and was made from an espresso machine. Works for me!

Food: A
The Landmark Diner has everything you could hope in a diner. Some of the menu reminds me more a bistro which adds a unique touch. There are more sandwhich, salad and soup options. Originally I planned to order the Gyro wrap, but they had a “beet and goat cheese” salad on their specials, and I couldn’t resist. Beets are one of my favorite foods.

The beets, goat cheese, and arugula salad was delicious and fresh. It was one of the best salads I’ve had in a while, and there was plenty of salmon. It was not the traditional white lettuce style salad you might expect from a diner.

Dessert: A
Since it was a special, I also received a dessert and chose bread pudding. I liked the bread pudding crust, and it was great. I have no complaints.

Landmark Diner bread pudding — No shortage of whipped cream…

Cost: $
For my coffee and lunch special, it was $16. For a beverage, soup, entree and dessert that’s one of the best values I’ve had.

Overall thoughts/Summary:
Everything about the Landmark diner was good. The food was delicious and fresh; the service was friendly, and the coffee was hot. It’s in the top 10 of my favorite diners. I’ll be back soon.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Service: A
Food: A
Dessert: A
Cost: $8-15
Overall: A

Questions for you:
Do you like beets?
What’s your favorite pudding?
Bread pudding or pistachio for me.

Millstone Diner

A few weeks ago, the famous owner of New Jersey Isn’t Boring, and I decided to meet at another diner. We’ve reviewed several diners together, and she is the only one who likes NJ diners as much as I do. Although she reviews everything related to New Jersey from diners to food trucks and ice cream. If you are looking for something fun to do in NJ, I highly suggest checking her website out.

Atmosphere: A
Once arriving at the Millstone Diner, we felt extremely underdressed. The Millstone diner is new, and it’s clear the diner hasn’t always been a diner. If the restaurant didn’t have the name “diner”, I wouldn’t even consider it as one. It’s upscale, modern and to feel undressed at a diner is a unique experience.

If the chandelier in the bathroom doesn’t give you a clue how fancy the restaurant was, I don’t know what does. That being said the Millstone Diner is an excellent restaurant. It has a beautiful atmosphere, just no diner vibe at all.

Coffee: A
The whipped cream is homemade, and they have their full coffee station with plenty of syrups. It was one of the best coffees I’ve had.

Service: A
The server was extremely friendly. He was a personable person and made jokes. He refilled the beverages and made conversation. The food came out quickly and I have no complaints.

Food: A
When I found out the diner used to be a fancy Italian restaurant everything clicked. The Italian aspect hasn’t been lost, and the menu reflects the old restaurant.

There is pizza, pasta, salads and then at the end of the menu “all day breakfast”. I decided to order the Greek Salad. I saw another table have it and it, looked great.

Our meals came with garlic knots and soup. I liked the garlic knot basket, and it was always replenished…

The Greek Salad was everything I expected from a more fancy and upscale restaurant. It was delicious, a large portion and the salmon was good. The food was fresh (read the lettuce was green) and that it came with everything a Greek salad should. My favorite aspects including pita bread, anchovies, and grape leaves weren’t missing.

Cost: $$
For my salad and coffee, the cost was $21. It’s a more expensive meal but the quality of the meal was high.

Overall Thoughts/Summary:
I liked the Millstone Diner a lot. However, I struggle with calling it a diner. It’s a much more upscale and modern restaurant. I do like it and will be back.

Something I found interesting was there was no sign of dessert. The dessert case in the front was empty, and the waiter made no mention for dessert.

Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Coffee: A
Food: A
Price: $15-25
Overall: A, however, it’s not a typical diner

Questions for you:
Do you like Garlic bread?
Have you ever been to a diner with an identity crisis?

Park West Diner

Park West Diner, Little Falls, NJ

According to here, the Park West Diner is ranked to have one of the best entree salads in the state. A diner ranked with restaurants to have a good salad?

For a diner to have the BEST salads is a tremendous feat. As most people know, for the first several diner reviews, I opted to review a salad and red velvet cake. I thought it was easier to compare the differences…eventually, I realized that got boring.

Atmosphere: A
The Park West Diner is located right off the main road in a shopping center. It’s one of the bigger diners I’ve seen, and it’s hard to miss.

The outside is metallic silver and red while the inside is typical of a diner. It’s got a shiny bar, red booths, and plenty of space.

Service: C
While the waitress was friendly, she didn’t come around often. There were five parties in the diner, and it took a long time for the food to come out. It was one of the slowest waits; we’ve had in a while. I was disappointed.

Coffee: A
The coffee tasted great. I can appreciate a diner with their own logo mugs and the coffee was boiling. I wish it were refilled more but other than that; it was great coffee.

Food: B
As mentioned, the Park West is well known for their salads. Over 30% of their business is from salads! That is unusual for any restaurant, let alone a diner. The Park West Diner serves typical fair but since they specialize in salads I decided to revisit a Greek salad. I can’t remember the last time I had a salad at a diner, perhaps a few months ago at the Colonial Diner with Christine?

An interesting aspect of the Park West Diner was that they included a chickpea salad with every table. Each table received a breadbasket as well as their signature chickpea salad.

I ordered the large Greek salad with salmon. For a diner known for their salads, I wasn’t impressed. The salad wasn’t unusual or out of the ordinary. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the best.

To be honest, I regretted getting it. The Greek salad had block feta, tomatoes, onions, grape leaves, and olives. The lettuce was watery and tasteless, and the salad was small to be considered the “large portion.” I wondered if they made a mistake and gave me the small salad until the waitress said: “isn’t that salad huge”? They forgot the dressing as well, so I had to wait a while for that.

I ordered salmon on top which saved the salad.

It wasn’t a bad meal, but it wasn’t a meal I would consider “the best” of anything. I’ve had better diner salads: meaning more salad and higher quality ingredients.

Cost: $
For my coffee and salad with salmon, the cost was $18. Not the most expensive salad I’ve had, but it wasn’t cheap either. The quality wasn’t there for the cost of salad.

Would I come back/Summary:

Honestly, I was disappointed. If I do come back, I would order something else next time I’m in the area. It wasn’t terrible, but the service and food make the Park West Diner in the middle or bottom of the diner pack. The chickpea appetizer was my favorite part of the meal and I do appreciate each meal comes with that!

However, with over 200 diners in New Jersey, it’s not a diner I would have seak out.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Service: C
Coffee: A
Food: B
Cost: $10-20
Overall: B

Questions for you:
When was the last time you were let down?
What Is your favorite restaurant coffee mug?

Colonial Diner

Last week, Christine met at the Colonial Diner. We’ve been on opposite schedules lately, so I haven’t seen her in a couple of months. After accidently agreeing to meet at a diner that actually closed a year ago, we discovered the Colonial Diner. This Colonial Diner isn’t too be confused with the Colonial Diner in Woodbury, NJ. In case you wondered, there are just as many Colonial Diners as Brunswicks in New Jersey.

Atmosphere: A

The outside of the Colonial Diner is cobblestone with a good sized parking lot. The inside of the Colonial Diner is a large room with tables, a long bar as well as a salad bar. It’s clean, and there is plenty of space, so no one is sitting on top of each other. The diner feels more like a bistro than a diner. I like bistros too, but it’s definitely not that retro themed diner you picture from the movies.

Service: B

I waited to be seated for a few minutes until the hostess realized I was dining in. It wasn’t crowded, but she sat me in the back which meant I couldn’t see when Christine arrived. The waitress was friendly and refilled our beverages a few times.

Coffee: A

The coffee was one of my favorite diner coffees so far. It was bitter and bold. The whipped cream was homemade which is always a win. There were plenty of refills too.

Food: A

The Colonial Diner has many different food options but what surprised me was the minimal breakfast choices. They had a few pancake and omelet options but not as many as a typical diner.

They did, however, have one of the biggest salad menus I’ve ever seen. The Colonial Diner also had a large salad bar, which you could order the “soup and salad bar” option. I like meat and cheese and bread with my salad, so I opted to order a salad with both instead.

I ordered the “Skylark Salad” which consisted of apples, pears, dried cranberries, onions, feta cheese and I added chicken. It was one of the freshest salads I’ve had at any restaurant. The salad was huge, and I think they added an entire chicken breast. It kept me full, so I imagine it was enough for two people.

Christine ordered the spinach salad which looked just as good.

Cost: $$

For my coffee and salad, the cost was $17. It’s in the midrange for the price, but the ingredients were fresh, so it was definitely worth it. The waitress brought us a check but then came back and said she needed to charge an extra dollar for whipped cream. She redid the check with the extra dollar. It seemed weird, but I did order whipped cream on my coffee.

Summary/Would I come back?

I enjoyed the Colonial Diner and would come back. The ingredients were fresh, and the food was good.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Service: B
Coffee: A
Food: A
Cost: $12-18
Overall: A

Questions for you:
What is your favorite salad topping?
Where was the last restaurant you ate?

Broad Street Diner (Keyport, NJ)

A couple of weeks ago I had the honor to go to the Broad Street Diner the owner of the Website New Jersey Isn’t Boring. If you are ever in NJ and looking for something to do, everything and anything is on the website. There is day trip advice, breweries, food trucks and weekly events. Of course, my favorite part of the site is her diner reviews.

We’ve been to a few others such as Daphnes and Park Nine.

The Broad Street Diner was recently named New Jersey’s best diner by the munchmobile. Since there are over 200 diners in the Garden State, that is a huge honor. Before the Broad Street Diner won, neither of us had even heard of it. Once it won, we decided it would be our next meet up spot.

We arrived on a weekday night around six. The Broad Street Diner is one of the smallest diners I’ve been too. In fact, I was forced to parallel park on the street.

Atmosphere: A
The diner is very retro. Based on the character alone, it meets all of the stereotypes of a diner: small, old trolley car style, retro interior with a bar spanning the entire restaurant. If you were based voting on looks alone, it would not surprise me that the Broad Street Diner won.

Service: B
It was evident we were not regulars at the Broad Street Diner, and the waitress skipped our table several times. The coffee, water, and everything was refilled, so it wasn’t the worst service I’ve had. The server forgot our table several times, and we only saw her a few different times throughout our meal. She was friendly, but we weren’t the regular favorites. It’s a positive when a restaurant has many regulars.

Coffee: B
The waitress originally forgot about my coffee, so I did not receive it until halfway through my time there. It was good coffee, and it was nice and hot, but I would have liked the coffee much earlier.

Food: A
The food is where the Broad Street Diner shines. The Broad Street Diner has several seafood, steak and cheesesteak options. After being on an extended vacation and eating at 15+ restaurants in a short amount of time, I wanted to eat a little healthier. I chose the Greek salad with chicken.

I appreciated how well the salad dressing was distributed. The Greek salad was big and came with plenty of chicken, feta cheese and a few olives. I was surprised it lacked grape leaves, anchovies, and a few other “Greek salad staples” but it was delicious and filling. The lettuce was fresh and green. Plus it came with more pita bread than most, so that is always a win in my book. The Broad Street Diner has some of the best food I’ve tasted.

Cost: $
For my salad and coffee, the cost was $12 which is very inexpensive for a diner.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Service: B
Coffee: B
Food: A
COST $8-12
Overall: A

Would I come back?
I did like the Broad Street Diner, and it’s one of the better diners I’ve been too. I’m not 100% sure if it’s my absolute favorite due to the service but it is a must stop in NJ.

Questions for you:
What’s your favorite salad topping?
Are you good at parallel parking?
To be honest, I save it for must dos, but if I don’t have to parallel park, then I don’t.

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