Yeah, I made that mistake last time we went as well, it’s coated in a hard shell of crap and the meat is more fat and gristles than, well, meat… :fume:
I think that’s what Dragonbabe ordered, the only time we went there (which explains why we only went once). They should cut that crap from their menu.[/quote]
Me too. That country fried steak is NOT! Stick to the burgers.
[quote=“Wacow”]
Again, I’d say the breakfasts and burgers are top-notch, but to balance out my positive post I would have to say the chili is a no-pass. It can best be likened to cubes of dry steak marinated in chili powder. Instead of rich and hearty, it’s just chewy…[/quote]
holy crap, it must just be me then. i’ve been to the dunhua one like 5+ times now, and i think it’s one of the worst “diners” i’ve ever been to. the breakfast was horrible. salad was horrible. in fact everything i had was horrible there except the chili, which was passable. i refuse to go there anymore.
I went to The Diner for brunch this morning. Would rather give my feedback privately by email but they don’t have that option, so I am posting here.
Positives
I was quickly seated. I got my order really fast. My tea came promptly and the server explained my menu options in English. :bravo:
Food:
I ordered the eggs benedict. I chose the taters obrien, OJ and tea. How the eggs got to my table without disintegrating into a yellow mess is beyond me. :eh: There is “runny” which I prefer and then there is “its possible to get the product onto the bread so consider it done”. The ham was obviously just a slice of ham and not pan fried. The english muffin was not toasted. So basically just plain ingredients with the egg and sauce put on for measure.
Potatoes Obrien portions were small. I’m not saying I deserve a mountain of the stuff on my plate. When I get a hefty portion, I am always grateful. What I got at The Diner was gone in two bites. :raspberry:
I should be glad they didn’t pick the fruit side with their hands. They used the same utensil for cakes because my fruit came with bits of cake on it.
Finally, the tea and water refills…that I am putting in the Service section…
Service
Its Sunday morning. Having worked food service during my youth, I know its frantic, I know its busy. You have to be sharp and you have to be professional when really you feel like throwing a punch. :fume:
I noticed not a single server at The Diner ever smiled. Never. When the server sat me down, she was distracted. When I asked for my bill, she spent more time looking at the door than dealing with me.
When I need a refill, I put my empty glass or cup on the edge of the table and let the servers notice its time for a refill. They are busy, better to let them get to me when they can. That said, I got two water refills: once immediately after I put the glass down (nice job!) and when I got up to pay my bill (so…my butt impression is gonna drink that?). The guy next to me tried several times to flag down servers who actually looked at him but wouldn’t acknowledge him until he got up, walked over to the server counter with his cream decanter for a refill.
I drink tea. For medical reasons, I cannot consume coffee products. Let me be more specific-I can’t drink coffee. When I ask for a refill, don’t pour coffee over my tea remains. When I ask for the drink to be replaced with TEA, don’t give me coffee. And when I ask for a replacement a second time in a calm, even jokey manner, don’t come to my table, listen to me, look like I just insulted your upbringing and then walk away in a huff without frakking serving me.
Check out
Sorry, lady at the register, for wanting to give you my money. I’ll try not to make the same mistake next time. Clearly you felt harassed by my having the bill and money ready that you spent way too much time looking over my shoulder and scowling than actually, you know, taking my money. And when you did, you snatched at it like you were afraid I might put it away or something.
5 out of 10 Taiwanese standard
I’m going back on a weekday lunch, try one of their burgers, hoping that it won’t be busy and maybe the service and the food will be better.
:neutral: If there is a better brunch place in Shida or Da an other that Nitti’s, somebody let me know.
Nice to see you were seated quickly. I haven’t returned there in well over a year, since it was always so ridiculously crowded and one had to wait an hour for a table. No restaurant is worth that.
I’ve had Eggs Benedict at the Diner three times, and been satisfied each time. I guess you had bad luck.
As for Carnegies, the brunches are generally not bad either, but I had a pretty bad Eggs Benedict there. The eggs were served on cold spinach, and the hollandaise sauce was congealing onto a cold plate. And I’ve also had coffee poured over my tea at Carnegie’s.
I’m definitely going back to Carnegie’s. Just to say that it’s hard to generalize about the quality of the breakfasts.
I went about 3pm today. They were almost full, but we got a table. Me and my two elementary school kids ate until we were stuffed, and it cost 600NT. The pancakes were not as good as they usually are, but still delish. They were a little chewy today. I had coffee. Refills are self-serve, but sometimes they refill it for you. This was at the original place. They are still tops in my book.
been generally treated well there.
it is REALLY hard to get good service in Taipei. Holding one restaurant accountable for one visit is a bit unfair. With high turnover and low pay I am sure they get some real morons working there occasionally.
when I do get good service though, I am over the moon, because in this country, more than any other on Earth, it is hard to get.
I liked the Diner when it was small and personable…the way it was about 3-4 years ago. I got seriously ill from a burger I ate there a year ago and swore never to return…
Well, I went back three or four times since the new renovations to the original location and I am saddened. I used to chat with the owner every time I went in. She knew me by name. Now I never see her and the rest of the staff is cold and inefficient. They lost so much.
They lost their quaintness…traded it in for more seating capacity and crappy service.
They lost their decent food…traded it in for food that’s on par with NY Bagel (Bleh :s ) A major step down from what they used to be.
And they lost me as a customer.
[quote=“Quarters”]I used to chat with the owner every time I went in. She knew me by name. Now I never see her[/quote]She’s on maternity leave.
Hmm… I’ve generally had good experiences at the Diner, the only thing I’ll never order again is the country fried steak, as that tasted like a piece of fried cardboard, although the onion sauce it came with was nice…
NY Bagels on the other hand… the last two times we’ve been to the on in the Xinyi district they’ve been out of just about everything we tried to order and that was during brunch/lunch on a weekend, a time when you’d expect them to have everything readily available.
This was my breakfast/lunch today:
[quote=“maoman”]This was my breakfast/lunch today[/quote] mmmmm I am hungry. I heard they have some new items on the menu. I would like to try the Spanish soup. I forgot the name. It looked good. Kind of like a stew with rice. I think. Don’t quote me.
Have the crab sandwich on the winter menu. It’s the most CRABLICIOUS thing you will ever eat that is not an actual crab!
Almost the entire patty is made of crab meat. It’s kind of epic, really.
They do skimp a little on the syrup but they will give you more if you ask.
It’s been ages since I was at the Diner last. Never had a bad meal. I always get a bacon double cheeseburger. I can’t not get it.
I’m due for a visit.
Went to their newly opened Xinyi location last night. New menu, lots of additional things to chose from.
Problem was the kitchen was not up and running properly as yet, we waited for over an hour for a pulled pork sandwich that we had to cancel in the end. The rest of the food took over half an hour to arrive as well and although the waitresses were informing us about the delays, this didn’t really help the situation. On top of that we didn’t get our drinks until after the third time we asked for them and after half of our order (not including the pulled pork sandwich) had already arrived.
I ordered the steak salad which according to the menu came with a red wine vinaigrette, but apparently this was only drizzled on the steak in tiny amounts. The “filet mignon” was also dry, overcooked and bland, so not really what I was hoping for. For anyone ordering salad in the future at the Diner, do note that it says it comes with bread, but it’s actually a small bread stick and not a whole piece of bread.
Also note that most of the staff at the new location doesn’t seem to speak English which at least for me is a problem, although I guess it’s really my problem, but hey…
Disappointing first attempt and I should also point out that we went there around 8-ish in the evening and several of the items on the menu were sold out, or maybe just unavailable.
[quote=“maoman”]This was my breakfast/lunch today:
[/quote]
That might be my dinner tonight.
Streaky bacon! Crap.
I do miss the down homeyness, of going in and chatting with Jessie and Ann, and while I’m delighted for them that they’re doing so well. I was really kinda horrified at the very large price hike that happened while I was away in Europe ( I was only gone for 6 months). I thought it was just the one location (the new one) and understood bc the rent on that place is probably atrocious. But was very disappointed to find all the menus at all locations had really jumped in price. For example the French toast breakfast used to run me 242, and it was raised to 262, no worries completely understandable but now it comes to 355??? That is a huge hike, I really don’t know I’ll be going that often anymore. At 262 I was delighted with everything but almost a full 100nt more in 6 months? Now I feel like I’m getting ripped off. Even if they hiked it 20 nt every 6 months… no problem. But 93nt in 6 months is pretty much impossible for me to swallow. 
EDIT: I was half dragged their the other day and it seems my waitress at the Xinyi location messed up the current total for the french toast breakfast is around 320-30 but it’s still a big ass hike in a short period of time and I’m frustrated by that.
Seems like everything in Taipei jacks their prices when they become really popular, I personally feel like I’'m getting gouged.