The Diner

it seems like 1/2 of Taipei agrees with you. the queue is soooo long![/quote]

I know … why the locals would wanna wait for over an hour to get a table? They should just give up so I can get my food :smiley:

Or maybe we should start a campaign persuading them to open a second one :sunglasses:

I had a really weird experience at the Diner last weekend.

Here’s the story: We went there at about 8:30 on Sunday night. We were the last people they let in because apparently they had had a busy day and were sold out of a lot of menu items, so they were closing early. We went in there, sat down, ordered, and all was fine. My fantastic blue cheese burger came out in about 5 mins.

Here’s where it gets weird.
This trashy looking Chinese guy starts yelling at the waitress and banging on the table. He was sitting at a table with 5 others. She brings out the chef, and the guy and his pregnant wife/companion start to yell at him. At this point, I notice that they are pointing at me and the anger seems to also be wafting over in my general direction. My gf just muttered to me “Don’t look at them, don’t look at them”. Of course, I kept on looking at them.

Then the guy jumps up, flips over his chair, picks his glass up, and slowly pours his water out over the table, and over the magazine on the table. The others stand up and proceed to knock purposely over all their glasses and drinks on the table, floor and chairs. Then they all storm out of there.

Apparently they put on this fantastic scene because they had arrived before me, and yet I had gotten my meal before they did. They seemed to believe that the foreigner had been treated better, and so they were justified in acting like infants making total asses out of themselves in front of the whole restaurant, who by this time were all just staring at them with their mouths open.

It was quite surreal.

the wife, boy and i had a great meal this afternoon. our first time there (there are too many ren ai roads) and twas a packed house. we had to wait, but there was enough going on in the local area to keep the boy interested.

food was great - greek omelette and original breakfast (something like that). lots of attention for the boy from staff (and customers). they even let him say hi to the kitchen staff after peeking behind the curtain for a while.

just wanted to say thanks. coming from chung li, where getting any kind of western breakfast is impossible outside of hotel buffets, we enjoyed it and will return.

I’m not sure that we will. I’ve eaten there twice and enjoyed it. But I believe it’s been 3 times now that we’ve traveled all the way over there only to find the line too long so we left (and one of the 2 times we ate there we did wait outside for a while).

Yea, it’s pretty good. But it’s not so spectacular in my opinion to warrant a long wait, or worse yet traveling over there and then leaving. I’d rather go somewhere where I’m certain I can walk in, sit down, and eat.

Hopefully some day they’ll rent the place next door, knock the wall down, and accomodate the demand, as their food is good.

My biggest complaint about the diner is that if I miss my “window of opportunity” for getting a seat there on my day off, I don’t get a seat. NO WAY am I going to wait 30 minutes for a hamburger and it’s too darn far away from my house.

Gurry up and open another one. I’ll invest!:wink:

Why don’t you call to make a reservation?

Good question… I’ve been under the impression they don’t/can’t take reservations due to the demand.

Heck, I might even consider going in on a franchise with them…

I don’t think they do reservations on the weekends.

I don’t do reservations either. Not for diner food. Even good diner food. especially not on Thursdays between 11:45 and 12:15. It’s a “chance” thing for me and I happen to be in the neighborhood at that time.

[quote=“Josefus”]I had a really weird experience at the Diner last weekend.

Here’s the story: We went there at about 8:30 on Sunday night. We were the last people they let in because apparently they had had a busy day and were sold out of a lot of menu items, so they were closing early. We went in there, sat down, ordered, and all was fine. My fantastic blue cheese burger came out in about 5 mins.

Here’s where it gets weird.
This trashy looking Chinese guy starts yelling at the waitress and banging on the table. He was sitting at a table with 5 others. She brings out the chef, and the guy and his pregnant wife/companion start to yell at him. At this point, I notice that they are pointing at me and the anger seems to also be wafting over in my general direction. My gf just muttered to me “Don’t look at them, don’t look at them”. Of course, I kept on looking at them.

Then the guy jumps up, flips over his chair, picks his glass up, and slowly pours his water out over the table, and over the magazine on the table. The others stand up and proceed to knock purposely over all their glasses and drinks on the table, floor and chairs. Then they all storm out of there.

Apparently they put on this fantastic scene because they had arrived before me, and yet I had gotten my meal before they did. They seemed to believe that the foreigner had been treated better, and so they were justified in acting like infants making total asses out of themselves in front of the whole restaurant, who by this time were all just staring at them with their mouths open.

It was quite surreal.[/quote]

Maybe it was his burger.

If the Diner ever does expand or remodels, I think they should consider putting in a proper counter with the grill behind it. Of course, they should keep the tables and booths, but a counter would be nice for solo customers or for those who just want to pick up a quick sandwich or burger for lunch (like, perhaps, canucktyuktuk).

I know there’s a bar/counter in the current Diner, but it seems that no customers actually sit there. It’s more where you go to pay the bill and where the servers congregate.

So, just a thought. Might be helpful for solo customers and those who want to pop in without a reservation.

Went to the diner this morning and OH MY GAWD!!! The food and service and menu are all just sooooooooo AWESOME!!! I haven’t eaten that well in my 6 years here at any western joint. Definatly going back… and back… incredible!

Well, believe it or not, the veggie (garden) burger pales in comparison to Grandma Nitti’s, but the service was absolutely GORGEOUS! I’ll be back just for that. :smiley:

A sign outside the Diner stated that it will be closed from Modnay, May 14, to Friday, May 18, for a bit of remodeling.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up on this info.

I also think that Diner is coming up on a year or more in business. Without a doubt, they continue to serve the best burger in Taipei, imho.

Glad that they’re around. Here’s to many more years to come.

Does anyone know if The Diner is open again for brunches Tue~Sun?

I can confirm that the Diner is open again, after its remodeling.

I think it opens at 10 a.m. (10:30 ?), so I guess you could get brunch then.

Hope that helps.

Can anyone PM me directions for Guting MRT or TaiPower?

Thanks!

Its a ways from either of those stops. From Guting, you’d walk all the way along Heping, cross Hsinsheng S. Rd., continue along, cross Jianguo S. Rd., and take the first left, walk past a tiny park and you’re there. But that’s like a 30-minute walk at least, probably.

Closest MRT station, I believe, would be the Technology Building stop on the brown line.

[quote=“cire1184”]Can anyone PM me directions for Guting MRT or TaiPower?

Thanks![/quote]
From Tai Power you can take bus 74 (there is a stop at the MRT station and one at/near Shida Park). The bus then turns onto Heping Rd.
From Guting you can take quite a few buses that run along Heping Rd., like 15, 18, 235 and the Heping Main Line of course.

The bus stop for all lines above is An Dong Market, and it’s just across from Ruei An Rd. (where the diner is located).