The Diner Camden

Popped in here for a pre-gig meal and it pretty much ticked all the boxes, we only had a hour to get some grub and the service didn't let us down, we waited 5 minutes for a seat then sat down and ordered a couple of beers, good to see them stock the local Camden beer, which is very tasty. So onto the food, I ordered ‘The Diablo’ burger which is there ‘special’ burger which consist's of a 8oz patty made with chuck, sirloin, filet and rib served with bacon, american cheese and all the other trimmings you'd expect, all mounted on a soft brioche bun with a spicy tangy burger sauce, they asked me how i wanted it cooked which is always a plus, i opted medium/rare as i like a little pinkness to my burger, when it arrived i was like ‘WOW’ look at this beast! I sunk my teeth into the soft bun then it hit me, the crunch of the pickle/onion, then the cheese and bacon, then the show stopper, the patty, then I gave the groan, I was in heaven, my brother looked at me like I was some kind of nut job that had just escaped broadmoor, but i didn't care, each mouthful was lush, I also had some wet fries and mac ‘n’ cheese to ride shotgun with my burger, tasty but nothing to write home about. My Brother had the Kansas Dog, which was a beef frank, topped with cheese and pulled pork, that also looked amazing. The price was around £25 a head with drinks, not bad for a feast like that.

The Diner does what it says on the tin. Although it is tapping into the zeitgeist of London's love affair with all things beef, it isn't a pretender to the throne of Holy Burgerness. It's not claiming to have the best in town or that you should queue round the block for one or pay £20 for the privilege. This instead is a place to go when you want good old-fashioned comforting fare in a retro atmosphere at a price which won't break the bank. It's going for authenticity with an enormous menu which covers everything a true American diner would: there's a mind-boggling array of burgers, hot dogs, steak sandwiches, breakfasts with every topping, variation and side you could want. Normal fries not interesting enough? Try fat fries, wet fries (heaven knows), chilli cheese fries, or sweet potato fries (I had the latter, very tasty). Was the burger (bacon and cheese, £7) the best Evah? No, bit forgettable, but I did enjoy it, finished it off, felt full up. Job done. Decor is typical diner and they were playing reasonably loud old school pop, so it feels fairly buzzing. Service is friendly and food comes quickly enough but without you feeling rushed. On the downside there was a 15 minute wait for a table on a Friday at 7.30pm and there's no bar to sit at, so be prepared to stand in line (but Londoners are getting used to that, right?). There seems to be a branch in every “trendy” area in London (the roll call covers old stalwarts Soho, Camden and Islington as well as New Kids On The Block Shoreditch and Kensal Rise) which in itself would normally have me running for the hills, but y'know when in Camden, do as the Camdenites do. And eat here.