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Of a ‘phoren’ breakfast

We were on our favourite topic – food, of course, one evening when a friend remarked a bit wistfully that she wanted a restaurant in Delhi that would serve breakfast food all through the day. She wanted to go there anytime of the day, and order a plate of well browned sausages, a couple of eggs with sunny sides up and some rashers of crisp bacon, all served with warm bread and downed with piping hot coffee.

It sounded interesting to me too. There is The All American Diner, I reminded the friend. This is a restaurant in the Indian Habitat Centre which has wonderful breakfast dishes that are served almost through the day. And because we were talking about breakfasts, and the American Diner was on my mind, we landed up there for dinner a few evenings later. A friend had come from Kolkata , and his 8-year-old son was with him. That meant we couldn’t go to a bar, or to many of the restaurants where kids aren’t allowed. So I thought of the American Diner, which not only allows kids, but has the kind of menu that would appeal to young ones. I’d had a satisfying meal there when the Diner first opened several years ago, but hadn’t gone back since. So it was time for a revisit.

The concept of a diner, I am told, started in Rhode Island in 1972 when Walter Scott took a converted horse-drawn freight wagon and started serving prepared food from there. Since then, of course, the diner has proliferated and the menu has evolved over the years, along with the wagon.

The IHC diner’s décor reminds you of the mid-forties’ America. The posters are of singers and actors or products of the time. The colours are jazzy, and there is even a juke-box which used to function once, but is now out of order. The menu has a wide range of snacky food items that kids like, apart from malts and shakes. You can, for instance, have burgers and hot dogs, or different kinds of sandwiches. The youngster with us wanted a bowl of tomato soup (Rs.85), and asked for a plate of buffalo chicken wings (Rs.145). The others ordered a Philly club (Rs.225), a triple decker club sandwich (Rs.260) and a Mexican chicken burger (Rs.235).

The sandwiches were very, very good. My triple decker was crisp and packed with goodies such as ham, egg, lettuce, chicken and so on. I am a great club sandwich lover, but my last few experiences were disappointing. Some of the club sandwiches — served in coffee shops in five-star hotels, were dry and hard. This one, on the other hand, was nice and juicy. The Philly clubs were good too — full of bacon, chicken and cheese, and my friend’s Mexican burger was hot and spicy, the way he wanted it. And the kid, who was half asleep, ate his chicken wings without a murmur. So everybody, clearly, was happy.

I am glad my friend talked of breakfasts and reminded me of the All American Diner. “Diner, Revisited” was a happy sequel.

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