12 College Street,
Asheville, North Carolina
828-255-4404
mrsbum
on 01/29/08
One of Tupelo Honey's enduring breakfast faves (there's even a painting of it in the Ladies Room): Poached eggs, a light and tangy homemade Hollandaise, and your choice of asparagus or ham on a fluffy biscuit. The home fries are of the chunky/skin on variety. One of my only complaints about breakfast at Tupelo concerns the grits, which tend to be a bit watery.
4124 Avenue U,
Brooklyn, NY
718-951-6700
mrsbum
on 04/24/08
"The fish...It's like buttah..." (You have to say it in a Brooklyn accent.) First of all, the bagel is nothing to complain about, and it's always perfectly toasted. Secondly, the cream cheese is right...It's tangy and spreadable and 100% fat-full. The fish is so perfect that you can't believe you're eating it in a diner, unless you understand how awesome Brooklyn diners can be. It's not too salty and sublimely flavored and coated with a thin oily texture that only the best smoked fish can pull off. And it smells lovely. And it dissolves in your mouth. Oh crap, I'm getting the drools.
2300 Fletcher Dr,
Los Angeles, CA
323-663-9241
mrsbum
on 01/18/08
This East L.A. institution is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and the food is always plentiful, serviceable and tasty. The Greek Omelette is a dependably decent dish for drunks, vegetarians, people who like feta cheese and my husband who probably ate one of these every time we went to the Astro. Too bad he didn't order the hashbrowns...They are a buttery masterpiece. One of the best things about this place, besides the architecture and the hours, is the fact that it's one of the only true diners in Los Angeles: No matter what you want they'll accommodate you if possible. The nuevo diners like Swingers will never duplicate the true dinerosity of the Astro and it's sister restaurant Jan's. In terms of Los Angeles Diners, the Astro Family Restaurant is an 8.5 to a 9 but I can't rate this dish that highly in light of my experience with East Coast diners.
10550 Riverside Dr,
Toluca Lake, CA
(818) 760-0288
mrsbum
on 01/24/08
Pasta and eggs is a sublime dish...One of the best things about the pasta and eggs dishes at Chez Nous is that even though we went at least once a week and ordered the same two dishes (Breakfast Pasta with Avocado and Tomato and Breakfast Pasta with eggs, sausauge and blah blah blah) and then combined them, the pasta was almost always different. And sometimes the meat was different. And it tasted good. And it tasted fresh. The secret of pasta and eggs is to use recent leftovers to the best of your abilities, and Chez Nous did that. Plus to accompany your main dish you're blessed with rilly rilly rilly genuine sinfully buttery Croissants...
230 Hendersonville Rd,
Asheville, NC
(828) 274-4311
mrsbum
on 01/29/08
Oh Lordy, please don't let it be true that the second best fries I've had in my hometown were cooked up by a chain restaurant! The first best? They're to be had at the annoying North Star Diner (in Weaverville.) But the NSD is so annoying we don't go out there much anymore... These were big slabs of steak fries without a bunch of the spices that are often used to disguise inferior fries in these parts. Not overcooked, not over salted, and the ranch dressing came without asking. We did request the bacon on the side, but we won't the next time. Please please...If there are better fries to be had in the Asheville area, tell me where. Otherwise I'll have to start cooking my own.