REVIEW: Ed’s Easy Diner, Leicester
Edit:
Now closed š
It feels like our American adventure hasn’t really ended yet, and being invited to review Ed’s Easy Diner in Highcross, Leicester, has really been yet another continuation of the US vibe.
We weren’t sure how much of an authentic American experience we were going to enjoy, on the lower level of the Highcross centre in the middle of Leicester, but I think it’s fair to say we were pleasantly surprised. Arriving early on a Friday evening, the diner was already bustling, with most tables full and the sound of rock n roll filling the air.
We were immediately greeted by enthusiastic and friendly waiting staff, who were the real signature of our visit, and shown to our table. While we were perusing the menu I enjoyed looking round at the little decor touches that really gave that 50s diner vibe.
For me, the bold red, black and white colour scheme, the bar side seating, retro speakers on the walls and the little jukeboxes on some of the tables were the real touches that gave the place a great theme feel. I was a little bit gutted we didn’t have one of the tiny jukeboxes. They took 20p to play a song and the menu informed us that all the proceeds from them goes to charity which I think is lovely. Plus this might have meant we could have selected a little bit more variety than 90% Elvis songs!! Don’t get me wrong, I like Elvis in this rock n roll style environment, but there is so much great American music from this period, I would have enjoyed a little more variety.
Crouching punter, hidden trash |
The only problem I could see with the decor was that the lovely seating had gaps underneath, so food and litter had clearly accumulated there over the day. While the restaurant was very clean everywhere else, the slightly crowded nature of the diner and the constant flow of customers meant that, certainly while we were there, this litter was not swept up. I think perhaps furniture that reaches the floor, so there are not these little ‘cubby holes’ for trash that only the customers can see would be a better thing! It’s definitely not a bad reflection on the staff as they would not have been able to see this problem from where they were standing.
The extremely welcoming waiting staff, fun decor and toe tapping music is clearly doing the job for the people of Leicester. The restaurant had an extremely pleasant atmosphere and I strongly suspect that this was because of the great mix of customers that were in there. There were groups of teenagers sharing milkshakes, family groups with young babies, twenty-something couples gazing longingly over the table and older couples, talking about the music and the memories it was engendering. I really enjoyed that this is not a pretentious restaurant, it’s friendly and a little bit twee and as such, it does not have pretentious clientele, so it’s a really lovely place to relax and enjoy some simple, but tasty food.
We ordered our drinks first. The Boy went for one of their signature shakes, which was thick and delicious, the serving providing more than enough for two glasses and essentially, therefore, easily acting as a meal in itself if you wanted it to! I had a glass of red wine, which was marked on the menu as ‘Californian’. Given the volume, I knew that it would be an individual serve bottle, but for some reason I was not given the bottle, just a slightly too small glass, absolutely full to the brim – a 175ml capacity glass is no good for 187 or soĀ millilitreĀ bottle servings!! I would definitely recommend they start serving a little of the bottle in the glass and providing the whole shebang to the customer so they can see what they Ā are drinking. As it turned out, it was a so-so Merlot – not something I would have again I don’t think, but not deeply offensive by any means.
We ordered our food and waited, the serving times being perfectly adequate for a Friday evening in such a busy restaurant. Soon, a veritable feast appeared before our eyes! We had ordered the Chicken Club sandwich for me, the BigĀ Bubba’sĀ Bacon N Cheese for theĀ Boy, and a portion of Atomic American Fries and a side salad for us to share.
- It involved a Kit Kat, which is a good chocolate bar.
- I have never actually had a sundae before that I can ever remember.
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The Boy always takes such flattering pictures of me |