Eat & Drink
Originally published on Thursday, 1st August 2013
SOHO DINER
The new diner on the block
19-21 Old Compton Street, W1D 5JJ | 0207 7345656 | @SohoDinerLDN
In a Sentence
Electric Diner’s Soho sister
Location
Denman Street, on the edge of Soho by Piccadilly. There are no other hip chicken shacks in the vicinity, but there is a Nando’s around the corner.
Vibe
Like the Electric Diner but Soho-side without the gloss. (they’ve traded in the bouncy red booths for what look like park benches here). It’s sociable, casual, and has an almost-pub-like feel.
Flavours
Classic American dishes – on steroids. A few of the main Electric stars have made the move to Soho. The signature cheeseburger still ticks all the boxes (brioche buns, melted cheese, special sauce with a double patty and the option of bacon and/or fried egg), as did the chicken wings, in all their sticky splendour. But enough about the Electric-Soho exchange; we especially liked the Soho-only dishes; standouts were the souped-up Philly cheese steak sandwich – think 100% beef, capsicum, shallots and onion without a drop of Philly cheese, replaced instead with Italian Provolone. They have all the fashionable food buzz words on the menu – quinoa, mac ‘n’ cheese, aioli fries – but our favourite were the never-before-seen ham and cheese toastie fingers. The dessert may be no frills at a first glance, but the banana split is trucker size and the brownie is no bland Betty Crocker. But the real P.O.D of the diner is the cocktails on tap. A gung-ho nod to the 2013 prosecco-on-tap trend; our favourites were the negroni (a real kicker) and the Ginger Collins with fresh and crystallised ginger. “We couldn't help but wonder” about the Cosmo… is this the Cosmo comeback?
Decor
American via British diner (no surprises there). Think counter-top dining and American retro touches – old-school reel machines and chequered floor. And being a new addition to the Soho House family, there is the compulsory dark wood panelling and exposed kitchen.
Upshot
Cocktails on tap – enough said.
