On the Road: Portland and Vacouver's diners: Fat Dave's, Jam, and Stardust

Here's another long in the hopper, "On the Road" edition from my trip back in October.

After my long stint in Spokane, I crossed the state by plane,rented a car, and headed south to see my friend Greg (whom you may remember from the Joe's Diner review) in his new town of Vancouver, Washington. It sits right on the border with Portland, Oregon, also known as "the city that freeway planners forgot." I also took the opportunity to visit my old college friend, Amber. In a mere day and half down there, I hit three diner/breakfast joints.

First off, Amber took me to Fat Dave's Restaurant and Lounge. Apparently the place had just recently been upgraded from "dive" to "slightly musty." We rolled in about mid-afternoon and were just about the only people inside, aside from a regular, or at elast the kind of guy who looks like a "regular," be it at a lunch counter or a bar at last call.

I got the "Fat Dave's Special" which included 3 pancakes, 3 eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast. Amber got the cheese omelette(picture lost to the hard drive ether), which included just about all the same sides.

The food was unremarkable for the most part. The hash browns were the stand out, being a thick mound of potatoes. Shredded at some point but then packed together tightly for their time on the griddle. It was still on Hash brown Road but pointed toward Latke Blvd.

The coffee was good, but an incredible oddpoint: you were only allowed one refill on sodas. Coffee is flowing like the mighty Mississippi, but soda levels are down to LA River measurements.

The best part of Fat Dave's is the stained glass window that adorns the dining room.

Says it all really.

Food: Unremarkable.

Service: In my notes I wrote "odd". I have since forgotten what was odd about it. So.. be warned.
Price: $6-10

Pie- Yes.

Fat Dave's
1511 NE 99 St.

Vancouver, WA

For dinner that night I hooked up with Greg and he took me to the Stardust Diner. Don't let the sign fool you. It is not called the "Blurry Something D-R." My camera phone is not kind to me at night.



Like San Diego's Studio Diner, Stardust is of the shiny metal variety. This place even decorates for desserts. The entire staff appeared to consist of teenagers. At first, this was a bit disconcerting on account of how shitty teenagers are at everything except screwing shit up. However, they proved to be highly intelligent and thorough food workers.

The only low point of the service was at one point they all seemed to disappear to go sing "Soulja Boy" in the kitchen. Jut out of frustration, I was about ready to Superman some hos myself.

I did really like that the Stardust Diner had its own newsletter.

I took a chance and ordered the Philly Cheesteak. Our waiter asked if we wanted to try their new curly fries. He was really excited about these curly fries. I opted in.

Greg had the bacon cheeseburger. Greg got the curly fries, too. The waiter was just too excited about these for us not to turn him down.

The food was only okay. Both of our meals felt overly heavy in our stomachs. So much so, that having after having opted in for the curly fries, we had to opt out of a dessert.

I felt bad because, as I stated earlier, they totally decorated for their desserts.

Food: Okay.
Service: Surprisingly friendly and efficient.
Price: 8-14
Pie: Yes.

Check out their website. Warning: rock and rolling from the get go. Turn your speakers down.
http://www.stardustdiner.biz/

1110 SE 10th Ave.
Vancouver, WA 98683

ETA: Stardust has since closed down. Bum news.

Jam on Hawthorne is probably known to most modern Diner aficionados. It was featured on the "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show on Food Network.

This eclectic little breakfast joint is nestled in one of Portland's fine hip neighborhoods. Greg and I stopped in about mid-morning on my final day down on in the P-Land-O. (I just made that up. Can people start using it for Portland Oregon? I think that would be cool.)

Jam has a nice neighborhood vibe. I would say it's Portland's Square One, or rather Square One is L.A's Jam. Hipster clients mixed in with regular folks and soccer moms who just got out of their Pilates classes all gathered for breakfast here.

I had to break out of my current breakfast rut and try something new. No, no, no, nothing as drastic as a fruit cup or a bowl of granola--Close, though.

I ordered the VEGAN blueberry pancakes. WTF! OMG!! Vegan! Yes, I ordered them and ate them and they were good.

Greg got the famous Corned Beef Hash breakfast. This was not dog food. This was high-quality (so high-quality I want to put an accent mark somewhere on it) corned beef. Moist, but not mushy; salty, but not briny. It was m-f-ing, Campbells Mmm Mmmm Good!

This was a great way to end that leg of my trip.

Food: Excellent.

Service: Friendly.

Price: 7-13

Pie: Sadly, no.

2239 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Portland, OR 97214

Phone: (503) 234-4790

Corky's, Where Life Goes On

UPDATED 5/30! Check out the end.



Corky's is a unique place. Off the 210 out in the sticks of Rancho Cucamonga, it is a locally owned and newly opened 24-hour diner. I've been to Corky's several times now: breakfast and dinner and late night hungry time. According to a waitress I spoke to, the owner saw the need for a good home cooking place to compete with Denny's.

Corky's has a lot going for it. Convenient location... I mean relatively. Clearly not convenient if you live in Santa Monica or...well anywhere other than Rancho Cucamonga. It is right off the 210 though, so on your way to or back from Vegas, it would be right there. It has wonderful homey decor. It looks like what you wish your grandmother's house looked like, instead of a pine box in the ground...or maybe that's just me. They bake their cookies and pie right there. It has just one problem: the food is pretty, but taste-wise can only be described as "meh."

Most recently, I had the Chicken and Dumplings, as it was the one item Diner Companion Antoinette recommended from her previous time there. She said after she sent it back the first time because of the still frozen dumplings, and it came back with unfrozen dumplings, it was the best thing she had had there. Well, I didn't have that problem because no dumplings were to be found at all in mine. I had the Chicken and Nothlings. The mashed potatoes were homemade and the brown gravy was pretty decent, though

.

Antoinette got the Pea Soup in a bread bowl. Some people can't stand pea soup, sometimes because of the "Exorcist," sometimes because it's kind of gross in theory. It's peas...mushed up...and made soupy. We both appreciated that that they included the scooped out piece of bread as a "sopper" and the soup itself wasn't half bad.

So overall this trip was mediocre at best. I really wanted some dumplings with my chicken. That would have been really nice.

A busy Sunday morning found us again at Corky's counter for breakfast. Sitting there, we were able to see some of the whirling dancing of the waitresses. A half dozen waitresses were busy shuffling around orders, slathering butter on toast, TWICE,once before it goes in the toaster and once after.

I wasn't all that hungry, so I ordered the oatmeal.




That's a lot of good fixings for oatmeal, which is great because you definitely need them; the oatmeal was mushy and bland.

Corky's was so busy that morning that food began to pile up at the kitchen window. Without heat lamps, the food just sat there cooling down. I did get to hear one choice gem from one waitress to the other:
Waitress 1 to pregnant waitress: How are you holding up? I was so horny when I was pregnant.

Antoinette got the eggs breakfast, the home fries were overly salty. The eggs were adequate.

On our first trip there, I ordered the Meat Loaf Sandwich. The meatloaf was too moist and tasted like meaty water. It also had green peppers, which overpowered the dish entirely.

The rest of the food was, well..... "meh."

The one saving grace for Corky's is their pie.

Apple pie, thin crust and packed full of apples that still taste like apples and not apple pie filling.



Eggnog Cream Pie. I love eggnog. Even without booze, I love eggnog. Now put it in pie form? That is good eating. I don't give a damn if it's near Christmas or not. I am firmly Pro-Eggnog.

Chocolate cream pie that had a smooth chocolate flavor with the only flaw being a rather bland crust that tasted like a store bought frozen one.


German chocolate cream pie that was nearly s good as House of Pies. And pumpkin pie that just punched your mom's pumpkin pie in the face.



I cannot, in good faith, recommend Corky's for anything other than these delicious pies. The food looks so good. It's presented beautifully, but it just fails to deliver on taste.

Corky's Bakery and Kitchen

6403 Haven Ave, Alta Loma, CA

(909) 941-8655


UPDATE-

A few weeks ago I received a very nice email from Mike, the owner of Corky's. He apologized that we hadn't been completely satisfied with our food and asked us if we would come back and give them another try. Trusted Official #1 Diner Companion, Antoinette, and I went back there last week.


The verdict?

The food was GOOD!



I had the Polish Sausage Skillet and it was freakin' delicious. Best way to describe it was "fresh."


Antoinette had the tuna melt on wheat, which was also good.

The best thing though, and I knew it would be, the new Mocha Toffee Swirl Cream Pie. Go call your mom and tell her that everything she's ever done for you has mattered not one goddamn bit because she never made you this pie. This pie is simply amazing.

So now I'll say, enthusiastically: try out Corky's.

Armon's Restaurant: Where Eagle Rocks Dare

It's named Armon's. It's staffed by Asians. There's a story there.....er, probably not, actually.






Armon's Restaurant sits near the intersection of Colorado and Eagle Rock Blvd. It is not too far from Pat and Lorraine's, which in turn is only a few blocks from Auntie Em's (review coming next month). I believe that makes Eagle Rock the Los Angeles hamlet with the highest density of breakfast joints. Sadly, Armon's is the lowest wrung on that ladder.


When I went there with diner companions Paul and Antoinette, I appreciated the effort made to make it look like a diner and not a hotel(cough cough Hungry Fox and Kick Back Jack's, I'm looking at you!) If you notice in the background, those are full boxes of cereal. Not those tiny boxes you'd normally get if you were foolish enough to order cereal at a restaurant. Armon's gets kudos for that. It's more a decorative kudos than anything, really.

The food was decent. We ordered the applewood chicken sausage and eggs breakfast. Our sausages were a tad on the burnt side of crispy. The large chunks of potato for the home fries were cooked perfectly, but could have used a bit more seasoning.

The biscuits and gravy were just adequate as well. The biscuit looks like it came from a KFC.

The real stand out was the bagel breakfast sandwich. Overflowing with egg and cheese it really was a delight. Note that it does come with mayonnaise, which may be a turn-off for some breakfast sandwich purists.

Although clearly not homemade, the apple pie was good. Yes, it was eaten with a spoon. I have recently discovered the spoon pie is slightly more fun than fork pie. Why? Because the smoothness of your mouth caressing the food off the curved metal is better than sucking it off some prongs.

Food- Decent.

Service- Very friendly.

Price- $6-11

Pie- Basic fruits.

5056 Eagle Rock Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90041-1924

Phone: (323)478-1440

Places I will probably not review but check out their food.

I take pictures at just about every place I go nowadays. A lot of them fall into the "Close to but not quite" review-worthy or "It's been too long since I went there to write a review." I decided not to waste those pictures.

Hot Turkey Sandwich, Bob's Big Boy in Burbank:





Large meal at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood:


Breakfast Burrito and Hot Turkey Sandwich at the Brite Spot on Sunset:



All delicious meals.

BC Cafe- Kick Back Jack Attack!

I pulled into the parking lot as the sun was just starting to rise. The timer which controlled the lights in the parking lot had already called it a night and shut off. The parking lot was dark and incredibly creepy. I parked and waited a moment to see if the rain would let up and if some other lights would come on to make the trip from the parking lot around to the front of the restaurant less "murdery." Neither occurred.

Out in the exotic far East of Los Angeles there is a place called the BC Cafe.



Diner? Kind of. It's in the Family Restaurant category. Dinery food just with more space to serve it in.



The place was nearly empty as they had just opened and again I find the crane machine. Like the Hungry Fox, like Dolores', a game of chance is found. I sat at the counter and picked up its sizable menu.

BC Cafe features interesting combinations (someday I'll try the Crispy Shrimp Skillet or the Pot Roast Frittata) and a surprising "Southern Comfort" food section. They are also well-known for their ridiculously huge portions. I heard about something called the Plantation Breakfast but it was nowhere to be found on the menu. I had also been recommended to/warned about their stuffed pancakes and decided to go that route. I also foolishly ordered a side of scrambled eggs.

The menu bragged about their "Giant Buritolle" but when I tried to order one- not really having any idea what it was- I was told they didn't have any and to try a muffin instead. I could see the muffins in a glass display case from where I was, I passed. Even though I saw a delivery truck from "Puritan Bakery" parked out back, the muffins looked exactly like Costco muffins.

BC Cafe has something that not enough restaurants have nowadays; a whimsical cartoon mascot. It's basically down to the Big Boy and BC Cafe's Kick Back Jack. He's a little bit Bugs a little bit Spuds (Mackenzie).



My Strawberry Preserves and Cream Cheese Stuffed Pancakes arrived and I dug right in. It was delicious. Incredibly rich and heavy of course. I made it through the first one and felt like I had just swallowed a 20 pound weight. I soldiered on and ate my eggs and pounded down another pancake.



After that I was done. That sole-surviving pancake was left untouched on the plate. It's true. The portion and flavor is huge!

I soon waddled out of the restaurant and into the morning light.

Not that many weeks later I found myself at the other BC Cafe location. It was now, however, called-



They went for it. "Boom! Let's put the mascot right up there in the name!"



This location was far more Hotel Lobby than the other. Construction was still going on when Antoinette and I went inside. There was no counter to be seen. Just columns and plywood and newly purchased pastel furnishings. And lots of fake plants as well. The walls were classily painted with scenes of Kick Back Jack, the rascally rabbit, doing various sports. Soccer.

Deep sea fishing... which he is apparently new at since he is way underwater and that snorkel isn't doing a damn thing but let in lung crushing water. Way to go Kick Back Jackass!

The menu is basically the same. It is dense and it is impossible to make a snap decision. The menu also features local advertising. The take-out menu even has coupons.



It should be noted that they do not serve apple pie at KBJ or BC Cafe. They do have a ton of different shake flavors and a Basketta Cobbler which is described as a cross between a donut and a scone topped with a choice of various compotes.



The coffee was surprisingly good. Not great though.

We got the Stuffed French Toast (stuffed with boysenberry) and the #1 Country Breakfast, basically biscuits and gravy, an egg and hash browns.



It was all heavy and delicious.



And way too much of it.

Food- Good, with giant portions.
Service- Good.
Price- $7-15
Pie- No.

BC CAFE
701 S Indian Hill Blvd.
Claremont CA 91711

Kick Back Jacks
10123 Foothill Blvd.
Rancho Cucamonga CA 91730

Note the hours- 6am to 3pm every day.