When I first glimpsed the City Diner I'll admit I dismissed it as a place that was probably trying too hard. With its classic diner shape and gleaming chrome and glass-brick exterior, it looked like a restaurant that was dressing up as a diner for Halloween.
But that's because I'm a New Jersey expatriate who still yearns for those sometimes sketchy-looking Jersey dives. No matter how unappealing their exteriors, they could produce everything from a simple English muffin and coffee to a full-on, meat-heavy meal. Which brings me to the "signature carving board" at the City Diner.
Each day a rosemary-and-garlic-rubbed sirloin gets roasted to medium rare and served open-faced or as a French dip (both $14.50) until it's sold out. My dining companion chose the latter, which she described as a "Denali of beef" – a huge hill of tender, perfectly cooked meat piled artfully on garlic toast, served with real mashed potatoes and a silky brown gravy.
That's the kind of filling fare you can get at a true diner. At the roadside restaurants of my youth, though, the potatoes were likely to be instant and the meat more likely to be on the well-done side. Not at City Diner, which was dreamed up by Jens Nannestad (Southside Bistro) and Al Levinsohn (Kincaid Grill). The menu contains not just fresh ingredients but creative twists on the (stereo)typical greasy spoon menu.
But the cooks aren't turning out cute food. Two recent visits revealed fare that is hearty and delicious, a mix of healthy bites and dishes that revere the satisfying mouthfeel of gravy.
The chicken pot pie ($14.50) is a great example: a good-sized ramekin filled with huge chunks of juicy chicken breast in a mild cream sauce studded with carrots, peas and celery. The dish contained more chicken than anything else, so points for that. However, it arrived topped with two split biscuits rather than the expected pie crust.
The server offered to switch it for another entrée. But it turns out that biscuits make a very decent topping for a pot pie, although I suppose it might have been considered an inverted chicken a la king at that point. (Not that I've ever had chicken a la king as good as this.)
Chili mac is one of my new favorite lunches after I discovered it at Harley's Old Thyme Café. At the City Diner, a ramekin of macaroni was nearly hidden by a thick red stew that was heavy on meat and light on beans. Given the sky-high price of beef these days, the dish felt like a bargain at $9.50.
Ditto the corned beef hash ($11.50), a generous plate of delectably lean shreds of meat mixed with cooked potatoes and a Parmesan cream sauce and topped with poached eggs. Thick, delicious toast was served on the side. I was able to eat just half the meal; the good news is that it reheated well for breakfast the next day.
The egg had been over-poached to the point of being hard-boiled. That day's server looked horrified when I mentioned this, and immediately offered to take the dish back and have it redone. Personally, I like my poached eggs a little on the dry side; if you prefer a runnier yolk, you'd probably better say so.
The corn chowder ($4.25 cup, $5.25 bowl) was intensely flavored with corn, rather than cream or butter -- or bacon, which remained a pleasant supporting character instead of the star of the stew. The broth was a bit on the salty side, so those trying to cut back on sodium should skip this one.
The soup served as my dining companion's entire lunch, the better to leave room for a brownie sundae ($6.95). The brownies are made in house and served in warm, thick slabs that completely fill the bottoms of the sundae bowls. That means every spoonful contained a big bite of fudgy deliciousness.
Heaven! But also a bit overwhelming: "Definitely to be shared," my companion said.
City Diner has an abbreviated children's menu: mac 'n' cheese, burgers, corn dogs, grilled cheese and PBJs all priced at $4.95, and French toast, four kinds of pancakes, and bacon, eggs and toast for $5.95. Sit with your child at the counter if you can, as perching on a stool to eat -- or just to have a milkshake or a soda -- is a retro delight.
Is this a true East Coast or Midwest diner? No. It's actually better, because of the creative liberties taken with tried-and-true foods like burgers, omelets, meatloaf and chicken-fried steak. You can even order that old diner standard called "Put Out The Lights And Cry" (liver and onions, although bacon is added here).
But would a Jersey joint offer blackened rockfish tacos ($14.95), served with cabbage, lime, cilantro, tomato, red onion and chipotle crema? Or a grilled portabella "burger" ($12.50) with spinach, grilled tomato, roasted peppers and feta?
And I'd be frankly startled if the Golden Dawn Diner (Route 38, baby!) turned out truffle fries ($7.25) with shaved Parmesan and white truffle mayo, or a Low Country Benedict ($15.50) made with corn bread, andouille, shrimp, poached eggs and hollandaise.
One favorite diner touch is absent: the round glass case with slowly rotating shelves that showcase parfaits and giant slabs of cake and pie. (My young daughter called it the "cakes that go around.") But again, City Diner is more of an homage than a reproduction. It isn't trying to be a dive-y diner, but rather to beat it. And it succeeds.
Donna Freedman, a former Anchorage Daily News reporter and reviewer, is a staff writer at Money Talks News and blogs at DonnaFreedman.com.
City Diner
$$
***
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (until 11 p.m. during the summer)
Location: 3000 Minnesota Drive
Contact: 907-277-2489 or citydineranchorage.com