デニーズ Denny's Japan review

how it looks (Gotanda)

I knew this place existed for quite a while but never had to chance to go. Like Denny's in America, this is opened 24 hours.

just right up the flight of stairs!

Good to have SOME exercise before eating :P...

lots of things on the table

Unlike American Danny's, Japan Danny's has different things on their tables:

• a bell (to ask for service)
• utensils (handed to you when they give you water) utensils include a fork, a spoon, a dull knife and chopsticks
• sugar (for coffee)
• coffee whitener
• toothpicks
• dessert pamphlet
• Danny's app download info sheet

menu... I opted for the Set which included a salad and bread/butter

It took me way too long to choose (the menu is also very different from the American menu), there were less items, and most were steaks/pasta sets. There were also options to choose drinks and salad sets. It took me a while to understand it (I'm slow... I guess ;P). Each set also gave a recommendation as what you should order with the "main". So after some careful consideration, I ordered the Porcini Mushroom Cream Hamburg Steak with salad set. I didn't order a drink as all they had were mainly coffees (coffees + dinner are a bad combo for me... they result in serious insomnia >___<).

 生ハムサラダ Raw Ham Salad

The first thing that arrived was the Raw Ham Salad. It looked like it was full size too!

impressions:

• the raw ham tasted like Parma Ham 
• loved the sauce (no vinegar at all!)
• needs more sauce
• veggies were fresh

I was obsessed with the sauce, it was so good!! It has been a while since I have had other salad sauces (other than Caesar and Ranch) that I could appreciate... and THIS was definitely the first. It was hard to pinpoint what the sauce was, but one thing was evident... there is no vinegar. According to the website, the main ingredients for the sauce was Olive Oil (I beg to differ... they must have used special olive oil). The salad was also topped in Parmigiano Reggiano making the salad very delicious.  The veggies (which included: carrots, onions, lettuce, cabbage, sprouts, radish) were all very fresh and nicely prepared. Overall, I really liked this salad A LOT! I highly recommend it.

Score: 10/10

you can go to its website for more info: http://www.dennys.jp/menu/salad/rawhum-salad/

ポルチーニ香る きのこクリームハンバーグ

The translation should be something like: Porcini mushroom cream with Hamburg Steak. This is the first Hamburg steak I have ever had... so my impressions on it might be slightly biased. I found this Hamburg steak to be too soft... (not sure if they are all like that)

Impressions:

• love the mushroom sauce!
• too little sauce
• sauce was too oily (way too oily)
• veggies were fair... nothing special...
• spinach was too oily
• hamburg steak was too soft

I loved and hated the sauce. The flavour was beautiful, it consisted of lots mushrooms and cheeses to make it so tasty... BUT... I found that the sauce was drenched in oil (you can see in the picture how the borders of the brown sauce is surrounded by oil). 

The crispy Potato thins (resembling potato chips) added a nice texture and flavours making the too tender hamburg steak much more appealing. 

Score: 7/10

More info: http://www.dennys.jp/menu/autumnmenu/porcini/

bread and butter

This was definitely a surprise... I wasn't looking forward to it... since it was just... bread and butter. First though... I almost burnt my fingers trying to rip the bread in half (but I don't mind) because (you will see in my impressions).

impressions:

• very hot! be very careful
• very soft
• very delicious
• very soft

Honestly, have you ever seen me write so many "very"s in my impressions? probably not... I loved this bread... it is definitely one of the best breads I have ever had. The bread was rich in bread (taste)... It was served very hot... I just loved it! It's one of those breads you will be craving...

Score: 10/10

set bill

The service was great... although they didn't "serve" you, they were very courteous... every time they are leaving, they will give you a small bow (I think that is exception service... even in Japan standards). Unlike most diners and restaurants they hardly walked pass you... instead you always  have to ring a bell (by pressing a button) to get their attention.

Score: 8.5/10
Website: http://www.dennys.jp/

Bendale diner Restaurant review

Bendale Restaurant

This place is extremely nostalgic for me... when I was still in Middle School (grade 6-8) my friends and I would go out for lunch and head to this small plaza close to my school. We would usually go the convenient store in this plaza to get candy, magazines and go to Bendale to get Fries and Gravy.

Fries and Gravy was comfort food for us, especially during the winter, each fry was perfectly coated with an appropriate amount of gravy, some were literally drenched in gravy while other fries maintained a nice crunchiness underneath the gravy.

one of my childhood memories Fries and Gravy $2.50

If you order the take out version, it is only $2.00 but if you want to eat in it is $2.50. There are a lot more fries in the eat in version... so if you aren't in a hurry... it is best to get the eat in version instead. However, that being said, I still like the take out version... since that's what I got when I was a kid...

I have searched hi and low, I cannot find another place in the world that can make better or even equivalent quality of fries and gravy. The gravy is super delicious, there is hint of mushrooms. It is not too thick or thin, just the perfect consistency.

Ham and Toast special $7.99

Since we were a party of 2, we did not want to settle for the same food, so we got a breakfast special. I found the ham to be a bit too salty/savoury... but the hashbrown and toast was delicious.

The hashbrowns were slightly oily, but they were very potato-y because they were not thoroughly fried.

Service

Since it is a diner, do not expect good tentative service... the servers were extremely friendly though! 

Atmosphere

As you would expect that of a diner, 1950s style diner with a bar table and booths surrounding.

score: 10/10

website: no website

Avenue Diner on Davenport Diner review

Avenue Diner Menu

The reviews for Avenue Diner are at 2 extremes: either you really like this place, or you hate it to bits, I was confused as to why there was such extremities. 

John from Urban Spoon says: "Biggest dump ever!!! Most overpriced breakfast I've ever seen.. And the food isn't even good!... Tiny tiny portions, miserable workers.. All they care about is money, stay far away from this dive."

while Jojo2772 from Urban Spoon says  "I love this place!! Great atmosphere, location (steps from Yorkville) and the best breakfast in town. The staff are super friendly and service is very quick. On any given day, you don't know which major celebrity could be dining at this fine establishment."

I had to give this place a try and see why there were such different reviews for this diner. My first visit was after lunch time (1:30PM), the place is quite small and was almost half full... a lot of people were coming in to order burger and fries. 

The Diner opened in 1944, you can tell by their interior. On one of the walls, it will filled with photographs, those were photographs of celebrities, rock stars, hockey players, etc  (taken with the owner) at the diner. The servers were not friendly nor rude, they were just there to take your orders and serve food.

Avenue Banquet burger

I scanned the menu, there isn't a lot of you can choose from, they range from All Day Breakfast, to fries to burgers. I usually like getting foods that are "special" and "unique" so the Avenue Banquet burger caught my eye, I asked the owner what it was and he explained that it was a Bacon Cheddar Burger. That sounded like something I wanted, so I ordered it.

I was surprised at how large the piece of  "burger" was. Overall speaking, I think this is a "fair" burger, I liked how it is quite filling, and the taste is ok. The pickles were not sour (I like that it is not sour like some pickles that causes you to "winch" when you eat them); I was a little disappointed with the overall taste... since it was a "Bacon and Cheddar" burger, I expected the bacon and cheddar to be more tasteful and be more present. Unfortunately, I found it quite difficult to "taste" them. The bacon was too thin and the cheese was too "tiny", so they were not able to make their presence known. Also, be warned, eating this burger can be quite messy.

I think I would give this burger a 2.8/5 since I could hardly taste the ingredients (in the name). I really liked how filling it was, I really appreciated that. I think the price was sort of reasonable ($7.86/tax included) for a burger in Yorkville.

Keep in mind, if you want to visit this place, they are only opened till 4:00PM every day and during the months of July and August they do not open on Mondays & Tuesdays.

I am surprised they don't have a website, so no website this time.