Ed’s Easy Diner Brighton Review
Ed’s Easy Diner
Brighton
Reviewed by Brenda Melaniphy
On Saturday 18 October, we had the pleasure of visiting Ed’s Easy Diner in Brighton, situated on the top floor of the Churchill Square shopping centre.
Getting there is very simple to navigate as Churchill Square shopping centre has its own multi-storey parking garage which is well sign posted and easy to find. There are plenty of parking spaces available, so it is more than likely that you will have no problem parking. If however, you find yourself there in peak shopping times and the car park is full, there are a number of other parking complexes in the area that you could use.
We arrived at 5.50pm as Ed’s Easy Diner as well as the shopping centre closes at 7pm, so it was outside of peak hours. After parking the car, we travelled up the escalators to the third floor and were greeted by a very vibrant and colourful diner. Lots of red, white and neon – all the colours you would expect from a classic 1950’s American diner. Upon entering the diner, we were greeted by a very polite young lady with a big smile who seated us straight away with our menus. As I mentioned previously, it was not particularly busy so only a few other tables were occupied. Having been seated for only a few minutes, our drinks orders were taken and the waitress was happy to give her suggestions for milkshakes and told us her favourite one. We then sat back to take in our surroundings.
Our first impressions were very positive. The decor was just right – not too much and not too little. The white walls were contrasted with red seating booths and chrome furnishings. The booths were placed back to back in true 1950’s American diner fashion and of course there was the typical diner bar seating area with large chrome and red leather stools. Each table comes with its own mini jukebox which you put 20p into to request your song. This is then queued and played on the main diner speaker system. All of the mini-jukebox money goes to the Action Against Hunger charity. The music was very pleasant – mainly old school American rock and roll favourites. This was played at a pleasant level so that it was loud enough to hear but not too loud to distract from conversation at the table.
We could not help but notice straight away how immaculate everything was. The cleanliness was definitely above standard. The menus, condiment bottles, tables, booths, seats and well, pretty much everything (including the walls) were spotlessly clean. All the chrome furnishings were polished and shiny – no evidence of grease or fingerprints. A very welcome standard for any eating establishment.
We did not have to wait long for the waitress to take our meal order. The menu offerings fall under the categories of burgers, fries, chicken, hot dogs and salad. The waitress was able to explain the differences between some of the meals on the menu in a knowledgeable and polite way. You have the option between ordering the “Solo” burger (just the burger) or “Ed’s Plate” (burger, fries, coleslaw and onion rings). I ordered the Smokey Joe’s Ed’s Plate burger (With Cheddar cheese, griddled onions and Smokey BBQ Sauce) and my partner ordered the Pulled Pork Burger Deluxe Ed’s Plate (With BBQ pulled pork and Cheddar cheese). We opted to upgrade our fries to chilli fries. For those that are watching the waistlines, they do offer a skinny burger. There is also a vegetarian burger available. A minute after the waitress who took our order left the table, a second waitress arrived at our table with our drinks order – an Oreo Shake and a Banana & Peanut Butter Shake. When ordering, we were given the option to add malt and when I queried what this was, the waitress was able to explain clearly and offer her recommendation on adding it. Each milkshake was served in its own chilled large silver jug and the milkshakes were poured into glasses at our table (approx 2 glasses per jug). A very nice touch. I have to say that we both thought that these were the best milkshakes that we had ever had. They were absolutely heavenly. I had chunks of Oreos in mine and the flavour of both milk shakes was phenomenal.
We only had to wait about 10 minutes for our main meal to be served. The plate of food looked very appetising – a thick juicy burger in a brown sesame seed bun, golden onion rings, a pot of creamy coleslaw and a handful of chips covered with a spoon of chilli. The waitress offered us additional sauces such as BBQ or mayonnaise. We both opted for mayonnaise and these were bought promptly in small containers. I cannot fault the food. It was truly delicious and you could tell that everything was freshly cooked. The buns were soft and the burgers were juicy and tender. The onions in mine were soft and sweet and the pulled pork in the other burger was melt in your mouth good. The chips were fluffy inside and crispy on the outside. The chilli on the chips was very tasty without being too spicy. The coleslaw was creamy and tangy with some crunch. All in all, it was a very flavoursome meal which we would happily have again.
Once we had both finished our meal, our plates were cleared away promptly. I hate sitting with empty plates at the table once you have finished eating but this was not something I had to worry about. The manager then came over to take our dessert order. We opted for waffles with ice cream and Canadian maple syrup and a Kit Kat sundae. Again, these were bought out very quickly – we had no more than a 5 minute wait. There were two thick waffles on the plate which were soft and fluffy on the inside and with a slight crunch on the outside. The syrup was dark and sweet but not sickly. There was also a dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream on the plate. The Kit Kat sundae was served in a large sundae glass with lots of visible layers of ice cream, cream and Hershey’s chocolate sauce. On eating your way through the desert, you discover there is a full 4 fingers broken up into the sundae! Absolutely top notch desserts.
The manager and wait staff were very attentive during the course of our meal. Checking if everything was okay or if we needed anything extra or another drink. Just enough and not too much that you felt harassed. This was not just with us though, we did notice that they were very attentive with all the occupied tables. Their manner was very friendly but with an equal measure of professionalism. The sort of service you would expect from a 4* restaurant.
The only slight disappointment was the toilets. There was only one toilet which was marked as disabled/baby change but no visible men’s or ladies. The waitress did confirm that it was only the one toilet when I questioned it. There was some wet discarded tissue on the floor and the sink did need a bit of a clean. Because it was a disabled toilet, the sink and hand dryer were very low down and being someone who is quite tall, I did have to bend almost over double to be able to use both these.
That aside, there was very little else we could fault about our meal at Ed’s Easy Diner. The meal, staff, atmosphere and cleanliness were all top quality and I would be more than happy to go back and eat there. I would also happily recommend others to Ed’s Easy Diner – in fact, we have already recommended it to two separate people.
Rating: 4.5/5
For more information visit www.edseasydiner.com/location/brighton_churchill_square.php
Ed’s Easy Diner, Unit C2, Churchill Square, Brighton, BN1 2RG | 01273 738758
