Monday, May 19, 2008

American City Diner, Washington, D.C.

Ian and I made a sort of last-minute dash to the Friendship Heights area last night for dinner just before American CIty Diner closed down serving their entrees and blue plates at 11 p.m. American City Diner is an interesting place, using the 50s diner theme, but also showing classic movies every night.

Ian got a Caesar salad and a bowl of chicken noodle soup (the soup of the day). He raved about the soup, thinking it had a rich, almost buttery taste. I sampled a spoonful of broth and it was redolent with well-flavored chicken fat. I noticed on the menu that chicken matzo ball soup is a regular menu item, so I think they make their chicken noodle in the Jewish tradition.

caesarsalad
chickennoodlesoup

I had the liver and onions. It was, alas, disappointing. The very thin slice of liver was overcooked and reminded me a bit of liver-flavored shoe leather. Their version is topped both with grilled onions and with brown gravy. Accompanying the liver were some tasty mashed potatoes and gravy and some nice, long green beans. Ian was not pleased with my liver and onions either. He declared it "disgusting" and lined up all the napkin holders, condiments, and spare glasses to form a barricade down the middle of the table lest he have to look at it. I don't think he likes liver.

liveronions

We split a slice of New York-style cheesecake for dessert. It tasted fine, but the serving size seemed a bit small for the price. The dessert choices were rather limited, but Ian ordered the cheesecake before I'd decided what I wanted.

cheesecake

Diners are always fun places for a good, basic, inexpensive dinner. I was disappointed with American City last night, though, not only because my entree was not well cooked, but because we found the meal to be just as expensive as the standard mid-range national franchise restaurants. We were also a bit put-off by their drink policy. Ian's Coke was $2.75 and my iced tea was $2.25; the menu makes a big deal about pointing out that they only offer one free refill with the drinks.....and we aren't talking about large glasses here! That's just not very "diner" in my mind.

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