Royal Diner; Clarkston, Michigan

Last night, after Sarahfay's softball practice, we went to have dinner at the Royal Diner, located at 6540 Dixie Highway in Clarkston, Michigan.  The Royal Diner used to be called Nick's Country Kitchen a year ago and when it was I must admit that I was not a fan.  But I am happy to say things have definitely made a change at the Royal Diner.  This establishment made a long-term shutdown while they revamped the store and I must say they did a wonderful job!  I will be the first to say that I am a tough nut when it comes to the critiques of restaurant decors, but the owners did a really nice job of the Royal Diner, inside and out.  On the exterior they have a beautiful neon sign that gives the impression of an old style diner; while inside there are nice comfortable booths and tables, plasma TV's, more neon lights and even a working fireplace!

Now I have eaten here before and let me say that the salads are great, especially the Greek Salad.  I have also previously had a hamburger and they too were delicious.

Today, I decided to eat something off of the specials list and that was the Roasted 1/2 Chicken.  This was served with my choice of potato (I choice a baked potato w/ sour cream), a vegetable (peas), a bread basket, and my choice of soup or salad.  Now as I said previously stated the salads at the Royal Diner are good, but their soups are exceptional.  One of my favorites is their cabbage soup.  Unlike most cabbage soups the Royal Diner does not cook the massively large pieces of cabbage until it is mushy, rather they cook it so the cabbage and carrots still have a bit of "crunch" in it.  I absolutely love it!  As for my chicken it was huge!  I kept thinking to myself that for that to only be a half of a chicken, then that bird must of been on steroids and possibly a pro-wrestler.  It was that h-u-g-e.  The flavor of the chicken was great and it was cooked well.  There was a homemade dressing underneath the chicken that I loved and thought finished the meal perfectly.  For me the only thing that would have been nice was something sweet like a fruit relish.

Sarahfay ordered off of the kid's menu and chose the Eggs & Meat.  She, like her parents, loves her eggs poached (she a good kid) and for her meat she opted for crispy bacon.  She had white toast and a Sprite to drink.  Being a Hendin, Red Hot was added to the dish.  She gave a thumbs up to it all.

Kolleen, who does not eat very much at all, ordered a side of hash browns and then shared off of Sarahfay and my plate.  Kolleen felt the hash browns were not that great until the butter was added, but then they turned to something quite good.  Kolleen also ordered coffee which she enjoyed.  I am always impressed when a restaurant gives the table a thermal carafe.

Now the greatest downfall for the Royal Diner was the price.  They our not the most affordable restaurant out there.  There are worse, my special was not too bad at $8.49, but the Kid's Meal at $4.99 only had 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon, that seems pricey.


The cleanliness of the store was good.


Overall I was happy the Royal Diner.  They do have good lunch specials and I would recommend them to anyone for lunch.


Happy Tasting!


Overall:


Service:                          ****(4)
Food:                              ****(4)
Affordability:                 ***(3)
Cleanliness:                    ****(4)
Decor:                             ****(4)


Overall:                         ****(4)

Bread Basket Deli; Oak Park, Michigan

It seems lately that most of my entries are coming at the tail end of a medical procedure and always with my friend Cliff in tow.  Well, this is one is to follow the same course.  Cliff and I left Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan this morning and my friend was in a "hankering" for some good old Jewish Deli.  Well, me being me I am not one to shove that request away, and I immediately suggested the Bread Basket Deli located at 26052 Greenfield Rd in Oak Park.  This restaurant has a lot of memories for me as this was where my Bubbie (Yiddish for grandma) used to take me all the time as a kid.  Though my stomach was still a bit upset from my procedure I was still looking forward to a great meal.

The Bread Basket has the exact same decor since I was a child in the 70's, and I do mean the exact.  Somehow the owners have seemed to keep the same vinyl entact on the booths, I don't know how they did, but they did.  As you walk in you will stroll by a glass case of new and old dill pickles (I prefer the new), hard Vienna salamis, cheeses, fresh baked rye breads, and so much more.  I couldn't help but notice the blintzes that seemed to be the size of softballs, I do wonder what they where filled with.

Cliff ordered a corned beef and egg omelette.  His first reaction was the same as his last and that was, "there is enough corned beef on here for two sandwiches."  Yet, he somehow, and I have no idea how, he found the room to finish it, along with his pumpernickel toast.  Cliff gave it top marks, in fact during his first bite his eyes did roll into the back of his head.

Now I ordered what would have to be my favorite meal in the world outside of scallops, they call it "Lox of Luck"  The Lox of Luck is a platter containing a bagel, cream cheese, sliced red onion, tomato slices, green pepper slices, black olives, home fresh sweet gherkins and Nova Scotia Lox.  I like to call this "Jewish soul food."  To say I enjoyed it was beyond the proper adjective.  There is nothing like fresh Lox, but at $24.95 a pound lox better be good!

I also should also mention the coffee which was OK, nothing to write home about, but not swill either.

There was one downfall to our meal and that is pretty much a staple to a good delis, the price.  Cliff's omelette was around $8.50 and my Lox platter was $9.75.  I would complain about the prices, but first all good delis are priced as such and second, my food was too good.

The cleanliness of the store was good.  The restaurant is old and some might mistake that for dirty, but I looked things over and I was impressed.  I did used the bathrooms and they where newly cleaned.

Overall I loved my trip to Bread Basket Deli in Oak Park.  Two months ago I took my daughter to the Waterford branch of the deli (see blog entry).  I was not as impressed with that store as I was with the original.  It helped that good memories of my Bubbie filled me through the entire meal.

Overall:

Service:                   ****(4)

Food:                      ****(4)  Coffee kept it from a five.

Affordability:           ***(3)

Cleanliness:             ****(4)

Decor:                    ***(3)

Overall:                  ****(4) The food wins it!!!!