24 June 2009

The Big Rig Diner, Darlinghurst (20 June 2009)

231 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010



American diner in Sydney

After enjoying some relaxing drinks at the nearby The Beauchamp Hotel I was in need of some decent food and this new restaurant down the road looked like a promising dinner option. The Big Rig Diner had only opened the day before and it's friendly and cheerful waitresses, comfy looking booths, homely decor and ambient lighting sure made me feel welcome. I've yet to visit North America but I felt like I'd just sat down at one of their American diners which this restaurant has been based on. Like an authentic diner, the fully open kitchen aka grill, is the central hub of this stainless steel featured restaurant.

The passionate and down-to-earth owner Paul Schell, who also owns Ruby Rabbit and De Nom upstairs, plans to extend the menu (menu in progress) including breakfast and hopefully introduce decent meals at reasonable prices in the true tradition of an American diner — although a glass of house wine was $9 which is a pricey but was very good quality. When the dishes arrived they were definitely decent in size and good value. The medium-rare 'succulent sirloin steak' was very 'succulent' and could have possibly been cut with a butter knife. It was very tender, full of flavour and one of the best steaks I've had for a long time. The four fajitas came with generous amounts of fillings and with the left over lettuce I made a side salad with some dressing so it didn't go to waste.

Keep in mind during the early part of the meal the well suited rock-n-roll music created a pleasant atmosphere but once Ruby Rabbit stepped into full gear around 10 pm you could hear and feel the deep thumps of dance music coming down through the walls and ceiling which for me was a shame. [NB. After the timing of this review the management have now decided to bring the down the price of house wine from $9 to $7.50 a glass – 25 June]

Where else can you eat in a diner booth around Sydney?


Succulent Sirolin Steak: Served with chips, mash and gravy or baked potato sour cream and chives $18
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)






Sizzling hot plate fajitas served red hot with salsa, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and tortillas, chicken $15 (also available with Prawn $17 or Beef $15)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Side salad made with the left over lettuce and some dressing

House white and red wine $9 each

Menu



Dining area


Open kitchen

Friendly service

Wall with original old photographs

Table condiments

Toilet in progress


DJs in the house

Ruby Rabbit - Level 1

Stairwell chandelier between Rubby Rabbit and De Nom



De Nom - Level 2


Entrance to Ruby Rabbit next door to The Big Rig Diner


View Larger Map
Big Rig Diner on Urbanspoon - Big Rig Diner
De Nom on Urbanspoon - De Nom

5 comments:

Betty @ The Hungry Girl said...

Very cool & retro looking diner. I like that you made your own salad so as not to waste food. Hehe.

billy@ATFT said...

i saw a guy possibly the owner doing the final touches as I walked past the other day. It looks good inside with diner style, very appealing. might try it one day.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Love the diner style! I love retro things and I told fellow retro loving friends the other day that we needed to visit and this confirms it!

Farrel said...

This does look cool. The Falconer on Oxford street is retro and cool too! They only play vinyls. I want retro diners to make a come back!

Simon Leong said...

Hi Betty, waste not want not i say

Hi Billy, i think you'll enjoy if you visit

Hi Lorraine, retro is so cool

Hi Farrel, thanks for the tip. i'll have to check out, especially since they only play vinyls, that's super cool.

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