Red’s diner (4th street)

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Red’s diner is a very popular breakfast and brunch restaurant in my neighborhood. If you go on a weekend, expect to wait in line before being seated. Kev and I went there purposely past the lunch hour on a Sunday, hoping that we could beat the crowd. Unfortunately, we had to wait a little bit for a table so we compromised and sat at the counter.

The interior of the restaurant has a very modern, artsy look and feel to it. The use of yellow and red colors makes this place warm and welcoming.

After taking a good look at its long list of breakfast/lunch selections, we decided on the rancheros wrap and reuben sanwich.

We waited and waited and waited. For about 20 minutes. Before we decided to give up and leave, our food finally arrived. (After all these wait, it better be good)

The rancheros wrap ($13.99) had 2 scrambled eggs, black beans, jalapeño, jack cheese and green onion wrapped in a flour tortilla, served with salsa and sour cream on the side along with plenty of hash browns. The wrap tasted very bland by itself. Probably because the scramble eggs wasn’t really the usual scrambled (whole) eggs. Looking at it more closely, it was only scrambled egg whites. Biting into the wrap, I could only taste the spicy flavor from the jalapeño. More disappointing was that some hash browns were cold and under-cooked. Given its quality, I felt that this dish was way overpriced.

Rancheros wrap

On the other hand, the reuben sandwich ($12.99) tasted much better. The montreal smoked meat,  sauerkraut in swiss cheese and roasted garlic dijon created a perfect harmony. The grilled marble rye further delivered a heavy, robust flavor. The poutine was nicely done with the cheese curds just a little melty. If the gravy was less salty, it would be perfect.

Reuben sanwich

In my opinion, Red’s diner is just a regular diner that serves big portion, mediocre food.  Its atmosphere made more of an impression on me than the food.