Tag Archives: diners

More eating out in Binghamton

We got up late and had a bite at the Red Oak, a seriously inexpensive diner on Front Street that we pass on the way to my Dad’s place.  The Red Oak is, in my opinion, a better value than the Spot.  Lunch specials at this working class establishment are rock-bottom and quite decent.  I had a hot pot roast sandwich, cup of chicken orzo soup and onion rings for $4.99.  The onion rings were actually onion rings — not chopped up onions pressed into a circle.  Matt had, surprise!, a gyro.  The large dining room to the right when you enter is rustic and comfortable.  Go there and avoid the tight booths at the opposite end of the building.  After the chowdown we went to my Dad’s for a few hours for some strategic planning and goodbyes, as Steven was leaving later in the day and Matt and I were heading out tomorrow.  At about 3:30 p.m. we drove Mr. Man the 8 miles or so to the Binghamton airport (Edwin A. Link Field, officially).  He had no problem getting through security, thank God, and Matt and I headed back to the city to rustle up some grub.  After a bad Marty routine (“Where do you want to go, Matt?  I don’t know, Mom, where do you want to go?”), we settled on The Bulls Head, which looked from the outside at some distance like an Irish pub.  It was in an almost deserted strip mall on Front Street, which did not give me lots of confidence.  After I parked in that sad lot, Matt got out to see if there was any there there.  He gave me the high sign and we were soon in the place.  It was incredible — a total non sequitur.  We walked into a crowded fine dining establishment, more or less a steak and seafood affair.  We were too late for the early bird and somehow did not notice their weekday special of all-you-can-eat Alaskan crab legs when we ordered my steak and Matthew’s tilapia.  How the hell did we miss the crab special?  When it comes to food, we are on the stick.  I do not know what to attribute this lapse to.  Even now, several days later, this really makes me mad.  That’s not to say that what we did order was not top-notch.  First off, I had the best baked potato soup of my life.  It was not the pureed stuff with chives that gets hawked in most places, rather a chicken stock based  soup with chunks of tasty and firm baked potato throughout, and topped with a large dollop of sour cream that insinuated its way down into the broth, giving the whole thing just a bit of creaminess.  My sirloin steak was cut thick and cooked to perfection — rare, the only way to cook a steak to perfection, as far as I’m concerned, and so tender the interior tasted like steak tartare.  Matt’s tilapia had been lightly breaded and then baked with butter and spices, somewhat reminiscent of a Dore preparation in texture.  He loved it, and there was more than enough for him, which is saying something.  The twice-baked potatoes on the side added to the meal.  They were served blisteringly hot, meaning creamy rather than congealed inside.  It was nice to have had a serendipitous meal to soften the mood brought on by those difficult moments earlier in the day.

Park Diner in Binghamton

Hooray!  Steven arrived in Binghamton today to spend a week with us.  The first place he wanted to hit was a diner, so we took him to the Park, at 119 Conklin Avenue, right on the water.  This is somewhat of an upscale diner, with floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the Susquehanna river.  It was late, so there were slim pickens, but Steven ordered the chopped steak with onions and I had a cheese omelet with home fries.  Matt chose the fried fish special.  The standout:  the home fries.  They were sublime, all brown and crispy with bits of caramelized onion.  If you don’t know what to order at a diner, the breakfast is usually a good bet.  The one annoyance was the ladies’ room – which was a single stall affair!  For such a huge place this is crazy.  Maybe there are additional rest rooms elsewhere, but I could not find them.

From Cali to Binghamton

My son, Matthew, and I left for Binghamton, New York, today in order to spend some time with my dad, Frank, who has lung cancer and needs some help with paperwork.  Airlines generally give you no food for free and hawk snack packs these days, so we tried our luck in the airport between connecting flights instead.  In terms of the rip-off factor, Chi-town’s big dog of an airport is right up there.  We had some kind of mass passing itself off as a sandwich at Wofgang Puck’s fast food stand and then a hot Angus beef hero at matt in bed at motel 6 in binghamton ny in 2006 Quiznos.  This was the only time I ever had latter’s grub, and it was not bad.  These two items plus a couple drinks set us back $21 and change.  After getting up at 3:30 a.m. Cali time and then dealing with a 3-hour delay in Chicago, getting our rental car in Syracuse and then driving the 70-odd miles south to Binghamton, we were bedraggled when we arrived at the Motel 6.  Not too bedraggled, however, to miss the large diner on the same street, which we paid a visit to after some minor delousing.  The Spot Diner on Front Street in Binghamton was welcoming when we rolled in around 10:00 p.m.  Ah, the wonder of a diner menu!  Pages and pages of comfort food not to be found in much of the SF Bay Area, and, when it is, it is gussied up and fussy and expensive.  Although I knew this would be a difficult trip in terms of my father’s illness, it would at least allow us to eat at the same kind of diners we grew up with in Queens.  Matthew happily ordered the yee-ro when we noticed it was Greek-run, and I summoned the roast chicken dinner.  A half chicken, real mashers, corn and a biscuit — all covered with cream gravy.  That was after the small Greek salad and cup of Yankee bean soup.  All this for under $10.  While the Spot in no way measures up to greats like the Neptune, Bel-Aire and Keystone in Astoria, Queens, it was pretty good.  We fell into bed full and exhausted.  Incidentally, the Motel 6 in Binghamton is great.  The rooms are every bit as nice as the pricier chains, and this one is fairly new so it is very clean.  Big rooms and not tacky or seedy at all.