Nothing will cure an American’s homesickness like a retro kitschy diner that serves up perfectly done burgers and gooey milkshakes. Such were the wonderful elixirs from Ed’s Easy Diner near Covent Garden.
It’s been just over a month since I returned to London from the US, where in usual form I ate a burger for every breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Fortunately, my withdrawal symptoms won’t last long here because London definitely doesn’t have a shortage of tasty burgers, but would I be able to find anywhere that felt like ‘home’?
London Thing 758 of 1000: Pop a coin in the capital’s best jukeboxes at Ed’s Easy Diner.
But what feels like home now is a glorious cross-pond contamination of culture, something from the Big Smoke that will remind me of the Amber Waves of Grain.
Which is exactly what I found at Ed’s Easy Diner. It’s the perfect combination of all the things I love about a good old American diner: deliciously greasy burgers, onion rings piled next to an overflowing root beer float, the neon lights showcasing a deceptively ‘retro’ opening date), but with a dose of British sensibility.
I mean, the guy sitting next to me was washing down his burger and fries with a tea.
Although we popped 40p into the mini-jukebox, it either ignored us or the things are so popular that in the hour or so we spent perched on stools at the counter, we didn’t hear the song we chose.
All of the jukebox money is donated to charity, so we couldn’t leave too upset.
Also, you can’t leave too upset when the last thing you order is an alcoholic milkshake. I have yet to see these in America (though I do come from a state where it’s 2014 and there are entire areas where you’re not allowed to buy alcohol), so maybe London has one-upped us?
Eat: Ed’s Easy Diner, 12 Moor St, London, W1D 5NG. Tube Leicester Square. (That’s pronounced ‘less-ter’, Americans.)
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