Diners are always such fun places to eat at — you never know what will be on the menu. The Diner is located on 14th Street and 9th ave, right on the boarder of the neighborhoods Chelsea and Meatpacking. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked by this neighborhood diner, but I have yet to eat here until this past weekend when a friend was in town.
My friend Brittany and I arrived fairly early for a Sunday morning. When we got to The Diner around 11 a.m. we were seated instantly, but by the time we left not a single table was available! Brunch in New York City typically starts past noon and can go until 5 p.m. Can you imagine?
That’s the beauty of New York City weekends, no matter where you go, you’ll be able to order eggs and pancakes until the restaurant starts to serve dinner. But at a diner, that’s every day of the week — you can order dinner at breakfast, and breakfast at dinner!
Maybe I’m a little behind on this specific food trend, but this weekend was my first time I tried fried mac and cheese balls! Even though this was my first time having this insanely fantastic food, I think I was spoiled by The Diner’s version of this food fad.
The fried mac and cheese balls tasted phenomenal, but when you dunk the bite into their own personal cheese dip that’s when you are truly blown away! The rich, creamy cheese dip adds fantastic texture and flavor to the already crispy, creamy, cheesy mac and cheese balls. Maybe it was because we were probably the first order of the day, but the fried part of the food wasn’t greasy at all! In fact, they didn’t even feel like a guilty pleasure.
I’m really curious as to how to make these at home. But I know even if I mastered the fried mac & cheese ball portion, I would never be able to replicate the best part of The Diner’s dish — the cheese to dunk the balls in.
(For all you Penn Staters out there… The cheese sauce tasted exactly like the cheese topping from The Dark Horse’s cheese fries! I still think they have the best cheese fries in the world! Not even a New York City restaurant has been able to live up to the dive bar’s unhealthy side dish.)
