Yesterday my young family and I went for a day trip to Exeter, the wife had recommended an “american style diner” to me before and after checking out, and running from the disgusting looking buffet we were going to take a look at, it seemed like a good place to stop.
First thing was, it was busy, and we had to wait for a table, and that there weren’t that many tables to go around. The place was quite openly decorated, very modern and funky with a kind of minimal industrial vibe.
Burgers and sides were priced much like other burger joints nowadays, you pay for each unit and so I ordered a Smokey Joe burger, the Wife ordered a Piggy burger and we got the small kid’s Slider burger meal for little S.
We also ordered some shakes and a small milk for S to complete the experience.
The Smokey Joe – £8.50
- 7oz lean homemade patty
- Applewood Cheese
- Cheesy Smokey Mayo
- Onions, Tomato, Relish
- Smokey Streaky Bacon
- and of course a Brioche
This was actually a really decent burger. Half pound and still pink in the middle, very low fat ratio to the burger itself making it slightly dry (but thats the price you pay for lean). A really great bun and the condiments and mayo really blended nicely throughout.
I could have eaten with my hands, but it was just that little bit too saucy.
The Piggy – £9.50
7 oz lean homemade patty
Smokey Pulled Pork
Applewood and Hickory sauce
This was again a really juicy burger, the pulled pork added a lot of moisture to the burger with a really tasty underlying BBQ vibe.
The sides – Sweet Potato fries £3.75 and Coleslaw £3.75
Some of the best, crispiest and sweetest sweet potato fries I’ve had, really very nice.
The slaw was rich and creamy and had a very nice spring onion flavour.
The Kids’ Slider meal – £5
A combo of a small slider burger (just a downsized basic burger) – probably 4oz and some nice little fries.
S didn’t eat the burger, but then this was his first burger outside. He was more interested in dipping his fries in ketchen, basically to eat the ketchup.
I wouldn’t rate the Kid’s meal on S’s opinion as he can be a funny eater whilst out. I thought it represented great value and was tasty.
The Milkshakes – £3.75
These guys were big, had a ton of whipped cream on top and also had a thick creamy texture with a good flavour. Very nice.
Service
Fast and efficient, didn’t wait long for bill, had high chair brought out and was informed of location of baby changing. The staff were friend;y and pleasant despite being busy and the manager appeared well in control.
10% is automatically added to the bill as service. I would have tipped anyway, because I do, but I must admit that it is a little presumptuous to in the UK. I can imagine on really busy days service could be basic and maybe stretched and it would be annoying and a little unjust to be charged 10% to literally only have you meal brought out to you – that’s what the wages are for. In this instance though I received really very good service, the waitress even got down to S’s level to talk to him and was all around impressed.
The irony is I would have probably tipped more than 10% had I been given the choice, so you decide which way is right.
Hygiene and Cleanliness
Yeah, a very clean place. Definitely didn’t appear dirty and the kitchen is partially open. The chefs looked professional and working under good conditions.
All i would say is some of the furniture is hard welded steel, and I caught my hand on a bit resulting in quite a deep cut. Not their fault I don’t suppose but does make me a little weary due to having the munchkin with me.
So yeah. Liked it a lot. Will be going back I’m sure. Similar in experience to Burger Fest, maybe a little more upmarket. Overall it was £42 for lunch – which is steep so perhaps reserve for a treat.
Cheers.
Here’s the menu RUBY-FOOD
