Finding The Best Diner Breakfast In Los Angeles | Food Tours | Insider Food

“Food Wars” hosts Harry Kersh and Joe Avella travel across Los Angeles to find the best diner breakfast in the city. They’ll be visiting three different locations in just one day to see what the city has to offer. This is “Food Tours.”

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Finding The Best Diner Breakfast In Los Angeles | Food Tours | Food Insider

Ah. A beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles, and here we are at Nick’s Cafe. Harry: Yeah, I’ve really brought the weather with me. I’m sorry about that one. Joe: Eh, it’s OK. All right, here’s the game plan. Today, I’m taking you to three of the best diners in Los Angeles, all right? Nick’s, another famous LA institution. Inside, they only have 25 seats around the counter. The wait is currently about 10 people deep and I want to eat now, so we’ve got this table instead. That works. Wonder why no one was sitting out here today. Joe: Yeah, I don’t know why. Harry: Yeah, I’m sad that we’re not fully experiencing the ambiance, but we’ve had a look around inside. It’s a really cool spot. Only 25 seats. Why is this such a popular spot? This has been here since 1948, and it’s pretty largely been untouched the whole time it’s been here. Opened, unsurprisingly, by a gentleman named Nick. Nick eventually sold it to two homicide detectives, so this became the hangout for police and Department of Water and Power employees. Harry: OK. Joe: So they kept this place going through all the hard times. Fed up with cracking cases. Wanted to crack eggs instead. Joe: Yeah, exactly. Harry: It’s the place to go. Joe: It has its own, like, not a sitcom but a TV show. Like, two cops, they’re sick of the hard cop lifestyle, so they opened this diner, yet for some reason, every week they get pulled into a case. Some murders keep happening. Joe: Just say, "Here’s a little more coffee," and this guy would be like, "Man, I tell you, this string of burglaries, nobody can solve." And the guy’s like, puts his hat on, yeah. I’d watch that. That’d be cool. Joe: They’re known for doing diner classics but elevating them. The thing we gotta try today is Nick’s famous ham and eggs. It’s a bone-in ham, hand-carved, brown-sugar glaze. Harry: That sounds good. We have a lot of, like, ham, egg, and chips in the UK, or gammon, egg, and chips in the UK. Really interested to see the American spin on that. Again, this has appeared in a lot of TV shows, like "NCIS," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." Great shows. Cop shows, by the way. Keeping the cop thing going, yeah. Joe: Keeping the cop thing going. I’m a "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" guy, so that’s exciting. Joe: I actually love that show. It’s actually very funny. It’s really funny. Joe: We’re going to do an order of the famous ham and eggs, and then I also want to do the huevos rancheros. Huevos rancheros. Sounds good. And then you wanted to try biscuits and gravy? Yeah, please, just biscuits and gravy. Any other specialties you think we should try here? I mean, you got pretty much the good hitters. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s what we figured. Like, the top three. Awesome. Well, glad we got the top three. Awesome. Well, thank you. All right, so you’ve been in America for 10 days now. How’s Los Angeles been treating you? It’s been good. I’ve spent a lot of time in cars. I kind of expected that. Went to the Griffith Observatory yesterday. Oh, what’d you think? Harry: Which is pretty cool. Great view. Got kind of lucky with the parking as well. No way! Just rolled up. Joe: I told you, I told you. Wow. You guys got clever with the parking? You warned us off it. Conner sorted us out. Joe: So you got a good spot. Harry: Yeah, we did. Joe: That’s, like, honestly, one thing about Los Angeles is getting a great spot where you’re going is, like, as celebrated as anything else you’re doing that night. When people will be like, "Dude, I’m parked right in front," it’s like, "Wow!" That itself is its own reward. I’m not kidding. Cherish that. We’ve been really lucky so far, yeah. Joe: That’s great. Server: Huevos rancheros? Joe: Yeah, just put it right here. You can hand me that. Harry: Oh, man. Joe: Thank you, thank you. Server: Ham and eggs. Joe: Yes! Server: Biscuits and gravy? Joe: Yeah, just put it over here. Harry: Yeah, we’ll split. Thank you. Joe: Oh, my God, I’m going to eat the s— out of this. Are you kidding me? All right, I can’t even wait. I gotta try a piece of ham. Harry: That looks ridiculous. How big is that leg of ham? Joe: Is this how big ham legs get? This round? Harry: I guess so. Maybe at the upper part. Yeah, this might be of a person. They might have hunted a man for sport for this, and I’m all for it. Huevos rancheros, you got eggs, meat, and beans in there. And they’re going to have their own, like — Harry: Ooh. Got chilies underneath. Joe: Yeah, dude. So would you put this kind of in the Tex-Mex style of cooking, I guess? Joe: So, I would. To me, Tex-Mex is basically Mexican food that feels like it’s been a bit Americanized. And that’s not a dis to it. Harry: Mm. Joe: Right? Harry: The beef is so tender. Are you kidding me? That’s so amazing. This cheese on top? Oh, my God. You get, like, the hard cheese. There’s, like, some American, kind of orangey cheese as well. Save some room, because this ham, it is no joke. So, they hand-carve it. It has a brown-sugar glaze. It’s absolutely fantastic. Harry: Mm-hmm. I got a real maple-syrup sweetness to that. Joe: Yeah, it’s got a brown-sugar glaze to it. Now try these hash browns. I know it just looks like regular hash browns. Harry: I will do, yeah. Wow, yeah, it’s just like shreds of potato. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Harry: Mm. Joe: I personally like the shreds because I feel that the potato gets cooked more. It’s not as, like, thicker and denser, so you can eat it a lot faster. But you get a lot more, there’s a crispy flavor on the outside. Yeah, I really love the shredded. Yeah, more room for browning. Yeah, the huevos rancheros, sensational. That’s incredible. Like, very different to anything that you would find on a British café menu. I will say that. Oh, yeah, I gotta try the salsa as well. Homemade salsa. Joe: A little ketchup on this too. I mean, the ham here, you know they do it right because the signage is all pig stuff. Well, yeah. Like, the open sign is an outline of a pig. So, I mean, you know they’re doing something right when they’re like, "Pig is here." Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: Now, you gotta save room because we also have biscuits and gravy, something that you have very little experience with, right? Harry: Very little experience with this. Do you know what actually is in American-style gravy? So, there’s sausage in this gravy. I should mention that. Now, when they mix that with flour, it almost creates this, I think the word is a "roux." Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: Like a thick sauce. And that causes the color. There’s also milk in there as well. Sure. So, I think the best way to describe it is it’s a sausage gravy. Yeah. I mean, I don’t hate the concept. And these are on biscuits, which are kind of like scones but not quite. Joe: No, no, no, no, no, no. These are nothing like scones. Harry: OK. They look a lot like scones. Joe: This is so good. You’re going to love it. Oh, God, you’re going to love it. Right? Harry: Mm. Joe: What do you think? Harry: Yeah, not like a scone. Yeah, I know not like a scone. I’ve been telling you and all of your UK counterparts for four years now! It’s not a scone. It’s a lot more, like, bready, I guess. Joe: Yeah, it’s butterier. Harry: Uh-huh. Buttery and bready. Joe: Yeah. But with the gravy? Yeah, I think it needs the gravy, because they are quite dry on their own. But the gravy’s good, really flavorful. Oh, the gravy’s fantastic. Harry: You do get that pork-sausage taste from it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Harry: Mm-hmm. And the American sausage, the spicier — I feel weird telling you, like, "Our sausage is spicier." I don’t want to imply that, like, it has a heat to it. There’s just more of a spice flavor to it than most of the sausages I had over in the UK. I think maybe the baseline is pretty plain in the UK. You can easily find very flavorful, herby sausages, but, yeah. Joe: Gotcha. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever heard of the term "diner lingo"? No, I have not. What’s that? So, diner lingo was kind of this thing where diners would abbreviate things because you just shout orders a lot. So you have different nicknames for dishes or for things related to food, and it just kind of took off. And it was popular for a while, but honestly, I don’t think anyone does it anymore. I’ll give you some diner lingo I found on Wikipedia, and you tell me what you think it is. OK, first thing. Crackleberries. No idea. Joe: Eggs. Oh, this one’s good. You ask someone to "burn the British." Oh. Cup of tea? Cup of coffee? Toast English muffins. Harry: Sure, yep. Dog soup. That doesn’t sound appetizing. Coffee. Joe: Water. Harry: Oh. Oh, God. Frog sticks. It’s going to make sense when I tell you what it is, and it’s a bit rude. French toast sticks? Close, french fries. Harry: Hm. Hey, their thing, not mine. Sorry. Irish cherries. Harry: No idea. Joe: Carrots. What? Would never have gotten that one. This next one’s so stupid. Nervous pudding. "Hey, give me a slice of the nervous pudding." What do you think I’m talking about there? I’m trying to, like, do the mental math in my head to get there. What’s nervous? Joe: If something’s nervous, what is it doing? Shaking, milkshake. Nah, close. Jell-O. Ah, OK. Joe: Shingles with a shimmy and a shake. By the way, I’ll tell you what this is, and I know why this slang didn’t last. OK. So you’re go, "Give me a shingles with a shimmy and a shake." Know what they’re asking for? I don’t want to eat shingles. OK. Buttered toast with jam, which is way shorter. Well, you can’t give something a nickname and it be longer. And way harder to say. That’s why the Cockney rhyming slang, "He’s up the apples and pears," just stairs. Just say stairs. Harry: Just say stairs, yeah. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Slang doesn’t work if it’s longer. If it takes more time. Period. If it’s longer, doesn’t work. Harry: I gotta say, I think the perfect bite of this plate, one of the best bites of food I’ve actually had on this trip so far. The entire trip. Harry: The entire trip, not just the episode. Yeah, that is a fantastic dish. Joe: High praise. Harry: Mm-hmm. And to anyone watching this out of order, we haven’t done the taco episode yet. Not that I was expecting poor-quality food, but I think the preconception with places like diners, with cafés in the UK, anywhere with just, like, a really big menu, is that maybe they end up, like, stretching themselves a little bit thin. They’re cooking a lot of stuff, but they’re not doing it super well. However, this has kind of changed my perception on that. Good. Sensational mouthful. One of the best things I’ve eaten in LA, full stop, so far. Yeah, I mean, I’m only taking you to the bangers, baby. I’m only taking you to the winners. We are finding the best in Los Angeles, not the worst. Obviously, it’s just the two of us having our own bro brunch. Harry: Mm-hmm. We could just stay here all day, finish our plates, head back to your Airbnb, watch a little "Fast and Furious." Wow. But unfortunately, we are contractually obligated to continue filming this very episode, and I have another diner I want to take you to. OK, yeah, I’ve saved some room. I think we should go. Joe: Let’s go. We’re going to go check out Hollywood Boulevard. You’ll see some stars in the ground. We’re not getting out. Sure. Little rainy for that. Joe: Yeah, you’ll get the vibe, I guess. Not going to put anyone on blast, but when you walk down, you’ll see some names, and you’re like, "Really? This guy?" Harry: Like, "Who?" Yeah. A little bit of, "Who?" and a little bit of, like, "Man, they’re giving them to anyone now, it seems like." In theory, if I were rich enough, could I get a star? Charlie: I think you also have to be, like, knowable. I’m Harry from "Food Wars." I think I qualify for Hollywood fame. Joe: There he is getting his own star. Doing the, like, superhero landing pose. Yeah, you know what’s also interesting about it is that there’s different categories, so movies, television, recording music, broadcasting, maybe a few others. And if you excel at more than one of those, you get a separate star for it. Like, Michael Jackson has, I think, three. He definitely has two, possibly three. When are they adding a category for niche internet microcelebrities? That is so — Jesus, there are not enough squares on the sidewalks of Los Angeles to contain all the YouTube stars that potentially could be on it. That’s so funny. It could be you and me right next to, like, Addison Rae, dude. I don’t know who that is. Ha-ha, who’s that? This is the Saugus Cafe, which is the oldest restaurant in this county. Been here for over 100 years, since 1886. That’s over 100 years, right? Harry: Yes, it is. Joe: Yes, OK. It was originally called the Saugus Eating House, and it was connected to a train depot across the street. You saw the train tracks when we were pulling in here. So they picked it up and moved it over here or something. And anyway, what do you think of the vibe? I’m liking it, yeah. 1886, did you say? This is, by your standards, very old. Doesn’t feel super, super old, but it feels, like, retro, a little bit like stepping back in time. Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt ate here once, had the New York steak, and said it was "splendid." Harry: OK, big Teddy. If it’s good enough for him, then it’s good enough for me. Possibly in this booth. I feel like this is probably a spot that someone campaigning through this area would go. Institution, Santa Clarita. Salt-of-the-earth people eat here. That’s why I took you here. I definitely am feeling salty after all the American food I’ve been eating on this trip so far. Joe: Yeah, that’s right. Well, I got some bad news. Oh, yeah? This might be the saltiest day today. Let’s go. Joe: So, here’s what I think we should get. First of all, New York steak and eggs. I mean, that’s Roosevelt’s order of choice. Also do a chicken-fried steak, and — What is that? It’s fried chicken. No, it’s a steak that’s fried like chicken. OK, sure. I wasn’t ever sure what the "chicken-fried" bit was referring to. Joe: You know fried chicken? Harry: I do, yes. It’s that, but inside is a steak. OK. Joe: And then I’m thinking let’s get a side of bacon, a side of sausage. We got eggs, so we got that covered. I’ll also get hash browns with the steak and eggs, probably with the chicken-fried steak as well. So a pretty healthy meal, right? A couple cups of coffee. Yeah, it seems like a sort of normal way to start your day. Joe: Now, I wanted to give you kind of a little bit of a taste of different diners you can get in Los Angeles. Also, these three said yes. Crucially. So if there’s any other diner that may or may not involve a big boy named Bob, we asked, Bob said no. Diners in LA, they kind of tie in food, culture, history, community. So yeah, they are kind of a big deal here. And I wish I could take you to more, but a lot of them don’t have email. Yeah, it seems like an old-school vibe. Yeah. You would think when you go in there like, "Uh, I’m the guy from ‘Food Tours’" — They’re like, "Oh, sir, right this way." Joe: No, but they’re not. They’re actually like, "What is any of that?" I guess our closest equivalent would just be kind of a café or like a greasy-spoon type of vibe. When we had the English breakfasts in London, that’s probably about as close as you’re getting to a diner experience. I will say those are much more focused on breakfast, don’t tend to be open late, which I gather is kind of a diner thing in the US. Yeah, some of them are 24 hours, yeah. Harry: Yeah, breakfast, lunch, dinner. The menus are very different, though. You wouldn’t really be seeing things like chicken-fried steak on the menu at a greasy spoon, for example. Just about every diner you go to, the menu is, like, they got amazing breakfast, and they’ve got killer burgers, and they also have pizza. Do you like pasta? They got that too. Pad thai? Maybe. If people are willing to buy it, we’ve got it. Joe: Yeah. A full bar. Did we mention Mexican food? We got that too. That is a good point. They’ll do just about anything. Sure. Joe: Yeah. And it’s awesome. I think it speaks to the skill of the chefs who work at these places, that they can just pick any cuisine and be like, "Eh, I can do that. I can make a passable one. It’s completely fine." It’s funny coming to a diner having only really experienced them so far through Hollywood. Joe: Yeah. And it’s funny you mention that. I’ll use Quentin Tarantino as an example. Spent a lot of time in diners. And then at least his first two movies, no, first three movies, have key scenes, multiple scenes that take place in a diner. Right? There’s a lot of diner stuff in that. Diner culture really is in Hollywood a lot because I feel that that is directly related to a lot of people who make movies who live in Hollywood, got a lot of time on their hands, get sick of being in their studio apartments, go to a diner to kind of clear their head and maybe write, and just get all-you-can-drink coffee and kind of hang out. Hey! Food’s here. Harry: Oh, my God. Joe: Fantastic. Yes, awesome. Harry: That is a thick steak. Thank you. Joe: This is what I’m talking about. If I’m doing the ordering this whole time, we’re ordering bacon the way I want it. And already, I could tell they did a possibly perfect job of exactly how I want it. It’s crispy, it’s dry. This is how you know. [bacon crunches] Right? Right? It’s almost more like a pork scratching. Joe: Mm-hmm. Harry: OK, so talk me through what we’ve got here, Joe. That’s the steak, those are eggs, right? Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: Sausage, possibly perfect bacon. You got the chicken-fried steak. I got the shredded hash browns. You got home fries. Harry: Home fries, yeah. Joe: Everyone kind of does their potatoes differently. This is more common. I love the shredded and just kind of cooked on the grill so it has the crispy, I guess, shell. With hash browns, if you order them in the UK, it’s much more likely to be the kind of disks, like the McDonald’s style of hash browns, whereas this just looks like a big, kind of massive shredded potato that they cook. Joe: Yes, sir. Look at that. They shredded it and just heap it on the grill. Harry: Mm-hmm. I need you to help me with my egg literacy. Joe: Sure. In the UK, you ask for a fried egg. Joe: Yes. Maybe a poached egg, boiled egg, or scrambled eggs. We have no concept of, like, over easy or sunny-side up or all these things. Can you give me a quick rundown of what these are? I think I ordered over easy. Joe: You did. Sunny-side up, this is the sunny side, and it’s up. It’s pretty much, you crack an egg on the grill, letting it cook. Over easy is this, but moments before it’s ready to go, they flip it. So the yolk is inside, but they cooked it on both sides. But they pretty much get it to where it’s almost this, and then they flip it just so they’re kind of encasing it in there. Harry: So it should still have a runny yolk hidden within. Joe: The runny yolk’s inside of it, yeah. Oh, boy, this is like — I’m learning a lot. Joe: Oh, man, you’re going to love it, yeah. Harry: I’ve never had a chicken-fried steak before. I’m still slightly confused as to what it is. Joe: Going to get my iron for the day. Harry: Damn, it’s on the pink side. Still mooing. How do you think Teddy Roosevelt wanted it cooked? Joe: I would think that he probably got it about this. This would be the Teddy Roosevelt cook. I mean, he was a world explorer, right? Harry: Mm-hmm. Not afraid of a little blood. Joe: Nuh-uh. How’s the chicken-fried steak, my man? Intriguing. It’s pretty tasty. Joe: Yeah? Yeah, it tastes good. I’m not getting much steak flavor from that. I think it also might just be because it’s covered in this gravy, and a lot of what I’m tasting is the gravy. Joe: Well, I was surprised to find out that you don’t have that kind of gravy, and you guys don’t really have breakfast gravy in general, right? Uh-uh. Joe: So I want you, when you’re ready, to try some of the sausage. The sausage is great. Remember during the UK one, several times, I was like, "American sausage tastes different than UK sausage"? Harry: You did. Has more of a distinct spice flavor to it. That’s not a glass of wine. Just eat it. What sausage in the UK tastes closer to that? I don’t mean this in a bad way. McDonald’s breakfast sausage. Joe: Yeah, of course, yeah. Mm-hmm. It’s very, very similar flavor palate to that. Joe: All right, so you get the bread, you dip it in the yolk, get it going. Harry: Boom. There you go, yeah. That’s a perfect egg. I think we should swap bites of steaks. Joe: OK. Harry: A.1. Steak Sauce, almost like an American version of HP Sauce, right? Like, kind of savory, vinegary. Joe: Yes, but, I mean, I’ve had both. They’re not very close. Well, you can find out in a second. Try a little bite. Joe: Yeah? Yeah? Harry: Ooh. Joe: Yeah. Harry: Hm. Joe: It’s got a tang to it. Right? It is the premier steak sauce. Super popular, been around since the ’80s. It’s like, if you go to a place that serves steak, there’s going to be A.1. on the table, no question. Absolutely love A.1. Harry: Yeah, I like that, actually. I actually don’t think it’s got as strong a taste as HP Sauce, but I quite like that because I find HP can really overwhelm meats sometimes. I guarantee that’s in your, how your grocery stores have, like, an American aisle. Harry: Mm-hmm. Next to the Fluff and the Gushers, I guarantee there’s an A.1., a bottle of A.1. So, probably not too hard to find. I will say, like, it’s a lot of food. Is it common to eat a diner breakfast? Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s very common. Big plate of food. And they do feed you at a diner. And they’re also giving a lot of bread, a lot of meat, and a lot of potatoes, which is like sleeping pill on top of sleeping pill on sleeping pill for me, personally. I don’t eat a ton of potatoes and bread and meat and I’m like, "Let’s get this day started." I ate that, and I’m like, "All right." "Back to bed." Joe: Yeah, exactly. It’s hibernation season. So other people apparently can eat this well and then go work. I certainly can’t. So for me, I only really hit the diners on the weekends or late at night. That makes sense. Joe: Yeah. Harry: Yeah. Another thing I’ve seen in films, TV, free refills all the time. Joe: All the time. Harry: Is that a thing? It’s rare to have less than half a cup of coffee at your table if you’re still eating. They’ll keep filling it up, keep filling it up, keep filling it up. I want to point out that we’re filming and we isolated ourselves, and she was coming by, and then we kind of were like, "No, no, no, no, no." So that’s no criticism on this place. Normally, it would just be overflowing with coffee, which is perfect for me because I can’t drink enough of it. It’s not really a thing in the UK, like, in general. Even places with soda machines, it’s usually accepted that you just get one, and that’s it. Joe: Why is that? I don’t really know. I guess from their perspective, it’s such a small cost, right? To just keep filling you up with filter coffee. It’s going to cost them pennies and might keep you around for a bit longer, and you might order more food, so it makes sense. Joe: I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s just part of the experience of, like, always having a hot cup of coffee. That’s what I think. Harry: Just a nice gesture. I don’t think it’s a loss leader, the coffee. If there were a place in the UK that just keeps filling up your tea, then I would be there all the time. They wouldn’t just give you, like, another pot of hot water? Not even a new bag, just more water? Maybe a few places. But for the most part, if you order a beverage, you get that one cup. And then if you want another one, you have to order another cup and pay for it. Yeah. Joe: I don’t know. That sounds kind of rude, to be honest. Kind of rude. Harry: All right. I could sit here, like you say, all day, get coffee refills, eat more and more, but I think we have more spots to hit, right? Joe: Yeah, let’s go. Harry: People sometimes still doubt the fact that we do all these in one day. Joe: Oh, really? Harry: Which we definitely do, and it really takes its toll by the end if you are putting all the food away. Yeah, I’m a little beat, to be honest. Oh, God! I think that’s why they give you free unlimited coffee refills. Because otherwise, you’d just be asleep at the table. Right? I don’t know anyone who eats like this and then goes to work, man. I’m beat. Oy. We’re at Norms. Right, I mean, you wanted a neighborhoody place, this is, like, in the heart of it. We had to drive through Beverly Hills to get here, right? I think this is West Hollywood? Obviously, it’s packed. But yeah, this menu’s looking real nice. The chat is nice. Harry: The chat’s good. You want good chat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The banter I’m getting from this menu. You’re cracking on with this menu. Joe: I’m cracking on with this menu for sure. What do you think? Harry: I like the vibe in here. They’re churning out the pancakes here. But like you said, it’s a family vibe. The waitress just came over and was addressing the next family on the next table by name. Like, they know each other here. It’s a welcoming spot. Interesting thing about Norms, that we’re doing this now, this is actually their 75th anniversary. They’ve been going for a long time. Originally founded by a used-car salesman named Norm. They had 23 locations, and this is the oldest surviving one. 23 locations is quite a lot. Popular spot, right? Yeah. This was declared an LA historical monument partially because of its architecture. Now, I may be pronouncing this wrong, but there’s a type of architecture that’s very popular in diners called, I believe it’s Googie architecture, possibly Goo-gee. It’s the word Google, but replace the L with an I. Perfect. It’s very, like, car-focused, space age, but, like, "Jetson"-era looking, what the past thought the future was going to look like. It was a style that really boomed in the ’50s and ’60s, right? So then, they were like, "This is the future." Now, we’re like, "Ah, it’s kitschy. It’s the past." Go figure, right? But this has that look for it. And a lot of the Norms restaurants were designed to look like car dealerships. Norm was a car dealer. There you go, paying homage to his origins. Joe: Can I get you some pancakes? Harry: I would love some pancakes. I feel like that’s an American breakfast staple that we haven’t really had yet. Joe: How often would you say you have pancakes in the UK? Not very often. A lot of people seem to confine it to one day of the year in the UK. Why, what? We have this thing. You know Shrove Tuesday? No. Harry: It’s a Christian thing. What is it? Harry: It’s part of the Easter festivities. It comes before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday. Joe: Shrove. Shrove. All right. What’s shrove mean? I don’t know exactly what shrove means. But the idea of the day is that you kind of use up all of the, like, rich foods in your house before Lent. That actually, that makes perfect sense. Somehow, I don’t know exactly how, this translated itself into pancake day. So you can’t have pancakes on Lent. I think, traditionally, you were giving up a lot of stuff. It was like, I’m going to give up, all nice foods. Oh, and pancakes were a treat, so let’s fill up on pancakes so you can’t have them for a month. Pancakes is like, we got loads of, like, eggs left over. We gotta get rid of them all before Lent starts. What do we do? Chuck them in some pancakes. But all that goes to say, pancakes, not as much of a staple in the British diet, and definitely not found on typical breakfast menus. Joe: That’s wild. Harry: Yeah. Joe: Well, you should get pancakes here now. We haven’t had them yet, have we? Harry: No, we have not. I’m very keen. Joe: Definitely gotta have American pancakes, dude. That’s, like, Big Breakfast 101. I’m thinking we’re going to get the lumberjack breakfast. It’s got a little bit of everything, including pancakes. We’ll also split a meatloaf because the meatloaf here is supposed to be ridiculous. Also might throw a little waffle in the mix. Anything else? No, that sounds pretty good. I don’t think I’ve ever had meatloaf before, so I’m excited for — Joe: What? Harry: It’s not a commonly eaten thing in the UK. Joe: Oh, wow. Harry: I know. Man, you’re in for a treat. Harry: I feel like with that, with the breakfast, with the pancakes and the waffle, we’re hitting all the boxes I expect from a typical American diner, so that sounds good to me. Joe: We’re eating. Do you want to get a couple milkshakes? Harry: Oh, yeah, we’re at a diner. We should get milkshakes. One vanilla milkshake for your boy, please. Joe: So you’re going to get vanilla? Harry: I would love vanilla, yeah. I’m probably going to get strawberry. Harry: That’s fine. Do you, Joe. Thank you. Harry: One thing I love is that you guys have this chef’s sampler platter on the menu. Joe: Yeah. Chef recommended. Apparently so, but it’s basically just an array of fried stuff. Joe: Yeah, the chef really likes his fried foods. We love them too in the UK. We would call this, usually, British tapas. It’s become like a sort of cult thing, where you just get a buffet of beige foods, basically. Fry a bunch of stuff up. You have, like, chips and your onion rings, your mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets, various other bits. Server: There you go. Joe: Thank you very much. Harry: Still not used to these free refills. The 24/7 eatery, it’s not that much of a thing in the UK. And I’m kind of sad because — Joe: Why is that? Harry: I don’t know. I’m not really sure. There are people who are awake at that hour and I’m sure would benefit from a space like this. I would think that it’s not as common because of the cost of operations, because I’m also thinking whenever you see a late-night spot portrayed in film and television, one key element is that no one’s in there. Sure. Joe: And even though it is kind of an interesting vibe to be one of the only four people at a diner at 2 in the morning, I don’t know how much that waitress that’s been there for several hours is making off of that dollar cup of coffee you’re nursing. So it’s probably too expensive? I don’t know. I mean, they’re still doing it, so they’re making it work. Yeah, it must work on some level. I don’t know. I just think it’s cool to have a space where, you want to get out of the apartment at any hour, you can come to your diner, get a pretty cheap and affordable meal, free refills. Oh, man, the milkshakes are here. Server: Vanilla. Joe: Yep. Harry: Thank you. Server: And strawberry. Love that. So you get, like, a little refill. Joe: And you get the extra, right? Isn’t that nice? Amazing. Wow, this is a lot. To look in here, I mean, this is enough for two, I think. Harry: Mm-hmm. How’s that one? Harry: Very tasty. Isn’t that good? Harry: I mean, it’s basically just vanilla ice cream in a glass, so you can’t go too far wrong. You should’ve gotten the strawberry, man. It’s fantastic. You know it’s good when it just doesn’t go back down the straw. Joe: Oh, yeah, look at that. Harry: Just stays in the straw. Can confirm the thickness. I think the closest we came to having diners in the UK is this place called Little Chef. Little Chef. Which was this chain of, basically, highway-side restaurants that would do kind of American diner-style food. So you can get, like, a full English with the pancakes. Joe: Wow. Harry: Which was rare. A full English breakfast with pancakes? Oh, my God. Or, like, "the American" or whatever it was that would come with all the extra stuff. You call it the American. I think they’ve actually closed down now, which is kind of sad because that was always a highlight of a little family road trip when I was younger, was Little Chef breakfast. Joe: Hanging out at Little Chef. That’s about as close as we’ve come to having diners in the UK. Joe: So it was a chain? Harry: It was a chain, yeah. Joe: OK. This is also a chain, right? I think, in theory, you can call it a chain. I think it’s mostly just in this area. When people say "chain," I think, like, multiple states, multiple cities. The only chains I can think of are IHOP or Denny’s, and eh. I mean, I like this better than those places. I don’t want to disparage those places, but I would think that Norms has a specific Los Angeles je ne sais quoi that you’re not going to get at those big corporate chains, personally, I feel. Harry: Hey! Thank you. Beautiful. Joe: That looks really good. Wow, dude. Before I embarrass myself, can I just check that this is, in fact, maple syrup? Joe: Yes, that is. I don’t know if it’s maple syrup, but it is syrup. Because, like, seeing a jug like this on a table in the UK, not super common. Joe: What else do you think it would be? I was like, is this maybe honey to put in your tea? Joe: No, definitely not. Harry: Or is this, like, cooking oil for some reason? You guys love putting corn syrup in everything. You never quite know, but — Joe: Well, take it easy. Harry: Oh, yeah. Joe: This is how we do it in America. Harry: The size of these things, man. Joe: Yeah, that’s good, right? Harry: They are huge. Joe: Yeah, it’s a lot. Harry: They’re obviously American pancakes, so they’re kind of thick and fluffy. I mean, I’m excited to eat them. I went ahead with something a little more time appropriate. I got the meatloaf. They put bacon on it. Happy to see that. And you notice these mashed potatoes, they kind of made a little divot for the gravy. Harry: Yeah. Also, I like that that gravy looks more like our gravy. I feel more at home now. Joe: Oh, and they got gravy on the meatloaf. I mean, this is just, I mean, come on, how great does this look? What is meatloaf exactly? Because I’m still not quite sure. Ground beef with other seasonings and spices. And also I think they use egg to kind of keep it all together, and it’s everyone’s discretion of what it is, but it is, eventually, it looks like a big log of meat and you just kind of cut it. But I know it’s got, like, toppings on here, but if you kind of see, it is of ground-beef consistency. Kind of like a giant meatball, tubular meatball. Joe: Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it. I don’t know if it tastes like one because the gravy’s different and the spices, but yeah, a little bit like that. I’m going to go in for some pancakes straightaway because I’m excited! Joe: This meatloaf is awesome, dude. Get a little more gravy. This is where it’s at, dude. This is where it’s at. The butter on here, quite salty. Works really well with the maple syrup. Joe: It’s a good mix, right? Salt and sweet, man, salt and sweet. Give me a little, I’ll take a little slice of meatloaf. Joe: You bet. Your first meatloaf experience. It’s not exactly like a meatball, but pretty close to it. Harry: Yeah. Can you see, like, the mushrooms, how that would go with it? Bacon is always welcome on anything, but — The gravy’s really good, actually. It’s a lot closer to what I would associate with a British-style gravy. We have that, kind of, with a roast dinner. Joe: We have lots of different gravies here in the United States. Almost everything is a classic menu item you can find just about anywhere. But this is so good. This is, like, really, really good. Harry: Mm-hmm. I’m a big fan of all of this. Harry: Let’s try some breakfast staples because I want, like, a basis of comparison as well. So, the bacon, maybe not quite as cremated, crispy, as you like it, but this is more my speed. It’s still pretty crispy. Joe: Fantastic bacon. Harry: Mm-hmm. Oh, wait. Sausage is a good litmus test too. Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: Man, Norms is fantastic, huh? I’m impressed, man. I gotta say. This is actually slightly less McDonald’s vibes and more like just British, like chipolata vibes, I would say. Joe: OK, all right, yeah. Harry: We have a sort of subgenre of sausage with chipolatas, kind of like this. Joe: Food’s coming in fast, so get a load of this strawberry waffle. I mean, this is only going to be amazing. There’s no way this waffle isn’t delicious. Harry: Look at that, man. Where do waffles sit in the kind of pantheon of baked desserts for breakfast? Are they kind of up there with pancakes for you? I can’t say, man. I could go either way any day. I feel like pancakes are a little bit, I think a little bit more common just because you can cook them on the same grill you’re cooking everything else with. Harry: Sure. Yeah, when it comes out, still a little bit warm. The strawberry mixture they’ve got on there is delicious. Whipped cream is good. That would kill with a scoop of ice cream. Well, this is fantastic, and I would love to eat all of this, but I feel like I’m going to burst. But we gotta figure out which we think was the best today, run it down. First of all, Nick’s. Harry: Nick’s is great. Vibe in there was lovely. I enjoyed the kind of chaos and the small environment once you’re in there. Sat on the bar, you don’t know who you’re going to be sat next to. You can be talking to anyone. Again, you’re having your kind of Hollywood main-character moment while you’re eating your very, very tasty food. I liked the little spins they were putting on it. Again, still thinking about those huevos rancheros. Thought they were excellent. Joe: Yeah. Saugus. Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: What’d you think? Harry: I was really impressed by Saugus. I think the quality of the food, A, was excellent. Your steak particularly, I was like, I could not believe that was coming from a diner of all places. Joe: Yeah, right, yeah. Harry: That was like a steakhouse meal but at a diner. The vibe in there was cool. Again, felt very old school. Slightly on what I would say, like, the quieter side, maybe. I think that’s a place where you would go take a book or go and write your screenplay while you’re getting your refills of free coffee. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Eat your food. But I did really like it. OK, and then we come to Norms, here. Yeah, Norms has really impressed me, I’m going to be honest. I’ve really enjoyed it here. I think the kind of approachability and affordability is really nice because LA is an expensive city. This is somewhere where, if I stayed here, I would probably be coming most days, to be honest, because you know what you’re going to get. It’s going to be reliable. It’s going to be tasty. It’s going to be cheap. It’s going to be fast. Everything, literally everything we ate here was amazing. Harry: Yeah. Joe: I love it. Really good. And I think, judging from what you’ve said and just kind of from what we’ve experienced today, I think this is really representative of the general LA diner experience. Joe: I would agree with you on that. Of course, we loved all three. But if you had to pick one, which would be the one you pick? My decision is kind of coming more down to the vibe, I think, rather than the food. Because the food at all of them has been really good, and I would happily eat at any of them again. And what was your favorite vibe? I think Norms might actually be my favorite, man. No. 1. If I were to recommend this to a friend who wanted an authentic LA diner experience, this is it. It’s like, yeah, it’s a chain, but it’s still got the heart. It’s got the history. It’s been here for so long. The people in here are so friendly. The food is excellent. It’s quick. It’s tasty. Yeah. You feel like you’re almost in a movie that takes place in a diner. I kind of feel that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s going to be a shootout involving Sam L. Jackson over there somewhere any minute now. And we’re going to be here eating delicious pancakes and eggs. How about you, Joe? Would you agree? This is fantastic. I loved everything here. But I was really blown away by the food at Nick’s, but it’s just different. Yeah. But also … ah! Harry: He’s really struggling here. Um … Harry: Man, you’re a man divided. Look, I’m going to say Nick’s with a caveat, is that these two places are not very similar. Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: And both are fantastic. This was so good. I love this. But I think what did it for me with Nick’s is the elevation of the food dishes that we had. I guess I just like the uniqueness of Nick’s. But this, I mean, everything here is such top quality. I love it too. So, ah, I’m just going to go Nick’s, but literally by, like, a pimple on a nose just going through, like a photo finish. Here’s, here’s, here’s — Nick’s. Norms. Nick’s. Norms. That’s how close it is. My interpretation of the verdict is that you’re an Angelino. You’ve lived here for a while now. You’ve been to your fair share of diners, so I guess them doing things slightly differently, putting an elevated spin on it, for you is like, ooh, this is new. This is exciting. Whereas, honestly, for me, I’ve not been to many diners, first time in LA. And this, for me, is everything that I imagined and everything I wanted a diner to be. And you got it. Harry: And I got it right here. So it’s like when I went to Wetherspoons and I’m like, "This is the best." Harry: Yeah. Joe: I couldn’t imagine anyone not liking this. Is that what it’s like? Exactly like that. Joe: OK, I’m not comparing this place to Spoons whatsoever. Please don’t come at me. I was just joking. I feel like if someone comes to here and they’re like, "I just want the authentic diner experience that I see in TV and movies," you absolutely have to come to Norms. I love diners. I do think they are distinct from the UK caff experience, and I would quite like to see more of them in the UK. Joe: Fantastic, my guy. Harry: Mm-hmm. Are there any, like, behind-the-scenes questions from "Food Tours" that you get a lot? Joe: No. Good. That’s that, then.