Dinner c/o Diner

So my trip up to Brooklyn coincided with L. and Fat T.'s good friend S.'s birthday/birthday weekend. L. insisted that S. wouldn't mind too terribly if I joined in on some of his birthday activities, and so I did. The first activity (of only two, it's not like it was a completely birthday-centric weekend) was dinner at Diner. I had read about this place via The Girl Who Eats Everything and was glad to finally have the opportunity to actually try some of their dishes. L. and I were a bit late (Fatty sat out the dinner); S. and his three friends already had beers and were sitting at stools along the old-school diner counter when we arrived. Soon after our arrival we all squeezed into a corner booth. Then our server came for drink orders. I believe I had a Troeg's Summer Ale. Diner has a rotating menu and doesn't bother printing it out. Instead, the waitress took a pen to the brown paper that covered our table, and began to outline our options course by course. There were a lot of options. I chose the salad with fried poached egg, radish and red onion

This fried poached egg was a thing of wonder. It reminded me a bit of an egg I once had at Bolete. Crisp on the outside, firm white in the next ring, but still a center featuring a nice oozy yolk, the color of which (to me) would suggest that it truly was an egg that came from a happy chicken. Ever notice that unhappy chicken egg yolks are too yellow? While happy chicken eggs have this really lovely orange glow to them? I have. In any case. It was a delightful salad.

L. enjoyed a cold soup with ingredients that included watercress and an oyster and, according to the b-day boy, "her face." But I think that last ingredient is not technically a true statement. Though the exact composition of the soup is a mystery (in part because of our memories and in part because of the rotating menu that makes it impossible to look it up) I know L. enjoyed it very much. From the slurp I was graciously allowed, I would also say that it was pretty tasty.

There were a number of special small plates to choose from. Including a pasta, which I chose. Tagliatelle pasta I believe, clearly fresh. I think the other main ingredient, other than a healthy dusting of cheese, was lamb...or was it chorizo? It's hard to remember and I didn't take notes for fear of elbowing either L. or S.'s friend in the process. In any case, the dish was well executed and lovely to look at. And maybe also had an egg?

Others enjoyed the burger, fish, and pork. There had been and 2 pound steak for $98 that none of us went for, though it could probably have served as a meal for all of us. We also all shared a bit of dessert, a basil custard/tart type thing with raspberry coulis. Inventive and refreshing, that was.