Docker's Diner

I'm sure that everyone's been waiting for the week that I go to a regular breakfast joint, as opposed to the "ethnic" places of the prior couple of weeks. Well, here it is! This week we hit Docker's Diner, located on the corner of Victoria Drive and Powell Street (1869 Powell Street). For the past few years I've walked/rode past this place, but have never had the time or desire to stop in and check it out. Today was the day that I finally made it my mission to find out just how great Docker's really was. This week, as per usual, I was joined by my teammates, Kimmy and Rozalyn.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a warm and cozy environment. There was about 5 tables of people already talking and eating, which left us with a number of places to sit. The seats were comfy and the table was clean, which boded well for this diner. The walls were lined with various pictures and posters from various places and eras. It kind of reminded me of Slickity Jim's (RIP), which put a smile on my face. Our server, a kindly middle-aged lady, came cruising over to our table like an eager cat that had just spotted a tasty mouse. She brought us a couple of menus, pointed out the specials of the day and proceeded to bring us each a coffee ($1.50 each, free refills). This coffee was probably some of the tastiest coffee that I've had in a restaurant for a long, long time. I'm not sure what blend/brand it was, but it was good and hot. That's what really counts for a man like me.

For a few minutes, we sat and weighed our options on the menu. All the while, people kept coming in, each greeted by name as they entered. It was almost like being in an episode of Cheers, only if it was based in a diner instead of a bar. Plus, the hot topic of conversation this day was the Als Grey Cup win the night before, which was the cause of many jeers and searing comments.

"What a terrible way to lose! That coach is going to have to live with it for the rest of his life."

"What were they thinking? Were they all brain-damaged?"

After a little while, the server came back and took our orders. I chose the French Toast Platter (3 slices of French toast/2 eggs/4 slices of bacon) which weighed in at $8.95. Kimmy decided upon a spinach and cheddar omelette (came with 2 slices of toast and hashbrowns), which totalled $7.95. Meanwhile, Rozi went with a vegetarian omelette (cheese, various colours of peppers, mushrooms, spinach and tomato/2 slices of toast/hashbrowns), setting her back a whole $8.95.

Now, between the time that we placed our orders and the time that the food arrived was only enough for one refill of coffee. Considering how quickly the three of us drink coffee, that's fast, especially when there's only one person cooking in the kitchen. Anyway, the food arrived at lightning speed, with Kimmy and Rozi's dishes arriving about a minute or two before mine. Frankly, I wasn't bothered by the lag, since when it arrived, I was greeted by a very generous helping of food. The same went for both of the girl's plates, which were packed full of tasty delights. Not only was there lots of food, but it all looked so good. As we dug in, we were blown away by the medley of tastes and flavour that filled our mouths. The French toast was some of the best that I've had in a good, long while and the eggs were done just right. The bacon wasn't burnt to a crisp nor limp like a dead fish, and very tasty. On the girl's end of things, the omelettes were big, stuffed with tasty looking veggies and the hashbrowns were done to perfection. The toast was, well, toast as one would expect. (haha)

As a testament to how good this breakfast really was, let me just say that I finished all of my food without hesitating for a moment. It's rare for me to finish any meal completely, let alone the first one of the day. So, with that in mind, I can say that my mind was blown by this breakfast. Both of my teammates agreed that, yes, this was our top breakfast so far. I would recommend Docker's Diner to my friends and enemies alike. I'm sure that I'll be stopping at this place a fair bit in the future.

Stay sharp, kids.
Jesse