Fable Diner has some hits and some misses
Order the burger and fries
Before Fable Diner, which opened this summer, there was Reno’s Restaurant — a vintage diner or, more to the point, a greasy spoon. Still, it had reasons to exist — a jukebox and all-day breakfasts for about $5. As one customer said online, “Great, if you are broke.”
Fable owner/chef Trevor Bird isn’t crying over its closure.
“A lot of people wish it didn’t change and think it was iconic, but ... it was a sh--hole,” he says. “The women’s bathroom didn’t have a stall door and there was a yellow rope holding on the men’s door. We gutted the hell out of it.”
What is iconic is the Lee Building that houses it, a handsome Edwardian structure built in 1911, the tallest south of False Creek at the time. There’s been a diner at street level since 1949, and Bird and partner Ron MacGillivray are happy to keep the tradition going.
It’s still a diner, albeit with tweaks and fancy bits. Prices are higher but Bird offers a very good value $8 Reno Burger with a free-range beef patty, pickles and fries. He sticks by the farm-to-table philosophy of his other restaurant, Fable on West 4th Avenue. Fable Diner is a natural habitat for hipsters (with lots of babies in tow) but when I visited, there was an old guy having that $8 burger for supper.
And burgers are what customers want, judging by the burger parade marching out of the kitchen. It was the favourite dish I tried, too.
There are two — the simple Reno Burger and the FD (Fable Diner) Burger, which is $15 and features a leaning tower of four patties, pickles, heirloom tomato, cheese, lettuce and house-made sauce, accompanied by soup or salad.
It sounds insane, but it’s quite manageable because the meat is lightly formed and delicious. The milk bun from Swiss Bakery can handle all the groping and squishing required to finish the burger. And the fries, with potato skin attached, compel you to finish. They’re brined and vinegared to cut richness, deep-fried, then steamed, then shallow-fried, then hot fried. You’d expect oil-clogged fries, but they are crisp and dry.
The rest of my meal was hit and miss, which is quite a disconnect from what I know of the food at Bird’s other restaurant. Diner food should be simple, unpretentious and delicious. An heirloom tomato salad ($12) displayed signature moves — lovely local produce, house-made ricotta — it’s simple but tastes of quality.
A side of corn on the cob was really good — grilled, cut into thirds and sprinkled with queso, tomatoes, chili and lime.
A roast duck pancake ($14) with kimchee and kewpie (Japanese mayonnaise) was a mess in appearance and flavours. A generous serving of duck was obscured and overwhelmed by a blanket of mayo, nuts and seeds; they all sat atop a couple of western-style pancakes, cushions for a heap of food.
Korean chicken leg ($15) with kimchee fried rice, bok choy, tamarind and gochujang sauce is a far cry from diner fare and I panted in anticipation. The glistening but anemic chicken leg, partly covered with house-made gochujang sauce, was a letdown — I was hoping for scorch marks from a grill, or something deep-fried and sticky with sauce. The fried rice was cut into a square, nice but overcooked.
My heart leaped at the idea of bourbon-roasted peach pie with pecan streusel. Again, I was disappointed. The streusel was tough and inedible, the peaches were bland and the bourbon, missing in action.
A lemon meringue parfait was much better, with a tall, billowy crown of marshmallowy meringue caramelized by blow torch. Glancing at our neighbour’s six-layer chocolate cake, it looked very good, too, and the couple was enjoying every bite. In diner tradition, there’s a sundae and milkshake program made with Birchwood Dairy ice cream.
The all-day breakfast is a strong suit here. I was cheered by our happy and attentive server (Kelly, her name tag said) and my simple order of eggs and toast was great. My husband said the huevos rancheros was the best he’s had, thanks to a smoky and dark chipotle sauce.
The drinks list features a few cocktails, craft beer and ciders, and a handful of B.C. wines, available by glass, half litre or bottle.
I do love the family-friendly feel of this place, particularly seeing MacGillivray stop by a table with a baby on board, trying to make the stoic little guy laugh.