Sherman's Food Adventures: Lucy's Eastside Diner

Lucy's Eastside Diner

Honestly, these 11:30pm "league" games at North Shore Ice have to stop.  I play a lot of hockey and my drop-in times are far better than my league games.  My thoughts are that if your league game starts on one day and ends on another, it's too freakin' late!  But really, I'm used to be up, so the time itself doesn't bother me in terms of hockey.  What really irks me is that the options for eats afterwards is as sparse as Chinese restaurant service.  So instead of hitting up Denny's or #9, we made a return visit to Lucy's Eastside Diner almost 6 years later.

To see if things had improved since then (my first visit was average at best), I shared the Pulled Pork Benny with Sweet Tooth to start.  This time around, the poached eggs were runny, but a bit more done that I wanted (we asked for soft).  We liked how there wasn't too much Hollandaise, which kept things light.  Furthermore, there was a noticeable amount of tangy lemon juice.  That was further amped by the tangy and soft pulled pork.  Not a bad eggs benny especially for the price, but we would've liked a richer Hollandaise as it was now too light.  A departure from last time, I had a much larger burger in the Grant Marshall featuring 2 big beef patties, fried egg, bacon, cheese and chili.  This monster of a burger was super messy to eat.  It was not bad where the meat was moist and not fatty.  The chili was a bit tart, but I liked the addition of chickpeas. Moreover, the bacon was crispy like I wanted it to be.  The side of fries were good being crispy and still potatoey inside.

Milhouse and Lionel Hutz both had the Chorizo Hash which didn't look particularly appetizing.  In the end, it was fine, but lacking in flavour and moisture.  The crispy hashbrowns didn't have anything to soak up, hence they remained bland for the duration.  Although the sausage was tender and mildly spiced, it didn't have any impact because there wasn't enough for each mouthful of hashbrowns.  On another visit, Milhouse made sure to stay away from the hash and got the Meatloaf Dinner instead.  This was fairly standard where it was meaty and mildly seasoned with the tartness of ketchup glazed onto the top. It was firm, yet moist due to the right amount of fat/filler.  Nothing amazing, but did the job for late night eats.

For myself, I got greedy and ordered 2 items (as if this isn't commonplace anyways).  I started with the Fried Chicken Dinner and it looked more like a snack consisting of a thigh and wing.  I enjoyed the thin crispy batter (with rendered skin) where it wasn't greasy and was well-seasoned.  Although the meat didn't appear to be brined (not that juicy nor flavourful), it wasn't dry either.  The side of fries were solid being crispy with only a tad of potato texture left.  It turned out that I needed my second dish of Pulled Pork Pancakes as I dusted off the chicken like an appie.  Thin and fluffy with a lightly crispy edges, the pancakes sandwiched tender and tangy pulled pork.  As a result, there was no need for syrup (but in hindsight, it would've better with some sweetness).  The side of extra pulled pork on the side was not prepared correctly as it was more like a chunk of pork shoulder (which was rather dry and of course not sauced enough).

Sweet Tooth went for the Bacon Poutine which was decent.  It featured the same crispy fries which stood up to the mild and thick gravy nicely.  It was didn't get soggy at all (except for the centre of course).  The ample cheese curds were somewhat squeaky, but it was hard to tell as they were mostly melted.  There was also enough crispy bacon for impact.  Overall, these 2 revisits to Lucy's gave us a decent alternative to Asian food and Denny's.  Prices are reasonable, but the portion sizes match it.  Food can be hit and miss though.

The Good:
- Open 24 hours
- Reasonable pricing
- Acceptable eats

The Bad:
- Somewhat hit and miss
- Portion sizes are on the smaller side
- Don't come with a big group, only one, count em' one actual table for 4  

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