Diner Dash: The Face Off between 50’s Diner, Jim’s Retro Diner and Future Diner (part 2)

And now for part two of the diner dash competition!  On your mark, get set, go!

The Second Contender: Jim’s Retro Diner

In comparison to 50’s Diner, the longest running diner in Baguio City, Jim’s Retro Diner is fairly new.  It sort of looks like a ‘mini me’ compared to the veteran restaurant for its smaller floor space, smaller diner booths and smaller retro era memorabilia.  A one up that the Retro Diner has on the other diners in this competition is that, they’re right in the center of town, Session Road.  Walking by La Azotea building, be sure to look below Sports House, so you won’t miss it.

Diner Interior

The first time we went to eat there, we ordered ourselves some shakes (cookies and cream and also carrot).  The carrot shake was an interesting one for me but I imagine this would’ve seemed like a regular beverage for health buffs.  We also got their aglio olio which is the simplest pasta dish of all, I believe, but Retro Diner’s mix was pretty good.  The house hot wings weren’t what you’d expect since it’s not covered in special chili sauce but rather, drizzled with the hot sauce that one can buy at the grocery store. Moving on, I thought it was sort of cute that they had pancit on their menu.  Being more of a western-themed eatery, I liked to think that the pancit was something they served in some retro diner on the other side of the world. =b

Food & Drink

With the long list of restaurants I still had to try out, Retro Diner was lost to me for a time until one day, the hunger pangs struck us; you know the kind of hunger that makes you feel like you couldn’t take a step further.  We were right at La Azotea then so that’s where we chose to get sustenance.  With almost a year gone by since we first ate at this diner, they had new dishes to offer.  They now had a pizza oven, baking away beside the entrance.  This time, we got ourselves one of the staples, a set meal that was made up of spaghetti, garlic bread and a piece of chicken.  We also tried their Farmer’s Delight pizza out.  This piqued my interest because its ingredients involved fish sauce.  (Rub index finger on chin and say: Innnnnnnteresting.)  At that visit to Retro Diner, we got just what we came for and we were energized for most of the day.

Meanwhile, in a retro diner on the other side of the world, the customers were having pancit. (“,)

Months passed and I read somewhere that Retro Diner was serving giant burgers.  With images of the hamburgers as big as your head being served at Tummy Fillers in Maharlika (some time in the 80s) running in my mind, I just had to see the Retro Diner version.  With my brother in tow (Yes, he’s also a foodie who will eat anything and everything), we paid the small diner a visit.  We got the giant burger and some drinks (melon shake & orange juice).  There was nothing special about the glass of OJ but my brother testifies that the melon shake was refreshing.  (Just between you and me, that’s his favorite drink so you might say he’s biased *heeharhar.)

The giant burger did impress us with its size; good thing we didn’t order anything else.  It had fries on the side and in between the buns; it was packed with Baguio’s fresh vegetables.  The burger patty was also huge but sadly, it might have lost its flavor in the process of bulking up.  =D The burger tasted like a bland version of the small burgers you would go for at an eatery near school, the one’s being sold for P15 or maybe P20 with cheese.  Any hooo (“,), my brother and I had a great time.  Food is always an adventure and again, my brother will eat anything, so down the hatch, the giant burger went.

In all my three visits to the Retro Diner, the service was okay.  I might chalk that up to the staff being new.  They were a bit timid but they did their job.  The prices were what you would expect from a diner themed establishment.  In comparison to other diners, the prices are probably cheaper here at Baguio’s mini diner.

X marks Jim’s Retro Diner for good food in Baguio, just be sure to choose what to eat wisely.

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Stay tuned for the third and final installment of the Diner Dash (*still echoing) Competition.

Jim’s Retro Diner

La Azotea Building

Session Road

Baguio City, Philippines

facebook.com/retrodiner