Restauant Review: Big Rig Diner, Paddington

On Friday night I had an excellent evening with my friends Penne and Clint. A concoction of good friends, great venues and a giddy outlook all made for a fantastic night. I wish to state for the record that my good mood had no relation to the limited amount of alcohol that passed my lips.

I started with walk through Hyde Park to see the Sydney Life photo exhibition. A collection of photos hanging from the tress designed to depict Sydney life. The photos wee submitted by local amateurs and professionals. I wasn't keen on all the pics, but some were very good.


After meeting Penne and Clint we went for a drink in the Beresford Hotel. Many pubs in Sydney have been ruined by modern renovations, but this one has retained a lot of charm and character while being given some modern cool.


We ended our evening in the Big Rig Diner on Oxford St. As ex-New Yorkers (sort of) we fancy ourselves as Diner connoisseurs and judge everywhere against the benchmark Summit Diner. It is much smaller than I expected, but the decor (as you can see above) is fantastic. The booths, bar stools and pressed aluminium are all very reminiscent of the USA.


The menu is much smaller than your classic US Diner, which seems to serve everything, and has definitely been tailored to the local market. We all went for burgers and I really enjoyed mine, the betroot relish / chutney really made the burger. We could see from the grill that the burgers were getting quite heavily charred and I feared that they might get burnt. Mine wasn't, but Penne complained of eating bits of carbon.


The only downsides for me were the prices (not outrageously expensive, but a bit more than a burger should be) and the tomato ketchup. It was cheap and horrible. Have people never heard of Heinze?