“It’s like a Southern baptism!” The Second Wife exclaims when the bottles of Coke come accidentally crashing onto the table. Pointing out that perhaps in the South they don’t do things by halves and Coca Cola could quite likely be the choice tipple over plain old water. Our waitress is apologetic and soon afterwards we are good as new with the tables and booths mopped up. It’s that kind of day.
Mr NQN, The Second Wife, Gravy Beard and are sitting in a retro style booth at Jazz City Diner on the northern end of Crown Street. Jazz music is playing in the background and the item that we thought was merely a prop springs to life and a black and white video of a jazz band appears. On either side of this screen are brass plaques with names on them. We enquire as to who these people are – we have heard of people buying a seat at restaurants and figured that this had happened. However here, they’re the name plaques of regular diners that frequent the place seemingly every night or every second night and send their friends and family along. Two waitresses pass by in traditional red and white diner waitress outfits straight out a movie.
Open for four months since the beginning of December, I’ve seen reviews come and go about Jazz City Diner. Some have mentioned the milkshakes and cans of A&W root beer which at $10 and $8 respectively are on the expensive side but the food itself seems quite reasonably priced (and in an American touch, there is a glass on milk on the menu should you want some to have your meal or pie with). Most mention the comfort cooking of the American cuisine-and you know me, I love American food. Oh and the restaurant is cozily small too so best book if you want a table. This is a small restaurant that agrees with the idea of allowing customers to book.
Chef Dan McGuirt
Chef Dan McGuirt comes out to bring plates to other tables and a menu enquiry leads us to learn that his initial ambition to serve fine dining American cuisine was altered to fit in with customer’s demands and tell us that one night there was a group of eight that all wanted chicken and waffles. Dan emigrated from America to Australia in 1993 as an I.T. worker for the I.T. boom and ended up staying and pursuing his real love of food.
The Ultimate Texas Chilli Cheeseburger $20
We’re starting off big. Just because we think that’s how they would do things in Texas. The ultimate Texas chilli cheeseburger is enormous and comes with a large Texas style spicy chilli beef square patty, guacamole, jalapeno chillies and cumin sour cream. It’s tastes like Tex Mex Mexican food meets soft burger bun and is fabulously soft and comforting. This is the only burger not to come with a choice of sweet potato fries or onion rings, this comes instead with some spiced tortilla chips which are served as crunchy long threads with a spicy seasoning.
Backyard BBQ Beef Burger $16
I try some of Gravy Beard’s Backyard Beef burger which is topped with a smokey beef burger bun, bacon, homemade BBQ sauce, bacon and coleslaw. This too is lusciously soft-I do love how American burgers have the super soft bun (crunchy or hard buns just aren’t the same) and the coleslaw, always for me a very welcome addition on burgers and hot dogs, adds a creaminess to the smokey burger patty. The onion rings are fabulously crunchy.
Southern Fried Chicken Burger $15
Out of the three, the Southern Fried Chicken burger was perhaps the least wowing. It wasn’t bad but I was hoping for a earth shatteringly crunchy deep fried southern fried fillet. This patty is minced, seasoned chicken with a very thin coating of batter and didn’t quite fill up the bun. A big plus was the Tabasco mayonnaise and fresh, juicy corn kernels in the burger which I’ve never really seen in a burger and the very fresh and crunchy shredded lettuce. The sweet potato fries are crunchy and have a lovely saltiness and sweetness contrast to them.
Chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo $18
I do love a gumbo, that spicy soupy stew filled with discs of smokey Andouille sausage, paprika, chicken breast shreds and rice. It’s filling comfort food and a main meal sort of soup and we particularly like the smokey comfort of this dish.
Chicken and waffles $18
We couldn’t go here and not try the chicken and waffles. Now if you like your pancakes with maple syrup and bacon I’ll take a punt that you’ll like these. Here the chicken pieces are dipped in buttermilk and then flour and deep fried and then placed atop a freshly made waffle made hot off their waffle press. The whole shebang is served with maple flavoured syrup and some butter cooked wilted baby spinach leaves. The chicken is delectably soft and tender underneath the carapace of golden crunch-perhaps it’s the buttermilk or the fast frying but it works in the way that sweet and salt does.
Fried Green Tomato Salad $16
Now who didn’t think of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes when they read the name of this dish? It’s the first thing I think of and I’ve made fried green tomatoes with milk gravy before which was done using the Whistlestop cafe’s recipe. Here they’re breaded in a mixture of flour and cornmeal and deep fried giving them an otherworldly crunch. The green tomatoes are different from red ripe tomatoes, if anything they have less of a flavour but these ones are served on a salad flecked with little blossoms and a garlicky, creamy buttermilk dressing. Yep buttermilk is big here.
Buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy $4+ $5
The buttermilk biscuits are similar to scones and are served with a blanket of creamy sausage gravy which is unlike any gravy we’ve tried before. It’s creamy but with distinct pieces of sausage in it. We can’t figure out if our hesitation is because it is so different to our idea of gravy and it really divides the table’s opinions.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken wings $18
The Jamaican Jerk chicken wings which are coated in a combination of herbs and spices are quite mild in comparison to how we usually have had jerk seasoning which is quite spicy indeed. The chicken itself is juicy and moreish but we were hoping for some more spice. The plantain chips are addictive and remind me of cassava chips and they come with a cute metal tube of citrus dipping sauce.
Coca Cola braised beef short ribs $28
The beef short ribs are presented not diner style but more restaurant style. This is Dan’s time working at Vue de Monde coming out. They sit on a bed of grits with four thick pieces of very soft beef short ribs. The coca cola isn’t so much present in its usual form but lends a caramelised sweetness to the ribs and it is paired with baby vegetables and four crunchy onion rings. We’d just love a dab more sauce really.
Banana Cream pie $9
Now it comes to dessert time. You know I can’t resist and when the waitress presents us with the bill we have to tell her that “No, we would like dessert”. She shrugs and gets the menus and saunters off. We order one of each of the pies, for research purposes of course. The first thing that strikes me when the banana cream pie is set down is how much banana is stuffed into this pie given the current banana shortage. It is chock full of thinly sliced bananas and a vanilla bean custard and puffs of whipped cream on top. The crust is made out of Scotch finger biscuits, butter and reportedly banana it has a hard to cut texture. On the black slate plate is a thick caramel sauce. This pie is my favourite as I adore banana cream pie.
Buttermilk pie $8.50
We weren’t quite sure what the buttermilk pie would be like and if we were to compare it to anything we would compare it to a pumpkin pie such are the spices used like cinnamon and nutmeg and the custardy, silky texture made with eggs with a light pumpkin coloured shade to it.
Pecan pie with butter pecan ice cream $8
The pecan pie here is different from the thick toffee like pecan pie at the now closed South restaurant. Here has almost a layer of custard underneath a top layer of pecans. This is gravy beard’s favourite pie and I have to say that the butter pecan ice cream (house made) is delicious too with a nutty, butterscotchy flavour to it. In fact I could have a bowl of the ice cream quite happily. Oh and a serve of the banana cream pie, the Texas burger, the chicken and waffles and the backyard BBQ burger….
So tell me Dear Reader, which restaurant are you a frequent diner at?
Jazz City Diner
238 Crown Street, Darlinghurst, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9332-2903
Open: Lunch Tue-Fri 12pm to 2.30pm, Dinner Wed-Sat 6pm to 10pm, Brunch Sat 10am to 2pm, Closed Sun & Mon
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49 Comments | Add your own
Biscuits and gravy!! We went there a couple weeks ago but I didn’t see Biscuits and Gravy on the menu. That’s a classic, staple dish back in Indiana where I’m from. I’ve tried to make it here myself but it’s difficult since American-style (heavily-spiced) breakfast sausage isn’t available in the shops. (I had to make it myself.) I can see where it would probably be weird the first time you had it.
Wow, I’m going to have to go back and cross my fingers it’s on the menu that day!
This looks so 70s!
I now have a burger craving lol!
Very interested to see the food here! Can’t believe you had to send her away with the bill so you could order dessert….that is very funny…..she didn’t realise how much you can eat???
I suppose for me it would be fried green tomatoes only, being a veggie… but that would suffice, I don’t eat a lot… in fact reading this I wonder how 4 of you managed to go through all that food! If I will ever eat with you I am afraid that you are going to disappointed!
ciao
Alessandra
Good to see you’ve finally made it here! I see the food is evolving into a more casual diner style and that’s good because the previous dishes were pretentious for a diner and more miss than hit. But how presumptuous of the waitress to just hand you the bill after the mains without enquiring about dessert?
Oooh, look at all that food – I bet Mr NQN was in heaven! Burgers and fries! The gumbo looks especially appealing!
Oooh, I’ll have the chicken and waffles and the banana cream pie please. I am not a regular anywhere – I like to try different places.
How good are the sweet potato fries…?! I didn’t see the tortilla chips as an option when I went…
Mmmm, and pie heaven
I’d like some of everything please! As a girl raised in the south (grits)I have to say that everything here looks amazing. My hometown had a coca-cola bottling plant, and it’s still my beverage of choice even though I don’t drink much of it anymore.
My favourite local restaurant is oberois indian restaurant, I go there so often we are not even given a menu anymore, we go to get our fill of specific dishes!
I loved the look of the beef dish with coke, what a great idea! The banana cream pie… Yummy!
NQN, I am a HUGE Banana Cream Pie fan and maker. Google Emeril Lagasse and you will get the most amazing recipe for his famous BCP.I had it in Vegas, nearly passed out in delight and sourced the recipe ASAP. I now get requests on a regular basis from friends and family to make it! YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
Whoa, that is a lot of food! I quite like the mix of dishes – from the burgers to the presentation of the ribs. Those desserts look incredible! I’ve never had pecan pie…
I love the fried green tomato salad. My mother used to make fried green tomatoes and we would eat them up before they could cool. My mother used flour and cornmeal mixed together to coat the tomatoes and then gently fry them in a cast iron skillet.Fried chicken was always present at family gatherings so I could take it or leave it . But as far as American food is concerned it will always be comfort food to me. My mother made the Best fried green tomatoes!
One very sleepy but smiling blogger is wondering how many readers shared her night-time journey to view the year’s most exciting one-day cycling: Paris-Roubaix, last night? In perfect weather, methinks everyone cheered that big Johann van Summeren outwitted and outfoxed Fabian Cancellara across the pave (cobblestones) of N France! Yes, well – my other big love besides food and wine!!
Meanwhile loved the smart retro look of the Diner – however, besides some of the Cajun cooking, US dishes and I have met many a time, but not made close friends! And I DO wonder what ordinary potato growers are doing – all switching to produce ‘sweet potato’?
oooh excellent! i was a bit cheap and bought one of those “our deal” vouchers for this place and was planning to use it this weekend. that peacan pie must find its way to me! is it best to book?
Oh yuuuum. Wish there was something like this in Perth. I’m obsessed with Southern cooking right now. James Villas’ The Glory of Southern Cooking is my favourite cookbook right now – Southern food without the Bisquik and the Coolwhip. And every recipe I’ve tried has come out beautifully. Plus Southern food is so perfectly suited to our climate and lifestyle.
WOW! Thanks for today’s blog too!
Am American born and bred, but now and Aussie, TRUE!
“The diner” provides VERY FOND memories for me!
“The unending menu” was always EXICTING and was always something on the table to do or see!
P.S. My fave was homemade ice cream and cherry pie!
The smiles it caused eating, and the family memories is why!
WHOO HOO!:)
Lorraine, my humble apology to all your US readers! Truth f – 10! Diplomacy f – about 3! Sorry!! Not the first time I have gotten myself into trouble – remember last Thanksgiving in US, when so many of my Southern friends described the DEEP-FRIED turkey with marshmallows etc that was to be part of their feast. Just ahead of Stephen Fry’s marvellous journey across the region and comments I SO agreed with, I really and truly made friends steeple their eyebrows with my (? – how can you) thoughts!
When we lived in Kirribilli we were always at Ainoya. Now that we live on the Coast, sad to say but we haven’t found a place that we want to go back to.
Those burgers and the sweet potato fries have sold me – I’m starving!
I don’t have a regular restaurant yet, there are too many good ones to try in Sydney! This place looks delicious.
Oh man. I was reading about this place. We need more places like this in Melbourne. Soul food with soulful music…hells yes. The burgers = ahuh.
Lorraine, like you I am somewhat obsessed with American cuisine and I am adding this to my next go to place. Our go to restaurant where our friends joke that we must be part owner by now is Pizza e Birra Surry Hills first and now at Balmain.
Man, sausage gracy has always creeped me out! It looks so icky!
However, I want the tortilla chips, the fried green tomatoes, and ALL THE PIES FOREVER.
P.S. Love the capsicum garnish trying to make the chicken and waffles look more sophisticated
That plate of chicken and waffles looks to die for. Seriously, I’d run an extra couple of miles on the treadmill just to devour that dish. ‘Course, I’d have to end with that banana cream pie, too. Hey, it’s potassium, right? It does a body good.
I’ve always had a strange fascination with buttermilk pie. and pecan pie. Basically any pie in general – just the concept of a dessert pie is so twee! And Gravy Beard HAS to be the best nickname I’ve come across so far!
Way back when I was a teenager in Sydney in the late 70′s/early 80s, my favourite restaurant when it was the kids’ (me and my stepbrother’s) choice was “The Drugstore” in Double Bay. We thought it was SO cool!
It was an american style diner with hotdogs, huge hamburgers, peacan pie and sundaes.
And one time I saw some of the cast of “The Young Doctors” there – Peter Mochrie/Peter Gallagher???
Brings back great memories. Anyone else remember The Drugstore or have any similar American Diner in Australia stories?
You’re making me hungry.
I have been to Jazz City quite a few times, and they have just implemented the new menu, so i haven’t tried anything. But the Fried Green Tomato Salad is AMAZING! And i agree, best banana pie ever!
I’ve always been fascinated with the food of the South, it sounds so different, Collard greens,Gumbo, Grits… I have the Whistlestop Cafe Cookbook, I’ll have to dig it out tonight!
That pecan pie looked like my kind of dessert.
I’m a frequent diner at Sono here in Brisbane. We love the sukiyaki and head there for it whenever we can.
Damn you Lorraine! This is making me want to go to Sydney for some Southern food!
Biscuits and gravy! Such a divinely decadent treat! Oh, and about that buttermilk pie – it looks more like a butterscotch one to me.
Give me the bbq burger and Texas burger and no one gets hurt.
I love American food! I think I’d go just to have the sweet potato and plantain chips.
Love buttermilk chicken and to have it deep fried and sitting on top of waffles with maple syrup, heaven!
Oh Yeah… This is the business, Mr HG would love this, the burger in particular.
We frequent a little cafe in the city called Essen, it has been there for around 30 years, the service is quick, the coffee list has around 40 to choose from and it has a funky arty vibe to it. 
We went to Sylvia’s in NY last year and I had one of the best chicken & waffles lunches ever!! Huge servings though, but well, when you’re in America, do what Americans do! Thanks for sharing this Lorraine, now we have somewhere to go to and relive our American trip!
~~~I am Famished after reading this, L….but I would like the Fried Green Tomato Salad & the Pecan pie with butter pecan ice cream. Yes, that would do it!
Can’t wait to read your book so I know who “The Second Wife is & your other characters!!”
Your research is delectable & delish… xxxxx
Everything on your blogs looks wonderful, or you wouldn’t put them there, right? I like to do a personal vote though, and today the Jerk Wings and Banana Cream Pie win. Yum. Yum.
this place seems so crazy good! rich foods~but yummmy lookin’. wish I could visit–but I’m in Cali haha. the gumbo looks delicious, and so do the pies *drool*…
Wow, American food! in Sydney! i’m so excited. i’ve grown up reading so many American fiction books and the food in them sounds so good. Plus I always wondered what fried green tomatoes tasted like.. were they good? I was also a huge fan of the movie..
I love that type of food. Those sweet potato fries look awesome too.That’s good getting a lot of banana, cause I have noticed a place where I usually buy banana bread is much more floury than dense.
$8 for a can of A&W, good God!! I know it is imported but that is one hell of a mark up.
I totally love American diner food and this looks great. I wish it was around the corner from me. My husband and I would be there all the time.
i. love. diners. i love the food and the atmosphere and the prices. the end.
Mmmm… pie!
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[...] dry and none of us go for a second fritter. I preferred the plantain fritters without the batter at Jazz City Diner which were crunchy and moreish (and apparently the plátanos fritos are served mostly without the [...]
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