Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Another Fine Jersey Diner The Coach House

I live in New Jersey where there's a diner or two in every town. There are so many but a few do stand out. One is the Coach House , which has two locations, one in my old hatching ground of Hackensack and the other in North Bergen (just outside New York City). Both offer restaurant quality food and variety. The prices are pretty OK too.


The original Coach House was on the site of the North Bergen location and started there in 1939. It was just a small joint where workers from local Jersey City, Union City and North Bergen could go for a quick sandwich or a burger. The Hackensack location as added within the last twenty years and both are currently owned by Greek lawyers. I love the North Bergen one which is more of a huge restaurant than a diner.The soup and salad bar are my lunch and dinner favorites. There are different soups designated for different days(try to get there on Saturday for the beef barley or potato leek). The salad bar is grand with a huge variety of different saladss. and green treats. You can stock up on a pea salad along with taking few dolmades or stuffed grape leaves. Every so often the salad bar offers free fresh baked banana bread. I love the Coach House on Christmas and Easter mornings when I can get a holiday breakfast after church services at my family's churches. The omelets are huge and could feed six . There's also a generous helping of hash browns and toast too.

What makes the Coach House also unique is their bakery. Their cupcakes are better than at the ones at the magnolia across the near by Hudson. They're bigger fluffier, and also have a better flavorwhich is more cakier. The icing is a wonderful mound of homemade butter cream topped off by either a strawberry or an Oreo cookie. The cupcakes come in vanilla and chocolate with either vanilla, a cookie infused vanilla or strawberry icing on top. The Coach House also produces some yummy homemade chocolate chip and cookies that they sell at the counter. Bring a bag of these home for some dessert or snacking. Theyre buttery and crisp and also are studded with walnuts to counterbalance the chips.

Jersey is known for its' plethora of diners but few stand out. The Coach House of both Hackensack and North Bergen does. Go to either location to have some of the best diner food in the state and in the NYC metro area!