Ed's Easy Diner — Restaurant in Cambridge

We just had a very disappointing dining experience.

First we stood for several minutes by the "Wait to be seated" sign before anyone even spoke to us. Then the guy said he had to let us know that they were out of chicken and beef, so no chicken nuggets or burgers or anything other than the hot dogs. He said their delivery never arrived today.

I didn't want a British hot dog because they're never good so I was about to bail but my four year old was jumping up and down for her hot dog and my 11 year old said she'd try one so I capitulated.

Bad idea.

First the service was terribly slow for how empty the place was. Slow to take the order, slow to cook the food, slow for everything.

Secondly the chocolate milkshake was chocolate-adjacent. Barely any chocolate flavour at all, and way too sweet. The 11 year old said her Oreo milkshake was good but with much more creamy stuff and hardly any cookie stuff compared to other restaurants.

Then they got her order wrong. She'd ordered a plain hot dog with ketchup and they brought a loaded chillidog. The waiter apologized and said it was his fault, that he'd hit the wrong button and they'd get her a new one and for the inconvenience he'd take it off the bill. I said thanks and it was okay and the 11 year old tucked into her cheese-bacon fries which she said were very good.

I had a cheese-bacon-barbecue sauce dog. The bacon was nice. The cheese was very American cheese saucy, so in terms of authenticity that was on the mark but it was also very heavy and the 11yo and I are both feeling a bit lurgy now.

The onion rings I had were also okay, nothing special but at least crispy.

But the hot dogs....nope nope nope those were not hot dogs. They were the usual British sausagey things that are called "American style hot dogs" that no American would recognize as a hot dog. And served lukewarm in a super stale bun.

The girls' buns were super stale too, to the point of crumbling. They were not pleasant to eat.

The fries were undercooked and not hot enough.

I overheard the waiter telling others coming in that they were closing the kitchen early because of "problems" and then he and the other staff basically stood at the back chatting enough that it was hard to get their attention to get a box to take stuff home in, and then that took forever and the stuff has been shoved badly into ill-fitting paper bags so the ketchup is making a wet mess of it all. The kids won't care but...nrrrrgh.

So I asked for the bill and when he brought it, it seemed high but I had the kids starting to lose control and I felt blerghy so I just thought fine I'd take pity on the staff for having a bad night when the beef and chicken delivery didn't come in, and my personal policy is generally that if well-meaning staff make a mistake and take food off the bill I still tip based on if they hadn't taken it off, so I rounded the tip up to over 20% thinking I was compensating for the thing being taken off, except that after I paid and was on my way out and actually got a chance to look at the itemized bit, the guy hadn't taken off the 11yo's hot dog at all.

Now to be clear I didn't expect the free food for a simple mistake that was corrected, but having been told it'd be taken off and then not have it...that irked me.

So we had a very mediocre meal that was hugely overpriced for what it was, meh quality service that I was super sympathetic towards but now feel a bit taken advantage of, and my stomach feels a bit blechy.

So yeah. Our first time at Ed's diner will be our last! And honestly I'd recommend avoiding it. Maybe their burgers make it worthwhile but I'm not even going to give them...

I visited this restaurant three days ago with two great freinds, and I still remember the quality of the experience today. When I arrived, I believed my friends and I were the only people there. The interior had that ’50s American fast-food-diner look to it, and the seating, colours and lighting brought with them a quaint charm, one I have come to associate with that era of fast food. I wasn’t especially pleased with the lavatories, but I’m not sure how often I am anyway with fast-food establishments, and that hasn’t prevented me from returning to them. Also, In Ed’s Easy Diner’s defence, the manager (or at least whom I believe to be so), Lia, told us that the current staff (including her, I believe) had taken over from a previous team, and they apparently were in the process of re-building the restaurant’s reputation, so I imagine improvements are still in the pipeline, and I would therefore consider it unduly harsh to deduct a star for the lavatories.

The customer service went far above and beyond my expectations. The server, Eevie (her nickname, I believe), was incredibly understanding, flexible and easy to talk to. We even had a short yet fun conversation going on. Lia was also equally as inviting and bubbly. Assuming she is the manager, if she treats her colleagues the same way she treated me, I’d be happy to work there. I do not remember waiting too long for my food and drink to arrive. However, if it took longer than it should have, I probably didn’t notice due to the conversation I had with the staff.

I drank a Lotus Biscoff milkshake, and I ate chicken tenders and a side of French fries (hereafter ‘fries’), and I didn’t feel like the price was unreasonable for the portions I received. I paid well deserved compliments to the chef before I left.

Starting with the Lotus Biscoff milkshake, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn’t saccharine, had an authentic Lotus Biscoff flavour and wasn’t overly viscous. If you are fonder of your milkshakes a bit on the thicker side though, you should know that my milkshake, at least in my honest opinion, was more on the side of ‘smoothie’ consistency. Fortunately for me, I am indifferent, and it tasted spectacular.

The chicken tenders had pieces of chicken that pleased my taste buds with each bite, but the breaded coating was a little crunchier than I would have liked, if I am to be brutally honest. From memory, the tenders’ temperature was also, in Golidlocks’s terms, just right. The fries were of a consistent shape and texture, nice colour, had good rigidly and were beautifully seasoned (seriously, I might have even commented on the seasoning when I first ate them!). That said, if you’re someone who ravages meals like me when they’re even a little hungry, you may want slow down! I say this because, if my memory is correct, the fries were a fair bit hotter than the tenders. Don’t let that put you off though, because that seasoning is amazing! I didn’t actually dip any of my tenders or fries in the sauce I was provided, because I’m just weird like that, so I cannot comment on the sauce.

Overall, based on my experience, this place has a lovely atmosphere, great people and delicious food. I will probably visit this place again when I’m next in Cambridge, and I recommend you give it a chance. I feel like this place needs the love! I look forward to this team’s progress with this place, and I hope more customers can share...

First off, the burger was grey. I've been to burger places around cambridge that serve proper meaty patties and this was not it. It tasted like a saltier version of your school barbecue quality burgers. The patty itself also looked like it had melted round the edges.

the "deluxe" milkshake is a watery mix of the flavour you ordered served with a tiny paper almost cocktail straw that makes it impossible to drink it without looking like an idiot. There's nothing deluxe about it when i could have shoved milk and Oreos in a blender and made it at home. especially when paying almost £5 for it.

The place however looks inviting, but for a place that sells food, it didn't smell like food at all. I couldn't describe it. It honestly made me worried when all of my food came out and there was no change to the smell of the place whatsoever. It smells more like the wood smell you get in a bathroom and kitchen showroom.

The waiters were not professional. I was constantly having to almost stand up to get their attention. At one point I realised after getting way too into conversation after eating that we had not been seen to in over an hour. 4 waiters serving 4-6 tables whilst we ate and empty plates and cups weren't taken at all. When I realised how long we had been forgotten for i looked up to see them all converged in a corner chatting away about something and i honestly couldn't believe it. In the end when we asked for the bill i almost had to fight to get the waiter to remember what he was doing.

He gave me the bill and then walked away to talk to his friends again. I sat there for another 10 minutes waiting with my card on the table to the point where I had to get up and go and talk to him to come over.

I wasn't annoyed at the time because I had some really good company but the more I think about it I get more and more annoyed at how dirt the service and...