American dream

This Cafe and Lounge is not your average diner

By Kathy Gunst

AMERICAN CAFE & LOUNGE, 433 Route 1, Scarborough, (207) 885-1523.

Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 4 to 9 p.m. No reservations. All major credit cards accepted. Full bar.

COUNTER SERVICE: the American Cafe and Lounge is not your average diner.

What is it about diners that makes them so beloved? The décor is usually tacky, the service is either abrupt or saccharine-sweet, and the menu invariably offers a choice of dishes so vast that no self-respecting chef could ever hope to master them all. So what keeps the customers rolling in year after year, generation after generation? Diners are a lot like a pair of old slippers. They may not be chic, but they provide the comfort of times gone by.

The American Café and Lounge, which opened on Route 1 in Scarborough last July, offers a typical diner experience, but with a twist. Besides the usual burgers and fries, this road-side establishment also serves organic salad greens, and dishes with ingredients such as prosciutto, roasted garlic, leeks, and gorgonzola cheese, all in an apparent effort to update traditional diner food.

The menu at the American Café and Lounge is huge, and so are the portions. The prices are extremely reasonable. Virtually every breakfast, lunch, and dinner item on the menu sounds enticing. But as I learned on a recent visit with my family, it’s best to stick with mainstays of the diner repertoire.

A basket of hot, crusty rolls and whipped butter got us started. Then one of our two waitresses (one was sweet, the other sassy) brought oversized bowls of mixed greens with tomatoes and peppers, accompanied by an array of dressings. The salad, served family-style, was simple and fresh, and the whole gang was happy. We split the shrimp cocktail, attractively served in a large Champagne glass with a horseradish-laced cocktail sauce. We also decided to try the “prized” crab and scallop bisque. Big mistake. This thick, pasty glob of seafood and cream was truly inedible. The waitress politely took it back, and removed it from our bill.

We were seated in the back room near the bar with two TV sets — one broadcasting the latest tragedy from the Mid-East, the other tuned to a basketball game. By contrast, the front room has a more upscale mood, with its checkerboard ceiling, dark wood paneling, oversized comfortable-looking booths, and a wide wooden counter overlooking the bustling, open kitchen. Waiting for our main courses we watched as people at neighboring tables devoured stacks of pancakes, fabulous looking omelets, and hefty turkey dinners.

Ordering had been a challenge. One daughter wanted a burger, plain and simple. Her friend wanted the chicken and pesto wrap. But my youngest daughter, always the culinary adventurer, settled on lobster ravioli. I decided to try the prime rib because I didn’t really believe a diner could pull it off, and my husband thought the cedar plank roasted salmon sounded intriguing.

There was quite a lull between appetizers and the main course. But when the food came it was mostly good news. The burger was excellent — char-grilled and juicy, and served with fabulously thick French fries. The pesto chicken wrap was also just right. The grilled chicken breast was tender, well seasoned, and topped with pesto that tasted summer-fresh — all rolled up in a soft tortilla wrap.

The prime rib turned out to be surprisingly good. It was cooked medium-pink, as requested, deeply flavorful and brimming with natural jus. The only problem was a large hunk of fat at the end of the cut, reducing by about one-third the edible portion of a 16-ounce piece of meat. The accompanying mashed potatoes were decent enough, and the assortment of vegetables (carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower) were steamed until just crisp, not limp and overcooked like ones you would expect from a diner. The plank-roasted salmon, topped with coarse peppercorns and lemon juice, was so well cooked I wouldn’t have been surprised to find it at one of Portland’s finest restaurants.

Unfortunately the lobster ravioli tasted like it had just escaped from the deep-freeze. The pasta was limp and flavorless, while the lobster filling had a salty, artificial taste (even though it appeared to be real lobster meat). The white wine, garlic and lemon sauce didn’t help, offering virtually no flavor.

The kids split a piece of New York-style cheesecake, devouring it in about 10 seconds. A good graham cracker crust and creamy filling more than made up for the frozen strawberry topping.

When the bill arrived I was sure the waitress had made a mistake. For the five of us “totally pigging out,” as my daughters would say, including two huge glasses of beer and three Shirley Temples, the final tally came to under $100, including a generous tip. Despite the mistakes with the bisque and the ravioli, we were five happy people who had eaten well, and wouldn’t be hungry for quite some time.

“Do you think we could come here for breakfast tomorrow?” my youngest daughter asked as we headed out into the foggy night along Route 1. I smelled bacon and sausages frying in the kitchen and was tempted to answer, “Yes.”