Susan H.
Yelp
We decided to try this Silver Diner because the last time we went to the one in Reston, we noticed how bad the carpeting smelled. To be fair, it has been a while since we were there so I don't know if they had remodeled or not. Since this Silver Diner was a lot newer and had good reviews, we figured we would give it a try.
We were here around 4:30 p.m. on a Sunday and there was plenty of seating, both inside and out that was available. We ended up sitting inside. Before coming here, we both knew what we wanted to order. Our server was prompt getting to us and took our drink orders. I chose to have raspberry iced tea while my husband had a Sprite. The server then went to get our drinks. When he returned, we gave him our entree orders.
I chose to have the "Classic BLT" which consists of: "Nitrate free bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, toasted sourdough bread". It comes with a side of coleslaw and a choice of fries or a veggie. I chose the fries.
My husband ordered "Summertime Cod" which is a seasonal dish and consists of: "wild caught Icelandic cod over quinoa and pomegranate, grilled tomatoes, asparagus, lemon-garlic sauce". This is one of their low calorie dishes as it had 600 calories in it.
The kitchen was a bit on the slow side but not so bad as to be annoying. When the food came out, I noticed that my husband's cod had a strong fishy odor. That's not good at all as it means the fish was spoiled. I pointed this out to him but he said he didn't smell it so he went ahead and ate it. He gave me a small piece to try and, yes, it didn't taste right. Fortunately, he didn't get sick from eating it.
My BLT was well prepared and all the ingredients were fresh. The toasted sourdough gave it a nice crunch as did the bacon. The lettuce and tomato portions were quite adequate. I liked the coleslaw as it was mildly flavored. The fries arrived freshly cooked and hot.
Our server brought us seconds on our drinks since they were drinks that had free refills. We hadn't even finished the first glasses! At the end of the meal, without asking us, he brought plastic cups with lids so that we could take the drinks home. I let him know that I appreciated it.
If the cod didn't smell and tasty fishy, I would have given them 4 stars. Service was great and the place was clean. However, if I ever wanted a fish entree here I would order it with great trepidation---yikes! To me, it questions just how well the BOH is being run. Despite this, we will go back. We know that if my husband spoke up, they would have rectified this. A woman sitting at a booth near us got her entree and kept coughing while she tried to eat it. It turned out that it was overly spiced. Her server brought the manager over and she was allowed to order something different, which she did.