After an evening spent in Renoquaffing intoxicants and caffeine I sought out late night eats atthe LittleNugget Diner in the rear of The Nugget, adivey casino on Virginia St. in the shadow of the Reno Arch.
The place is about as old school as it gets short of offeringcoin-pay slots. Unlike the majority of downtowncasinos paired with hotels, The Nugget is a standalone casino, butwith the added bonus of a diner, far in theback. So far you can avoid passing through the casino and enterthe diner from the alley; an approach popular enough to warrantsignage.
The diner is about as well-worn as a greasy spooncan get. I settled in on a stool next to the cashier with a viewof the grill and fryers. The Awful-Awful burger,short for “Awful Big and Awful Good” is what brought me to theLittle Nugget that evening, but a quick perusal of the menu hintedthe diner's true forté: breakfast.
The sandwich is fairly decent, and better than what's offered atmost fast-food chains. Built on a soft, lightly grill-toastedonion roll, the standard Awful-Awful offers slicesof American cheese, tomato, red onion, pickle, and an exorbitantamount of lettuce slathered with a special sauce thatreminded me of ThousandIsland dressing sans pickle. The burger itself –likely a third-pounder, pre-cooked weight – is quality beef (formass-production meat) and pepper seasoned. Wanting more I ask forbacon which comes as crispy and curly as if you'd fried it athome. In short, the Awful-Awful is a deliciousburger worth revisiting.
What makes this truly awful-awful is the staggering poundof shoestring-cut french fries the sandwich rests atop. It's anawe-inspiring image, not unlike the famous Botticellipainting of Venus standing upon a giant clam shell, but certainlymore tasty than a 500-year-old piece of canvas smeared withtempura paint.
The fries are actually quite good, uniquely seasoned with a blendthat betrays the presence of a green herb. Ranchdressing is a popular dipping condiment here. It's just thatthere's SO MUCH of them I barely made a dent. Momentarily saddenedto leave such bounty behind, I bade my goodbyes to the night crew,not realizing my next visit would be sooner than I expected.
The excesses of the evening – alcohol, caffeine, animal flesh,grease and second-hand smoke – led to a night populated withwhacked-out dreams. I had resolved to skip breakfast and snag acarryout pizza for the train trip across Nevada that afternoon.Restlessness and unexpected hunger had other plans. And so Ireturned to the Little Nugget Diner for an omelet, but not justany omelet.
The four-egg Hangover Omelet sports a pile ofchili, cheese and salsa, inside and atop. The chili, usually anafterthought with such builds is tasty on its own; the advertisedmelted cheese wasn't so melted as it was abundant; salsa was astraight-forward chunky tomato variety. Paired with the omelet isa plank of slightly golden hash browns – tasting of margarine butnot unpleasant, choice of toast, and a horseradish-tinged BloodyMary!
It's not haute cuisine or even the least bit exotic or unique.What the Little Nugget Diner excels at is familiar comfort food inexcessive proportions to soothe the alcohol-ravaged body, and toreassure the down-on-their-luck that all is not lost.
Well… maybe it is. Eat an Awful-Awful and nursethat pound of fries for every ounce of ranch dressing you can beg,borrow or steal. Clorox– famous for manufacturing bleach – operates a large HiddenValley Ranch factory in the Reno area, so you know itsspringtime fresh.
| Photos from the Picasa Web Album: Labor Day Trip 2012 |
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder