Chew Chew's train mural
The giant mural of a train on the side of the restaurant is sure to get a few groans along with the ironic name of the diner, but if you actually step inside the front door, you’ll quickly see that this bustling little diner’s train theme actually works quite well for itself without getting too tacky.
The scene of some Canadian mountains is displayed right next to the booths lined up against the wall, acting as a faux outside window of the mock train you’re sitting in. It’s a bit tacky, but it works.
I was told the best thing to order at Chew’s would be the Conductor’s special, but I wasn’t feeling like breakfast today so I went with the standard diner fare of cheese burger and fries. We also ordered a hot hamburger chicken plate also with fries.
Chew's cheeseburger
The burger was quite good and came piled with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. The bun was nice and grilled too (I hate floppy untoasted burger buns as they got soggy right away). The side of coleslaw was really good with shredded veggies in it, and it wasn’t too tangy, just right. The fries were quite excellent and still had the potato skins on which is exactly how fries should be.
Hot Hamburger Chicken
The hot hamburger chicken was smothered in some nice beef gravy and sat atop a piece of texas toast bread. It also came with some fries and some nice steamed vegetables which included broccoli and carrots. I don’t think I’ve ever had a “hot hamburger” reviewed or mentioned on this site before, so if you’re not familiar with it and are wondering why it doesn’t look like my cheeseburger, that’s because hot hamburgers are just meat on a piece of a bread with gravy on top. I was slightly confused the first time I ordered one years ago at Dangerous Dan’s diner and wondered where my hamburger bun was. The waiter explained to me that hot hamburger plates is an idea that comes from the southern US and incorporates a hamburger patty placed on a piece of bread and covered in gravy. Wikipedia tells me that it’s “occasionally compared to the poutine” if that helps at all… that statement actually allows me to revel in my state of food confusion, but hey, it’s still great food.
Chew’s is a great addition to the Cabbagetown restaurants and I do plan on going back some day and trying the conductor’s special. One of the great things about this diner is it’s open concept kitchen area. I know there’s a great deal of older restaurants that have their cooking area right out in the front, but I just think it’s great that you can see your food being cooked while you wait. Thank goodness they didn’t make their staff wear conductor uniforms.
