<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2174/2435654102_0ee46f0489.jpg" alt="Diner Food" width="400/">*

There are some cultural disparities that become increasingly evident when living in the states. One is my love for diners and diner food. My friends find it ...weird. I love it because I haven't seen much like it. Yes, we have Cafe's in the UK but the prevalence and 24 hour 'breakfastness' of diner's has my heart. It doesn't help that the food is a little bit bad for you..but churned out in these small mom n pop establishments like its good ole home cookin.

I get excited when I visit a diner - the menus read like a phone book and it never ceases to amaze me that you can choose almost anything from the sometimes hundreds of items.

Years ago when I worked in post-production, I saw an edit of a documentary a guy did about people who 'tour the country' visiting diners just for the love of it. I was literally spell bound - imagine visiting small towns, large cities and indulging in omlettes, chips (aka fries), sundaes, thick shakes, greek salads - over and over and over again, for the sake of documentary. I could do that.

Sadly, I didn't join the 'diner tours' but I do make it a personal goal to hit a diner whenever I travel. It's a treat every once in a while and often supports a small family owned business. Can't go wrong with that!

I have to say that Belgian waffles and fruit used to be my diner staple, but nowadays its a feta/onion omlette...if I am naughty with chips! What about you? What is your favourite diner dish?

*<i>image from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ripizzo/2435654102/">ripizzo on flickr </a>- as my image server is down!</i>