Ambrosia Restaurant

Got the Meat Loaf special. There wasn’t anything special about it. The worst instant mashed potatoes I’ve ever tasted. Meat loaf was marginal at best. No way I’d go back.

Ambrosia is a great neighborhood diner that lacks the pretentious-​ness of some high-​end places a few blocks north.
The spot is a definite time warp: gaudy 70’s furniture throughout with quasi-​dim lighting that shows its age. But as certain as the smoke that once filled the place, it’s a throwback — pre-​dating the era of bottle service, «pool parties» and overpriced udon.
The service is great, food is reliable, and it’s never too obnoxious-​ly overcrowded. But what I like most about Ambrosia is that it doesn’t pretend to be more than what it is: a diner.

There’s a giant 3D seascape to your left. To your right, booths – booths as far as the eye can see, if that eye has a cataract like the old lady behind the counter has. And that’s okay. The Rockwell pictures, they’re okay, too. And when the waitress explained apologetically that she dropped a piece of fruit salad in your orange juice, a piece of orange, she explains, and asks if you want a fresh glass, you don’t mind. The eggs are diner eggs. The toast is diner toast. The coffee is better than expected, and you stay longer than you intended, staring at that 3D seascape and debating whether or not you want to eat that wet piece of orange at the bottom of your glass.

I was intrigued by Ambrosia’s green awning from the first time I saw it, but just recently got a chance to check it out. The food is perfectly decent diner food, the service perfectly decent diner service.
The décor is kind-​of like a roadside Jersey diner, and I mean that in a good way. Nothing fancy here. I got a grilled cheese and a chocolate shake, both of which were solid, but not excellent or either great. I would have liked the shake a bit thicker — next time I’ll make sure to specify. My companion’s burger was also good but not memorable in the least. We went around 9 or 10 PM and were one of two parties there. The service was pretty quick, if not the friendliest.
Head here for a quick meal (or a mental transport to Jersey), but I wouldn’t go with anything too complicated.