Pluto's Diner

Address: 1150 Cook St.
Phone: (250) 385-4747
Website: http://www.plutosdiner.ca/
Price: $10-15
Notes: A classic diner with an odd "tex-mex" theme.

Pluto's Diner is at the corner of Cook and View, on an old gas station property. As a result, the space is funky, retro and has giant garage doors that open up in the summer time to allow for an indoor-outdoor dining experience. The decor is Classic diner complete with black and white checkered floors, and also has a bit of a space theme right down to a star-spangled ceiling.

I remember falling in love with the milkshakes at Pluto's while in University. There aren't too many non-chain places to get a good old-fashioned milkshake anymore so if that's what you're in the mood for this is a good option. They also have really epic specials that change all the time, including several 'endless [insert meal here]' days. It's not a fancy place, but it's not a total dive either. I'm not sure who their main clientele are, but they've been here for ages so it must be someone!


Service:
September 2, 2011
I haven't been back here in forever and I had recently saw a snarky remark cross my twitter feed about the place so when my partner-in-food-and-life suggested it as an alternative to waiting 40 minutes in line at Ferris's, it wasn't too hard to twist my arm. 


The service was surprisingly slow considering we were one of three people being served at the time. As it turned out, most of the kitchen staff had abandoned one guy to do everything, as we found out when he yelled from the kitchen to them outside to get back inside and help out. In any other space that would have been weird, but it kind of added to the diner feel of the place.  We were pretty much the last customers before closing, so I imagine they thought they were able to slack for the night. Our waitress was pretty awesome and we weren't starving so we didn't mind too much.


Food:
September 2, 2011

This was the special of the evening and my partner-in-food-and-life's choice. It was excellent value! The price was around $15 and that included two huge pieces of chicken parmesan, cooked to perfection and covered in a thick layer of parmesan and a large potato with lots of fixings. Half of it ended up being lunch the next day!

This dish left me scratching my head a bit. While there is a section of cuisine that I would call 'tex mex' this is not it. This is like a simulacrum of mexican food (or even a simulacrum of tex mex!) which is a fancy way of saying this is the equivalent of the Venetian in Vegas when compared to Venice proper. Looks like the real thing but the facade is well, just that. 

The creaminess inside of those enchiladas was unexpected. It had a nice smokey chipotleness to it, but it didn't match up with what I had pictured in my head as an enchilada. I'm pretty sure they advertised tomatillo salsa but what I got was chunky red salsa. The overall effect of the enchiladas wasn't bad I just wouldn't call it an enchilada but then again, I haven't had too many "proper" enchiladas in my time so maybe I have a weird idea in my head of what they are supposed to be. 

The beans and rice were a different (worse) story. The beans on the side had some really weird spice that I can only confirm was Not cumin and I'm pretty sure the cheese on top was feta, not queso. The rice was only orange like that because of shredded carrot. I left most of it, I'm disappointed to say... I wouldn't order something mexican-esque here again.