The Monarch Diner, Wayne, NJ

"CRAPPY PHOTO ALERT"

Where: The Monarch Diner, Wayne, NJ

What: Daddy's Caddy
Build: 5oz burger, American cheese, 2 deep fried batter-dipped onion rings, bacon, red onion, buttered bagel.

Comment: Good news and bad news on the photos - The good news is, the photos were taken with a new iPhone 5. The bad news is, the photos were taken with a new iPhone 5. I've heard mixed reviews on the Monarch ever since it opened so I was very curious about the place to say the least. Not sure why, but I admit, sometimes a bad review makes me want to check out a place even more than a good one. But as I said, this place got mixed reviews and even though reviews are like opinions, which are like...  yeah, you know the rest.  Anyhow, I had to try the place, so I attended breakfast one morning with my wife and daughter and her boyfriend and it was good, very good. Not just the "oh, that place was okay" or the "yeah it was good", it was more like a "yeah, I'll be back" good.  I ordered the Daddy's Caddy burger (yes, I know, I ordered a burger for breakfast, so what?).  The speciality burgers are named after classic cars as they have a bit of a car theme going on with the decor. I wouldn't care if they called it "The Daddy's Outhouse Burger" I just wanted to try it. I asked for the temperature to be the usual medium/rare and it was cooked perfectly. This was my first burger ever on a bagel which got some getting used to, but in some strange way, I guess it made my meal a "legit" breakfast. Did I mention the bagel was buttered after it was toasted? it was, and toasted a perfect golden brown too. This beauty was topped with two batter-dipped onion rings fried to a golden brown atop what I can only describe as a full handful of bacon. There were red onion slices along with American cheese somewhere amid this train wreck of goodies as well. Take a look at the photos, this thing was juicy, and despite the crappy photos, you can still get a sense of what was going on there. All ingredients were great, however this one missed the mark due to a difficult eat-ability. It was just to awkward to eat like a burger so I ended up cutting it in hopes of getting my mouth around it. I really hate cutting burgers and losing all that cow juice. It was also char-broiled which loses points with me... that meat was great and a flat grill would have only made it better. 9/10.  

Yes, I'll be back. Their "traditional" breakfast is very good also. Tip: Get the pancakes and load 'em up with butter, no syrup needed.