Joyland American Family Diner - Great Yarmouth

Marine Parade

Great Yarmouth

Norfolk

Breakfast served everyday till noon

 

Joyland American Diner is right beside Joyland childrens amusement park on the seafront, home of the legendary snails ride.

 It certainly looks like a classic American Diner from the outside and is also a popular meeting point for classic car gatherings.

This is the first thing you see as you enter, the perfect place to sit if you need to wait for a table at busy times. Thankfully it was almost empty when we arrived and we were shown straight to a table.

 

 The counter and kitchen runs along the length of the diner.

Nicely upholstered seats and spacious tables await.

 

Smaller tables at the far end, perfect for couples.

 

A good selection of quality sauces can be found on each table.

 

Breakfast here is available till noon, there's no vegetarian option but if you ask they will happily create something for you. 

I was looking forward to trying a luxury strawberry thick shake, the machine wasn't working though...

I chose a medium coke instead costing £2.

The "all the way breakfast" was much bigger than I was expecting.

 

Here it is from a different angle.

 

The well griddled bacon tasted pretty good.

 

The sausages looked really cheap but tasted quite nice, the tomatoes tasted of very little.

Beans in a nicely reduced sauce, not something I come across very often but always a welcome sight.

 

Nice crunchy hash browns.

 

Nice crunchy fried bread too, possibly the highlight of this breakfast.

 

The fried eggs tasted ok but didn't look too impressive.

One had a bright yellow, semi runny yolk.

The other yolk was pale and solid.

 

My wife requested a veggie breakfast, it contained a veggie burger instead of the meat and was served with extra tomatoes. They were also happy to swap the fried bread for toast.

Pancakes are another option if you prefer.

 

Plenty of sweets arrived with the bill.

 

For every £15 spent you receive a Joyland ride pass, we received two.

 

Straight after breakfast we headed into Joyland.

 

We used our free ride passes on the snails!

With Great Yarmouth being so close to Norwich I'm surprised it's taken me this long to finally inspect a breakfast there. We'd decided to visit Out There Festival and my mind soon turned to breakfast, I had three places in mind but at the last moment spotted Joyland Diner. Once parked up we headed along the golden mile and eventually the diner appeared in the distance...

Upon entering - The interior of this diner is quite impressive with beautifully upholstered seating and classic tables. Everywhere you look shouts out America, from the Cadillac seat by the entrance to the Route 66 and taxi sign displayed on the walls. We were greeted inside and shown to a table, once seated there's full table service, sauces and cutlery are already on the table. We commented on how nice it was that the music wasn't booming out here, moments later it seemed to get louder though making it nearly impossible to hold a conversation. We asked if they could turn it down and they did, peace was restored once more! Simply chose from the menu, place your order and settle your bill at the end. For every £15 spent you receive a complimentary ride pass for Joyland next door, I recommend a ride on the snails after breakfast, it's a children's ride but a classic that has to be experienced. 8/10

Service - Once welcomed and shown to our table somebody returned to take our drinks order, slight disappointment set in after being told the thick shake was broken. I pulled myself together and ordered a medium diet coke instead trying to focus on the fact they served fried bread here, I love fried bread! We all placed our food order and my wife asked if a vegetarian breakfast could be created, the waitress went off to ask and returned with good news. They seemed quite accommodating and willing to offer a veggie burger instead of the meat, extra tomatoes and swap the fried bread for toast. After the food had arrived the waitress asked if everything was ok, nothing was causing a serious issue to me so I said yes. Somebody else at the table unhappy with their eggs was so busy chewing at this point that their cry of "no" wasn't heard by the waitress. A generous selection of sweets and a complimentary Joyland ride pass arrived with the bill, we should have received two ride passes but as soon as we mentioned this they happily gave us another one. 7/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, 2 hash browns, 1 slice of fried bread, mushrooms, beans and tomatoes. 7/10

Presentation - It certainly filled the large oval plate and the nice stodgy beans and golden fried bread looked impressive. Everything else looked ok but the eggs were not looking too impressive. 5/10

The food - The sausages looked suspiciously cheap but I was delighted to discover a good firm texture and reasonably good flavour. The bacon was well griddled and tasty, the mushrooms were deep fried and quite greasy. The highlight of this breakfast was the golden crisp fried bread and the beans in a thick stodgy sauce, both delicious! The low point was the fairly tasteless tomatoes, certainly cooked enough but with so little taste they seemed a bit pointless. The hash browns were deep fried and crispy, the eggs tasted ok with one containing a semi solid yolk and the other completely solid, better than undercooked and snotty I suppose. Quite a few moments of disappointment but the excellent fried bread and beans helped to make up for this. 6/10

Value for money - "All the way" cost £6.50 and although far from perfect it was really filling and seemed like a fair enough price to pay. 6/10

Veggie option - Not listed on the menu but they are happy to create a veggie breakfast.

Overall - I loved the nicely themed 1950's diner interior and the staff here seemed quite helpful and accommodating. If you like nice stodgy beans and crispy fried bread it's well worth heading here as both were excellent! The rest of the breakfast was at best average though with a few moments of slight disappointment. The complimentary ride passes were a nice touch so be sure to ride the snails straight after your breakfast if you do end up here. 6.5/10