We had a few errands to run so we headed to NJ to do some shopping at Willowbrook mall. We stopped for lunch along the way and ended up at the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton. This place was on an episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”, though I don’t really remember that particular segment, as I only paid attention to when he visited White Manna in Hackensack, one of my favorite hamburger joints. Guy Fieri kind of annoys me so I only watch him when I hear about a place that interests me. They must be fans at the Tick Tock, as they have a huge autographed poster of him in the restaurant.
Autographed poster of Guy Fieri
The first thing that I saw when I opened the vast menu was disco fries, which I love so we ordered some for us to share. Disco fries are basically French fries with cheese and gravy. They listed American cheese on the menu though, which I find gross. We substituted swiss instead without any issues. Unfortunately, when the plate arrived, it was piled high with steak fries but very little cheese and gravy. Only the middle top pieces of fries were covered, leaving the fries on the outside and bottom hanging out to dry. The gravy was pretty tasty though, not too watery or greasy; I just wish there was more of it. We ended up eating only the cheesy fries and left the dry ones on the plate.
Disco fries with swiss cheese and gravy
I had a hard time choosing what I wanted for lunch, as many of the options sounded pretty good. I ended up choosing the “My Big Fat Greek Burger”, which is described as a lamb burger with feta tzatziki, eggplant medallion, and lettuce, served with seasoned fries. When it came, it didn’t look like how I pictured it would. The lamb patty was quite thin, there was only a small shmear of the tzatziki on the bun, the eggplant medallion a sad thin strip, and the lettuce was a few pieces of limp iceberg. Usually lamb burgers are fat and juicy, but this version just looked a bit sad.
"My Big Fat Greek Burger" with lamb and feta tzatziki
Nevertheless, it smelled pretty good so I carefully assembled everything together to make sure that I would get a bite of everything at once. The lamb patty itself was very flavorful, though people who don’t like gamey lamb should beware as it was super gamey. Unfortunately, it was also extremely dry. The thinness of the patty did nothing to help that, and it was completely cooked through (I wasn’t given an option of how I wanted it cook, not that it would have mattered since the patty was so thin). The eggplant was pretty much nonexistent in flavor, and the lettuce did absolutely nothing so I ended up pulling it out. The feta tzatziki was nicely salty and had good flavor but there wasn’t enough of it, which was too bad because it would have helped with the dryness factor.
Autopsy shot
While the lamb itself tasted good to me (I love gamey lamb), the dry texture was really off-putting. The patty was way too small for the bun, and the bread to filling ratio was pretty poor. The burger did come with seasoned waffle fries, my favorite, but these were a bit cold and soggy. It was not a well put together plate overall.
Josh ordered his diner standard, a triple decker turkey club. While the turkey wasn’t incredibly dry, it was really cold for some reason, like it had just been pulled straight from the refrigerator. It was colder than the lettuce and tomato on the sandwich, which I found kind of weird. The bacon was nice and crispy though, and there was a lot of it. The sandwich came with potato salad, which was pretty good and not overly drenched in mayo, but Josh doesn’t eat potato salad so he left it alone; I stole a few bites.
Turkey club with potato salad
Josh’s mom also had a hard time deciding what she wanted to eat so she ended up with eggs benedict. The eggs were a bit overdone but not completely hard boiled (they were, shall we say, medium rare?). The Canadian bacon was thickly sliced, which I liked, but the English muffin wasn’t toasted enough. The hollandaise was perfectly made, not too eggy or buttery, so overall the dish tasted pretty good.
Eggs benedict
To me, there’s nothing so special about the Tick Tock. It’s a diner, and it’s pretty much just like any other diner I’ve been to. The food is decent overall, but there are hits and misses as well. I wouldn’t order the lamb burger again but I’d try some of their other offerings. You pretty much can’t go wrong when you order standard diner food, and the food is pretty reasonably priced. It’s not a diner destination that you should go out of your way for, but if you happen to be hungry and driving along Route 3, it’s not a bad place to stop.
Tick Tock Diner
281 Alwood Rd.
Clifton, NJ
