It’s become a bit of a tradition to crash Dann’s Mother’s holiday in Waxham Sands each summer. She has a tradition of caravanning in Waxham Sands Holiday Park, but as we aren’t really a caravan family, Dann, our kids and I normally stay somewhere nearby. This year, that was extremely close to Zak’s Yankee Diner – an American style diner with tons of American classics. I’ve been to a few American Diners in Great Yarmouth, and they haven’t really impressed me, as an American who’s been to diners in America. With that said, I had hopes for Zak’s Yankee Diner, especially as they have three locations and have been going since 1976!
A Bunch of Starters
I got a bunch of starters for my dinner, as I wanted to try a lot of things! I went with Frickles, Corn Dogs and Chicken Wings. The real highlight for me was the frickles. They are a fried pickle, with a lot of dough, which I thought was going to take away from them if I am honest! The batter around the outside is beautifully seasoned and the dip that comes with it is fantastic. I could have eaten buckets of this and Dann really loved them too! The chicken wings, which I got in Hot, had a sort of vinegar-style hot sauce on it. These were delicious and tasted a lot like the wings I had growing up, for 25 cent wing night at our local diner. The corn dogs were a bit of a let down. The hot dog in the middle didn’t taste very good and the chili jam dip didn’t fit well with the dish. It felt a lot like freezer food, which I didn’t quite enjoy.
Kai and Amelia got burgers
Kai and Amelia both are big fans of burgers and Zak’s Yankee Diner has a big selection of burgers. I think they were both a bit overwhelmed and Kai ended up with a classic cheese burger. He said that it was very good, with some salad, fries, and coleslaw on the side. It looked pretty basic to me, but sometimes you just need a basic burger. Amelia got a BBQ beef burger with sweet potato fries, which she did like. It did come with mayo by default, along with the BBQ sauce, which she was surprised about but said was good anyway.
Rib and Steak
The kid’s menu at Zak’s Yankee Diner is actually quite fun. Robin went with the fat boy ribs, which were smothered in a really delicious BBQ sauce and came with fries. She really enjoyed these and ate the whole thing, which is rare for her. The bone was easy to take out too, with the meat falling right off of it! Dann went with a rather big steak, that had some mushrooms, fries, onion rings and a tomato slice. He said it was cooked and seasoned really well, and spoke about wanting to go back to have it again the next day. It was just fantastic.
Cheese Cakes, Drinks and a Brownie
There is a small selection of desserts on the main menu, including cheese cakes. We all really enjoy cheese cake, so Kai, Dann and I all got the lime cheesecake, which was a chilled cake. This cake could have had more lime flavor, as I really couldn’t taste it, but it was nice that it had a choice of soft serve or whipped cream on the side. Amelia got the cheesecake of the week, which was a baked cheesecake with a choice of syrup on top; she picked strawberry. Robin got a little brownie covered in chocolate sauce with whipped cream on the side, from the kid’s menu. This brownie was warm, but had a hard top clearly due to re-cooking it to warm it up. I also got a pina colada which was well made, with American cherries in it!
Zak’s Yankee Diner has a great feel of America, from the decorations to the food. It’s hard to find a good American diner in England, and so I am delighted to have one on my list to visit again in the future. We all really enjoyed our meal, the service was great, and there was plenty to choose from, which is always a plus.