Skylark Diner & Lounge

Located at 17 Wooding Avenue off of Route 1 in Edison, Skylark Diner offers globally inspired diner fare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. Food specials change daily, and online ordering is available.

Skylark is in some ways the embodiment of the New Jersey diner experience and in other ways a subversion of it. The veritable army of bustling blue-clad servers and the large menu are hallmarks of Garden State eateries of this sort, but the elevated cuisine and elevated prices set Skylark apart. There exist both better and worse (and certainly cheaper) diners aplenty, but Skylark’s international focus sets it apart.

Like many Jersey diners, the exterior and parts of the décor seem like they haven’t changed since JFK roamed the White House. But Skylark plays retro-futuristic to its competitors’ retro, sporting a look that would be right at home in The Jetsons. Seating is plentiful, which is a plus given that this place gets quite busy.

Despite the eatery’s reputation, Skylark does offer a number of diner staples. You can still get a cheeseburger, a Greek salad, an omelet, and a BLT here. However, it just so happens that you can also get tuna tostadas, lobster mac and cheese, a salmon kale-quinoa salad, a bulgogi pork chop, and Guinness-braised short ribs as well. While this may seem like a lot of posturing – and while Skylark isn’t going to beat out steakhouses and good Asian joints – the concept wouldn’t have worked for as long as it has if the kitchen didn’t have a clue.

Among these myriad options, our group settled on a baked spinach, artichoke, and cheese dip, an Argentine baguette (sirloin, onions, and lettuce with a chimichurri sauce), and a Basque breakfast sandwich (chorizo, egg, manchego, and piperade on ciabatta). The food was a bit uneven. In the plus column, the dip was warm and satisfying, the meats were not overdone, and both sandwiches were bursting with flavor – the chimichurri sauce was a very nice touch. In the minus column, the Basque sandwich was a bit dry, a side of Mediterranean chickpea salad was disappointingly bland, and a side of fruit salad included some questionable-looking grapes (which, to Skylark’s credit, were replaced).

Skylark sports elevated prices to match its elevated cuisine, but even then, it isn’t exactly thievery. Our dip ran $9 and the sandwiches (with one side apiece) were $11and $9 respectively. Servers are polite and professional though they seemed hard-pressed to keep up with the restaurant’s busyness at times, and the wait for food reflected that volume.

Not Your Ordinary Diner is Skylark’s motto, and it fits. The ambitious menu outclasses other diners by far and the food delivers on flavor. However, uneven execution and immodest pricing keep Skylark from soaring high.

7.5/10