LOCAL

Far Out Diner a quantum leap forward

Dover diner serve breakfast and lunch amid alien decor

Denise J. Wheeler
A special ham, pesto and tomato benedict on buttery, crisp foccacia bread was garlic heaven. [Photo by Denise J. Wheeler]

Only a hard heart would not enjoy Dover’s Far Out Diner. If you are not a morning person, or a breakfast person, or a Dover person, put all that behind you and go. You may arrive still half-sedated. But as your caffeine kicks in, you will notice tiny aliens perched above the specials board, and Mr. Spock of “Star Trek” fame staring down at you from a wall of framed artwork. As you start to wonder if someone dropped a psychedelic into your drink last night, your guest points out that in your post-dawn stupor, you managed to miss a five-foot, blow-up U.F.O. adjacent to the front door.

Space, the final frontier, is the prevailing motif in this 40-seat, classic retro diner, but food, the morning’s predominant priority, is the draw.

Most everything in this cozy, affordable breakfast and lunch place is made in-house, from baked beans to English muffins to slow-cooked corned beef. With its friendly staff and funky, vintage décor, the almost 3-year-old Far Out Diner exudes a breezy charm. Pancakes are called “saucer cakes.” Home fries are referred to as “homies.” Dishes have names like “Big Bang Breakfast,” (two eggs cooked any style, two pieces of bacon or sausage, two saucer cakes or French toast with home fries, $10.99).

Ignore a pancake’s coma-inducing tendencies and try the melt-in-your-mouth saucer cakes. Though it wasn’t on the menu, we asked for and demolished an old favorite, an Almond Joy saucer cake, before ordering eggs. Better than its namesake candy bar, because you can slather it in maple syrup, this fluffy, decadent bauble is stuffed with coconut, chocolate chips and nuts, then dusted with powdered sugar.

Yes, this is akin to eating dessert first – but I am not your doctor, or your mom. I’m here to say swagger like this will get you the most out of your visit.

Donuts, $2.09 each, are baked, not fried, and manage to be dense and springy in equal measure. If it is on the specials board, indulge in a maple scone encrusted with bacon, $2.69.

Prefer to go savory instead of sweet? Far Out benedicts are the bomb. They come with two poached eggs topped with glistening Hollandaise, served on an English muffin. A Florentine Benny, $9.49, with spinach, grilled tomato and strands of melted Parmesan, has a pleasing mustard tang and the crunch of fresh spinach. Still, I prefer cooked spinach in an egg dish and would like the fact that it’s served raw noted on the menu.

Bright, tangy pesto, deliciously heavy on the garlic, and crisp, buttery Foccacia bread render a daily special Ham Benny, $10.49, glorious.

If carnivore-centric benedicts are more your jam, there’s an Irish Benny with corned beef, $10.99, and, for the truly ardent breakfast warrior, a Bacon Benedon, $10.99, served on two baked donuts.

Home fries, the prevailing side dish, are hearty, old-school wedges of potato bathed in a secret, flavorful, paprika-based house seasoning.

Piquant huevos rancheros, $9.49, stuffed with two scrambled eggs, black beans, salsa, jalapeños and Pepper Jack cheese, is wrapped in a flour tortilla with just the right tug texture, then topped with scallions and a dollop of sour cream. Chili can be added for $2.49.

As a matter of fact, for under $3, you can substitute bacon, sausage, hash or chili in most dishes or swap a saucer cake for waffles or the thick, dreamy French toast. Veggie bacon/sausages can be substituted for the real deal. Though it is not a gluten-free facility, the Far Out Diner has gluten-free breads, buns and English Muffins available daily. You get the idea – their goal is to be accommodating.

The beauty of the Far Out Diner is that owners Ben and Jessica Troy and Sean Larose (also the owner/operator of Hot Rod City next door) have created their own casual, neighborly universe. All of its dimensions come together like ingredients in their perfect blueberry muffins - from the color blast and whimsy of a vast alien mural on the back wall outside, to the traditional-meets-contemporary flourish of the daily specials, to the wholesome feeling that you’ve gone back in time to find your great grandmother’s cooking and abundant portions.

The Far Out Diner is on the outskirts of Dover, but gets home-cooked-style so right, real estate values in its orbit should sky rocket. It’s the kind of place you’d want to live next to so you could eat there regularly. If you are an old-timer like me, around when The Friendly Toast first opened in Dover, you may get a little déjà vu.

The diner’s cheery vibe conjures a bit of leniency, which may be needed, because this is not where you go for gleaming cutlery and fast service. On a visit last week, my guest tracked down a cleaner knife before digging in. The place was packed and there was one server, a seasoned pro named Cassie. She remained calm, cool and collected while racing around diligently, delivering our orders hot and with a smile.

If you do end up waiting for your meal, it will be worth it. The colorful décor alone provides plenty to chat about. Or go deep and let the motif inspire thoughts on the vastness of the cosmos and the smallness of our place in it. The impending caffeine and sugar rush will buoy you through this.

And file this under “Inside Scoop,” the owners have applied for a liquor license and plan to soon have Bloody Marys, mimosas and a selection of beer and wines.

Because you will not be able to eat all the delectables that catch your eye in one sitting, most of the in-house baked goods, including banana bread, buttermilk biscuits, cinnamon raison brioches, pie and quiche by the slice, whole chicken pot pies, loaves of Ciabatta bread, and big (I’m talking the size of your outstretched hand) chocolate chip cookies, are available for purchase to take home, as are baked beans.

Among the few items The Far Our Diner brings in are hot sauce from a local vendor who provides it in exchange for free meals, and sweet/smoky zucchini-based Galaxie Salsa from a small, family-owned company in Buxton, Maine.

The lunch menu includes daily specials and the usual suspects: burgers, hot dogs, and an array of sandwiches ranging from grilled cheese, to turkey clubs, to pulled pork.

Conflicted on whether to have breakfast or lunch? Order the breakfast burger, $8.99, an all-beef patty with spinach, tomato, Cheddar, and a sunny side up egg served on a Ciabatta bun with home fries.

The Far Out Diner is located at 99 Oak St., Dover. Hours are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sundays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. For more information, call (603) 516-0330 or check out https://www.faroutdiner.com/.