Bon Appétit has included the Tuna Sandwich at Palace Diner in their list of the Best Meals of 2014.
Palace Diner is a 15-seat charmer located in a shiny red 1927 dining car in Biddeford, Maine, located a 30-minute drive South of Portland. The two former fine dining chefs/owners—Chad Conley and Greg Mitchell—do simple and nostalgic diner food amazingly well. Their bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast is perfect. And, damn, those Palace potatoes: boiled, smashed down, and then crisped with abandon on the griddle.
But it’s the tuna salad sandwich (with a side of crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside French fries) that I go back for. It’s not rocket science: just good ingredients executed with passion and precision. The bread is always toasted perfectly, the tuna to mayo ratio spot on, and the addition of dill and cucumber is just the way my mom used to make them for me back in grade school. Pair with a hangover and Coke and all is well with the world.
Just back from the PD where I moaned and groaned my way through this glorious creation. Drive 30 minutes to eat a tuna melt? Hell yea, try it and you will understand. The half sour pickle on top seals the deal.
The only problem with the tuna sandwich is that you have to pass up the best breakfast sandwich in existence. You have to bring a friend and split the two!
86’d last time I was there, I need to plan more accordingly…