Recently revisited are Marcy’s Diner and the Miss Portland Diner as an update to Hash House published recently.  At Marcy’s, which has been under new ownership for the last two years after the infamous Darla sold the eatery to her long-time waitress, Mandy Lacourse, the food is as greasy-good as ever.  Note that certain preparations take a lot of tasty shortcuts.  The pancake batter is made from a mix and the fabulous hash-browns are prepackaged grated potatoes.  Note that these pre-grated potatoes are given star treatment on the restaurant’s flat top, where they remain for hours on end building up that wonderful patina of crispiness.

A plates of bacon and eggs with Marcy’s famous pile of hash browns

At the Marcy’s grill is owner/chef Mandy Lacourse who bought the diner in 2019

Back to Miss Portland Diner for lunch the other day, I scanned the menu for the noontime meal.  They were mostly too heavy for me, so I returned to the breakfast specials, which are served all day.  I focused on the scramble, to which I had the choice of adding cheese and meats.  I went for Cheddar and ham bits.  I recalled that this was a great dish way back created by then-chef Steve Quartucci (now owner extraordinaire at Monte’s).  This bit of breakfast fanciness has traveled well over time.  The eggs were exceedingly light and fluffy and not over-scrambled dry to oblivion. The portion of home-fries was, however,  fairly skimpy, though perfectly cooked and seasoned. I also liked the idea of the tub of butter for the bread–essential because the bread was not  buttered. Still there should be enough grease on the grill to have sufficed.  Instead these tasted as though just popped up from the toaster, not grilled as requested.  A minor flaw perhaps compared to how good the eggs were.  I would go back just for the scramble.

A great scramble of Cheddar and ham bits at Miss Portland