I love New York – its bright lights, its brash attitude and its big food. So the opening of Grand Central, an American diner in our ’hood, caused a culinary ripple of interest for the husband and I.

On arrival, at around 5pm on a Saturday, we were a tad surprised to be greeted front-of-house with a little old school New York arrogance, being told our table would be needed at 7pm as we hadn’t booked.

But once introduced to our waitress, Aliv, the service was anything but brash. She was attentive and never once made us feel rushed.

Named after the Big Apple’s infamous railway station, the Grand Central menu takes its cue from different city landmarks.

To start we decided to visit Wall Street and Central Park in the form of the chicken wings and chicken, bacon, mushroom and cheese stuffed quesadillas. Both were tasty, and served with delicious dips, blue cheese for the wings and a tangy honey mustard for the quesadillas.

For mains, I had the Carolina St pulled pork sandwich, a nod to the American south and its love of barbecue. It was spot on. The pork was moist and fork tender. Plied high on a toasted ciabiatta and served with a creamy homemade coleslaw and the crispiest of fries it was great diner fare.

Across the bench, the husband had foregone his usual steak and opted instead for a hot dog, topped with beer-brewed sauerkraut and deli mustard, and those oh-so-crispy fries. The sausage had just the right snap and worked well with the toppings.

For pud, he opted for the cherry pancakes which were the right side of fluffy and lavishly covered in cream and morello cherries. I attempted to delude myself that I wasn’t having dessert by opting for a hot chocolate, but the cream and marshmallow topped wonder that arrived deserves a mention nonetheless.

All in all, Grand Central really is a welcome new kid on the American diner block.

Grand Central, Miles Gray Road, Basildon 01268 534663

What we ate:

Wall Street wings £5.75 Central Park quesadillas £5.95 Carolina St pulled pork £9.25 Yankee Stadium hot dog £8.95 Cherry pancakes £5.25 Hot chocolate £2.95

Our verdict (Out of five)

Atmosphere 4 Food 4 Decor 4 Value 4 Service 4 Disabled access Yes