They've relegated the caravan housing the diner from the waterfront to the car park to make room for the more hipster friendly Orchard Cafe. Overall Trinity Buoy Wharf seems much more cluttered, every inch is covered in shipping containers converted into workspace with cars parked where there was a lovely open space. The art installations now look quite forlorn between the cars. But back to Fat Boy's, a very apt name for a diner serving almost exclusively deep fried dishes. Not really what we were after on one of the hottest day of this hottest summer in human memory. But they also have air con which made them win over the Orchard Cafe on this occasion. We had a smoothie each (not sure how fresh these were, tasted like canned juice blended with crushed ice) and shared a haloumi wrap - a welcome pit stop to tide us over. read more

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What a gem!!! Who *knew* that in the middle of *nowhere* in the far far east... there'd be a bona fide 1940's American diner complete with malted milkshakes, laminate table tops and nary a slice of banoffee pie in sight! My friend Jimmy and I *finally* came here to fulfill a quest for a diner blueberry pie that started LONG ago after a brush with "My Blueberry Nights" and this incident: http://tinyurl.com/yd9cess . And while we *knew* Fat Boys had the pie, it took us a year and his acquisition of a car (mainly his acquisition of a car) before we made it ALLLLLL the way out to the far flung wharf on which this chrome plated trailer restaurant sits. As we got closer to our destination, we were a bit leery of our industrial surroundings and heading into the dodgy alley that precedes Fat Boys we couldn't help but think: "Umm??? Was this really such a great idea?? How do we know this place is still even open?? After all, WHO comes here??? WHERE ARE WE???" But once we arrived, it was *totally* worth it. Okay, so inside it was freezing cold. Okay, so they were out of malt. Okay, so they probably should NOT have carved through that rock hard avocado and charged me 75p extra for the pleasure of picking it off my veggie burger. Okay, so they only had one slice of blueberry pie left (and it was a rather nondescript, soggy, too-long-frozen pie - so actually, we were lucky they only had one) BUT we still liked the place. I mean, isn't all the above what you sort of expect of a retro diner experience?? Really, you're here for the atmosphere: the individual jukeboxes on the tables, the retro vinyl stools, the appropriate plastic kitsch everywhere, the soda fountain drinks, the jump jive music, the fact that you've successfully been transported to another era. If you have a car (or want to spend a fortune on cab fare) I HIGHLY recommend that you make the trek out here for a singular and fun dining experience (hey... the filmmakers of "Sliding Doors" did...). And if you do, tell them that eccentric blonde girl/chinese guy duo sent you (they'll know who you're talking about). Maybe even order the Blueberry Pie - just to say you did. read more

Fat Boy's Diner - fat boys - Diners Near Me - London, XGL

+ A 1950's America-themed trailer diner + Facing the dock, near East India + Very, very remote and inconvenient location Fat Boys is an American diner located in the remote dock area near East India and Canning Town. There is absolutely nothing in its close vicinity apart from another pub next door, some industrial-looking warehouses and (rather randomly) a parkour practice centre. The remote location certainly gives this place a rundown feel. The diner has a long counter and a few small tables at the end of it. You get a view of the Thames which, in this part of town, means grey sky and equally grey-looking containers going by. I ordered a mushroom burger and a mac n cheese. The crispy deep fried mushrooms were sandwiched by sweet brioche baps. It was not bad. Mac and cheese was just average. I think the best thing about this place is the quirky look and feel. read more

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There is no way you will find this place by chance and while you are on your way you will think - did I take the wrong turn... but once you are there, you will have the chance to visit an original old school US diner. Built 1941 in New Jersey it has this perfect flair of good old times meet decay. The food is ok, the burger is greasy and not with too much flavour and the pie is sweet and plasticky which kind of adds to the atmosphere and atmosphere is the main reason why you wold want to visit that place. Trinity Buoy Wharf is an interesting place directly opposite the O2/ Millenium Dome and features the only light house in London. Good place for a grey Sunday, feels even more remote than it is. read more

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I never expected to find a Fatboys in England, let alone sitting out on a wharf in the far east of London. What a fun surprise! Fatboys shiny little trailer is sitting in the art community of Trinity Buoy Wharf. This is a proper American diner complete with jukeboxes and seriously greasy food. Inside there are a couple of booths in addition to 10 shiny red barstools at the counter. If it's a nice day like it was today, you can sit outside at a big red picnic table. This I highly recommend--the views of the city across the water are stunning! The menu includes diner staples such as hamburgers, hotdogs and french fries. I ordered the veggie burger which was merely okay--nothing special. My friend had the hotdog which she devoured within minutes, so I'm guessing it was pretty good! The pies and ice cream are a popular choice here and they were very tempting--but, I had my heart set on the cherry and sadly, they were out. Blueberry was out, too. Boo. Fatboys is definitely worth the trip out, and you can have a wander around Trinity Buoy Wharf as well which is a very quirky and cool. Plastic is not accepted, so be sure to hit the cashpoint before you go! read more

Awesome place, specially since they changed owners last October (forget about what everybody wrote before). Go have a little chat with him, laid back dude. Can't wait to be back here again. The food is awesome now, music playing in the background and the diner is at this interesting industrial area. read more

Let's set aside the fact that this place is in an old Airstream trailer on a generally desolate inlet in the Docklands (which is pretty fucking cool). The food and milkshakes were woefully mediocre. And woe betide you if you make the special trip out to the middle of nowhere and arrive at the restaurant's opening time. Because you'll find yourself waiting around for another hour before someone arrives to open up the joint. You can spend this time trying to find a working cash point nearby (a fun game since there isn't one) once you've looked up the restaurant's website to double-check those hours and suddenly realised that - if it ever does actually open - it accepts cash only. The coffee was surprisingly not terrible. read more

Its really a shame, that I have to give to 2 out of 5 for this American style diner. Located in Trinity Buoy Wharf, so not only the location is interesting and amazing, but the diner itself is an old school vintage style air stream caravan. It is quite small, maybe no more than 20 seating. The food was average, I would go as far as to say below average actually and service was slow. Really nice and friendly people, but all my local cafes have been able to serve decent full English breakfast and a cheeseburger within 10 mins of ordering and with far more customers and equally with two staff, chef and waitress. So why did I have to wait an hour for my food? more training and experience is needed I think. The Fatboy original burger was tasteless and dry and the bun was burnt, chips were really small portion (Mac'd small fries portion), and they made it too salty, cost £8.50 total. Big breakfast is the usual fry up, but rather than sausage, they gave you a patty burger, everything else was standard, cost £8. The big disappointment was the vanilla milkshake, tasted very bland, and cost £4, the fact that you can see it being made, as its a caravan diner, ingredients used could have been better quality for the price you are charging their customers. Besides the food and the slow service, this could be potentially a good restaurant, quirky themed restaurant, with an interesting location to match. The website makes big claims, I think they should really put that on hold, just until they can bring their standards up. read more

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Note that this place changed ownership October 2014, so older reviews are out of date. This is a great, if out of the way, American diner that serves great burgers, good fries, and excellent shakes. It's all wrapped up in a real diner car feel, with short stools at the bar and four small booths. Rumor is that an outdoor seating area and a full license are on the way during spring 2015. read more

My friend had been toting about this place for weeks now, and I finally agreed to go. He's German and claims that this place is super authentically American... except that it's run by Italians. Not Italian Americans, just Italian. Kind of a big except. In Steve C.'s review, he said they had an American with them and he was pleased. Like that guy, I was the resident in the group, and I very much faked my approval, too. Sarah D. is from Kansas. Take her word with a grain of salt. Anyway, so we drive out to the middle of nowhere (across from the O2). I don't think there is a convenient tube station nearby anywhere, and the whole area looks run down. If someone spends the effort to drive you all the way out to their favorite place, it's hard to speak the truth to their face. The food sucked. Before coming here, I didn't know it was possible to mess up burgers, but I have now been enlightened. First of all, the menu is full of "quirky names," but it's kind of annoying how they say "Order the Plus 2" instead of "Get the bacon cheeseburger." The only mildly funny thing was that they called lettuce "rabbit food." Anyway, so I got the bacon cheeseburger, and the bun was very dry. It's the kind of buns they use at M&S's deli, powdery, pale, and dry. The meat was tasteless, and it was topped with literally half a sliver of onion and a 2 inch strip of bacon. Also, the mustard they provide is not the American kind, so it's quite strong. I added too much of that, but it's ok, because the punishment of that was better than what the burger would have been like without it. The fries also had some weird name, I think, but I am too annoyed to try and remember it. It was not bad, though. Crispy and sprinkled in spices. Not really American either, though. I got the Californian smoothie and it also sucked. It came in a beat up metal pail that didn't seem particularly clean, but I didn't like it mostly because it wasn't sweet at all. They try to decorate the place with a 40s or 50s era style, but personally I had no American vibes from it. There were fake juke boxes on every table, but no music playing in the restaurant at all. Word has it that they used to be located near Liverpool street. I can see why they had to move to an area no one visits... read more

This place is a rare find and worth the trip. First the travel: the closest transport is the 277 bus, but you can also get here from East India DLR station. You have to walk past a roundabout and then along Orchard Place to the very end. It is worth the trip for the views, and the strange locality inhabited mostly by artists. The food is hearty and authentic. We had an American with us and he was pleased with the quality, aside from the Cornish ice cream in the ice cream soda (which I think I can forgive, and I've only ever had that). The chocolate malt milkshake and strawberry were thick, served in the metal containers and very filling. Possibly the best milkshakes I've had in London. We had a good cross section of the menu. I had the brunchy western omelet with hash browns. The onions and veggies were cooked perfectly and there was just the right amount of cheese. Hash browns on the crispy side. The double burger oozing cheese looked amazing. The chips were fat, flat and came already seasoned, I had a try of those. Hotdog lovers must have one of the hotdogs, loaded with onions. You can also order the onions on the side. Veggie burger looked more of a sandwich, but loaded full of goodness. The authentic diner environment and odd location makes this a great place to go for something different. There was only one member of staff on whilst we were there and he was very friendly and efficient. Per person it came to about £9-11 for a meal and two shakes. Cash only, no cards. We all left full. Do have a look around. read more

In principle this place should be great. The location and the diner are really quirky and interesting, and there's a down to earth feel about the place that's welcome these days. However the food was a bit average. My American wife was looking forward to the bacon cheeseburger, said to come with crispy American bacon, but instead it was a limp fried piece of Danish that you'd get in a greasy spoon fry up. Getting good American bacon is always a quest for her and this fell flat. The burger bun was too floury and not quite right. That being said, it was reasonably priced and actually oddly comforting for a Sunday afternoon lunch. read more

Food was great and SUPER fast service!! 50's themed dinner with great music. The entire experience was 10/10

Really nice little place. Friendly staff serving American diner food in an old style caravan. Expect decent portion sizes and good prices. However, don't expect the tastiest food and the burgers, if fresh, still seem more akin to frozen. The giant burger is excellent value for money. But hotdogs don't really hit any heights. 4 star based as much on the venue and staff as much as the food itself. read more

Lovely little place. Don't let the slightly shabby look put you off, it's all in the character and the food is brilliant. Great burgers and milkshakes, definitely a real gem, though a little out the way. read more

Oh where do you start... Best not to. Avoid at all costs! Mediocre food, mediocre service that's the best you can say, sadly.