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For classic diner fare, don't miss Miss Portland

— The dining room identified as Worcester Lunch Car Company #818, also known as Miss Portland Diner, has been the hospitable scene of many meals. It opened for business in 1949 during the first years of a long national economic expansion.

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Jack Milton/Staff Photographer: Miss Portland Diner, for Taste and Tell Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

Jack Milton

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Let's hope that history can repeat itself with its resurrection 500 yards down Marginal Way, renewed, expanded and revitalized.

A shift of gears in this diner, whose streamlined details celebrate the post-war affection for speed, lies in the food served on colorful china plates.

Plain haddock topped with sliced sauteed mushrooms and Maine shrimp proved one welcome dish, with nothing detracting from its basic virtues. Haddock Casco Bay ($14.99) was on a menu now replaced. Diner standards like mac 'n' cheese and chili are well made, too.

Owner Tom Manning is a consultant to Newsweek magazine, where he worked for 31 years and was most recently director of administration. He is at Miss Portland Diner four or five days a week, and after he gets the business settled, he said, his family plans to move to Maine. Portland native Manning grew up in the hospitality business -- where the Japanese restaurant Benkay is today was once Eddie's Shamrock Cafe, owned by his father.

Manning arranged to buy Miss Portland Diner after reading it was going unsold on pressherald.com. The diner had been owned by Randall Chasse for more than 20 years before he gave it to the city to sell.

''It was sitting idle for over four years. We had to do major cleaning,'' said Manning, who added refrigerators and had shelves rebuilt under original stainless steel counters. The mahogany booths and mahogany details gleam after refinishing, and fewer lights hanging from the ceiling expose more of the handsome barrel roof.

Blue upholstery is new, and so are the flat-screen televisions. A new attached dining room with 13 tables and booths has an attractive interior of creamy tan wainscoting.

Tart and light-bodied Stella Pinot Grigio ($4.79) is served very cold. Three other wines by the glass and several more by the bottle, along with beer and ale, are available.

Crab cakes ($8.29), also on the earlier menu, display a nicely judged interior with a crisp crust. They are a cut above most Maine versions, both pricey and inexpensive. The lemon dill mayonnaise seemed like overkill, but then again, it might be illegal to serve crab cakes without some kind of mayonnaise.

A cup of Miss Portland's chili ($3.59) presents ground beef, chopped green peppers and onions and tomatoes that could have benefited from a longer simmer, but that tasted straightforward, fresh and spicy.

Garlic bread, slices of white bread that have been heated and doused with a butter, herb and garlic mixture, are too soft for me, though that kind of white bread is as standard as a knife and fork in most Maine restaurants.

The kitchen's mac 'n' cheese ($7.99), served with an optional side salad, must be assembled at the last minute to avoid, as it gracefully did, overcooked macaroni. Served broiled in its own oval dish, with a crunchy topping, the noodles were enrobed in mild cheese sauce.

Casco Bay haddock presented the modest past in a way that made for gratitude. The simple presentation is a wonderful thing after tasting so much stodge and badly conceived elaborations.

J.P. Gagnon, general manager and chef, was at Parker's Restaurant before he came to Miss Portland Diner. Manning said he tries to buy quality ingredients and that most of the dishes served are made in the kitchen. ''We're going to try to keep the prices reasonable, he said.''

The list of other standards, like meatloaf, turkey dinner and chicken Parmesan, promises well for evenings when a simple meal is all you need. Skip the mashed potatoes -- which while presentable were uninspired -- for that fresh, crisp side salad, and you can go home feeling full of integrity.

Burgers, fried clams and milkshakes are for another kind of night.

But there is still an obstacle in the way of your pride called dessert. A hot fudge sundae, with run-of-the-mill chocolate sauce, or a banana split (4.99) with chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce (no chunks of fruit in it) and butterscotch sauce and ice cream, are both gussied up with canned whipped cream and a red cherry.

Better are the pies and cakes made by Norman Sprague, who heads the breakfast and lunch team. ''He's one of the best cake makers around.'' Manning said. Sprague clearly has a knack for making tender crust and a sweet filling in his pecan pie. Crunchy, toasted and glued together with caramel, those nuts are like the food of the gods. Lemon meringue pie was another special on the board.

Smooth decaffeinated coffee served in a mug made a lovely end to the meal.

N.L. English is a Portland freelance writer and the author of ''Chow Maine: The Best Restaurants, Cafes, Lobster Shacks and Markets on the Coast.'' Visit English's Web site, www.chowmaineguide.com.