The Milk Bar, a casual sandwich-salad-milkshake lunch spot, is a fairly new addition to the River Bend Area, and I've been wanting to try it out for a while now. The tantalizing "Open Soon" signs almost drove me nuts, and finally, after many long weeks of waiting, it opened! I soon found the perfect opportunity to stop by. After I had performed in my school Christmas service, and left with Madame La Bouffe at 11, we both got hungry and talked about a good place to eat our lunch. We remembered The Milk Bar, and sped off down the street toward the River Bend.
As we entered, it was clear that the Milk Bar is very popular around noon. The place was filled with folks sitting at the tables, eating, drinking, talking, and in a nutshell, having a very nice time. Madame La Bouffe and I chose a table, got a menu and drinks, and perched ourselves comfortably upon the black-and-white cow-patterned chairs. We studied the gourmet sandwich menu carefully, and soon we chose our food. I picked the Shirley Valentine, a delicious sounding sandwich of hot ciabatta bread stuffed with spinach, tomato, red onion, artichoke, mushrooms, and melted feta and mozzarella cheeses. Madame La Bouffe selected the Thai Chili Chicken, which wasn't as well described as my sandwich was on the menu. Still, it attracted Madame La Bouffe like a pin to a magnet.
As we waited for our food, we chatted and sipped our drinks and watched the staff make milkshakes, which was a simple process yielding wonderfully tasty results. Our sandwiches came at last, wrapped in paper bags with hearts drawn on them. We released them from their wax paper and bit right in. The Shirley Valentine, was, I thought, one of the best vegetarian sandwiches I'd ever eaten. The bread was crisp and soft, and the fillings made the already great roll even better. Everything was cooked well; nothing was mushy or overly crunchy, and the gooey cheeses added rich, creamy notes, a step away from the other rather fresh, raw fillings. The sandwich was delectable, but it sadly was so big I couldn't finish it. So if you're a dainty bird-eating eater, you might not be able to finish very much. Madame La Bouffe too, liked her Thai sandwich, and all in all we had a very good time.
Both the staff and atmosphere at The Milk Bar are both pleasant, and they always slip a lollipop into your sandwich bag, if you choose not to have a milkshake.
So if you're looking for a good spot to have lunch with your friends or just by yourself, come over to the Milk Bar. I promise you'll be coming back for more. And if you don't like milkshakes or lollipops, Cold Stone is just around the corner, so you can get an ice cream cone instead. Bon appetit, my faithful readers!
