The Café

So, after uni my friend suggested we go and get milkshakes. Just what everyone wants on a cold end of January afternoon...

We came across a little independent café, and right enough, they happened to sell milkshakes. Walking in, the first thing that hit us was the strong odour of disinfectant. The place was absolutely immaculate... well, empty, but immaculate. After waiting for a few minutes, a foreign guy came through from the kitchen. He met us with a look of surprise, and excitement, as if we were the first customers he'd seen all day. Listing the different flavours of milkshake, he told us how great each of them were, and once we'd chosen, he congratulated us. I opted for the Irn Bru one, which was a bit of a risk, but I knew the ice cream was great. He seemed to think it was good anyway - "oh yes, very very good! Yes yes. Ah, that is good choice". I actually ended up letting out a weird laugh by accident. Hopefully he didn't notice! Eager to keep us in the cafe, he urged us to sit in with our milkshakes, tempting us by adding, "if you sit in, for you, I make it extra big. I put give extra measure. Put in big glass" After finally sitting down, we heard his blender going vigorously for roughly 10 minutes. He came over to the table with three little dishes, each with a teaspoon full of our chosen flavours in it. Mine happened to have what could only be a piece of fluff in it, but I'm not going to lie, my mind wandered, and I decided it was probably a moustache hair. The guy did have a rather big moustache after all! 20 minutes later, he brought over our milkshakes. "Enjoy, enjoy! I make them extra big for you!" he exclaimed. The milkshakes... well, they were room temperature, and didn't really taste of much. Sugary milk is probably the closest description. After a few sips, he came over again with three stainless steel jugs, and topped each of our glasses up again. We weren't exactly pleased, to say the least, but acted grateful nonetheless. This guy was so happy, and when we decided to leave (after what felt like two hours), he thanked us thoroughly for sitting in.

It's the kind of thing you had to be there for, but there was something almost surreal about it. The owner of the cafe was so lovely, and certainly made us feel wanted! On the other hand, £2.95 for warm sugary milk, I'm not so sure...