Lunch spot goes late night - Mill Creek Cafe

I often make my way to Mill Creek Cafe for lunch during the summer months. My boss is addicted to their fully load salmon salad sandwiches so the trek is made easy. Lately they have been featuring daily lunch specials that are a bit heavier than a sandwich - Persian style chicken skewers with rice and salad, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, Nicoise salad, and Baja Fish tacos, just to name a few.

During the past few months flyers have been up around the restaurant advertising the new evening menu on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 9:30PM, as well as their more recently obtained liquor license. A couple weeks ago Zed and I finally made it over for a Friday night meal.

We arrived around 8PM to an empty restaurant, save one table of two, and it didn't appear the place had received many more diners earlier in the evening. The evening menu turned out to be made up of mostly tapas style items meant to share - sliders with a choice of three different topping combos, spring rolls, spiced nuts, a plate of spreads, hummus, etc. There was also a selection of ~three pizzas, baked on the same dough they use for their 7 grain bread (the bread that makes their sandwiches so great at lunch) as well as a few pastas. The special that evening though was Ossobuco - braised veal shank that was served with mashed potatoes and vegetables... both of us decided this was the way to go.


Our server was right to tell us the plate was large, so the giant meal that arrived in front of us 15 minutes later wasn't as much of a surprise. The meat was lovely and tender and perfectly comforting. Along with the mash and roasted veggies though, I was reminded more of a snowy winter evening than a warm spring weekend.

I'm glad, however surprised, that Mill Creek Cafe is venturing into evening territory given their lunch time success. The place is always packed at lunchtime, and even in the morning, with locals and regulars in for a coffee/sandwich/muffin and a glance at the paper. We will likely give Mill Creek another try for dinner, but for now I will stick with the regulars for my mid-day meal.