Menchie's is Evil

“Menchie’s…Men-chie’s…What is that place anyways?” I thought to myself as I first laid eyes on it. It looked like a daycare with its bright colours and happy-go-lucky feel.  Also, it was wedged between Winners and Mark’s Work Wearhouse, so I didn’t really think too much about it. What was it that used to be there? Oh yes – Bentleys, the luggage store. Just another establishment that would struggle to be seen, and heard and appreciated. That seemed to happen quite a bit in that location, so I dismissed it.

Then one day they had the seating area wide open with happy shining patrons inside. We had to pass by it on route home from Kai’s piano lesson, so we decided to wander in. Oh….it was one of THOSE places. Kinda like a Yogurty’s, but with more variety of soft serve yogurts/sorbets and with more confection and oddities to dump on top.

 

I never understood the appeal of ruining ice cream or yogurt for that matter by burying it in sugary garbage…We entered the store, “Hi! Welcome to Menchie’s! Have you been here before?” It was such a big welcome that I felt as though I should give an appreciation or acceptance speech. So much for sneaking in and checking it out. “No actually…” I muttered. “Well here are the sample cups! Feel free to try anything you like!” She motioned to a tray of empty white paper mini cups, so innocent, so empty. Kai and I launched into the discovery process. We had some work to do. Maybe I’ll try just one, after all, I felt in a bit of a fruity mood. Strawberry tart! Only around 90 calories! Pineapple tart! Same! Oh even the more chocolatey varieties had way fewer calories than I would have thought. For those of you who hate calorie counting, just go with it for now – ok? And look at this! Peanut butter and chocolate! What a treat! “She did say that we could sample whatever we wanted – right?” Asks Stephanie, the adult who should know better, of the 8 year old who could care less about rules. “Yup!” he gleamed with perfect chocolate ring around his mouth and ‘next flavour to sample’ strawberry running down his arm. After about 8 samples, I felt confident that I had made the right choice….es. You see, Menchie’s so generously allows you to ooze multiple flavours into one glorious bucket, cup, vat, thingy. “Mrrrrrr...” Out came the peanut butter and chocolate! “Mrrrrrrr…” Hello Vanilla! How fun this was? Now what to put on top? Hmmm…no gummy bears and sours for this this girl! “Kai…stay away from the brownies, they always try to entice you with those, and they are never fresh”. I poked the picker-upper tongs into them. Hmmm…these ones seemed ok. Perhaps I was being too hasty with that announcement. I plopped in one, then feeling as though the arrangement was looking imbalanced, I added a second one. “Ok, I think I’m done.” For good measure, I walked along the sugar and sauce bar to make sure that I was happy with my resulting treat. ‘Peanut butter crackle sauce’ and ‘Chocolate crackle sauce’ Eew. That sounded awful. I lifted the lid only to be engulfed in the smells of melted peanut butter and chocolate with little crunchies (crackles) dispersed throughout. Oh. Hmm. Well…it is important to at least give something a proper try before simply dismissing it. That would be rather close minded of me. Right? “Ooooze – glop! Ooooze – glop!” One of each for good measure J. Kai opted for a more sugary, gummy approach to his toppings, and wasn’t shy to get a bit of an assortment.

We sat down and proceeded to indulge. I normally don’t care much for ice cream. I can take it or leave it. Normally. Enough said. I looked across at Kai, and it was rather disgusting to watch him. Those long gummy worms once covered in ice cream became quite slippery and impossible to pick up with a spoon, so he was picking them up with his hands, tipping his head back, and downing them. Kind of like a baby bird feeding itself. My more civilized self would have told him to stop, but I didn’t see a better solution, so I just sat there a bit grossed out. We were having such a good time that I really didn’t give a damn.

So there you have it…yah…Menchie’s. Definitely not for the weak, and they make you feel so damn welcome it is hard not to feel like family and just wanna hang out there for a while. So go there. Have fun. And here’s the kicker MONDAYS ARE 2 for 1!