In the heart of Ellesmere Port you can be find the last living reminder of a once-thriving chain of cafes. Formerly boasting 17 shops in Wales and North West England, the National Milk Bars chain is now predominantly confined to history - except in this Cheshire town, where business continues as usual inside the Port Arcades Shopping Centre. Why has this branch survived the mass purge that claimed the lives of other establishments? On a dreary day, I decided to find out for myself.
Now nestled between the common fixtures of the modern British high street - pound-stretchers, charity shops, successful coffeehouse chains, and vape shops - National Milk Bars feels like a relic of a not too distant past, with a menu to match. Cut a few notches above an old-fashioned greasy spoon, options include sausages, eggs and beans, bacon eggs and beans, omelettes, burgers, and a range of paninis, all served with a heap of oven chips, reports the Liverpool Echo. Quarter pounders are served in floury baps (no sesame seed brioche and garlic aioli here), and a "Big Daddy Breakfast" is actually deserving of its name, coming with three eggs, five sausages, four rashers of bacon, multiple hash browns and all the other necessary particulars - not bad for £10.
95. So the menu is unadventurous. But not every food stop needs to be a multicontinental gastronomic trek, and I was quite happy with my crispy jacket potato with tuna and cheese and a salad with a dribble of balsamic on the side.
The portions .