What comes to mind when someone mentions a milkshake? A proper milkshake – you know, a few scoops of ice cream, a splash of milk. It’s just a satisfying, Happy Days kind of experience, even when you are sitting at Toro Place’s rustic pit-stop counter, a setting ill-suited to that sort of nostalgia.
A perfect shake will support a straw – even a spoon – but can also be slurped through said straw. At Toro Place, they find that sweet spot where both utensils function as they should. The disposition is dense yet smooth, with a soft milky notion that eases through the thick puree.
But there are a couple of issues – three, maybe. The cone of aerosol whipped cream contributes little more than a metallic hiss. A sprinkle of colorful candy flecks gives off an artificial sweetness. Most importantly, in such a wonderfully simple presentation a decent (but not great) vanilla ice cream has no place to hide. Still, the shake served at Toro Place is refreshingly sentimental, the kind of thing that would have been familiar to Richie, Potsie and Ralph.
TORO PLACE CAFE 665 Highway 68, Salinas. 484-1333.