See, LHB keeps me on the right track. Because, by the time I rolled over the bridge into Indiana, I sure was hankering for some IHOP! But, since I said I would, I went to Cup of Sunshine Tea House in Jeffersonville for dinner.
I pulled into the small gravel parking lot. As I walked up to the place, I was glad to see a sign telling me to be seated and that they would come and take my order. I wasn't sure whether that was the case, or if it was an order at the counter kind of place.
You can't beat the atmosphere, especially if you love eating outdoors. I rarely eat outside, but today was a great day for it! You can eat on the verandah, where there are 5 white iron tables with chairs. There are 4 concrete umbrella tables on the front lawn/patio. There are also about 5 tables inside. I chose one of the iron tables at the front of the verandah, so I was sitting in the sun, but I was under the shade of the verandah roof. The river is right across the street, and can be seen from any outside location (maybe inside, too).
I arrived around 4:40 p.m. There was one other person there, at one of the concrete tables. The waitress was very nice, with a bright, happy smile.
I was going to order a Veggie Wrap, which the menu describes as "organic spinach, tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, etc...& any other veggies that happen to be fresh today!" I asked the waitress which vegetables were in the wrap today. She said that they had just been to the grocery today, so maybe I should tell her which vegetables I didn't like, and they wouldn't include those in the wrap. So, I told her what I didn't want and what would be okay in there. I also asked that it not have cheese (the menu said it was served with Feta cheese). Being me, though, of course I had to have something special. After making sure that it didn't come with anything resembling mayonnaise, I asked if they could put a dollop of hummus in the wrap. The waitress wasn't sure, but she said she would ask.
I also ordered a cup of soup and an iced black tea (they also have iced green tea, and a whole page of hot teas).
The iced tea was very good. The ice cubes were round with little holes in them-cute! The glass was tall. (Now, usually, I get iced tea, and I will go through at least 2 glasses, if not more. This glass of tea was so tall that I didn't even finish one glass!).
The waitress brought out the soup and the silverware (rolled up in a napkin-okay-but then the napkin was taped closed with a small piece of faux Scotch tape-weird). The silverware was the kind you get at Target or Kmart, with the big colored plastic handles (in this case, white).
The soup of the day was Split Pea (vegetarian). It was served in a colorful cup and saucer, with Triscuits on the saucer. Now, I don't usually notice stuff like this, which is why I guess is why it is sticking in my mind, but when she put the soup down on the table, I could smell the soup. That impressed me. The soup was the right thickness for pea soup-you could stir it (not too thick), but you could also see some actual peas and some bits of carrot and potato. The soup was very hot at first. I dipped a Triscuit into it (okay, I've never been served Triscuit at a restaurant before, so it's kind of a novelty), and it was pretty good. The flavor of the soup was good, but it was so hot that I had to finish the sandwich before I could finish the soup.
The sandwich was served on a piece of wax paper on a basket plate. It came with blue corn chips and a mini pickle (very sour). My Veggie Wrap contained spinach, shredded carrot, cucumber, mushrooms, avocado, and tomato. It was a normal-sized tortilla, cut in half. It was the size you would make at home, not huge (which is good, as far as I'm concerned). When I first looked at it, I was dismayed, because I thought it had mayo on it, but it turned out that it was the hummus I had requested. It was so white, with the consistency of mayo, that I had to taste it to make sure it was hummus. The wrap was good, especially when you could taste the hummus. When you didn't get a bite with hummus, the wrap tasted kind of grassy, but I guess this is to be expected when you're eating a bunch of vegetables.
The Veggie Wrap was $5.99, the cup of soup was $2.99, and the tea was $1.59, which totalled $10.57 plus 75 cents tax, for a total of $11.32. I left a $2.50 tip, for a total of $14.00.
I asked if they had dessert (hey, I bypassed the waffle I was craving from IHOP), but they don't have it here. Of course, you can walk down 3 steps and you're at the Widows Walk ice cream place. So, although I would have gotten dessert (just to tell you about it, of course!), I actually stayed healthy and skipped it.
Stray observations:
1. If you're tall, you may have trouble eating at the white iron tables. I am very short, and I was almost bent over double to eat the soup (I know you're supposed to bring the soup up to you, but come on, who really does that?)
2. When the check comes out, instead of giving you a peppermint, they give you a dark chocolate Dove Bite. Nice touch!
3. There is a park just across the street, with equipment, so if you bring your kids, they can play afterwards. Or, you can take a nice walk along the Jeffersonville riverfront (And I definitely needed a walk. I was stuffed. It would be great if you could get a 1/2 sandwich and cup of soup).
Overall, I gave it 3 stars out of 4 (my scale on sandwich places is Subway = 1, Meridian Cafe = 4). It was good, and I would go back to try something else, if I happened to be around there. But, if I was going to lunch, I would not get in my car and drive over there from downtown Louisville.
However, I would definitely recommend trying it, especially for health-conscious vegetarians.