The first thing I noticed upon entering the Barn Door Café in Topsham was its conspicuous lack of decent beverages. As I pondered the soup and sandwich offerings, I wondered what food I could possibly order to accompany the selection of strawberry milk, chocolate milk, Gatorade, diet Snapple, Sierra Mist, and bottled water. Was a can of Coke, a bottle of Orangina, or something from Nantucket Nectars too much to ask? Apparently. I decided on a large bottle of ginger ale accompanied by the Crunchy Thai Vegi sandwich, while my friend stuck with water and the Sicilian sandwich?chicken, pesto, and tomatoes on French bread.
An Asian-inspired vegetable wrap or cold roll, when made well, is one of the lightest, most satisfying meals in the world. It can be filled with lettuce, cilantro, tofu, peanuts, sprouts, or whatever strike's the maker's fancy. The rice pancake that wraps the sandwich is smooth and just large enough to cover all the vegetables without competing with their flavor and a delicious sweet peanut sauce is served on the side for dipping.
The Thai Vegi sandwich, unfortunately, bore little resemblance to the cold roll of my dreams. Wrapped in a whole-wheat tortilla better suited for heavier food and sauces, the sandwich I bit into had the unappealingly bland flavor of a handful of iceberg lettuce, a few cucumber slices, and wheat (other choices for the tortilla were plain and spinach).
As I inspected the sandwich more closely, I noticed that one particular area of the sandwich, separated from the rest of the sandwich by a fold of the tortilla, seemed to contain peanut sauce. I bit into it only to find that this small portion of the sandwich was pure peanut sauce with no vegetables. Dressing the vegetables with the sauce would certainly have improved the sandwich, but regardless the Thai Vegi was a big disappointment.
My companion was only slightly more content with her Sicilian sandwich. The pesto was bland and the chicken was served cold. It was perfectly edible but not as interesting, complex, or well-prepared as the sandwiches at Brunswick establishments like Frontier Café or Big Top Deli. The high point of both of our sandwiches was the small bag of Cape Cod potato chips served alongside them?one of the best varieties of pototo chips the world has to offer, but sadly not reflective of the culinary abilities of the chefs at Barn Door Café.
The desserts and baked goods on display were appetizing, if somewhat uninspired. On offer were several varieties of brownies, lemon bars, blueberry buckle, and chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. The Barn Door Café is also a bakery that makes cakes to order. Perhaps it should stick to this pursuit and give up the mediocre sandwiches and salads.
The Barn Door Café is located at 4 Bowdoin Mill Island in Topsham (in the same complex as Sea Dog). It is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.