weird...if i lived in the uk i would drink/order allot more milk... its sweeter and nicer than milk in america, and the milkman still drops off fresh ones. and you get it in a glass bottle!!! the best way to store any liquid... the only tradeoff is that the tapwater there is really funky...

I've noticed in the midwest the dietitians pretty much always drink milk with lunch. in other locations they rarely do.

I agree that the issue is the "with the meal" part moreso than the request for milk. It seems like the $15-$25/plate restaurants I eat at rarely have my server run my food. Usually my server follows up in a couple minutes, but the person running food may not know that you want milk.

I think you need to grow up to beverages like white russians ;)

I once went to dinner with a fellow American who had just arrived in Tokyo for a conference on his first visit to Japan. He wanted an authentic Japanese meal, up to a certain price range, so I arranged dinner at a fairly pricey place that served a reasonable approximation of a kaiseki meal. (I knew about it because some Japanese friends had taken me there.)

As we settled in, I explained what the menu options were and what the food items consisted of, so he made his choice of the A, B, or C course. Then he topped it off by telling me (and he had a loud voice that could be heard over the rush hour crowd at Shinjuku), "And I like a glass of milk with that."

The waitress had obviously understood his request, because her jaw dropped open.

I told him that I would be very surprised if they even had milk on the premises.

"Well, why not? They should!"

"Because you wanted a traditional Japanese meal and that does not include any dairy products." I had to break the news to him that if he wanted milk, he'd have to buy it separately at a convenience store and drink it between meals, because few if any restaurants were likely to have it on hand. I neglected to mention that the thought of drinking milk with traditional Japanese cuisine was downright nauseating to me.

I never have a problem getting milk, but then the only time I order it is at breakfast and when I'm having something sweet, like pancakes, waffles, French toast, etc. If I'm having something savory, I'll not order it. Maybe because I only order it with something I should be ordering it with, the server remembers because it make sense! ;)

I was at a formal dinner last week where they actually came around with glasses of milk on trays that they were offering with dinner. This was in Minnesota. I would say it must have been a midwest thing, but I grew up in Nebraska, and until now have never been offered milk at a formal dinner. Quite odd.