It looks like this is only the case (for Ovaltine) in the U.S.; in the rest of the world, Ovaltine is made by a subsidiary of Associated British Foods.
In the U.S., there’s a similar “malted milk ball” candy called Whoppers.
Malt lover here! I don’t know anywhere near me (NYC burbs) where a malted milk shake is available. Carnation malted milk powder can be found in some big supermarkets. And the Chinese supermarket a mile away from me always has Horlicks and Ovaltine powder.
And with Easter coming up there will be malt-filled Robin Eggs candy to enjoy!
One of my favorite things in driving across Minnesota is to drive through Northfield, the home of the Malt-O-Meal company (now under Post Cereals). The main highway MN-19 passes right next to the malt processing plant, and we always roll down the windows to capture the smell - heavenly.
There’s the old joke about the teen-aged girlfriend and boyfriend. After a long kiss, the girlfriend says, “I think I have your gum.” The boyfriend says, “I wasn’t chewing gum, I just had a malted milk.”
I didn’t realize until doing a search that Robin Eggs is the Whoppers brand, and other manufacturers call them “Chocolate Malt Easter Eggs” or similar.
My dad and I would go to Farrell’s and order large malts with extra malt - mine chocolate his vanilla, and have a contest of who could drink theirs the quickest. To this day I always order extra malt if at a place that serves malts.
Northfield is home to two colleges and a Malt-O-Meal factory (and not much else). My daughter went to school there and they’d walk out in the morning and take a whiff: “Ooh, it’s Blueberry Morning today.”
They had a facebook group “My college smells better than yours”.
…
ps, like many maltophiles here, I grow weary of hearing “Uhh, we have shakes, but I don’t think malts.” A couple of times, it’s worked to ask if they have a tin or jar of malt powder in the back. When they ask what to do with it, I’ve learned to just say “Bring me a little bowl of it and I’ll stir it into my… shake.” (that last pause is because it’s painful for me to say ‘shake’. "The good enough is the enemy of the best")
I remember Farrell’s! We’d go there every once in a great while, like on my birthday, or if we had relatives from out of town. Normally my parents would only let me get the small size malt at an ordinary ice cream shop, but at Farrell’s I was allowed to get the biggest malt, served in a glass the size and shape of a small goldfish bowl, and try to finish it.
T&T Supermarket sells Vitasoy’s malt/soy beverage. In fact, it looks like even Walmart carries it.
Get on the Malt-o-Meal mobile! get that start in your engine, And see how good you feel!
For the life of me, I can’t find an audio or video of that jingle online, even tho right now it’s stuck in my head.
You can also buy Milo or Ovaltine at many grocers. However, these are not restaurants. I don’t know of a place where one could buy a malted milk in Canada. Toronto is so diverse there must be some restaurant somewhere.
The Minnesota coffee chain Caribou Coffee occasionally has a drink called a “malted mocha” which is basically a cafe mocha with added malt powder. They are exceptionally awesome.
I’m always on the lookout for a good chocolate malt. The best one I ever had was at the old Harvey’s Diner/Snackbar in Petrified Forest National Park. It was a super hot day and man did that taste good. The waitress even gave me frosty stainless steel mixing cup with the extra malt that didn’t fit in the glass.
I’m going to try that at home.
As for products that were once weirdly popular in Canada but are now extremely difficult to find, I’m adding malted milk to my list with Colby cheese and diet grape soda.
Ohmigosh, I just got transported back fifty years to my dad ordering a “Hot Fudge Dusty Peak” at Gille’s Frozen Custard in Wauwatosa, WI. The ‘peak’ was salted pecans, but it was in a large bowl with so much malt that it looked like a desert, like he’d ordered a bowl of malt powder with a cherry on top.
@digs I used to live less than a mile from Gille’s in Tosa, and have been there in the last couple of years. Last I checked, they still offered “dusty” malt custard concoctions.
Kopp’s and Leon’s also offer malts at their custard locations. Those 3 operations are the Holy Trinity of custard stands in Milwaukee county, IMHO.
We keep a jar of Carnation malt powder in the pantry, at all times. Wife uses it in a chocolate ice cream recipe that she has perfected over the years. It’s the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had, mostly because it has malt in it.
Farrell’s was absolutely wonderful.
I can get malts from DQ.
My mistake, I thought you were asking about prepared malt drinks in general (as opposed to just powder).
I have seen Ovaltine offered at some Chinese restaurants in Toronto, for what it’s worth. E.g. Congee Wong’s takeout menu lists both Ovaltine and Horlick (hot or cold):
https://www.congeewong.com/menu/takeout201222/CongeeWongTakeoutMenu.pdf