Monday, January 2, 2012

Restaurant Review: Mi Lah in Philadelphia - "Get Your Brunch On!"

Have I mentioned how much I love brunch? Of course I have. So it should come as no surprise that I was determined to find a vegan brunch spot in Philadelphia while I visited my friend Saloni there this weekend. My search was pretty easy; Saloni already knew of a place within walking distance of her house.

It’s called Mi Lah, which originates from the Indian Buddhist word for “nature, harmony, happiness, and kindness.” I support all those things, and I also support Mi Lah's use of local, seasonal ingredients.
The décor was quite unremarkable, so I will not remark upon it. But the menu made up for the décor’s lack of enthusiasm: across the top of the menu were the words, “Get Your Brunch On!” I found this delightful, if slightly aggressive.

I would get my brunch on, and I would like it. Bring it on, Mi Lah.

We started off with a complimentary plate of fruit: grapes with orange and apple slices. I like things that are free, so I liked the fruit plate, but if I was going to Get My Brunch On as the menu commanded, I’d have to step it up.
Free fruit always tastes good.
So I ordered what seemed like the menu item that would be most conducive to the Getting On of My Brunch: veggie sausage and avocado on oven-fresh biscuits in mushroom gravy with Red Bliss sweet potato home fries and bronzed coconut king mushrooms.

I wasn't sure what a king mushroom was. I hadn't even been aware that mushrooms operated under a feudal system; had I been unknowingly consuming bourgeois mushrooms my whole life? Or worse, peasant mushrooms?

Well, this king mushroom (which, as it turned out, was just an exceptionally long mushroom) was fried in a light coconut batter. The sweet potato home fries were crispy on the outside and just the right amount of mushy on the inside. And the biscuits, veggie sausage, and avocado were stacked eggs-Benedict-style, with the mushroom gravy substituting for hollandaise sauce. The combination of textures was perfect:
Saloni, who was considerably less concerned with Getting Her Brunch On, went with the corn masa cakes with refried black beans, avocado, and fresh mango salsa. The corn masa cake, underneath heaps of avocado and salsa, was surprisingly flavorful and very filling; Saloni couldn’t finish the whole thing, even with my help:
 
I wish Mi Lah were in my city so I could Get My Brunch On all the time. But I will have to try to make up for it by inventing new vegan brunchy recipes myself. In fact, while typing this post, I have decided that my New Years resolution will be to represent Mi Lah out in California by embracing “nature, harmony, happiness, and kindness” and, most importantly, by Getting My Brunch On as often as possible.

1 comment:

  1. Haha loved this post!! I love telling people to get their "blank" (whatever it is) on, and I love that this place tells you to get your brunch on!! And how precious that it's in this sweet little vegan joint that looks so unremarkable...

    Btw, love the corn masa and black beans dish. Omg yum!

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