mi lah brunch

mi lah is a fancy vegan restaurant that has been around for a few years. i went a couple times when it first opened maybe like 5 years ago and loved it. then i didn't go for a year or two for some reason and when i finally talked to people about it, most people didn't have anything good to say, which surprised me. when i finally went back for brunch (maybe like 2 years ago?) my food was good, but the service was AWFUL. they ran out of coffee right when i arrived. when i finally got my coffee, i didn't get a refill until almost the end of brunch. and our food took forever to come out. after that, i decided i wouldn't go out of my way to go back to mi lah.

more recently, i have been hearing some good things. i went with todd to pick up some pies he really likes. another friend raves about how good the brunches are. i decided it was time to give it another chance. so some sundays ago, todd, shawn, and i ventured to center city for some vegan brunch. i was pretty psyched on the extensive menu and had a hard time ordering. i wound up getting the "spanish breakfast", which consisted of tofu scramble, polenta cakes, kale, and sausage.



it also came with some sort of spicy aioli.  and i covered my dish in pancake syrup.
for a pretty basic dish, it was awesome. the kale was perfect, the tofu scramble was peppery and basic, but hit the spot. the polenta cakes were light with a good lightly fried crust. and the sausage - i couldn't tell if it was a spicy field roast, but it was good too.
overall, it was a good hearty breakfast.

todd got what i would consider to be my dream breakfast - deep fried seitan with waffles.

this dish was...underwhelming. it came with a side of mustard greens - i guess its trying to be a little healthy? but its a weird addition. also a weird addition was the spicy aioli on the side.
the seitan is hidden underneath the waffles. they were deepfried. that's really all there is to say about them. they didn't have any flavor and their texture was boring. the waffles were decent - nothing special. it did come with a whole caraffe of syrup, which was exciting, but it wasn't real maple syrup just pancake syrup. but i really like pancake syrup....so...i wasn't totally disappointed. even eating a piece of seitan with waffle covered in pancake syrup was just...well...meh. that is not how the experience should be - the chiken and waffles i had in chicago was like a flavor explosion in my mouth. i would not order this.
but i would go back to mi lah for brunch. actually i want to go back soon. shawn got an omelet! it was awesome! there are so many other things i want to order! i would drink coffee before going though....they were a little slow with the coffee refills.
amy