Mi Lah Vegetarian

November 24, 2011

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When I was in graduate school, I wrote a paper on Edward R. Murrow, one of my heroes, who was a consummate journalist. He covered World War II (“This is London”), joined CBS news and was an early television pioneer. George Clooney’s film masterpiece “Good Night and Good Luck” follows Murrow, who went after Sen. Joe McCarthy with a vengeance. McCarthy chaired the witch hunt looking for so-called American communists.

“Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” are probably his most famous words.

I am not now, nor have I ever been a vegetarian. I sometimes kid my vegetarian friends, but I confess we enjoy meatless Mondays in our home and I won’t turn up my nose at vegetarian foods. I will try anything once.

My sister Sandy ate my heart out as soon as we sat down at Mi Lah Vegetarian.

“I don’t know what any of this stuff is,” she said with a sort of bah-humbug tone in her voice. “I’ll let you order.”

Mi Lah is a small bi-level BYOB vegetarian/vegan delight near Rittenhouse Square. It is short on atmosphere, but the staff is pleasant and congenial.

There is a three-course $11 lunch special with choices. Soup is included and I knew it would warm us up on a cold, blustery afternoon.

The cream of cauliflower soup with coconut milk was piping hot and quite tasty. Whoever seasoned it had just the right hand, imparting a balance of flavors. I make this soup at home using half-and-half so it is thick and rich. This soup was a bit thinner but did not disappoint. The butternut squash soup brought a big smile to my sister’s face.

“This is delicious,” she said. “You haven’t made this soup in a long time.” I promised to make my cream of butternut squash soup during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Edamame dumplings consisted of three plump pillows of silky dough stuffed with healthy mashed edamame, which I thought needed a bit of pepping up. It came with a soy dipping sauce.

The mushroom-asparagus roll was most intriguing. A plump oyster mushroom was filled with an asparagus spear and a roasted red pepper strip, coated in seasoned crumbs and fried to a crisp golden brown. It looked like a fat spring roll that had been cut on the diagonal. As I looked at this layered treat, the mushroom looked like chicken breast. I liked the play of tastes and textures in the roll, especially when I dipped it into the plum sauce served on the side.

For our entrées, I wanted pho, the comforting soup from Vietnam that can be prepared in a myriad of ways. I selected the burrito for Sandy because I knew she would recognize it.

The pho was served in a large deep stainless steel vessel with seasoned-just-right vegetarian stock forming the base for the “ham,” tofu and rice noodles. It was so hot, even I had to wait a bit before diving into my lunch. Our waiter brought out a dish of bean sprouts, aromatic Thai basil leaves and a wedge of lime.

“What’s that for?” Sandy asked.

“You add the sprouts, Thai basil leaves and a squeeze of lime juice to the soup,” I said.

My lunch was so tasty and warming that I did not mind the tofu, although the fake ham was a bit, well, weird.

Sandy’s burrito — filled with meaty mushrooms and vegetables topped with a sauce with quite a kick — was really good, but a bit too spicy for her. Black beans and strips of sautéed red pepper strips added color and texture to the dish.

Mi Lah also is open for Saturday and Sunday brunch. I adore eggs, but the restaurant is vegan. They serve corn masa cakes and curried polenta cakes with meat substitutes and vegetarian sausages. Dinner is served from 5 to 10 p.m.

Mi Lah has a takeout and delivery service. During lunch, the phone was ringing and ringing. Sandy and I sat downstairs and the space was filled.

Service was attentive and we were never rushed. Mi Lah charges for tea ($3), which puzzled my sister. I told her some places charge for tea, but she found this hard to understand.

Two-and-a-half tips of the toque to Mi Lah. SPR