Lunch at Mi Lah Vegetarian Restaurant in Philadelphia

Lunch at Mi Lah Vegetarian Restaurant in Philadelphia

There is a nice little place to catch a generally asian style vegetarian meal near Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, called the Mi Lah Vegetarian Restaurant, and The Rock and Roll Vegetarian and my sweet lunch partner Kate stopped in for a lunch recently.

“Mi Lah” originates from an Indian Buddhist(Maitreya) word that denotes nature, harmony, happiness, and kindness.  A good combination for sure.

Let’s get right to the food!  First up we each had a soup.  She ordered the cauliflower soup, which was the daily special.  Fantastic!  Rich, creamy and flavorful.  I ordered from the lunch special 3 course menu, starting with a roasted butternut squash soup with coconut milk.  This soup was also quite nice, with the roasted taste of the butternut perfectly balanced with the coconut milk.  That soup came out with the second course, which was a Thai salad.  I did enjoy the salad, which had a great chopped peanut dressing.  However, the salad was made with shredded green and red cabbage, and honestly I think I would have preferred lettuce. However the flavors were spot on.

For our main course at lunch we had the Vietnamese hoagie, which was made with marinated tofu, chili, vegenaise, carrots, cucumber, and cilantro.  Everything on this sandwich was super fresh tasting, including a very nice fresh roll.  The size was definitely adequate as well.  Along with that we also ordered a vegetarian Masa Cake.  This Mexican inspired dish came out as a big portion of black beans on top of a corn cake, in a mexican flavored tomato salsa, topped with diced jicama, mango and cucumber.  I’ll get that again next time I think – it really was great.

Service was nice, but we were very early – and so we were the only ones there!

If you happen to be by Rittenhouse Square, perhaps shopping nearby at the Apple Store on Walnut Street, or buying some clothes in that very popular shopping district, I’d recommend Mi Lah.  It’s fresh, it’s creative, it’s vegetarian.

Mi Lah Vegetarian:  218 S 16th St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   215.732.8888