Hello hello Mila!! I had A BAD attitude arriving. I was grumpy. But my husband got me laughing and I decided to do the "International Tasting," to lift my mood (it was our 16 year anniversary, and I wanted to spend it smiling and happy!!!) Well let me just say Mila turned out to be one of the best choices on our trip to Vancity.
The hostess offered us a choice of table, we got there for a late lunch, around 1pm. Bri was our server, and she was TERRIFIC. My husband got the Down in Mexico cocktail: 1800 Coconut Tequila, pineapple infused tequila, Cointreau, coconut syrup, lime. He absolutely loved it.
I decided I would alter my mood after a particularly hilarious moment we shared and ordered the "International Flight." Now let me say two things: One - the music is utterly fabulous and TWO - I've never had full sized drinks in a flight. When it came I thought HOLD UP!!! The flight was on a gorgeous stone board, beautiful glasses and my Mezcal Old Fashioned had the BIG cube!! So I had THREE drinks come lol that DEFINITELY elevated my mood after the shot!!! Then I moved onto the Paloma, which was fabulous and finally the Mezcal Old Fashioned which was amazing, but I should not have let it melt so much because it got watered down. MY fault, not Mila's.
Food. Oh the food!!!! My husband wanted to order the Smashed Chips: miso garlic butter, hot honey aioli. I had one or two because they were greasy (not my jam,) but they were nice. The dipping sauce was fabulous.
We were SUPER hungry and just decided to order one thing at a time. Next up was the Ocean Roll: watermelon akami tuna, wakame seaweed, tamarind mayo, avocado, cucumber, sesame. Preface that I literally cannot stand watermelon. TRULY dislike the flavor. Not a hint of watermelon flavor in it. Just pure goodness. Absolutely delicious with a true "sushi" texture. Iove and miss fish, so it didn't gross me out as a vegan, so the texture could for someone who doesn't like that aspect of veganism (texture replicated to that of animal products.) The flavors were phenomenal. Just truly delicious.
Next up, we went crazy and ordered the rest of the sushi dishes because we were hungry and they all looked too good NOT to. We had the Aburi Lox Oshi: carrot lox, aburi sauce, shiso, serrano. Wow. The Aburi sauce is kind of torched and warm and it literally melts in your mouth. Talk about a dish that represents the balance of salt, fat, acid and heat. This has it. Not too spicy because they give you slivers of serrano but delightful. A culinary joy. And the carrot lox were a winner to me.
The Lemongrass Futomaki: lemongrass soy curls, thai basil, tamarind mayo, pickled carrot, cucumber, nuoc cham; came next. Again rich in flavor but we'll balanced. The Lemongrass was bright and flavorful in the soy curls but not overwhelming. It's such a strong flavor and easy to over use, but it was balanced. The bright flavors of this, and the dipping sauce blew me away. Fresh and acidic and bright and balanced. A perfect dish.
The final sushi we devoured was the Tuna Crispy Rice: watermelon akami tuna, sushi rice, lime kewpie mayo, green onion, sesame. My one issue with it was the pieces were large and two bite for me, and I kept dropping them and making a mess of the topping. But they were DELICIOUS. I'm blown away by the use of watermelon as tuna. It SO works!!!
We finished with the Smash Burger & Kale salad: double patty, cheddar, roasted garlic aioli, iceberg, onion, roma, pickle, brioche, smashed chips or kale salad. First let me say that I'm VERY picky about my kale. Especially my Kale Caesar. This was phenomenal. Just delicious. Everything was fresh and perfectly balanced. The Smash Burger, I anticipated greasy and heavy but it wasn't. It matched my FAVORITE vegan burger at Monty's in LA. Now I only have to come to BC for it since I'm not a fan of LA but I LOVE Vancity!!!!
While my husband used the restroom, I snuck in a drink order of a Winona Forever: house-made arancello, mezcal, orgeat. Oh my heavens was it good. So creamy and dreamy!!!
Bri, and the hostess were shooting some drinks by the window and I asked what they were. They were potential holiday drinks for the winter. They offered us a taste of one (I can't tell you what it was, or I'd have to kill you!!! Secret. Top secret!!) and we gave honest feedback. Based on the drinks and food hall will have a VERY tasty winter drink and food menu. I only wish MILA were closer. Absolutely excellent in every way!! DO come here for elevated vegan food and drinks. DO take it as a fine dining experience. DO expect it to be phenomenal. Because it is. Thank you MILA for a GREAT anniversary brunch lunch!! read more