Middle Way Cafe - food review, and a 'favorite', revisited

Hit up Middle Way (MWC or Mid-Way) next to REI on Northern Lights, this past weekend. It had been a while, and they usually have some awesome vegan food. Actually, they tend to have a little something for every possible dietary need or restriction, making it a good place to go to brunch/lunch, with just about anybody. Just don't expect mimosas. That's Snow City territory. Anyway...

They've been branching out, trying new things in culinary experimentation/gastronomy, particularly in the vegan, gluten-free, and/or vegan AND gluten-free realms. Some raving successes:

• Their Unicorn Bowls, in any permutation. Usually includes steamed greens, some kind of steamed whole grain, edamame or beans, a balsamic or Liquid Bragg's reduction of some kind, fresh veggies and some fruit. No two are really the same, from week to week, and it's nice change of pace. Very much a whole-foods, plant-based approach, with very little oil, if any.
• The Mushroom Poke dish. Again, a melange of greens (kale is a favorite), grains, garlic, served up with a variety of mushrooms - some of which are specialty or could be classed as 'wild' - in a slow-simmered sauce with caramelized onions and fresh veggies - carrots, beet matchsticks...you name it.
• The Avo Melt, with Daiya mozza shreds. I can't have avocado - allergic; a tragedy, I know - but my partner tells me it's one of the better sandwiches of its type, that she's had. Being that she's an avocado fanatic, I will take her word on that. 

This weekend, it was their stuffed portobellos, with a side of  grilled radicchio salad. 

First, the side salad: it was positively everything I could have wanted out of a bitter greens salad of its type. The leaves were just wilted, still slightly warm, with enough of a crunch left in them to be satisfying. It was melded with ribbons of roasted red pepper and sauteed yellow onion, topped off with some alfalfa sprouts, and brought together by a balsamic reduction vinaigrette, that had a hint of citrus. Excellent. 

The portobellos: First off, the caps were...ah...small. More like middle-to-large cremini mushrooms, in terms of size. There were two, so it's not as though numbers made up for the lack. But, they were well-braised in the basil/balsamic/tomato sauce. The filling was more bits of mushroom cap, aforementioned sauce, and some garlic. 

They were topped off with some sprigs of fresh basil, and mandoline-thin slices of parmesan, which was not anywhere in the description - and MWC is pretty sensitive about their ingredients listing, so I was very surprised. Got about one-third of the way through one of the caps, and found...bits of meat, in the sauce. Again, it was nowhere on the ingredients list, and Middle Way is very conscientious about making sure its ingredients are fully listed...well, every other time, except this one, apparently. 

Overall, I was not impressed with the main dish, with or without the advent of finding meat and cheese, in it. The sauce was good, but it lacked depth and complexity of flavor, and the overall experience, given finding animal ingredients, was not positive. 

However, Middle Way Cafe is one of the few places in town that will positively bend over backwards if you're wanting to veganize something, so, six one, half-dozen, the other? Time will tell. They're still a mainstay of my social dining places list, since almost anyone can find something that agrees with them, there.

In other MWC news, their breakfast items are amazing. Such as their vegan whole grain short stack, and their Colours tofu stack. I do wish they'd bring back their 'classic' breakfast burrito, but, patience.