Mothers Day Feast: A Feast for Mothers

    Philadelphia gets more and more vegan-friendly by the day, it seems. In the past year, we’ve gotten a second outpost of the consistent & incredible HipCityVeg, a new all-vegan bar with upscale small plates called Charlie was a sinner. (review to come tomorrow, and yes, the period is in the name), a new bar from the Landaus of Vedge fame (to open any day now), and much more just in Center City! It’s sometimes hard to get out of the center because it seems there’s no real need to, with so much delicious vegan food within a few blocks of Rittenhouse. However, South Philly is veganizing as fast as it’s gentrifying, and if you can get someone to drive you (not it!), the vegan scene there is unmissable. My favorite new place there? Vegan Commissary! I think it’s the best brunch in town. It’s only open during lunch hours, but call it brunch so you can also order the cinnabuns. 

Look how fun this menu is! You might be thinking, hey, that looks a little pricey! (Well not if you live in London because everything is sick expensive here.) The prices are a little higher (for the entrees anyway; the sides are stupid cheap) than you’d expect for a small little vegan joint, but guess what – they include tax and service, and they pay the wait staff a living wage. UHHHMAZING. 

The food at Vegan Commissary is very much brunch-based, with giant pancakes, an extremely impressive Veggs platter, various kinds of scrapple, French toast, burgers, hash, and a dish actually called cream chipped beets. Every dish seems super clever and well thought out. Some items still require some work (I went pretty early in the restaurant’s life) but overall everything is crazy delicious. 

The mini cinnamon buns are delicious. Oh man. Warm and gooey and covered in a sweet vanilla just-barely-cream-cheesy frosting (I usually hate cream cheese but this is subtle), they are the perfect little treat to share with your brunchmate or hoard for yourself. 
    One of the most creative menu items is also the most incredible – the poached avocado & tempeh hash. It’s a platter of diced fried tempeh and potatoes, the ‘hash’, topped with a perfect poached avocado and covered in a decadent hollandaise sauce. Oh my goodness! It’s like all my favorite non-kale foods. This is so good. I would have loved if a non-potato vegetable came with it for balance, but I guess we already took care of that need with the juice. This is ridiculously good. 

    Another fantastic and insanely creative dish – one that I’ve ordered every time I’ve been to the Commissary, actually! – is the Veggs Damian. I don’t know who Damian is, but thanks dude, because this is the most impressive brunch item I may have ever seen. And it’s delicious. 

Look at those eggs! They are made from pressed tofu and filled with a yolk made from the Vegg, so perfectly set that you can dip your toast (buttered, of course; you get so much vegan butter!) in it. I just don’t understand how this is even possible. And they are really good! Equally impressive is the ‘side’ (in quotes because it’s quite large) of vegan scrapple that comes with it. Real scrapple may be one of the grossest ideas in food history, but vegan scrapple? Amazing. The Commissary’s version was a little too salty the last time I went, but still good. I love that this dish comes with asparagus – yay a vegetable! – and extra hollandaise. 

I also loved the carrot dog, another very inspired dish, this time playing off a hot dog. It’s a lovely seasoned carrot in a bun, just like a hot dog but so much better! Topped with lentils and extra harissa mayo, it’s pretty darn fantastic. 

       I’ve also had the gluten-free chocolate peanut butter pie, which is like a decadent little peanut butter cup. It’s an almond and chocolate crust, filled with whipped peanut butter and chocolate ganache. Sooo decadent!
      I definitely recommend that you get your bottom out of center city and over to South Philly for a wonderful meal at Vegan Commissary. Everything is good if not great, and it will only improve with time (as it already has!). Philly is such a freaking vegan mecca nowadays, it’s absolutely mind-blowing! I already miss this place and can’t wait to go there when I visit home. 

VEGAN COMMISSARY, PHILADELPHIA
Water speed: Good, because the servers are extremely attentive, but I just wish they used bigger glasses.
Service: Very good and super friendly.
Bathrooms: One single-serve very close to the kitchen. Pretty clean. 
Food: Wonderful! Such an interesting variety with inspired ideas. 
Bonus: Service and tax are included in the menu prices because they pay decent wages! Dessert, Veggs, pancakes, and scrapple! Can’t go wrong.
Note: Cash only; closes at 4pm.