Some lovely friends accompanied me to Blossoming Lotus' 2nd weekend of Weekend Brunch. I used to stop by the Pearl District location quite frequently, but the long waits (45+ min for a to-go order, often) led me to stay away more recently. When their new higher end location opened a few months ago, I was really excited and kept meaning to stop in.
I love their menu. It's so fresh and organic and beautiful and lively. It's so refreshing looking at a menu that has cashew cream, hemp seeds, spelt, and kale. I love vegan breakfasts in Portland, but they're usually of the Sysco variety--frozen tofu, bulk vegetables, generic toast and potatoes. (Hungry Tiger Too, I'm looking at you. Not in a mean way, just in a You're-cool-and-all-but-please-stop-using-Sysco-for-everything kind of way.)
The four of us shared several things.
For my drink, I tried the Coconut Chai with Sailor Jerry spiced Rum and rice whip cream.
It was pretty nice, but I was just getting over my sickness, and I don't know if that was the right drink choice.
We started with an order of the Potatoes:
Loaded Home Fries $7
Our home fries topped with smoked maple tempeh bits, cashew and avocado sour cream and scallions, served on a bed of kale
The potatoes were hot and flavorful, but we all agreed they were perfect as such--a shared snack. A whole order just for yourself might be a bit much.
Spelt French Toast:
Spelt French Toast $10
coconut dipped spelt bread topped with fresh fruit, candied hazelnuts, vanilla cashew cream, served with maple syrup and soy butter
My favorite. It was cooked all the way through, and Blossoming Lotus didn't fall into the orange juice french toast trap that many restaurants with vegan option fall into. Not soggy at all, very flavorful and served with real maple syrup.
Grits:
Grits & Greens $8
creamy grits & steamed kale, topped with house-made hot sauce and roasted butternut hollandaise sauce
The butternut sauce made this dish. The kale was kind of awkward, just laying on the outside of the bowl, not really serving much purpose. The grits were good, but as Spicy said, it'd work even better as a 'beans and greens' type bowl.
Live Parfait:
Breakfast Parfait $8
sprouted buckwheat granola, hempseed, mixed nuts, dried and fresh fruit layered with agave sweetened vanilla cashew cream
My second favorite. At first it tasted like the extra topping to the french toast, but it was so good I kept eating. The gently sweet cashew cream with the crunchy and protein-rich hemp seeds was out of this world. This was the only "Live" (Raw) offering we chose, and judging by the quality of this parfait, their other options will be amazing as well.
Can you tell we loved it?
Seitan Rancheros:
Seiten Rancheros $10
house-made maple seiten sausage, black bean chili, avocado & cashew sour cream, served on corn tortillas with pico de gallo
I was most excited for this dish. As most of my readers know, I'm a sucker for anything that involves beans or tortillas. You give me both, I'll be in mouth-heaven.
The description sounded Ah-mazing. The presentation was less than stellar. The house-made maple seitan sausage sounded promising, but it was mixed so completely into the dish I couldn't even taste it. I could taste an overwhelming sweetness--as one of my friends said, it tasted like sweet chili. All the ingredients were served mixed together on a bed of 4 warmed corn tortillas, with inexplicable blue corn tortilla chips on the side. Perhaps because I was looking forward to it so much, I was the most disappointed.
What would make it better? Deconstruct it. Serve the maple seitan sausage separately. Get rid of the corn chips. With the warm corn tortillas and the maple sausage on the side, the flavors of each could really shine through.
The breakfast overall is my new favorite breakfast in Portland. The service deserves a special mention because our server was spectacular. Blo Lo is particularly known for bad service, but definitely not in this instance. She was communicate, patient, friendly and adorable. I kind of want to invite her out to our next brunch.
I love Blossoming Lotus, and will definitely be back for brunch. I think they're still getting a few kinks worked out, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone. Anyone who likes hemp seeds and kale for breakfast, that is.
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