Mylapore

Until I visited Mylapore in Folsom last week, I had never eaten the cuisine of South India. Just reading the menu took a long time because there were so many unfamiliar, yet intriguing, items. What made the experience better was knowing that all of the items on the menu were vegetarian, and many of them were clearly marked as vegan.


I wanted to order a dish that included a variety of items, but the Thali Meal that's offered on weekdays isn't vegan. So instead, I opted for the Assorted Sampler Platter, which features four different appetizers: Samosa, Medhu Vada, Masala Vada, and Vegetable Pakoras. Four dipping sauces accompanied the appetizers. The white dipping sauce appeared suspiciously un-vegan to me, so I asked the server about it. He said it was made with coconut milk, so it really is vegan.


I tried the samosa first, since samosas are a big favorite of mine. What's not to like about a turnover filled with curried potatoes and peas? Not surprisingly, this was the item in the sampler platter that I liked the best.


There was a huge pile of vegetable pakoras on the plate, vegetables dipped in a batter and then fried. The menu doesn't have a telltale chili pepper on the menu next to this item to warn you, but I thought the pakoras were very spicy. Fortunately, I don't mind if my Indian food is a little spicy.


The items in the picture above that look like donuts are medhu vada, described on the menu as fried lentil donuts. Once you get past the realization that they're not sweet, they're pretty good, especially when dipped in the various sauces on the platter.


Two masala vadas are buried under the mountain of pakoras in the picture above. A masala vada is a tasty fried lentil cake, flavored with onions, mint, cilantro, and chilies.


This massive amount of fried appetizers meant that I didn't have room for an entrée. I'll have to take another ride up to Folsom soon to try a dosa, which is a savory crepe, or an uthappam, which is a thicker version of a dosa. In the words of the convenience store commercial, there's just "too much good stuff" at Mylapore.


Mylapore is located in a shopping mall at 1760 Prairie City Road in Folsom, and the phone number is 916-985-3500. Their website address is http://www.mylapore.us/index.html, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/MylaporeRestaurant. The restaurant is open daily for lunch between 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday through Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.