Purple Cafe: Always good food!

Do you like great food, excellent wine, and friendly service? OH ME TOO!   Purple Cafe and Wine Bar is the place that will get you exactly that for special occasions or a simply fantastic meal with friends.  Now I can only speak for the downtown Seattle location, but every payday we used to walk a few blocks from work for an amazing lunch here and was never disappointed.  I mention "payday" because this place isn't the cheapest downtown but you can get a super tasty lunch for about $11.  Dinner is more expensive of course, but worth every penny.

Through their fantastically heavy metal doors you walk into the extremely spacious high ceiling restaurant with a huge tower of wine in the middle.  Very impressive.  For some, probably seemingly pretentious.  But by the time you're greeted by the very friendly hostess and waiter and your mouth meets their food, you realize it's not pretentious at all.  They just want to do things right!  They have a very extensive menu, from smaller fare, to sandwiches, to cheeses and wine pairings, to full on dinner courses that appear to feature what is in season.

I had the delicious Syrah Braised Short Ribs you see below, that was fall-off-the-bone goodness, atop Rosemary Soft Polenta and a side of Jicama Slaw.  My husband (A full on vegetarian) had the Pesto Pizza which he remarked was very flavorful and plenty for one person, maybe even two if you wanted to eat lighter.  And if you're like me and ALWAYS have to have dessert, they have the perfect solution for wanting to eat every choice on the menu:  Small 2 Bite Desserts.  That meant we could try a few and not completely go over the edge!  We narrowed it down to two (I wanted five!).  The "light" tasting Mango Cheesecake with Kiwi Coulis, Mango Gelée, and Toasted Coconut.  YUM!  And then the absolutely heavenly Sticky Toffee Pudding Crème Brûlée with date caramel, which was like no Crème Brûlée I've ever tasted.  Just perfect, with that crunchy sweet topping, smooth creamy center, and deep molasses flavor hitting my palette.  I am having flashbacks now...I must rest.

In a nutshell:  I highly recommend Purple Cafe and Wine Bar!