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Category: Vegan
Neighborhood: First HillMon-Wed. 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Thu-Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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don't leave without ordering the spicy cajun mac n yease.
seriously.
the 5 stars is for the food.
the service is about 3. not the best but not the worst.
Our menus were warped from water damage, and menu items were crossed out using indelible ink. For a restaurant that wants to charge prices comparable to Café Flora or Carmelita, I expect quality throughout my experience.
This is the problem that Plum Vegan Bistro faces: it wants to be a gourmet vegan experience but it doesn't know how to accomplish that feat. Walking into the restaurant I see three cooks standing in the kitchen and having a conversation. Do the cooks need something to do? Because I'll gladly suggest they retool the eggplant linguini plate which didn't justify its $16.
I ordered a hot toddy from the menu because it's cold outside and I'd like a little something warm with dinner. The beverage arrived in a tall glass with a straw, barely warm and losing its heat with every passing minute. A better idea for serving a warm drink would be a double-walled glass so my drink will stay an ideal hot temperature.
The mac 'n yease is a dish best served with dinner, not as an appetizer. Especially when four people want to split offerings, each of us having a few forks full of food. Also, I prefer my fried green tomatoes with more softness, the only crunch I want is the fried crust and not the fruit.
The eggplant linguini was three (four maybe) slices of eggplant atop linguini tossed in a spicy vodka sauce and served with asparagus. The eggplant: cold. The linguini: drowning in sauce. The result: a good idea but lost in execution.
The zesty sautéed tofu rolls were good but the pairing of pineapple and grapefruit with jalapeños and avocado was not quite hitting the mark. This dish can be fantastic with a little editing of ingredients. If I may suggest, lose the grapefruit and grill the pineapple.
"We're not prepared for dessert but we have a chocolate cupcakes and strawberry cupcakes." Please tell me how that declaration will motivate me to order dessert.
Write these two words and keep them in the kitchen and bar: Surpass Expectations. What I loved about The Healthy Hedon was its ability to serve up vegan soul food in a city that so desperately needed to experience coconut cream and wasabi as a dipping sauce. When the restaurant closed its doors, I was left with a large hole in my heart. Plum Vegan Bistro could be fill that empty space if it were to revisit its menu and bring more to the table than vegan pizza.
C'mon, Plum. Make me want to spend $118 in your restaurant a second time.
A more adventurous person would order something other than the Jamaican Burger with Plantains and sweet potato fries, but not me. The burger is so thick and bangin' I haven't gotten sick of makin' out with it yet.
Since they've opened we've been there about 5 times- which is a lot considering how we're always looking for new places to try out... but whenever we just want a quick take-out, we stare at each other for about a minute or two as if we don't want to admit that Plum is where we want to go... again...
WOW! Plum doesn't hold back the flavor...taking vegan to a spicy level in my mouth...it ended up cooking with the same spices the rest of the weekend.
The waitress was really sweet and answered a million questions from us with a smile on her face (major points).
The menu is small but the flavor is big. When I'm in the area I'm going to have to come back!
mmmm...plummmmm
So whenever I have a grand reason to celebrate with friends and love and or love ones I will always go to Plum Bistro. The service is great and the food is unbelievable.
I've had enough vegan food by now to know that impressive feats are common in the absence of dairy ingredients, but I was still surprised by how creamy the "mozzarella" on my eggplant parmasean-style linguine was.
Although it was mostly a big plate of pasta with some eggplant, it was a hearty meal. The cajun mac and yease I snagged from the dinner partner's plate was more interesting--it was also quite creamy and potently spicy; it also came with fried seitan (the least interesting item on the table) and (really tasty) potatoes as well.
Didn't go for dessert since the portions were prohibitive of any further appetite but I will return someday, solely on a desserts mission!
Coming from a land of meat eaters, I am the exotic local. So you can imagine my excitment whenever I come across a fine restaurant that caters to the Vegan kind.
Plum bistro delivers that, and does it very nicely.
First, my date and I were 45 min late. I had made a reservation after reading other fellow yelper's suggestions. Lucky for us they still had a small table set aside.
Good menu selection and as well as for drinks. I got myself a dirty chai.
The biggest minus for me turned out being my food completely lukewarm. I'm thinking my dish was pre-paired and then set aside for awhile. I could not figure out for such a place that got such great reviews why it turned out like that.
I give it this spot four stars mainly because I really encourage/enjoy more estabishments that cater to us vegan/vegetarians.
Went to Plum for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon. The lunch menu features a lot of wraps and sandwiches. My husband and I got two to share; a seitan wrap and an eggplant and artichoke panini.
The seitan wrap was pretty good, the flavor was very nice though the seitan itself was more porous and less firm than I would have liked. The real winner, by far, was the eggplant and artichoke panini (and this coming from someone who really doesn't generally like artichokes); it was pretty simple, just a grilled sandwich on regular bread, but the eggplant was so well done and the vegan cheese was perfectly melted. It came with a salad including fresh beans and tomatoes, which was also good but overshadowed by the deliciousness of the sandwich itself.
For desert we had a mini sweet potato pie and a chocolate cupcake. The cupcake was a good but pretty standard vegan chocolate cupcake; the icing in particular reminded me of the vegan margarine-based frosting I can make at home; good, but not restaurant-special. The sweet potato pie was wonderful; I was initially dubious of the chocolate sauce with it, but it turned out to be a delicious combo.
Overall a very good meal and we'll definitely be back!
OMG so tasty. Made both my wife and me think we could be happy as vegans. I had the BBQ (seitan) po' boy, she the avocado salad.
The design of the place is fabulous, as well. Right down to the glasses and silverware, everything seems thoughtful.
I was SO excited to try this place. We showed up on Saturday night to a restaurant more than half empty and were told it would be an hour wait. Wait. What? An hour? Your restaurant is more than half empty!
Apparently holding places for people with reservations.
By the time all of those people with reservations showed up we probably could have been seated, eaten dinner, and left.
I'm pretty sure it's not the wisest business decision to turn people away when your restaurant is more than half empty. When we walked by an hour later the place still wasn't full.
Similar to others, I went with high expectations and was disappointed.
The mac 'n yease app was tasty and creamy, altho so heavy...it made me a little queasy. Our entrees ranged from ok to blah, not worthy of the price or a return trip. Service was good, lighting was non-existent except for a small candle per table (10pm dinner).
Such a bummer! We went there for our anniversary and the service was terrible and the food disappointing. We were on our best guest behavior but still were ignored by staff- we had to ask for EVERYTHING... water refills... the appetizer that was forgotten.... our beers that never came (finally got them mid meal after asking twice)...a check that took over twenty minutes to get and then after waiting a long time we had to go ask for the card back. The restaurant was dead too that night. The food was not what we expected for the money at all. We both ordered what I think was "pork" chops and they were terribly salty. I wish we had just went to hillside where we had never encountered these problems before. I just would have expected a little more for the money.
it's vegan, i love meat, and damn this place is good! been here 4 or 5 times so far and always try something different and always love it! some say it's a little too much cost wise, but i think if you're getting organic and whole ingredients it's well worth it. yes it is!
i somehow always get the same server too and she's awesome & darling! makes this place even better!
this place is definitely for anyone who loves great food, try it!
Attn Seattle Vegan Restaurateurs: Not all vegans are in love with grease!
So, I realize that you need to cater to both vegans and omnivores, but lifelong vegans don't want to go out and eat greasy, heavy, glutenous, gut-bomb food all the time.
Do you know that there is nary an all vegan restaurant in Seattle that offers a nice light meal? -- It's always this 'can't believe it's not meat!' type foods, deep fried gluten with fries, fried vegetables, with thick vegenaise based sauces, and cake for desert. Ugh.
We have plenty of vegan restaurants that offer vegan comfort food, and I was really hoping for something different from Plum. I was hoping for a light meal that really celebrates fruits and vegetables in surprising and elegant ways. Instead I got an slightly upscaled version of a hillside quickie sandwich for double the price.
Plum has a nice atmosphere, great service, and tasty grease-vegan fare. I hope over time, they update the menu with more fresh, modern, light foods and subtract some of the ho hum fried stuff.
It's soooo nice to go to a vegan restaurant because I don't think about what is okay and what is not! I wanted to have everything on the menu here! This place is for everyone!
A bit more upscale that I'm used to but I don't go out all that often so it was totally worth it! I had the strawberry crepes with whipped cream and my friend had the breakfast scramble which were both amazing looking and tasted amazing!
I will definitely be back!
Dinner for four last night at 6:30 -- one vegetarian, 3 omnivores. On a chilly evening, the waitstaff filled the half of the restaurant closest to the window with guests -- the half of the restaurant closer to the kitchen remained empty over the next hour and a half. As patrons left, new customers were seated in the window half. The space itself looks/feels cold. The track lighting doesn't quite work -- if the lights are turned up, they shine in diner's eyes; if they are turned down, the light level quickly becomes too dim to read their black-on-dark-color menus.
The staff is fine, although one young server could not even describe what seitan is. On the other hand, they did adjust the lighting as requested without any fuss. The kitchen needs organization -- early on a Tuesday night they were unable to serve yam fries, okra, and a couple other items on the menu. The food is good, but fried items are too heavy, and are overcooked and overspiced. Nonethless, the overall food experience is not bad. Tab, with three glasses of wine, was about $100.
i was really hoping to give plum more then three stars but i just can't eek another one out of me. i visited plum last night to take a friend out for a belated birthday dinner. i was hoping that my experience would exceed the mediocre/mixed reviews that i've read. unfortunately, it didn't.
positives: the wait staff were super friendly and very helpful! the drink my friend ordered was really tasty and beautiful in its presentation.
the food: i ordered the teriyaki tofu kebabs with mashed yams and asparagus. unfortunately i have to give this dish a thumbs down. the tofu was SUPER dry and greasy. my asparagus tasted a little overcooked. however, the mashed yams were tasty. and just to be transparent the options for me at Plum are pretty limited since i eat a wheat free/gluten free diet so the teriyaki kabobs were one of very few entree options for me.
my friend ordered the cabbage stuffed with rice and tofu and this was really good. it came with a side of the mac and yease and mashed yams. i tried a small bite of the mac and yease--it was *really* salty!
next time i will just go for happy hour and get fries and a drink.
All you meat eaters out there may turn your nose up to vegan food. No meat or dairy?! Are they trying to kill you?! Absolutely not but I hear your concern. I'm a vegetarian yet vegan food makes me nervous. My first experience at a vegan restaurant was meh but after the lovely Hannah L. sent me her review of Plum my interest was piqued and I was willing to give a vegan place a second chance.
On a wonderful night I and two fellow Yelper friends met at Plum. The restaurant is simply decorated and small but the space feels airy especially with the huge roll-up window opened. You can view 12th Ave and people watch. We sat next to the open window and soaked up the calm breezy summer night.
Everything on the menu had a terrific description and it was hard to choose. There are tofu options, sandwiches, entrees consisting of pasta, pizza, and an eggplant dish. I decided to try the BBQ Po'Boy that had pickled onions and greens that came with sweet potato french fries.
The food arrived and I was blown away by the size of my sandwich. It seemed as if a fork and knife were in order but I decided to get down and dirty without them. The sandwich was phenomenal! The BBQ sauce was savory and sweet and the "meat" was cut into huge chunks. The pickled onions were a great addition to the sandwich. I am not a fan of raw onions in the slightest but I couldn't get enough of these. The sweet potato fries were to die for. They were cooked just right and were topped with a cilantro ailoi that I am still enamored with.
My dining companions were all very happy with their entrees. We eagerly ate and boasted how yummy everything was.
Our waiter was incredibly attentive and helpful when asked about the wine menu even though he admitted he didn't know much about wine. He made sure our glasses were always full and asked frequently how we were doing.
Even if you are unsure about vegan food I challenge you to dine at Plum. You will be flabbergasted by the wonderful flavors you are presented with. Give it a try!
I am suspicious of vegan food; vegan cheese in particular, but dairy's been putting me in a world of hurt lately so I decided to dive right in and got an eggplant pasta dish that was topped off with vegan mozzarella.
I was pleasantly surprised! It tasted like the real thing. Sure the texture was off but there was so much going on with the vodka sauce and the roasted eggplant that it didn't bother me at all. I've been thinking about it ever since!
Our water glasses were always full and the water they were pouring tasted refreshingly like cucumber. The waiter was friendly and helpful when we asked him questions about the wine and told me that the pasta dish was a good choice. We sat right next to the open fire-door-type-roll-up-window-thing and amused ourselves by stepping right over the ledge onto the sidewalk when it was time to leave- walking around tables to get to the door is SO last year!
Plum = Yum! I'm so pleased to have a new vegan option on the Hill. Even better was being able to sit by the window, a wonderful breeze blowing, making us feel like we were almost outside.
The menu has quite a variety of options, making it difficult to decide between the salad, pasta and sandwiches. I went with the quinoa sliders: three tasty quinoa patties covered in sauteed onions and fresh cilantro. The buns were a bit crusty, so I ended up putting the tops aside to focus more on the flavorful, spicy quinoa. Plum's aioli is also worth a mention, as it gives a little kick to the sandwiches and yam fries. And the yam fries were another yum!
Now that they've been open for a few weeks, I think Plum has ironed out a few of their wrinkles. Our service was pleasant and well timed. When I asked for more information about the red blend, the server graciously brought the bottle to me so I could see the label. Our water glasses were always full. And our server brought the bill only after asking if we wanted to try a delicious-sounding dessert. We opted to pass, but next time I will make sure to save some room...
Two vegetarians visited Plum Bistro last night for dinner and left thinking, "It might be better for lunch?" based on the following:
We liked the decor. I covet their flatware. They were out of sweet potato fries, fried green tomatoes, and pizza dough, which meant no pizza bread appetizer or personal pan pizzas. So we ordered the fried okra to start. The presentation was dreadful. Think bowl of dog kibble. But my dining partner, who lived in Atlanta for years, thought it was cooked properly and enjoyed the super-crispy, spicy batter. Our server was friendly, and described the cocktail specials in painstaking detail. Both of our drinks (sangria and the "plum drop" special) were passable, but NB: The plum drop does not "start off sweet" and end with "floral notes." It starts out tasting like grape juice and ends tasting like grape juice.
I had the teriyaki tofu kebabs with mashed yams and asparagus. I could have eaten a vat of the creamy, ginger-spiked mash. However, I could not process the tofu, mentally or mandibularly. It was. So dense. And dry. Like a Trader Joe's tea loaf you left half-unwrapped on the counter for a week and then soaked in teriyaki sauce. Plum Bistro, why is your tofu sponge-like? Is it supposed to simulate chicken texture? I am a vegetarian. I do not like chicken texture. This is why I have come to you, and ordered tofu.
My dining partner, on the other hand, wanted full-on, fun-with-the-fake-meat gourmet, and was impressed with the the "chicken fried" taste of the southern fried seitan, served with roasted potatoes and rainbow chard. Upon first bite he remarked, "I kind of don't like how this is tricking my brain ... and yet ..."
Dessert was chocolate cheesecake. I surmised that it was made with tofu, but our server said they use some kind of powdered egg substitute. The texture was more mousse-bordering-on-pudding than cheesecake, but it did have good chocolate flavor. Like other reviewers, I was impressed with what they accomplished without dairy or eggs on this one. At the very least, it sparked an interesting re-inspection of our reasons for vegetarianism, after we decided we would need to add "processing and shipment of powdered egg substitute" to our carbon offset list.
I am not going to dispute other reviews...maybe they just haven't gotten all the kinks worked out yet on service. I can tell you that when the wife and I went at the end of Sept our service was golden.
We called ahead and made sure we did not need reservations. I guess in light of the other comments here, this would be a good thing. Drop in places are great, but I have learned that taking 20 seconds with almost all vegan/veggie places to make sure they have room, food and staffing is almost a must around Seattle.
Anyway, we walked in and were seated quickly at a table near the roll up doors. Excellent view of the street traffic going by, which led to many interesting conversations. Water came quickly, as did our drinks and appetizer order. The mac and yease is to die for, and that is what we opened with. If you haven't had Quickie/Plum mac and yease before you are missing out. It has an unmatched creaminess to it and the flavor and texture are outstanding, with a good amount of spicy heat.
The entree selection was also very good. I had the seitan burger and she had the BBQ Po'boy. Both were ample, hot and tasty. The garlicky yam fries (that is a fun phrase right?) were delicious too. As mentioned elsewhere, they taste and look a lot like the fries from Dick's hamburgers, but sweeter and definitely 'garlickier' =)
For desert we had the vanilla cheesecake, which is fairly hard to replicate in vegan fare. If anything, this was the weak spot in the experience, but it was still good. I dunno, cheesecake has always been a touchy subject with me, and along with mayo are the reasons I don't think I could ever be a "true vegan"...so maybe I am just biased.
The bill totalled up to around 55 dollars minus the tip. We realize we could get the same food at one of the Quickies, but we liked the ambiance and the service, so that made it worth it in our book.
Agreed, with poor service I would rather take home something cheaper. I am also gonna say "no" to large groups unless you have special arrangements as there does not appear to be a ton of seating.
I love this place and Hillside. Their food I think partly removes the healthy component from a vegan diet, but it's rich and flavorful and for that I love it. Good, organic beers, as well.
I can't not give five stars when I've been back four times in the last few weeks....
Plum has ironed out a lot of the initial new-kid-on-the-block kinks, and is turning into a lovely spot more sure of itself and its strengths. A few mentions:
1. To-go service is much faster now; we only had to wait about ten minutes as opposed to close to twenty the last few times. Granted, the room wasn't too busy around noon on a Saturday, but the kitchen seems to have a better routine down.
2. The credit card machine appears to be up and running for sure!
3. Plum's now doing a separate lunch and dinner menu. The lunch menu focuses on the paninis, crepes, wraps, salads, and a few small plates (including the mac n' yease), and the dinner menu has entree plates, my man's favorite burger with plantains, and more salads. My guess is that minimizing what's cooking at a particular time has helped contribute to faster service.
4. There are new sandwiches, folks! A variation on the old chipotle tofu (now baked seitan on rye), and a fantastic tofustrami. Both are spicy; when this place mentions spice, they mean it. But it's so good....
5. On the menu they now have seasonal sides with your food, instead of the yam fries with aioli. I loved those, but can see how they might have been a bit heavy along with a full sandwich, especially at lunch. We had salads as a side today, quite good green salads with a lively vinaigrette dressing. And you can still get the yam fries and aioli for $5.
Yep, I've had better food in town, but I love the vegan concept, love their sandwiches, love the space, love that it's easy to wait outside with a dog on the planter boxes, and love getting to go back. As my man has said before, a really good place is one you want to go back to again and again, no matter what kind of food they have. He's right....
Wow. Did not expect THIS....This being Plum Bistro, a lovely new little restaurant offering up vegan… Read more »
I don't even remember what I had but I wanted to try everything on the menu. It was good! Something with barbeque or chipolte and aioli? I loved it. And the service was friendly and unobtrusive.
The only thing is that our friends joined us a little later in the meal and ordered food and I guess they had switched to dinner menu in that meal but we still had a couple of lunch menus on our table so we were surprised to see two different prices for the same items listed. They did change this for us though which we appreciated.
Excited to have such a good restaurant in Seattle.
Food is creative and tasty. People confuse vegan with super healthy in general. The food at Plum is tasty first and healthy second. I had their fried okra, yam fries and a eggplant panini. Unsure if it would classify as healthy. But it was all very tasty. And I cant wait to go back...
We tried Plum Vegan Bistro for Sunday brunch. While the service was a little awkward and slow, overall we thought the food was pretty decent.
For starters- let me preface this review by saying that I am a meat-eating carnivore (with an open mind but concerns of leaving hungry) and my girlfriend is a pescatarian. We sat down at about 11AM just as they opened; the restaurant was pretty empty- just our table and two others.
The waitress poured us water and dropped off the menus. Something was horrible wrong with the water; it had way too much lemon but also had a really bad taste that I can't describe, maybe they just need a better water filter... We ended up ordered two DRY Sodas (cucumber and juniperberry). It was my first time trying DRY; both flavors were kick ass - not too sweet, very subtle and delicate!
We then began studying the menu (I uploaded pictures of the menu since at this point they don't seem to have a website)
Sandwich Menu: http://bit.ly/PlumBistro1
Salads & Small Plates Menu: http://bit.ly/PlumBistro2
I ended up going with the "BBQ Po'Boy- with seitan, pickled onions on a crunchy French roll w/ garlicky yam fries" (picture at http://twitpic.com/bq6m6). And my girlfriend ordered the "Quinoa sliders- w/ sloppy Joe millet/quinoa blend chopped jalapeños and cilantro aioli" (picture at http://twitpic.com/bq4rh).
The food took a really long time, probably over 40 minutes. While waiting for the food I watched one of the chefs decorate cupcakes or muffins. They looked great, but I was kind of surprised to see them using Hershey's Dark Syrup; yes- I know it's vegan but I just assumed they would use better quality ingredients.
Both meals were very tasty & delicious but very heavy and greasy. My po'boy also came with the Mac n 'Yeast - a bonus since it wasn't supposed to come with this! How do they get it so cheesy without cheese? When the food arrived at the table, the waitress said the garlicky yam fries would be right up... but they actually came 15 minutes later. The fries looked oh so good and crunchy but were actually VERY greasy with no crunch factor (picture at http://twitpic.com/bq71k).
The waitress brought the check a few minutes after bringing the fries. She did not ask if we wanted coffee or dessert or anything else. Very weird! I was actually planning on ordering a Stumptown French press. Oh well! I gave her my credit card to pay the check when she told me they do not accept credit card yet. While this is totally understandable for a new place, I do feel that I should have been informed prior to being served. Luckily I had some cash on me and just gave her the cash. Rather than taking the cash back and bringing me my change, she asked me how much change I wanted. What's up with that? She stood awkwardly over me as I attempted to do the mental math under pressure on the spot...
That concluded our visit to Plum Vegan Bistro. Maybe I was wrong in assuming VEGAN=HEALTHY; Plum Bistro was like delicious greasy diner food (minus the milk, eggs, meat & fish). I left feeling as if I had gobbled down two McDonald's Big Macs!
Given that Plum is part of the Hillside Quickies family, I was expecting this to be fantastic.
Perhaps I'd set my sights too high, as the meal I had was not even vaguely comparable to anything I've had at Hillside Quickies. It's more expensive, considerably less polished, and is reliant heavily on service - something Hillside Quickies has never done well or quickly. For $13, I got two crepes that were doable at best and dry, french burritos at worst. The Mac and Yease was delicious as always, but I'm not sure why I'd wait so long to get it when I can swing into Hillside Quickies and leave within minutes. A considerable number of the dishes crossover between both places, though not all of them.
In another town, Plum would have impressed me. But for now, it's just not different enough from Hillside Quickies to be worth the wait and the extra cost.
I'm a huge fan of Hillside Quickie's Cafe, and I am saying this out of love and respect and the wish that this business succeed: Plum needs to get its s**t together.
The food is delicious. We had the teriyaki tofu kebabs with mashed yams; spicy Cajun mac and yease with fried seitan, gravy, and roasted potatoes; and southern fried seitan with rainbow chard. All of it was awesome, spicy, and flavorful. It's a little heavy, but it's comfort food, and that's to be expected.
The space is lovely, with high ceilings and plenty of room to walk between tables and talk to your companion without feeling like you're on top of other people. I also love the new trend of garage door windows that open onto the sidewalk, especially during the summer.
The problem with Plum lies in the execution. It was a busy night, and there was a large party that kept ordering drinks, so it took a really long time for our food to come - about an hour and 20 minutes for our main entrees. Our server was really sweet, helpful, and attentive, and she kept checking in to apologize and explain why our food was taking so long, which was appreciated, but one of the reasons she gave was that all the chefs (there appeared to be about three) were busy making drinks. I can understand that being time-consuming, but if there are only three people working the kitchen and no separate bar, it seems like maybe the drink menu should be restricted to beer and wine only (like it used to be), rather than incorporating complicated specialty cocktails. In addition, our server seemed to be picking up the slack for the other waitstaff. This included bringing us the silverware and beverage menus that were missing from our table.
Plum's still fairly new, so I'm sure its owner's still ironing out the kinks (she repeatedly paced the dining room and seemed to be assessing how things were proceeding), so hopefully things will improve. I'll try it again... later.
I have been to Plum 4 times since it open just earlier this summer. Each time has been a interesting and unique experience. First visit: 2 stars, second visit 5 stars, third visit 3 stars, fourth visit 4 stars. So technically a 3.5. :)
I would say that overall the food has gotten better, but it still a little inconsistent. The Mac & Cheese, salads, yam fries, and sauces are delicious. Don't go there looking for health food because they use plenty of oil and salt. (Also, the fried Okra was over cooked both times I ordered it, making the batter hard on the outside, but the Okra inside was yummy). The service has also been a mixed bag.
I hope lots of people get a chance to try the unique menu, regardless of a few flaws common to new restaurants. I am looking forward to breakfast/brunch items in the future. There is a rumor that there will be cocktails soon too!
Here are some photos of the ambiance: http://www.flickr.com/...
Quite pleased with Plum Bistro. I liked the high ceiling, semi-open air structure. The restaurant had a garage door-like window that opens up so you feel like you're sitting on a covered patio. Too bad it will be too cold come fall to leave the door-window open. Service was pretty good and the restaurant was full at 7 pm. By 7:30 there was a wait to be seated. We ordered the spicy cajun mac n yease to start. Yummmm. I asked the waitress what the 'yease' was and she said all she knew was that there was nutritional yeast in there, but the recipe is a family secret and the sauce is made at their Tacoma restaurant kitchen. Darn it.
For entree I had their tofu rolls - sauteed tofu, spinach, tomatoes, jalapeno wrapped in a crispy rice paper, with avocado and salsa on top of a bed of greens. It was delicious! Though I would say easy on the jalapenos next time. My husband had the Crazy Jamaican burger (a massive sandwich) which came with yam fries. Pretty good, but I liked my entree better. The yam fries came with basil aioli - tasty though I think the fries could have been a little more crisp. We didn't have dessert as they only had cookies that night for dessert. Hopefully they will up the ante on their dessert menu.
My husband is an omnivore and I'm vegan and we both enjoyed our meals at Plum. I know I'll be back.
I finally got a chance to go to Plum and was looking forward to a great dining experience. A foodie married to a vegetarian, I figured this would make us both happy as we socialized with friends.
The food was uneven. The sweet potatoe fries were yummy, but what the heck happened to the fried green tomatoes? Thinly sliced, overcoated with cornmeal, it was one gooey mess.
Entree time. We all get ours except for my husband. The waitress "forgot" to "punch in the order". So we all sit and wait until we realize it's going to be a while, so those with food dig in.
My friend's burger pleased her, my other friend's salad was huge and... well, huge. My plate of tofu loaf was mushy and needlessly spicy (and what;s up with the squirt of catsup on it?) and by golly, there was the cornmeal batter obliterating the okra. Sad.
The waitress came by a couple of times and mumbled something about my husband's order coming soon... uh, yeah.
It finally did arrive after we all had finished, so he quickly ate to catch up. The waitress showed up with the bill with a weak "sorry your dinner came late" and that was it. No, "let me take the appetizer off your bill", or "how about a dessert or glass of wine on the house"...
To top it all off, the credit card receipts came with no pens to sign with...
Ok, everyone is entitled to slightly crappy service once in a while, but really? At these prices (our dinner came to over $110, two glasses of wine, 2 glasses of water), I expect a little more.
I'm sorry to say that not only was this a big disappointment, I won't be going back.
I'm thrilled to have Plum Bistro in my neighborhood.
We've been here for dinner twice now and I'm thoroughly impressed. At the core of any great restaurant is a talented kitchen - and Plum Bistro brings that. The menu is fresh, imaginative, and all vegan - not to mention the aesthetic component of the plates. I'm not talking a sprig of rosemary with your potatoes - someone in the kitchen is REALLY paying attention to artistic presentation - and it makes the experience that much more enjoyable.
There's a little room for improvement: 1) they don't have a liquor license yet; 2) the service is a little slow; and 3) they don't offer a full plate of mac and yease (which is just too good to be true). Despite these, I'm giving Plum Bistro a 5 star rating. They're young and I think they'll work out the kinks. And whether you're vegan or not (and I'm not) you'll love this place - it's a fantastic addition to the neighborhood.
Ok, I'm not even sure where to begin here.
I don't want to say "it's good for what it is," which is vegan, because that would be lowering my standards and expectations for what I expect from a restaurant and my food. However, I do think it's unfair to compare it with non-vegan restaurants and say "oh meat is SO much better" too.
But here is my attempt to dissect this place based purely as a restaurant and not giving anyone special treatment for being vegan or non-vegan. It certainly wasn't the best food I've ever had...and at the price I paid, I feel like I could have gotten more for my money.
I ordered the mac and yease with seitan fried steak and roasted potatoes. The mac and yease were certainly creamier than I expected, for being vegan, and had a pretty good flavor...spicy. It wasn't all spicy, but it certainly was prominent and I felt like the cayenne was there to mask the fact that this wasn't really mac and cheese. 'm not saying it's bad or anything, just telling it as it is. The seitan was...dry. I've never really had seitan before, so I don't have much to compare it with, but here's the thing...I HATE dry meat and I HATE dry seitan. I just couldn't stand the dryness of it. I believe I've had seitan before (I can't be sure as it was with Viet food and was only told the Viet name), but it was never dry like this. Maybe some more sauce or something? Anything? Lastly, the roasted potatoes were a bit lacking in flavor as well...but then I'm pretty spoiled in the fact that the boyfriend makes amazing roasted potatoes that are packed with garlic and rosemary flavors.
My veggie friends, however, love this place. They appreciate the fact that there's something new in town for them that they can enjoy, and for that I applaud and commend Plum for filling the void.
Please don't think I'm one of those people who always has to eat meat to enjoy my meal. I LOVE tofu, I eat tofu all the time and I love salads and veggies and all that good stuff. I've had "fake meat" and enjoyed it many times in the past. I just couldn't get over the fact that I can get better food for equal or less value...it really came down to that. I mean, go to Moonlight Cafe to get vegan food that's cheaper AND tastes better.
We went to dinner there last weekend. We LOVE Hillside Quickie and having a more upscale vegan experience with the delish foods of Hillside was a wonderful thing. The staff was amazingly attentive (especially after reading other reviews that there were long lags in service - perhaps they read those reviews). They let us eat and enjoy, but checked in regularly enough that we had what we needed when we wanted it. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is that their spice level is a little high. It's all delicious and each dish is well spcied...but...when you 1) have a sensitive tongue and 2) eat 3 different items that are spicy, it adds up!
My husband, who is a generous omnivore, loved it too. I think there is a meal for everyone here.
So sad... I really wanted to love this place... but the food was pretty bad. The waiter we had, we believe it was his first day and he was completely clueless. That's fine, b/c the people there were so friendly and kind. But I just can't get past the icky food. Sadly I was there about a month ago and I don't even remember what I ate. All I know is that my dish tasted like they put some cheap powder seasoning on it. BUMMER.
I really like Plum Bistro. While I am not vegan, many of my friends and loved ones are. I pride myself on being able to reinterpret my favorite comfort foods in a vegan form. Are my vegan dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter "cream" frosting any healthier than their buttery non-vegan counterparts? NO. Not really. Plum serves comfort food. Delicious comfort food. As a fan of Paula Dean, I can tell you that comfort food is rarely healthy. Anyway, back to Plum. The portions are generous and the food is very flavorful. The sliders were great but a bit spicy for my taste. The mac and yease is perfect. The service was comfortable and casual. Several people waited on my party and my water glass was always full, my food came at just the right time, and there was no wait for the bill. All in all, it was a great experience.
The food was tasty over all. The sweet potato fries were very good.
Given the price, I was surprised at the meager offering of new potatoes that were served with the seitan steak. I think in total there may have been 2 that were halved. The Mac and Yease was raved about by my friends, one needed to clarify if it was vegan.
Lighting in the space is poor, a simple candle on the table would have helped. The space is also difficult to have conversation in when there is a large party present.
The service was very good.
The best mac and yease! If i was a vegan i would come here all the time! The service can be a little better, seems that after they serve your food they forget about you.
Granted, I'm no "vegan" by definition, but vegan food is s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o good. My parents treated us here for a couple of our bdays (quarter-century woop woop!). My older bro got the Jamaican burger and, despite his sweat beads owning his forehead, he thought it was pretty darn good. I don't remember what his wife and our parents got, but I got the Qunioa Sliders. Sloppy-Joe style? The namesake just got smoked dawg! Really awesome flavor and the cilantro did it to it. The sweet potato yam (SPY) fries were not bad. They reminded me of Dicks' fries, with the cut and wetness; of course not a reg potato. I liked them, but I'm used to (and like) SPY fries that are slighter more firmer and subtly crisp--kind of like Nijo's. And plus I think the natural flavor comes out better and not all wetted over... the Garlicky SPY fries aren't my type 'cuz I just got too sauced out.... (plum dedum dum... dummm)
--but, I definitely want to try most everything else.
A cool place, nice service, and the bathroom was cool, yet accompanied with a somewhat funky flowery scent.
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