Purple is a cafe and wine bar in Woodinville, WA. It seems to be a fairly nice "cafe" though, with dinner mains ranging from $30 for meatloaf or chicken, to $44 for seared scallops, to $55 for steak. They also offer up a number of pasta dishes, including luxurious lobster mac and cheese for $41 (or just truffle mac for $28). Sandwiches round out the lunchtime menu, and have more of a cafe vibe, which includes burgers or ... grilled cheese and tomato soup. Essentially, casual cafe overall, but with some upscale touches. Every dish has a suggested wine pairing (listed as 'tastes even better with' on the menu), bringing in the strong wine bar focus.
While the dinner entree seared scallops did sound great, served with a spring pea puree among other things, all things I quite enjoy, I actually had eyes for only the appetizer section of the menu. I was tempted by the well regarded baked brie, wrapped in pastry and served with tasty accompaniments like caramelized onions and candied walnuts, and by the burrata with heirloom tomatoes, and by the crispy spring veggies (fancy tempura with truffle aioli), and the charred asparagus ... and, the real reason I ordered from Purple Cafe ... the crab cakes.
I was in the Seattle area for a business trip, and had been craving crab cakes since my first day there. Somehow the opportunity never came up to get them, partially because I did go rogue and opt for bar snacks from Woodblock my first night (chicken and duck liver mousse drew me in!) and disappointing sushi from Kiwami Sushi Bar & Sake House (but really tasty mushrooms!) another. But my last night, crab cakes it was.
I had many other options for getting crab cakes, a staple on many menus around the area, and many decently regarded and close by, with many restaurants that specialize in seafood, but, I had seen photos of the ones from Purple, and they just looked my style. So even though it was kinda far away, and required a long delivery time, I ordered from Purple. Just the crab cakes appetizer, as I had a bunch of other leftovers in my hotel to finish off too.
Side note: The dessert lineup actually was quite appealing too, with seasonal strawberry rhubarb crisp (warm with ice cream), creme brulee, bread pudding (also warm with ice cream), but, alas, those were not available for delivery.
I ordered on DoorDash, which worked reasonably well, although there were a few hiccups. The menu descriptions of some of the dishes didn't seem to have been updated when the restaurant changed out some accompaniments, so, what I thought I was ordering, and what I got, didn't match. The delivery took 1.5 hours. And the restaurant didn't allow any notes, like, "sauce on the side". So certainly not ideal. That said, I am not unhappy with my order, and I'd gladly order again from there. Even with the delivery experience (once I warmed the food up in my hotel kitchenette), I was quite pleased. Next time, maybe the seared scallops, the baked brie, the asparagus ... or maybe I'd venture all the way there to really get to experience the real restaurant?
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| Dungeness Crab Cakes. $32. |
"Crispy marble potatoes, celery, pickled red onions, fresno chili, spicy remoulade, herbs." - Restaurant
When I opened my takeout container, I was a bit surprised to see a mound of potatoes, and no dill remoulade, as described on the DoorDash menu. Part of the reason I ordered the crab cakes from Purple, compared to other places, was for the remoulade, and for not having potatoes. I knew the food wouldn't still be warm, given the lengthy delivery time, but I still tried a bite immediately of the lukewarm offerings.
The crab cake was the style I was looking for - shredded crab, decent seasoning, light bread crumb coating. While I know many people prefer lump crab based cakes, like the mediocre one I had in Orlando from Ocean Prime, or the better one from Goode Seafood Co in Houston, this is the style that was calling to me. They were slightly crispy, not greasy. Fairly small, but, good. ***+.
I did want the promised remoulade to dunk them in however, and did want the cabbage slaw to pair with them, but alas, I dug into the sides that it came with instead. The potatoes weren't really "crispy" as described on the restaurant menu, but they were enjoyable. Hunks of several colors of marble potatoes, well seasoned, nicely cooked, soft and creamy inside. They seemed tossed in flavorful oil, likely they had been sautéed with it? I think they are normally served warm with the crab cakes, but were barely lukewarm when I got it, which worked fine too, more like a lightly warm potato salad. Decent potatoes, although fairly decadent, and not what I was intending to get. The potatoes made the appetizer a bit more substantial than I'd wanted. But still, tasty potatoes. ***+.
And then ... I don't know what to call it. The rest of the stuff, which was slices of crisp celery, pickled red onions, a few small bits of fresno chile, drenched in remoulade. Those components were all mixed together, like a slaw would have been, but, without a slaw base. Basically it came across as a way over dressed celery mix with some pickled onions and a hint of heat. It too was lightly warm, which I think was just from being packaged with the crab cakes and potatoes. I suspect these elements are normally not hot? These items did help round out the dish - the celery was so soaked in the remoulade that I could sorta get some on my crab cake, and the acidity from the pickled onions was a nice touch, and I liked the crispy crunchy celery, but, I really would have preferred the slaw and remoulade separate, as this dish used to be served. I ended up mixing all these components with the potatoes to make a potato salad of sorts, and that worked well too, but, again, just not what I wanted with my crab cakes. *** for these components.
So overall, above average crab cake, in a style I was really craving, and good accompaniments, just, not ones I particularly wanted. I enjoyed the dish, but likely would have preferred the previous version of the dish. ***+.
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