4. Restaurants

Purple Dot Cafe

515 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98104
  • (206) 622-0288
  • Store is closed

Purple Dot Cafe Menu

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  • Leslie K.

    I just ate at this restaurant. It was the WORST service I have ever received. First of all, I was seated in the corner. The table was sticky and dirty and there was something stuck on the seat of the chair. I should have left then! I sat for maybe 15 minutes before finally asking the person at the front counter if I could get some DimSum. Someone finally came over with the cart that had all of the desserts and breads on it! I asked for shirimp and she left and someone else came over with a tray about 10 minutes later and I got some shrimp balls.. I asked for a specific dish, "noodles" or "veggies" and the waitress took the ticket that was on the table, turned it over, slapped it on the table and pointed at it. Then she walked off. I sat there for awhile and another waitress came by and I told her I would like some green beans. She actually asked if I could eat portk which I appreciated, and I told her no, so she asked about garlic. I said yes, so she went to place the order. I finally was asked if I would like some water, after I had been there for over 30 minutes. Once I got the green beans, they were ok. I doubt I will eat there again, unless there are NO other Dim Sum restaurants open in China Town !

    (1)

  • Jennifer B.

    The place to go for late night eats if you want to get some chow fun, baked spaghetti (Hong Kong style), crispy chicken, french toast, fried rice, and other usual Chinese/Hong Kong foods. The servers are nice and put up with the rowdy late night kids that roll in after the bars close. I tried their dim sum too and it wasn't that bad. The baked speghetti reminds me of Chef Boyardee but there is something comfortable about it late at night.

    (3)

  • Danny C.

    I dont know whats up with all the 3 stars on here. Our experience was incredible! and im aware that the 4 pitchers we had before that helped but let me tell YOU something. Their GARLIC FRIED CHICKEN is to Die For! I can still taste it in my mouth and its been like? 2 weeks? haha. jk but seriously i could not believe how good it was. I wanted to steal the little chinese man who made it and take him home with me.... to cook! no that, you sickos! We ended with their famous mouth destroying FRENCH TOAST! its HUUUUGE and its like double stacked, super fluffy inside and with syrup and powdered sugar. Get some ice cream with it because... well, youll just thank me later. Crack heads and drug dealers are in this area but they dont really mess with you. Stick to the sidewalk, get in and enjoy your food! Very clean inside as well.

    (5)

  • Bo S.

    I've had a consistent experience here for 4 years now. When I worked in Pioneer Square I would come every 2 weeks or so. The dim sum is solid. It's absolutely reasonably priced, and delicious. The service is good. I've never had too big a wait time between carts, and there's never been a problem around special orders. My only complaint is their hesitancy to break up a check, so you should handle those details before it's time to pay. All in all, this is a great place to grab up some warm eats while you're in the I.D. without going broke.

    (4)

  • Sheena T.

    Great Hong Kong restaurant. If you want to eat a good dim sum meal, don't be conservative here. Try new things. I promise you won't regret it. I love the old HK paintings on the wall! Really made me feel like I was in a mini Hong Kong, too. Make sure your wallet is thick before you come here, though.

    (4)

  • Michael C.

    We stopped here at Purple Dot Cafe before the Mariner's game. We wanted to have a light lunch and take some snacks to go. We walked in and was quickly seated. The waiter took our tea order as soon as we sat and that was the end of the speedy service. Carts come around very infrequently, so when they do come, you want to get as much as you can. The food is good. I would say the selection is poor when you compare it to Dim Sum restaurants in LA, but they still had all of your typical treats. I would recommend getting there before lunch if you want Dim Sum because the restaurant isn't too big. I noticed when we were leaving there were about 30 people waiting to be seated. If I am ever back in the area, I would eat here again.

    (3)

  • DeAnne E.

    This is the cleanest dim sum spot in the ID. The decor is modern. It is more expensive than Jade Garden and Honey Court. I always get good service here. I like bringing my co-workers and friends to this restaurant. The carts always come our way once we're seated. I never eat dim sum by myself...there's too much food for one person.

    (4)

  • Kevin O.

    I used to go here all the time. They have a good variety of choices for dim sum and it is reasonably priced. The staff is not very friendly is the down fall. The last time I went there my buddy and I just wanted to split the bill with our cards, which we had done lots of times before we were willing to even pay the fees but apparently they don't do that anymore. The lady was super rude about it too. Think the main reason this place is still in business is that they stay open till like 3am to feed all the club kids. I won't be back!

    (2)

  • Ashley D.

    Not the greatest place. My friend and I stopped by one night because she recommended it and we were craving Chinese food. I got a noodle and dumpling dish which was rather bland and overpriced for what I got. After trying this place I wouldn't come back because there are a lot better restaurants nearby that are also cheaper. While I may have given Purple Dot 3 stars, while we were there we had an incident that the staff could have handled better. There was a guy that kept hitting on my friend and wouldn't leave her alone even though she kept telling him she had a boyfriend. Some other guys sitting nearby told him to leave us alone, so the guy bothering my friend (who was obviously wasted) decided to try and start a fight. While we kept telling him to leave, the staff just stared and watched this guy start pushing one of the guys who told him to get lost while screaming obscenities. The staff really could have handled this better when he was obviously disturbing most of the customers.

    (2)

  • Brian F.

    I only go here for the dim sum. I was introduced to the place by my Chinese friend. I use to go to Jade Garden, which I still like, but Purple Dot has more options. I'm guessing the style of the dim sum is more similar to that of Hong Kong because that is where my friend is from--and he is super picky about his food. In fact, he can get angry about it. Jade Garden is more of a seafood style, so I'm guessing coastal style of cuisine. I'm probably way off. I'm Filipino so I just ask my Chinese friends where to eat dim sum. I know it's open really late and tons of kids come here late night on the weekends. It gets packed. Not sure of the quality, I just do dim sum. But at 1 am, after a night of debauchery, I'm sure the food will taste good.

    (5)

  • Izzy H.

    Wow - I am completely shocked by how many people actually like this place. I think it first opened about 3 or 4 years ago? And back then, let me tell you - especially if you think the place is cute now - it was glorious way back then. Everything was literally purple. Now, I'm not a purple person by any means (I like pink, blues and whites) but it was a beautifully decorated. The tables, which are now ugly yellow? or was it white? used to be a lovely hue of dark purple with swirls of silver and a lighter purple. The service was darling, the menu considerably smaller and considerably cuter. In short - everything was better. Since then, they've changed the management about three or four times, and desecrated the interior. Yes, I do know that you're not going in there to eat the setting but still. Service was lackluster when I went back again, although granted it was around 9ish? The server first seated us at a super wobbly table. Seriously? The table top, not even the bottom, was severely unbalanced and if you had even tried to put anything on it - it would go all topsy turvy. When we asked for another table, the server claimed "no more room. all full." Excuse me? There were only twenty other available tables. But the food, maybe my group was just unlucky, but I have never seen such crummy, under seasoned food in my life. And I live for fried rice and soup. The soup sucked. It was a yellow gloopy mess (egg drop soup) and everyone, all seven people, had to put in mass amounts of pepper and salt to even get it to be seasoned. The fried rice that came out shortly after wards looked pathetic. They call it fried rice for a reason - its supposed to be fried. This plate of rice looked like steamed rice stuck with egg and sparse pieces of chicken. Hot pot we ordered didn't even sizzle, and was lukewarm, and overdosed with sauce. The black bean sauce chicken tasted ... bad. I don't know what it was about it - maybe the chicken had actually gone bad - but everybody felt sick after eating it. On the bright side, the steamed rice was okay (but then, if you mess that up you really shouldn't be cooking in the first place) and the Mongolian beef was good. The upside of the restaurant? It's open late - really, really late.

    (2)

  • Jane A.

    CHINATOWN WILL BE CHINATOWN. There are only five places I can name in Chinatown that I'll eat at. Purple Dot is once of them. As I am reading thru the reviews of others, I will have to agree with my friend Osiris about this place being a zoo. The people who come here looking like a hot-ass-mess after the clubs. Purple Dot should deliver good service to these annoying people because they are the people who keep coming back. I remember when Purple Dot first opened way back many years ago. My (xxxx)bf and I would come here during dinner hours (not after-club hours). We'd actually enjoy our meals (beef w/ chinese brocolli, wonton soup, spaghetti) in a somewhat quiet setting, hearing elderly Asians in the background talking loud and fast. But coming here during the after-club hours, i hate the service. I hate the people. A total difference experience back from 2002 vs 2008.

    (3)

  • Kate S.

    Places with enormous menus like the Purple Dot Cafe's always intimidate me. Pages after pages of menu items all start to swirl and coalesce in my brain to the point when I tend to just stare at the menu with my mouth agape like a surprised trout for about twenty minutes. It is at this point I tend to let my company order for me because otherwise I can never decide -- but alas during my visit to the Purple Dot I was with a distracted young mother & her toddler so the reigns to the menu were handed squarely to me. We were starving and looking to have leftovers -- so 3 menu items were chosen semi at random. Pepper chicken, dry green beans & pork, and a special beef w/vermicelli top pot to round everything out. Hot tea was provided in tumblers (weird, but still soothing) and we waited. And waited. Yes, the food takes some time but the joint was pretty happening for a drizzly Tuesday night as well. The food comes out and everything is piping hot and yummy. The green beans were by far the star of the evening, with most of those disappearing. The pepper chicken was saucy and good, but lacking a bit in the spicy heat department. The beef & noodles was quite tasty - and the only thing the toddler would actually eat. All of that + tea was only around $30. Not the cheapest eats in the ID, but not breaking the bank either.n The check was slow coming, but everything was boxed neatly for us prior to leaving. Beyond that the waiters kept our water & tea refilled, and pretty much left us alone for the whole evening. Overall a decent meal, decent service and a perfectly lovely place to spend a lazy evening among friends.

    (3)

  • Karen R.

    i will never give this place my business anymore - no matter how good their salt and pepper chicken wings are (even tho' they were so unbearably salty tonight we had to eat it with white rice!). the service here has gone from good to decent to downright ridiculous! tonight's unnecessary outburst/attitude from the lady boss struck a nerve at our table! the bunch of us go in a big group and we're all regulars - we've been going here for a good 3 years on a weekly basis! you don't treat your regulars like trash just 'coz you're in a bad mood. it's one thing to be a moody person but when you own a restaurant and you're dealing with paying customers, nobody needs to deal with that shit when we're all spending good money at your establishment. on to greener pastures!

    (1)

  • S. Alicia S.

    Single woman seeking vegetarian dim sum on a Sunday evening in the International District. Radish cakes alone refuse to hold my interest. Already in the mood for vegetarian food, I go in for a feast at Purple Dot Cafe. Purple Dot Cafe is a comfortable and brightly colored like those restaurants on the Travel Channel. They offer an extensive menu with just about a little of everything. So there is a decent vegan/vegetarian selection. Vegetable broth was served alongside the Ramen-style LoMein. And the Ginger & Green Onion LoMein came with Chinese Broccoli. The Buddha's Delight and Coconut Bubble Tea is fit for royalty. The meal lacked a little in the flavor department, but they substituted with mega-nutritious portions. So there's no reason to complain about Purple Dot Cafe. Satisfied with leftovers.

    (3)

  • Leah M.

    Every time I go to Purple Dot, I am never let down by the food! Even though I am not Chinese, I grew up on Chinese food in the International District, and all over Seattle. At Purple Dot, I have ordered: house special chow mein, beef fried rice, wonton soup, honey walnut prawns, sweet and sour prawns, etc. I will definitely be going back every time I crave Chinese food, which is a lot! The service there was good and very typical service for a Chinese restaurant. Thankfully, I have never had a problem with the service there, although I agree with one review stating that it is sometimes hard for them to understand what I am ordering. Check them out and make your own decisions about them! p.s. Does anyone know if Purple Dot does catering? (like say, for my wedding?) :)

    (5)

  • Alex T.

    Reviewing Dim Sum only. Taste is good, prices right, and quality is higher than most other dim sum places around town. Recommendations: shu mai, chive dumplings (steamed or fried), fried dumplings, beef balls and phoenix claws. Go before noon or lunch rush makes it crowded and the "fried stuff cart" contents are usually cold. The less crowded, the more likely you're able to order fried stuff (instead of via cart) so that they have to actually make it fresh and you get a hot dish instead of lukewarm/cold.

    (4)

  • Alvin N.

    Purple Dot Cafe is Denny's meets Chinese Asian Fusion with a Cup of Tea. Just located Right across from Honey Court. The Interior is Nice & Clean. The Food is good =P !!! but the service is so-so. Don't expect 5 Star Treatment...its Denny's Cousin from another Mother. There are Plenty of Items to choose from, these are a few That I enjoyed... +Honey Glazed Garlic Pork Ribs -- Its Yummy, but watch out for the Bones, you might lose some teeth. +Honey Walnut Shrimp -- Deep-fried shrimp in a creamy sauce, accompanied by glazed walnuts. Good Stuff.

    (3)

  • George Y.

    This place is okay if you're dying of hunger and don't really care to take another step for decent food. I've been here five times and the biggest complaint is that the food takes too long and it comes out very greasy or sub par. My Beef and black bean sauce came out greasy. The plain congee was too watery. The service here is pretty poor in the aspect of the staff seems unmotivated or really cares about the customer. Although they are accommodating to your requests (Napkins, questions, custom orders). The decor of the cafe is pretty depressing as well. Not really a place that I would recommend to anyone.

    (2)

  • Holly C.

    I was in the international district with a friend yesterday and she said that the purple dot had great food, so off we went! When we got there it was pretty busy, and smelled soooo good. Our waitress gave us water and tea and then proceeded to ignore us completely. I flagged down a random person and put in my order for spicy king pao chicken. The food came out within 5 minutes of me ordering it, which was pretty awesome. The portion was HUGE, but the taste just didn't hold up. It wasn't spicy at all and had very little flavor. I tried my friends dish (It was beef but I forgot the name of it) and it wasn't all that great either. The atmosphere was okay until this group of guys sat near us and then proceeded to ask if they could have some of my chicken. Wtf, buy your own food. I most likely won't be back. There's probably better places just across the street!

    (2)

  • Diego S.

    Place isn't too bad, for a late nite spot for some mediocre asian food. A bit crowded for me, but when you got everyone pouring out of the clubs and converging on the area for some late nite grub you would expect this. I've been here quite a few times.. funny I've never really had anything bad considering the time I'm eating food. My friends have told me some stories of some of the restaurants in the area... scary & nasty! Calamari is good Fried rice is good Fried chicken wings... mmmmm just for these alone I bumped up the star rating!

    (4)

  • Celeste T.

    This place was fine - the TV was blaring loudly over my table and I had to turn it off. I enjoyed the bubble tea a great deal. The food was average. The atmosphere was also average-to-low: the table was a little bit sticky and the plants didn't cover up the shabbiness of the place. There were holes in the floor in the bathroom.

    (2)

  • V L.

    Nothing stood out for this average dim sum joint. It felt cleaner than jade garden. The service is slow. A dish I asked if they had, came just when I asked for the bill. I came at 10am, and nobody in sight. 5 minutes later, a lady came in, with her winter jacket still on, asked how many people. Good standby to jade garden.

    (3)

  • Gar L.

    A generous 1-star. Other than a last-resort spot to go after a night of clubbing with asian people, this place sucks. The last time I came here, a cockroach fell from the ceiling onto my plate (which I was nearly done with). A waiter saw all of this happen and smiled at me as he picked up my used napkin and crushed it between his fingers. He kept his smile while cleaning off my table and didn't say anything. After mentioning it, he called over his manager who offered 10% off my 8 dollar meal. Really? 80 cents off and a cockroach for dessert? I know there are bugs everywhere but I prefer not to see them during my meal.

    (1)

  • Sean B.

    Eh, I'll be honest. This is NOT my style! If you walk into a Chinese spot and you see Spaghetti on the menu, Houston, you've got a fucking problem. And what's worse, is the best time to eat here is late at night; well, that'd be all good and fine except you can rest assured that you will likely be a witness in an attempted murder trial if you go on a Friday or Saturday night. There are usually a whole bunch of wannabe Asian Pop singer looking guys who think they are tough; and find solace in beating the snot out of each other here after the clubs get out. Keep in mind, Purple Dot is used to this kind of thing, and it is not uncommon for them to turn off their outside lights and lock the doors in the event of a royal fumble outside. But, it is quite the safety issue. When I go here, I make it a point to call the biggest friends I've got to roll with me. Lucky for me most of them are either security staff at clubs or professional fighters- so I'm pretty well covered. But I do bring in the cavalry to say the least! The food here is mediocre at best, but there is a drink here that is non-alcoholic that is AMAZING, it's called "magic ocean"... And is AWESOME! I would try to guess what's in it, but I would fail miserably. My guess is whoever came up with this drink had a degree in chemistry. So try your luck if you want to, but come armed; the theme for the night will be Magic Ocean's and Brass Knuckles!

    (2)

  • Charlie L.

    Love the food, despite the fact that the service is questionable. However, as a foodie, yummy goodness trumps over inattentive service or bitchy waiter. Was introduced to Purple Dot by my former roommate Tim, who ate there on many occasions and found the food (though not the service) to be consistently solid. We had the Scheuwan Black Pepper Chicken, which is out of this world. I've only ever had Black Pepper beef in Chinese restaurants, so I was surprised to see a chicken variety. But this turned out just as good (if not better) and much healthier. The shrimp dumpling noodle soup is also very good. Definitely going to add this one to my regular stop when I visit Seattle.

    (5)

  • Helen K.

    Why after yrs & yrs do i still go back here? I avoided this place for almost 2 yrs!! So the bf and I were driving home from Georgetown/Dead baby downhill bike race party-and since it was on the way, the genius I am was like "hey lets go here!" WRONG. The food is sooo damn salty, and I like salty. I know I can't be complaining about the quality of the food, being that it is chinatown and it is opened for a bunch of drunk clubbers- but still, please don't give me a partially frozen egg roll! Ehh, there is really no use in complaining about this place. Throughout the years I have had so much of the food there, and seriously there is no consistency, one day something will be pretty good, and a month or two later it's awful. But it's chinatown.

    (1)

  • Andrew B.

    I've only been here late night, so let me preface my review with that. I've been here a couple of times and let's just say half of the time I was drunk and the other half I was sober, but both times the food was good especially given the fact that it was so late and few other places were open. The food and service are just that food and service, nothing special here, but if you're looking for some late night grub then this place is the place to go. I believe we got what was called combo C. It consisted for 6 or 7 dishes. So of course let's go dish by dish. Fried Rice w/ Shrimp - simple, delicious, and under salted. Acted as a nice background for all the other dishes General Tsao's Chicken - generic, sweet, and crunchy. I'm a sucker for Panda, yes I know disgusting, but what can I say I like it. Deep Fried Short Rib - Just bits of crunchiness, there was no real substance here. It just isn't a smart idea to deep fry something that should be cooked for awhile. Furthermore there's no real flavor. Deep Fried Calamari - Nice and chewy just the way I like it. If you see the trend here they tend to fry a lot of things. It was good with some hot pepper sauce, but otherwise unremarkable. Sautéed Broccoli - simple, easy, relatively fresh, and not overcooked Some sort of beef and vege dish - I remember this being pretty good. Tasted like beef with oyster sauce and just a vege mix. Honey Walnut Prawns - once again not exceptional but once again I'm a sucker for these. Simple shrimp deep fried with mayo and honey coated walnuts. What's not to like. Overall a good, but not great meal. Would I eat here again? Probably but only if its late and I'm too lazy to cook or I'm with a big group of drunk friends and I have no where else to go. This place just works well for large groups since it is family style after all. If you don't like annoying large groups of drunk people I would say stay away. Nothing special here, but also nothing terrible. The rest of the menu seems pretty creative with spaghetti dishes and breakfast, but I've never tried any so no comments on those. On another note service is mediocre, but it's a Chinese restaurant that services a drunken late night crowd so what do you expect.

    (3)

  • steve c.

    Purple dot gets a meh plus. I've been several times before and it was ok....tonight was the last straw, however. It's not that I hate this place, because I don't. It's just that it's dirty, as others have said, the food is barely just ok (I think the veggies and the fries they use are frozen), and the service is barely passable. (but to be fair, I think they've laid off employees) Come here if you're drunk and it's 2AM; you won't notice the above noted things. If you do, get the chow mein; it's some of the best around (the crispy noodles kind).

    (2)

  • Lisa C.

    If you ever get hungry after you go out and get drunk, this is the spot. I probably come to this place once a week after a night out. Service is pretty wack but what can you expect at 2 in the morning with a bunch of drunk customers acting obnoxious. All the dishes is decent but my fave ones would have to be the garlic fried chicken and the baked spaghetti.

    (3)

  • Jack L.

    Best Chinese food in Seattle so far. My scallops with garlic sauce was fantastic. They were even nice enough change the tv channel for me and my friend. Highly recommend it.

    (5)

  • john b.

    Great place to go to after the a night out on the town, clubbing or just feel hungry and don't know where to go. Atmosphere is good. Love the food. Fried rice, spring rolls, chow mein, honey walnut shrimp, chinese broccoli, mongolian beef and fish maw soup are great dishes to try. They have family-dinner or Individual plates, if you prefer it that way. I always go here after a night of clubbing or around the area late nite.

    (4)

  • Eric R.

    Like others have said, the dim sum at Purple Dot is loaded with MSG and sodium, but it's still pretty damn good every once in a while. To me, the best things they have are their honey mustard shrimp and the lemon custard kinda thing. But really, everything is at least pretty good, if not delicious. The atmosphere is also pretty cool, and the service is good. Little Chinese women run up to your table with carts throughout your meal and ask if you want this or that. It's fun. Recommended if you're in the area and want an affordable meal with a lot of variety.

    (3)

  • Rachel M.

    Stopped in here for lunch after some shopping at Uwajimaya for some Dim Sum. I was not impressed by the quality of the dim sum or the selection. They had one little cart, for a fairly busy Sunday afternoon. It was obvious we were being offered the leftovers: chicken feet, beef stomach, and congealed mystery dumplings. The "vegetarian" dim sum we were offered had been dyed with blue/green food coloring, and was stuffed with shrimp- not vegetarian! I ordered the vegetarian noodle soup from the menu which featured dirty bok choy stems and other kitchen scrap vegetables, and beef broth. More non-vegetarian, vegetarian food. The waitresses hardly spoke English. No tea refill, even though we killed the pot. I asked for an extra napkins, which never came. Over priced. Dirty. Lazy service. Bad food. How is this place even open? Can someone please tell me where the good dim sum is in this town? P.S. I had a stomach-ache for almost 2 days after eating here. Ugh.

    (1)

  • Marie S.

    FIVE STARS! YES that's what I said FIVE STARS! Is it the quality? The service? The authenticity? NOPE, NONE OF THE ABOVE. It's the experience! Around 2 am on Friday and Saturday nights, dozens and dozens of sloppy drunk people lacking the good sense to call it a night CONVERGE at this one spot. After witnessing a scene in which a very angry (and probably very drunk) female sucker-punched a guy square in the face, I knew this was a place of legend. You know that Garth Brooks song, "I got friends in low places"? Well were Garth Brooks an alcoholic Asian American from Seattle, he'd totally be talking about the Purple Dot. Only instead of drowning your blues away with whiskey and beer, make it tea and noodles. (and yeah, it's cheap)

    (5)

  • Trang M.

    Seriously? We walked in and it wasn't as crowded...fast forward to 15 minutes later, with the Mr and I sipping tea, waiting for someone to take our order. Tried flagging people down, and nope, no luck. There were people that came in 5 minutes after us, had their orders, and food out before anyone had noticed us. We were about to just walk out when the guy came and rushed to take our order. . The Mr's food wasn't what he expected. My lo mein was mediocre at best. We walked in on the whim, and the Mr wanted to try PDot. I guess the wait left a bad taste in our mouth, and the food was meh. I seriously could of crocheted a sock for you with the wait..and I am sloooow, and really don't crochet! I guess this seems to be the theme....another table that sat by us, had their chicken wings forgotten. Another had a their drinks forgotten. Another table had to go up the counter to order. Maybe next time we'll come in after a nice long evening of drinking, because I don't see myself coming here while sober.

    (2)

  • Alix H.

    Rating is based on the Lunch Dim Sum that I had today. OMG YUM! Terrific ingredients (uses of herbs and spices in the shrimp dumplings were extraordinary). Not greasy and very flavorful dim sum items. We even special ordered the beef tendons. SOOOOOOOO NOM. I can eat 2 plates of this by myself. It's clean and has modern decore. The staff is very friendly and speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin. I will definitely go back!

    (4)

  • Josh E.

    We've searched, but my wife and I have not found a better tasting dim sum place than Purple Dot Café. Their chili sauce is the best and the food is always hot and fresh. I love the shrimp dishes they have here as well as their sesame balls! I feel that their customer service could be better since I never see any of the waitors or waitresses smiling. But as far as taste goes, they win the prize.

    (4)

  • Derrick V.

    Cool late night spot for HK eats. I liked my won ton beef brisket noodle soup and had a taste of the baked spaghetti. Definitely comfort food when you need it. The salt and pepper fried items looked good too.

    (4)

  • David L.

    Went here tonight. Good Chinese food. Nothing special, nothing horrible. Extremely diverse menu items (Hong Kong style). Beware: this place is a zoo on the weekend after 1 a.m. or so. I'd recommend: Japanese Braised Tofu, Baked Spaghetti or their French Toast (if you're craving something sweeter).

    (3)

  • Shari d.

    I have been here a few times and each time I went the quality went from decent, to eh...OK, to bad. I don't know why some people rate Purple Dot so highly...I mean the food doesn't even taste that good unless you consider salt and MSG good. (And if that is you...oh I feel SO bad for you and your past food experiences.) The menu has your typical Asian food...I do say Asian because they advertise dishes other than just Chinese on their menu. Items ranging from Won Ton Noodle Soup to Pork Cutlet with Spaghetti. While you might not think Pork Cutlet with Spaghetti is Asian...well, you will if you ever eat it here. Yes...I said Asian. The first time I went I ordered a noodle soup dish and it was salty and had way TOO much MSG. Noodles were not cooked correctly but it was OK...but I could have thought it was decent because I was mildly drunk. The 2nd time I went I was with my sister who is a vegetarian. We asked if the tofu was vegetarian and the waitress said yes. As my sister took a bite we found it was stuffed with shrimp?!?!?! The 3rd and final time I went for dim sum. I got there late and there was a sad selection of mildly warm food. The cart came once and we only got 1 order of shumai as that was the only thing that looked OK. One bite and we found that it was cold...we asked them to reheat it and it came back less than a minute later boiling hot...because they freakin microwaved it. No...don't go through the trouble of getting me a fresh one or telling me I have to wait a few minutes while they re-steam it...no they decided to be lazy and microwave it. Then while waiting for another cart to pass the waitress comes by and curtly states, "Are you done now?" Sure...I only came to your restaurant to eat one dish of dim sum. Purple Dot I gave you 3 chances and you failed miserably. Luckily it would appear there are plenty of people who like your horrible food so you won't miss me at all.

    (1)

  • Justina S.

    This spot is a great place if you want to see a fight. Food is bad, service sucks, and the food ... I've had better. They over load there salt and pepper squid with alot of MSG . And for someone to ratethis a 5star, you are out of your mind. This place is GHETTO

    (2)

  • Chris B.

    Can you say MSG? Just saw a 50 lb bag roll in on a dolly.

    (2)

  • Jordan S.

    This place is great to come to after a night of drinking. Slide into a table, drink a ton of tea and eat food. It's open late and has a full menu even towards closing. I like the hot pot and congee. But any of the noodle soups my friends have had get good reviews.

    (4)

  • Andrew E.

    Awesome congee, BOSS garlic wings. And I hate french toast, but theirs made me turn back.

    (5)

  • Star L.

    TERRIBLE service! I mean, just god awful! When we went, a table sat after us and they got drinks immediately, ordered, and received their food even before we got a basic acknowledgment. It became almost comical! We even tried to POLITELY ask for even our first drink order and everyone looked at us and ignored us. I'm 29 and have never experienced such ridiculously bad service. When we finally did order they guy walked away while were were in the middle of ordering! SERIOUSLY! Our food came out at MUCH different times and our drinks came when we were half way through. It was such a joke. The food was mediocre at best, we should have just walked out, but it was mind blowing! Told our friends about it and those that have been there laughed and said it's kind of known for an overall garbage experience.

    (1)

  • Vas S.

    Decent place for Dim Sum, and if you know Hong Kong faire, this is the place for you. They even have good French toast and other stuff you'd expect in a similar place in HK.

    (4)

  • Swandi M.

    I usually go there during quiet hours (e.g. 10:30am on weekdays), as it doesn't have tons of people, so the service is pretty good. On weekdays, after 11am, try out their lunch special (they are in different menu, you might need to ask the server). For $7.00 (actually is about $6.xx), you get a bowl of soup plus the main course (they have about 7-8 items on the menu for you to pick one). The portion is in good size as well. Also, check out the Dim Sum. My friend and I both like the giant Shrimp Dumpling as the Shrimp is so chewy.

    (4)

  • Lisa L.

    Food is edible, but I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. Most of everything such as the restaurant and the food is pretty much Americanized and targeted towards the younger crowd. I'd rather have dinner somewhere more peaceful that has better food for the same or cheaper price.

    (2)

  • Jessica S.

    Had Purple Dot ... may I say LATE NIGHT dinning at that... Well went here with family and Servers all I can is straight to the point not really welcoming but hell the food was fresh and yummy... May I say the FRied Chicken WOWizzer reminded me of Cali Chinese food :) but anywhoo food was good service was fine even though not so friendly but heck cant complain they always checked on us and never rushed us.. So I liked this place YUMMIERS!!!!

    (4)

  • jon M.

    Chinese food with an identity crisis! Russian Borsh!?! Wha?.... Spagetti? huh?....French toast?! Are you serious? But all in all I like this place. Came in on a late sunday nite and ordered a big bowl of shrimp wonton with noddles - GRUB and $6. Watch Chinese soup operas with a few workers and did a little studyin'. Probably the third time I've been there and was pleased each time. Not blown away but pleasantly pleased.

    (4)

  • SP A.

    Hm.. I may have a low standard of dimsum? Why the review for this place is so low? I think this place is good. Not the best! But I think it's good. We never waited and the service was alright. The dimsum was good and the noodle dish was ok too. I thought their scallop dimsum was really good. Plus, you can find seats anytime!!!

    (4)

  • Lc C.

    Where the drunken hot girls come after clubbin. A hundred dolla bill, look at chu look at chu... yea I saw it. We love these hoes. The food? Oh yea the food.. its gooood.. get the iron skillet steaks. SUPER FIRE!!! Holds a special place in my heart.. the hoes..

    (3)

  • Julie V.

    We've been here three times now (during dim sum, before 1pm) and we've always been treated wonderfully... We've been seated quickly, a dim sum cart is next to our table within 30 seconds, and the service is very attentive. The food itself is delicious, by far the best dim sum place we've been to yet in the Seattle area. We ate so much we could barely walk, all for under $20. Can't go wrong.

    (5)

  • Melissa N.

    best place to eat after a night on the town. My order goes like this: Baked Spaghetti Honey Garlic Spareribs Yang Chow Fried Rice Mongolian Beef Pea Pod Vines Cajun Chicken Wings Please can I have my fried rice first.... For some reason it always comes out last. That order is usually for three chicks. Yes we are fatties but hey who cares like I said you can never order too much. They always look at us funny but we usually kill it all. I love this place for late night eats cuz it really hits the spot after a few drinks. What I don't like is that they raised their prices and even switched out their menus for late night diners. Dont think I didn't notice cuz I did!!! Plus everyone has to be in the front to split the check which is stupid. But all in all I will keep coming back because their baked spaghetti is superb and soo is the honey garlic spareribs.. Get your late night cravings here because I think it taste better than denny's coming up hahahaha

    (4)

  • Allan L.

    Typical chinese restaurant. It's good if you're drunk at 2am and want somewhere to eat and socalize. I like the tendon and beef brisket or black pepper spaghetti steak.

    (3)

  • Yusuf P.

    I always come here with friends for late dinner, if not there is always dennys. Place is alright, crowded if its club times is over. Everytime we go here, the service always poor, most of the restaurant in china town has poor service anyway. Now we talking about the fooddd.. Food is good, my favorite is the cajun chicken wings, the crunchy fried tofu, and the salted fish fried rice. The spicy sauce on the container in the table is good, but too much oil. But remember dont eat too much there cause they used alot MSG on the food, and it's visible if you look closely. Good: - They have big round table for groups. - Food is fast but is one at time. - Food is cheap Bad: - You can have the same service as you go to cheese cake or olive garden. - You can actually see and taste the MSG. - Watch out for throw up person when is after club dinner time. - Parking when is busy time.

    (4)

  • Long N.

    First of all, don't hate on the Purple Dot. Yall know yall love it. Drunkies. No matter what people say about this place. "Oh its so trashy." "Oh, all those drunk people." "Oh, its just bad Chinese food." We've all eaten here and we all have a favorite dish. First let me say its not the most authentic or classy of places, but it does the job. Highlights: Salt and pepper squid Honey garlic fried spare ribs Salt cod fried rice Fried chicken wings Baked spaghetti The perfect drunk food. Or the perfect chinese that will cure that fat attack.

    (3)

  • Annie J.

    For late night food Purple Dot might hit the spot. For lunch however, it's a different story. If you want something other than dim sum be prepared to wait. We were seated immediately but it took a while to get menus and then even longer for someone to take our order. Then there was the wait for food. Then for the bill. It shouldn't take an hour and half for lunch. The food itself itself was okay. Nothing to write home about for sure. I had one of the soups and it was very bland. No one seemed that impressed by the food or the service. There are many other better lunch places in the ID.

    (2)

  • Beth E.

    I was pleasantly surprised with the food here. We ordered egg rolls and honey walnut shrimp. It was nothing like what I ate in Northern China but still delicious. The service was pretty bad -- as in they forgot our rice we ordered -- and the tea was nasty. Much better than most places I've gone late at night, though.

    (3)

  • Mary M.

    This review is based on my visit last night. So we got here at 2am after the club. Table of 4. We got our menus and I went to the bathroom. Came back 5 mins later and asked if someone came to take our order yet. At that same time, a hot n sour soup came out. Then the baked spaghetti, honey walnut prawns and chicken wings! What!!!! They ordered food and it was made and came out in the time I was in the bathroom. Perfect since I was starving. And props to Purple Dot for prepping for the late night club rush! So if you ever super hungry and want good food fast late at night... EAT HERE!!!

    (5)

  • John H.

    This restaurant has been around for more than 10 years and it doesn't seem like they've cleaned the carpet or the restaurant since then because this place is full of old restaurant smell. And the owner and one of the waitresses are two of the rudest people I've ever met but that's par for the course in Chinatown. The last time I was there the owner snatched a menu from a guy who was reading it because he was looking at the wrong side. Well, why do I eat there? I eat there because there aren't many other decent places in C-town which aren't dirtier. When you eat in Seattle C-town, you're eating in 1970's Asia together with the attitude because Seattle doesn't have enough panache to attract new restaurant money like Vancouver, SF or LA does. The dim-sum is pretty good and the most important thing is that you can always get a place here. Jade Garden has a line that's always 2 hours long and I don't see that Jade Garden has food that is 2 hours long better. The only problem is that the dim-sum here doesn't have much variety, but at least you get the regular stuff. And the great thing is apart from that, you can order HK style western food here like spaghetti and French toast, and HK street food here like wonton noodles and congee, all of which are pretty good. So despite the rude service and smell (which any seasoned traveler can deal with), you can get 3 types of food here, which are all decent. To be honest, I eat here quite a lot. This whole review has been somewhat of a backhanded compliment, but that's what most Chinese food is like here in Seattle.

    (4)

  • Mel N.

    Came in at 1am, the staff was friendly and the service was as quick as you could get for a late night restaurant with people coming from all sorts of places. The food quality was just alright, nothing fantastic and there are many other late night restaurants I think I would rather go to, although their prices are very cheap and affordable compared to some of the other late night restaurants. I had the Wonton lo mein, which is basically noodles and wontons with a bowl of soup on the side if you don't like your noodles soaked in the soup. The egg noodles were terrible, I could still taste the powder they usually have on it and the soup itself was not sweet or anything but rather strongly tasted like the noodle powder of the egg noodles. the WONTON'S though were absolutely amazing and salvaged the meal. I also had the "Passionate Love" tea drink, which was very refreshing with milk and even fresh cut strawberries instead of boba, would definitely order again! The servers also did not give us our check after waiting for about 10-15mn, so we ended up having to go up to the cashier ourselves, but can't really blame them since it gets quite busy late at night.

    (3)

  • brian b.

    went here on a friday night and the server stuck my group of friends in a corner away from the cool kids, i guess we were an eyesore I havent tried anything else but the steaks, but i saw my friend order something else... didnt look as appetizing drunk people are amazing but harassing crackheads not so much, also the occasional emotionally damaged guy in the corner puking surrounded by friends kinda ruins the appetite

    (3)

  • Wayne R.

    Came here for dinner for my first time and it was great. Had alot of friends recommend this place so I was expecting the world. I almost got it...hehehehe I'll definitely be coming back for more!

    (4)

  • Trang P.

    Food was okay. My party ordered the spicy udon, bbq fried rice, baked seafood and the house special chow mien. Our total came to $36.00. I was okay with that. However, I was NOT okay with the lady who refused to split my bill. I could understand if the tab was $12 bucks and we wanted to pay $6 each.. but $18.00 a piece is feasible. I would have even agreed to paying the .75 cent convenience charge had I been given the option. Heck, she wouldn't even let me pay for what I had ordered. I just don't understand because this has NEVER been an issue in the past. I disagree w/ Purple Dot Cafe work ethics. Especially when they change the menus on Friday - Sunday night to up their food prices because everyone is too drunk to notice the changes. If you want greasy Chinese food, for less the price, and friendlier service go to Jade Garden or Harbour City.

    (1)

  • Tanya S.

    3 stars, mainly for the late night Chinese food craving fulfillment over many years. Come here on any Friday or Saturday and I guarantee you'll see hoards of club goers, getting their 2 am chow fun after the bars close. Family style is the only way to go and with a group of friends, you can easily be full for under $10 each. Fried chicken, salted fish fried rice, honey walnut prawns, beef chow fun are all standard here and come within minutes, even if the restaurant is filled to capacity. Came here once for dim sum though and honestly, not impressed. Two stars for dim sum. The portions were huge and not very quality. If I can't find a shu mai inside my mouth in one bite, that is not proper dim sum. Variety was just so-so, but it was cheap so at least the quality reflected the price. I think I'll probably stick to Purple Dot for my late night cravings and fulfill my dim sum cravings elsewhere.

    (3)

  • Bryan S.

    I think the only reason this place is still open is because its open after 2am for all of the clubbers. For a sober person, this place was kinda nasty. The tables and chairs just didn't seem too clean and the bathroom sure wasn't. The food was okay, but what can you really expect from a Chinese place that also serves spaghetti and fried chicken? The spaghetti was okay for a Chinese place and the fried chicken was incredibly salty. It was also not completely cooked. I also had the chicken fried rice, which was the best of everything, but still not very good. In the end, I was full, but definitely not with a satisfied feeling that you get when you eat something real good.

    (2)

  • Tiffany B.

    Yay for late night eats! Every time I go, I'm always surprised how extensive the menu is. But sadly, I don't take advantage of it. I usually end up ordering something ordinary. One of these days I'll have to order something more exciting...

    (3)

  • Naveed N.

    Not the best, but lets be honest.. its good for sure.. I know there are some haters who say purple dot is for the noobs and white people.. but I know the difference and still think its quite good! Perfect for a late night snack with a big group, service is hit or miss, but their pretty fast and good at splitting up the bill. Seafood and some crunchy chowmein please!

    (4)

  • Matt R.

    I went here on Thanksgiving day and got stuck into some dim sum. it was pretty tasty and SUPER cheap. Food was good- we were the only white people in the place and that's generally a good sign for authenticity. Not sure if I'll be back in hurry though- there are lots of others nearby to try,

    (3)

  • Victoria T.

    One star for being open late. One star for NOT being Jack in the Box. The conversation filtering over from the next table was just illuminating. It's great to know that my life is not nearly as tedious as it could be. Thanks for the perspective, loser. Tried the Mongolian Beef. Blah.

    (2)

  • Faye A.

    Purple Dot Cafe is the place to be when you crave good chinese food in the middle of the night! It is hard to find parking especially on weekends though but it is really worth it. The waiters are always attentive and I get good service everytime I come here. I have tried their french toast, wonton and beef brisket noodle soup, honey walnut prawns, nasi goreng, spicy mongolian beef and steak black pepper sauce with rice. YUMMYLICIOUS! I am going back and try their bubbletea or other cold drinks and pancake with banana next time!

    (4)

  • Patricia C.

    Ok. Bottom line... The service here is horrible! Initially, my friends and I were headed to Mike's Noodle House but it was crazy packed and we didn't want to wait because we were starving so we settled for something familiar nearby. First, I realized we didn't even have an assigned server to our section, 3-4 different waitresses had to serve our table and NONE OF THEM were personable!! They were all RUDE! This Dora looking server came up to a table next to us that has been waiting as long as us to get served and goes, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" Uhhh.. Really? When we asked for extra napkins, forks, and water they would just stare and walk away!! EW. Like whoever the owner is need to do something about this place! YES! I get it your business is busy but there are plenty of businesses that are just as busy and give utmost customer service! We had to wait the longest to get served dim sum because they only had 2 carts (1 hot 1 cold) on the floor. The long wait ruined my appetite. I was really disappointed. Purple Dot needs to get it together!! Nonetheless, with the poor service I ordered the Fish Ball Soup and it was really good!

    (1)

  • Joyce J.

    I went here for dim sum. The overall ambiance and the quality of food is better than Jade Garden. The dim sum is less heavy in flavors. The shau mai was huge and so was the fa gao. I prefer more delicate dim sum, but I suppose you have to go to Vancouver for that. The place was still packed closed to 3 on Saturday. So if you just want to have some place to chill in the afternoon, I suppose this is a nice place.

    (3)

  • Nick C.

    If you love MSG then Purple Dot is perfect for you. It's great that they serve dim sum as well in addition to their original menu but that's also filled with MSG. I also came by one time cuz I needed some change to park my car and asked the worker there if they could help me exchange my dollar bill, but the lady was such an asshole about it I haven't been here since. I'd say the only good about Purple Dot is the price as it's not too expensive, but you can get better tasting food around Chinatown at around the same price anyways so there's really no need to eat here.

    (2)

  • Daren D.

    Good japanese-style(?) S&P Tofu for take-out late. Pretty mellow and read a paper while waiting... I didn't waste time reading the whole menu... those are precious 3 minutes.

    (4)

  • Gavin N.

    So I was on the search for Dim Sum yesterday and for some reason I decided why not try a new place, even though I absolutely love Harbor City. Anyway I saw Purple Dot Cafe and remembered hearing people talk about it, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Walked in, wow kind of a cool trendy looking Dim Sum place. They are pushing carts of fresh Dim Sum around, the place wasn't full of white people. Probably decent right? Anyway I stand in front of the door (even though the restaurant is only half busy and many servers buzzing by me, as well the manager is currently ringing up someone else but does see me standing there alone) for like 5 minutes before a server finally seats me. About three times I debated walking out, that's probably three times too many. I finally sit, they ask me for tea or water, I ask for both. Then the waiting game continues. I sit for like an enternity wondering if any cart lady will come by to give me some DAMN DIM SUM. I ask the server for my tea that she forgot, and she gives me a real sh*t look, which makes me think I have *special* tea coming my way. I finally get some Dim Sum what feels like an eternity later. Dim Sum was actually pretty good. Shumai and Hagao were plump and juicy, very fresh, practically burned my damn tongue, but I was hungry. Pai Gwat can be found better somewhere else. The Lo Ba Goa had a nice fried crunchy exterior, compared to other places. I liked it. Then I got the bill...four Dim Sum items for almost $15?!? I didn't even order any ala carte menu items...WTF?!? Oh, but they were very nice and quick when it came time for ringing up my credit card right? I don't expect great service at Chinese restaurants, but this place was just terrible. The food was good, but the price makes it totally not worth it. When I left I just remembered why I do not visit trendy looking Chinese restaurants. ~G

    (1)

  • Yumiko K.

    Purple Dot is my favourite dim sum restaurant. The food is *usually* pretty good, meaning that if it is not your lucky day, it can be subpar... I love their stir-fried fat noodles (from the regular menu), congee, and shrimp dumplings with chives or cilantro. I also like the hot sauce they have on the tables. All in all, Purple Dot is a good place to go get something to eat early in the morning or late at night. * I do not recommend what they call "Japanese ramen" on the menu as it is just an ordinary package of instant noodles cooked and served in an extremely boring manner.

    (4)

  • Sharon C.

    To simply put it. This is the best place to be when you're out drunk with friends. The food is amazing and the prices are legit per dish. It can get rowdy and loud at times but let's face it, you won't really notice it unless you're sober!

    (4)

  • Joey M.

    Setting the scene: It's Christmas Eve. My mouth is asking me "where's the asian food good sir?" I reply "Oh it's coming." My beautiful lady and I sat down and prepared for a festive feast. We ordered the Lover's Rice (having no idea what that actually was....and we'll never know now....because the food...never..came!). While patiently waiting for our food, we drank some hot tea. Free tea! (hence the 1 star) We watched as more and more people entered and got their food before we even got out appetizers....which...again...never...came! Very sad.

    (1)

  • Sara F.

    I've only been here for late night weekend meals (aka post-alcohol consumption), and there's a lot of factors I like about it. However, for some reason, it's not a place I yearn to return. Parking situation is easy--granted, it's located in the middle of industrial NOWHERE, but it was nice not to have to walk a mile. We're usually seated right away, even with 6 people. The atmosphere is bright; white and purple (obviously) and other shiny colors. The food is family-style, which is helpful if your group wants to try a little of everything. My (expert) friends had us order the prawns (supposedly the best thing on the menu), general tsao's chicken, fried rice, the sweet/sour soup, and beef with broccoli. A lot of the food was TOO spicy--the beef and chicken left a hot taste on your tongue. Not necessarily favoring that. Service was quite good--accommodating, well-dressed and fast. SO here's where I felt a bit uncomfortable... I'm just going to come out and say it. If you're not Asian, get ready to feel outnumbered big time. And normally, that wouldn't bother me whatsoever, I'm a girl who loves culture (come on, I'm from SPANAWAY)--except normally I don't walk into a restaurant with Asian friends and patrons literally STAND from their tables and say "White girl! White girl!" Then others say, "where's the white girl?" and my friends love pointing and laughing. I laugh too, but inside I want to hide behind the soup bowl. It's even worse when the few white guys in the establishment lock eyes with me, smile, throw a little thumbs up or whatever. Are you kidding me??? Is it that rare? However I do want to mention the group of people eating nearby are always friendly and talkative. Even this is not a deal breaker; I would definitely still go here--but 3 stars also because it's too bright and feels cold for some reason, sort of like a hospital. They should seriously dim the restaurant and it'd be 1,000 times better. (Haha... in addition, maybe it wouldn't be so obvious I am white.)

    (3)

  • Gene D.

    If you understand what Crunk is, Purple Dot is for you! At 2:30 AM with the last of your bottle of Courvoisier with sides consumed and the tab closed out, it's time to caravan the crew over here for the Salt & Pepper shrimp, hot & sour soup, with whole Peking Duck. At this stage of your night, nobody rates the food, we're starving! But the best is yet to come, especially on weekends. The promoters, the hotties, the bangers, the goths, the mods, Mr. & Mrs. Howell, everybody is in the house. And it is the best of times. One night, I had to lift a few plates off the table so they didn't fall over, as a huge Yakuza style fight broke out near the front, during a giant dinner rush. Suited and booted gangstas spilled onto the sidewalk and it became performance art. I fell in love with Purple Dot at that exact moment! If you become a regular, a table is always waiting for you, doesn't matter what crowd control is like. It'll take about 15 visits, but worth being adopted by the family, especially if you're crawling out of Tabella, Twist or other places on the Mayor's hit list, and hot dogs or Dick's hamburgers just won't do. VIP is not important until the night you get on the list and are waiting 30 minutes, as we vampires slide on through the front desk to get our Broccoli Beef hyphy on. Of course there is better food across the street, so what. We go there too. But for Ghetto Fabulous? While you sleep the Night People are being epic at Purple Dot, baybee.

    (5)

  • Alex U.

    I hate to give a negative review but my experience here was comically tragic. Nothing went right the moment we walked into the restaurant, like we were in an SNL skit about bad service and rude people. First off, I'm Chinese, and am very familiar with Chinese restaurants and how things are run. Yes, a language barrier is sometimes an issue, and sometimes cultural differences don't translate well in a busy environment. Regardless of the reason, I have never encountered worse service, even in the depths of Chinatown in NY or in the slums of Hong Kong. The servers seemed to be bothered by us from the beginning, and rushed us through our order. The good part was that they got our food out quickly (within 5 minutes). The bad part was that the food was not good at all. They got two of our orders wrong, then the waitress scolded us and asked us if we thought she was lying. The pork with crispy noodles was decent, but 1 in 6 dishes being decent is not a good statistic. On top of everything, the tea smelled TERRIBLE. It reeked of a mix between tofu and sewer water. When I asked if we could have a new pot of another type of tea (bo-lei, jasmine, etc) the waitress said she would charge each of us a tea surcharge if we wanted a new pot of tea. Grumbling, I slunk into my seat and reluctantly drank that garbage (partially cause they never gave us waters even though we asked for it). This was my first Chinese restaurant in Seattle, and I was greatly disappointed. I just moved here and was excited to try restaurants in the International District. Do not go here unless you are blackout drunk and do not care what you put into your mouth.

    (1)

  • Calvin Y.

    I came in for a late bite and we got the French Toast, Club Sandwich, Lo Mein, and Century Egg and Pork Congee. Everything sucked. EXCEPT THE FRENCH TOAST. I know, shocking right? The French toast is made with thicker bread, which is always good. But also, they put a layer of coconut jam in between the slices of bread. The coconut jam provides that extra something that sets it apart from other places. When the syrup is drizzled on top, it is heaven! Who knew, I'd find one of the better French toast I've ever had.... at a Chinese restaurant? I'm sure if I had a few drinks before dinner (like the rest of the patrons here that night), everything would be amazing. But since I was sober, everything was less than mediocre EXCEPT THE FRENCH TOAST. French Toast = 5, Everything else = 2, Service = Alright.

    (3)

  • R E.

    Terrific food at a good price! My daughter loves it all!

    (5)

  • Jamin H.

    I never come here out of my own will. Always after a drunken night. Food is excellent, but the owner (this grumpy looking old lady) and I think her unemployed son are extremely rude. One time I asked if we could split the bill and the son (i think) was giving me attitude and mentioned something about grabbing his zip ties in the back and hand cuffing me if I had to split the check anymore (granted it was probably a party of at least 10). In reaction I promptly declared he bring those zip ties out and put his money where his mouth was. Yes, i understand that hoards (sp?) of drunk people at 3 am is not fun, but come on. This is the majority of your customer base.

    (1)

  • H.V. P.

    Me and my girlfriend was here at 9pm last wednesday because Mike's Noodle house was closed and so was Pacific Cafe Hong Kong Kitchen. We sat down and waited almost 10 mintues for the waitress to come and take our order. My girlfriend ordered the Diced Chicken with vegetables and I had the Wonton and beef brisket noodle soup. My girlfriend asked if rice came with her order and to waitress nodded and then walked away. The diced chicken was very good. The they were diced very small--about the size of half a DOTS candy. As for the noodle soup, the brisket had too much fat and not enough meat. The wonton wasn't as good compared to Mike's noodle house. however, i do like their broth. When we were done, we had to wave down the waitress to get our check. Turns out we had to pay 2.00 for rice....not very happy since we were told it came with the chicken. The entire meal came to about $19. Again, we had to wave down the waitress. Overall, the service was really bad. I recommend the diced chicken with vegetables, but would not recommend the beef brisket and wonton noodle soup. I think this place is mainly geared towards people who just came from clubbing and are drunk and hungry.

    (2)

  • So-Ying C.

    Likes: 1) opens late during the weekends. The place to grab food after the clubbing at Belltown, very convenient. 2) Awesome lunch specials, there's about 10+ options to choose from and only costs $6.99 Dislikes: 1) service is not the best, especially when you're sitting on the bar side. 2) Doesn't have that much dim sum variety. 3) Overpriced dim sum, had better tasting ones with more reasonable price.

    (3)

  • Patrick L.

    Ahhh...Purple Dot...so many memories lol. Some good and some not so much. The food here is pretty decent, the menu is exceptionally lengthy, and prices are good. Most of my visits here have been, sadly, afterhours and it is a real shitshow. Stopped going here years ago, and have only been back a couple times since. Can't really bring myself to eat here during the day, as I just can't help seeing it as a late night 4th meal kinda spot.

    (3)

  • Victoria C.

    This is one the few places in Seattle open after bars close, so it's a great place to go to after a night of shenanigans. 1. The food comes amazingly fast no matter how packed the place is (although, that could mean the food's been sitting out under a warmer forever and a day). 2. Prices are low. $5-9 for decent sized snacks/plates. 3. Huge menu of things to pick from. Entrees, soups, snacks, bubble tea, etc. So many options! Only downside--I've gone there in the past and they ran out of more than one item on the menu that I wanted.

    (3)

  • Sandy H.

    Yummy yummy in my tummy. Large portions at a good price. Can't go wrong with a bowl of corn soup with a sizzling plate of your choice meat and sauce!

    (5)

  • Ron R.

    I love to this place for dim sum in the international district and I've tried them all.

    (5)

  • Sophia L.

    The food is a bit overpriced and is just okay. But when I'm drunk after coming from the bar, the food is delicious. HA!

    (3)

  • Matt N.

    I came here on a Sunday evening with a group of friends. It was a group of 7 people and we ordered about 6 different dishes. We first had the congee which is the porridge with the pork and persevered egg. This is one of my favorite types of porridges. They added some that looked like crunchy corn flakes to the top of the dish. Dish #2 was the spicy fried chicken wings which were also tasty, they weren't that spicy, but they had a lot of pepers and garlic next to it which gave it a lot of flavor. It's finger licking good Dish #3 Beef chao fun. The fat noodles with beef. Again another one of my favorites, well made and tasty. The noodles had good flavor and the beef was not overly done/dry. Dish #4 Shrimp fried rice. Nothing special here about this dish, but it was something we decided to go with because we didn't want to just order plain white rice, why not go with some style. Dish #5 Spicy Scallops. I think this was one of the first dishes to get eaten up right away. A group favorite if you like seafood and scallops. The scallops seemed really fresh and had a good texture and flavor to them. Dish #6 Buddha delight. With all the dishes we were getting we had to get some veggies in there. Being a meat eater, I don't remember what was special about the dish, but it was also another dishes that went quickly. The service wasn't bad, we did get some soup spoons that had some gunk on it, but they were good about swapping out the spoons for us With the gratuity at 18%, We ended up paying about $11 per person, which I think is pretty good considering how much food we had.

    (4)

  • Steven K.

    Waiters were unprofessional and didn't seem to care. Food flew out of his mouth while taking our order. They screwed up our order twice. Thank goodness that they are so disorganized that they forgot to charge us on one of their items. Food quality was also mediocre at best. Gailan was overcooked. Honey Walnut prawns were soft and overly covered in mayo. It seemed like they threw everything into the fish maw soup, including pieces of crab shell. This is the first review I've ever done, only because I feel so strongly about it. For pete's sake, I feel like I have a hangover this morning from the food last night, as do all my friends, AND we didn't have a single drink... Maybe I would have felt differently of I were drunk like their other clientele.

    (1)

  • Ray I.

    This review is JUST FOR DIMSUM. Selection is limited...the quality isn't that great either. The service wasn't that good too...The lady pushing the dim sum cart wasn't very helpful in showing me what selection she had and was hard to catch at times... I haven't had the chance to come here to review the food during the infamous late-night hours, but I will soon! I've heard good things about their french toast, chow mein, and baked spaghetti

    (2)

  • Jennifer C.

    I only have a couple things to say about this place... 1. I HATE THIS PLACE. 2. THEIR FOOD IS DISGUSTING. 3. I'VE HAD BETTER CHINESE FOOD IN A GARBAGE CAN IN CHINATOWN. 4. their bathrooms stink, and when i took a peek at the kitchen i saw a cook pick his nose and then go back to handling the shrimp. You know that Honey Walnut prawn stuff? yeah. watch out when you eat it. There might be boogers in there, it's impossible for me to eat that dish anymore, it used to be my favorite... now whenever i look at it, it's like "HALEEEE NAWWWH GURRRL" I get the chills. -.-

    (1)

  • Vince N.

    "Not real food, it's just not real!" Not sure why people eat here. The service is the worst you will find anywhere, and the food is mild at its best. Good luck getting a fill up on water, heck, you'll be even lucky to get your food before it is cold. The most redeeming thing on the menu is the Malay fried rice with an egg on top. Other than that, it's more often a miss than hit with anything else on the menu. I never thought being open till 2a.m. was a defining factor in whether a restaurant was good or not. The smokers in front, and sometimes the smoker inside, lack of street parking and homeless folk out front all provide for a wonderful experience. Sorry club kids this place isn't good, it's not even remotely good. You'd have a better chance of food and some service at Honey Court across the street.

    (1)

  • Janet T.

    PUUUUUUURPLE DOT! Oh how I miss this place! It looked and tasted exactly as how I left it...nothings changed one bit aside from the waiters. Who doesn't go to PDOT "referred by the clubbers in Seattle". Where do we meet after the bar/club at 2:30-3AM in the morning?! Purple Dot! This was the place to be and the place to be seen after a night of drinking. The food always hit the spot after a night of debachery! The dishes to get and not to be missed are the baked spaghetti - ahhh what, you may ask?! Yep people, the baked spaghetti from a hong kong/chinese cafe at 2AM is the bomb! Also don't forget the salt and pepper chicken wings, the seafood cream soup with a baked phyllo dough on top (although the phyllo wasn't too good when I was there last weekend). Yummy salted fish fried rice and anything that your stomach can take down. *Sigh* Oh how I miss this place.....

    (4)

  • Paul B.

    It's not a bad place to eat. I don't know what everyone is talking about. Probably the staple of late-night dining in the International District. Come after midnight and expect to be bombarded with drunken fury.

    (4)

  • Ron E.

    I was told this place was an after-hours spot. Somewhat lied to, but not really. It technically is an after-hours spot, but for eating, not necessarily for drinking. A group of friends and I hoofed it here after the bar thinking a a few blocks couldn't hurt anyone. After a handful of drinks, it seemed like a wise idea. Not a wise choice, but a good choice nonetheless. The eatery was packed, literally standing room only. A twenty minute wait felt like an eternity in my drunken state. People outside were friendly (as was ALL of Seattle) and even the large security guard was tolerant of my constant inquiries regarding our table. Let it be known now, I am a certified idiot when I'm drunk. After a solid wait, we were seated between multiple Asian thugs and gangs, pleasantries exchanged all around and everyone here for the same reason - food. I don't remember what we had save for the orange chicken, baked spaghetti and rice. I think there was an order of honey walnut shrimp, but I can't confirm that. Everything tasted wonderfully loaded with MSG. No hate here. Service was great. Our waitress was more than gracious and the security guard performed wonderfully when escorting out a rambunctious group of 20 out the door, pepper spray in hand. A great place to stumble upon after the bars and whatnot, just be cautious of the local community that lurk within the shadows and certified wankstas.

    (4)

  • Denise L.

    Purple Dot is the place to be! ...if you want to 1) Wait a while to order and receive your food 2) witness a fight/arrest on the street 3) get locked in because there's a fight outside 4) be surrounded with young, drunk Asians. Sadly, I am not even exaggerating. Since this place is open very, very late, thus making it popular for people who have drunk-chies or munchies, most customers have to wait a while before being seated. You will normally find girls stumbling in and out of this place after a night of drinking (Girls: this is not attractive. Please refrain from copying late-night-International District-roamers' actions). I've been here a few times (my friends chose this place, and I had no control over deciding), and there have been two incidents where we have heard gunshots right outside the restaurant and had been locked inside while the police investigated the place. The food is okay; it is definitely not the best Chinese food you would like to scarf down when you are looking for a good place to eat. Usually, it's quality over quantity, but with Purple Dot, that is definitely not the case. They can't even deliver the quantity part either! The dishes are small, and the food is mediocre. NOTE: If a Chinese restaurant is willing to sell more than just Chinese food, AKA steak, fries, and gravy, I suggest this is not a good candidate to feed on good Chinese food. I believe a chef should focus on certain dishes that he/she excels in making. Why do you think most of the top/fancy restaurants only have 8-10 different entrees as opposed to 50-60? Lastly, I did not know tea could taste so weird. I wonder what kind of tea it is..hmm.. During these late-night cravings, I usually choose a 24-hour Jack in the Box drive-thru over this.

    (1)

  • Andrew N.

    I came here a couple of times, the food is okay. Good:- nice and clean atmosphere with beautiful decorated. - Steam Fish with onion and ginger is yummy

    (3)

  • Rachel P.

    Why you hating? This is the best hangover spot! Spaghetti and house special chow mein!!!!!! That's all you need. I had other dishes too and they're all pretty gooooood.

    (5)

  • Ku S.

    I love coming here after a long night of hanging out with friends. The food is delicious and the service is fast and friendly. They make some of the best Chinese food I have had in Seattle. I always order the honey walnut prawn whenever I come here. The atmosphere is good, but it can be a little bit noisy at night (as expected, right?). It seems like a family friendly restaurant for lunch and dinner. Give this place a try - you won't be disappointed!

    (5)

  • Joeboy A.

    Its a LATE NIGHT SPOT... hungry, drunk...need to fill your belly...then the ID district is the afterparty spot on the weekends, juss be careful... for late night eats, specially chinese food, its actually really good...baked spaghetti, chicken wings,honey walnut prawns...juss thinkin about it is making me hungry.... dont expect service to be all pleasant...they do get really busy, but its late night and they are dealing wit drunks...and me...but overall...its good...

    (3)

  • Jean Y.

    The food at Purple Dot is not good. Extremely greasy among other things. The dim sum isn't good either. Prices here runs $2-3 more than other places in the ID, so you'll probably end up paying about $10-12 - more for less, in my opinion. The only reason to come here is if you are drunk and hungry at 3am. You won't be alone. The restaurant will be packed with your fellow post-partiers.

    (1)

  • Alex L.

    Dim Sum and Late Night Clubbers paradise. Food is decent for all the many varieties on the menu. If you come out here during dinner try the special menu. Comes with two items, rice, and soup for under $30.00. Well worth it and very home cooked tasting.

    (4)

  • Johnson T.

    I've only eaten here at night. It's a pretty chill spot if you're trying to find a Chinese place to eat with a group. The service is mediocre, it depends on who the waiter/ waitress is. The food is pretty original, just simple Chinese food. Though, I do love their salt and pepper fried tofu. Prices are a little higher than most Chinese places, however their orders are usually fast to come out of the kitchen.

    (3)

  • Ce Y.

    More expensive than it should be and really not that good. We came here for dinner, got the beef brisket claypot (horrible, the meat and sauce was old and I think some of it was bad, the meat actually was in small pieces in the sauce like it has been cooked for days! needless to say we did not keep eating this dish) also got the bitter melon cod fish claypot, i don't think the fish was actually cod, but there really is no way to tell since there was about 1/4 in thickness of fried dough around each piece, also the clay pot was only about 3/4 full. We also got a veggie dish for 5 bucks, but it was nothing to write about. it was edible, not super yummy or anything.

    (2)

  • Kunney T.

    Bahn was set on showing me the JJs of Seattle. I realized why Bahn called Purple Dot the "JJ's of Seattle", instead of calling JJs the "Purple Dot of LA". To paraphrase Lloyd Bentson: "Purple Dot, I was served with JJs. I knew JJs. JJs was like a friend of mine. And Purple Dot, you are no JJs." This place just doesn't feel right. The fob waiters don't even act all that fobby. There's no hk-tinged English - it's straight up perfect English. And where are the girls and the gangs? Also, at JJ's on a Saturday night, it's like the massage parlor in rush hour - girls of all types stream in and subconsciously dare you to pick them. At Purple dots, it's like a Marco Polo expedition - people of all types - and they're consciously begging for you to feed them. Business tip for the wise - Seattle's starving for some better late night options.

    (3)

  • Angelo Q.

    Great for going after the club...baked spaghetti, salt n pepper pork chops and mongolian beef are a must try! but everything I've had there is good!!! =)

    (5)

  • Linda V.

    Okay, so place isn't amazing. But with that said, it's a good place to wind down after a night of partying or to have a light snack in the middle of the day. It's a pretty clean and neat place with lots of different dishes. Their menu is massive. PROS: - Lots of different choices. They have ox tongue, congee, all sorts of pan friend noodles, meat dishes, etc. - Interesting fob TV to watch - Pretty clean looking for an Intl District restaurant - Open late - Price is fairly reasonable CONS: - Not awfully diverse in terms of flavor. You get what you pay for. A lot of dishes' main seasoning is soysauce and not much of any other flavor. - If you go late, your eyes get blessed with the sight of some very scantily clad characters who just returned from the clubs. They wobble around the restaurant looking like they want to puke, and it's admittedly a little scary.. (I won't comment on the service, because it's sort of expected that whenever you go to a Chinese restaurant, service will suck. Don't take it personally, that's just the way it is.) Overall, mediocre food, pleasant atmosphere, and convenient hours.

    (3)

  • Tiffany W.

    Um...WTF? The food may have been passable, but the dreadful service made me depise this place. Although I was seated immediately, no one came to take my order for over 25 minutes. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION. I kept calling people over, who would nod as if they understood and hurry away. I was so pissy by the time I actually ate my meal that there was no way I could enjoy it. By the way, do NOT order the lychee drink -- it is an artificial, sugary mess.

    (1)

  • Stephanie Y.

    Purple dot is definitely a place I enjoy going to whenever i go to International district. The food is so good! I especially like the minced meat with pan fried egg dish! It's not too pricey, about 9 dollars for that dish, with big portions. One VERY big issue here is the service. It's very difficult to communicate with the servers about what exactly you're trying to order and often they are not very attentive and have bad attitudes. One time i asked for a little extra sauce with my dish and they charged me extra without even letting me know extra sauce would cost more. On top of that, there wasn't any extra sauce. Although I like the food there, the service is horrible. I will be back but not looking forward to the service there.

    (3)

  • David N.

    first off all, I've never been here sober.. LOL..... this is Seattle's asian parking lot pimping after cleezie/bar spot. partaking in a long night of drinking who doesn't love greasy hong kong bistro style delights....below is my go to recipe for a successful druken dine experience.. - Baked Spaghetti - Spicy fried chicken wings - bbq pork fried rice - BCF (beef chow fun) - Ore-Ida Crinkle Fries the seating space is sufficient (but packed on weekend nights), decor is asian 2002 trendy, and the service is efficient. So in all... Purple Dot aka "p.diddy" definitely hits the SPOT and is a solid late night dining option.... dont be fooled by their neighbors Hong Kong Bistro, though they have the same menu the food is nowhere close in taste even after drinks.

    (4)

  • Liwei Y.

    Tried the kong xin cai here and preserved egg and pork congee. Disappointed in both. Kong xin cai probably needed more garlic and salt. Preserved egg congee was very watered down and not that flavorful. There were also very unnaturally yellow replacement crullers in my congee.

    (2)

  • An N.

    Good late night spot. Baked spaghetti, salt and pepper chicken wings, pea-vine garlic - my favs! I like a few other things too but I'm always too drunk to remember what everyone else ordered. If you've never been here - you might order the not so good dishes. If you are a regular and know what to order, you won't be dissapointed. :)

    (4)

  • NW Explorer R.

    Awesome seafood dim sum ! Quick fast service

    (5)

  • Bam B.

    Ordered several items including : Deep fried stuffed tofu ( it was not stuff rather salt and pepper fried small tofu) Egg roll ( this is the only thing that taste great) Steam egg custard buns ( overly sweet egg tart would have been better) Mango pudding ( since they put my mango pudding which is cold right on top of a hot item I didn't get mango pudding instead I got mango puddle liquified!) not happy : ( Buddha vegetarian noodle soup ( base base was good guess what I got besides the noodle just a few strands of leafy greens) Vegetable and peter sauce lo mein ( this one is decent the noodle were flavorful) Tofu soup ( egg drop soup containing tofu was yummy) Out of my 7 items I only like 3 of them. When I order the items that contained noodles and veggies I got the exact same veggie just the noodles were cooked different. Melted pudding not so nice.

    (2)

  • Megan S.

    Definitely the most terrible Chinese food I have ever had. The honey garlic spare ribs was more bone than meat. Shredded pork chow mien was greasy and had no flavor. Pretty much the same with the sweet and sour chicken. I was extremely disappointed. It's pretty easy to find good quality food in the international district but I would avoid this place. Not worth the money or the very long wait.

    (1)

  • Cynthia X.

    I came here for dim sum when the lines for Harbor City and Jade Garden were too long. The space here is pretty large, and so we (party of 3) got seated with no problem. The food here is mediocre, but has all your standard dim sum options. (A week later, I tried Harbor City, which was much better). However, I think this place is really a HK style cafe, so I'm curious to come back to try their HK cafe type foods (baked spaghetti, spam instant noodle etc. etc.)

    (3)

  • Susie C.

    Came to visit from CA. My cousins live in Seattle and we decided to have a take out pot luck. Each person was assigned something (appetizer, entree, drinks, dessert). One of my cousins brought take out from Purple Dot. God damn it was good :O especially the Indonesian fried rice (though it was pretty spice - in a good way). It was so good we jotted it down so we can try it again. Today we went there for dinner and again it did not fail. Boyfriend was feeling under the weather and got a beef wonton noodle soup. I thought it was going to be basic and unflavorful like most wonton soups, but this was actually really good. The broth was like beef noodle soup broth (I know it sounds like it should be, but surprisingly most place have broth that just taste like water). They definitely didn't skimp on the beef and to add the beef was so tender. Order the beef chow mien and this was decent - could have been better. Good taste, a little too much oil, but it's Chinese food. It's decent because the noodles were too thick and should have been separated better. Other than that the pricing is good, parking was difficult, and they open late (woo).

    (4)

  • Anne G.

    I used to go here every Sundays when I lived in Seattle. Now that I moved down to Renton, I only go maybe once a month. They have pages and pages of menu. The vast selection is great, but can be overwhelming at times. The item that keeps me coming back is their salt and pepper chicken wings. These wings are to die for! The lady who used to serve me every Sundays knows how much I love them, that as soon as I come in, she just asks "same order?". They're also open late, and is a great spot to go to right after clubbing. The cons I have for this place: parking and bathroom. Parking is scarce, esp on days that the Seahawks, Sounders or Mariners are playing. The bathroom floors are almost always wet and the paper towel dispenser rarely works.

    (5)

  • Terry J.

    So many things on the menu!!!! Plus it's open super late Until 3 am on the weekends. Also turns up a little when bars close down. Good food ! Good atmosphere ! Nice place to know about ! Try the Indonesian Fried Rice or explore the menu . If you order what you have a taste for you can't go wrong here !

    (5)

  • Rosa N.

    I ate at Purple Dot last night for dinner with my family. I've been there numerous times previously, but that was usually after a late night of partying. We ordered chinese broccoli with beef, steak, honey walnut prawns, honey garlic short ribs and fried egg noodle with seafood and vegetables. My mom was a fan of this place and thought that all of the food was very good. She will only eat at Vietnamese or Chinese restaurants. My brother thought his steak was just ok. We were all a big fan of the honey garlic short ribs. They were DELICIOUS! To top that off, the customer service was great. The service is better during dinner time than super late nights on the weekend.

    (4)

  • Paolo B.

    Kinda pricey but it's reasonable. Love the honey walnut prawns and Filipino spaghetti! Dim sum is pretty good. Water service is not too bad. Definitely come here with an empty stomach. Coming back here for sure!!

    (3)

  • Vania K.

    My mom suggested we go to Purple Dot for lunch. I don't think I'd ever been to Purple Dot during the day... or while I'm sober. While the place is a bit dirty (like the rest of Chinatown), the lunch specials were actually good. The Mongolian beef was tender, tasty and cheap. My mom's Singaporean noodle (vermicelli) was also good. I think the lunch special was supposed to come with soup or egg roll, but ours came with neither.

    (3)

  • Dean B.

    Upon seating:::we noticed a big roach---/on the wall--2 feet from us--right off the bat -I told my Freind --sorry about this--use to be a great clean place--when it opened-years back--now it's dirty --great food I am sure still//just don't like the idea of it--cheers---

    (1)

  • Florence S.

    This is really only for young and/or drunk people because you don't notice the poor quality of food and service. The customer service is terrible, they ignore you and/or take quite a bit of time to get back to you on your requests. The food is either soggy, greasy, or half cooked. The price isn't worth the quality and experience of this place.

    (2)

  • Marian W.

    I have mixed feelings about this place. On one hand, every time I eat here my stomach seems to not be so happy with me after. On the other hand, I do like eating here so I keep coming back. The Hong Kong milk tea they have here is really good, and other than that it's your standard Hong Kong cafe. They have big entrees and usually you have to take leftovers home. Their menu is extensive so there's something always new to try and the prices are not bad at all.

    (3)

  • Ben W.

    Came on the last Saturday evening for a birthday party. The restaurant is easy to find in ID Seattle. It is clean and busy. The food is realy good, the portion is big, the drink comes in a plastic sealed lid. The service is really good, staffs always smile. I like this place, will come back.

    (5)

  • Fiona S.

    I went for lunch on Sunday and had beef congee to go for dinner. I found something red and disgusting when I poured it out in a bowl for reheat. It was the beef that was rarely cooked. It was just disgusting and I threw it away immediately. I would give this place 0 star if I could. Be careful when you have food there.

    (1)

  • TN C.

    Got recommended this place to eat. It reminds me of some spots in HK and SF. Open late and good Chinese. Man this place gets busy late. The seafood was pretty fresh and the pork chops and fried rice was pretty good. They have the delicious baked seafood over rice YUM. The place was packed so it was kinda noisy and cold. They have this meat platter dish, can't remember what it was called but it's a must order. The service here was ok. We ordered a lot of food and even with the crab the prices werent bad.

    (4)

  • Nam N.

    I remember when this place opened up many many years of clubbing ago. I wasn't impressed then because of the menu. There's literally 100 things to choose from, ranging from chicken wings, to wontons, mushu pork, to spaghetti, ribeye steaks to mongolian beef. I don't believe a restaurant can make anything good if they have too much on the menu. Kind of like a jack of all trades but master of none. Seven years later, I came back to Purple Dot to try with some friends and nothing has changed. Menu still has everything under the sun to eat (you can even order Ovaltine to drink). We ordered a few items: Lo Mein with dumplings - it was a deconstructed wonton noodle soup. literally. Egg Noodles with wontons on top and a bowl of soup on the side. no vegetables or onions or anything. who were they fooling? that's not lo mein. Salt n Pepper pork chops - it was literally bits and pieces of pork. so overly salt and peppered that it was more like eating a small bite of breaded pork chops and having a bone twice the size of the meat itself. There was no chop... it was bacon bit sized pieces. General Tso's chicken - was more or less a more acceptable dish there. Chicken was bland, sauce had no flavor or heat. But the chicken was of decent size but the portion of the plate was enough to feed maybe two people (definitely not a family sized portion). Hot n sour soup - it wasn't hot in temperature, just warm. definitely more sour than hot, watered down and just poorly done. Garlic Pea Vines - easily the best dish and I would have lost it if they messed up something that is just tossed in oil and garlic. I think this place is popular because of the "fresh/new" look of it compared to the more rundown look of other competitors. Outside of that, this place is a poor excuse of a chinese restaurant. It's a poor excuse of a restaurant in general. I don't see what the hype is all about. Crappy food. I'm willing to bet they bet on people coming in so drunk on a weekend night everything is supposed to taste good anyways.

    (1)

  • K B.

    Quality of food is a lot better than other Chinese restaurants, price is decent, but very hard to catch our server's attention. He was standing around and staring into space, so we had to walk up to them to ask for our check. Food is delicious though; really enjoy their kiwi smoothie as well.

    (3)

  • Aimee N.

    Great for midnight munchies or after a night out if town. Service is fast and friendly. I love the chicken wings and their salted fish fried rice. Definitely recommended to those who are looking for a quick meal.

    (3)

  • Sonia C.

    I've only come to Purple Dot when it's after 9pm (and usually closer to midnight). It's one of the few places that's open past 9:30. We started coming here after we found saran wrap in the congee of our old standby, Hing Loon. The menu at Purple Dot is extensive and reminds me of the local cafes in HK. I usually opt for the congee or wonton noodles here. The portions are big, filling, and I've yet to be sketched out by the food (that said, I haven't visited the restrooms here yet).

    (3)

  • Rosida M.

    Last night was just not poppin at all.... First of all, we were only given one tea and had to wait an extra twenty minutes just to get another one when it wasn't busy at all... Ugh 1) Fried Tofu appetizer - very large portion, but it was weird af, one side of the plate of tofu was helllla salty and the other didn't have a taste at all. That was just weird.. Yeah so we didn't finish that. Served over green bell pepper and green onion. 2) my friend got the panfried chicken w/cream sauce over spaghetti.... We honestly should have asked questions about what we were ordering if we had never had it before. But when I thought of cream sauce I thought of actual cream. Like from a cow. Not a gravy looking sauce that was very sour and not meant to go over pasta... You were given a gravy bowl, and everything was separate. I personally did not like the brown "cream" sauce but mehhh. You were given the option to have it over spaghetti or rice, perhaps it tastes better with rice. Idk, but we're not giving that dish another chance. It was very mediocre. 3) I was feeling under the weather so all i wanted was wonton soup. Came out very timely (before that second tea that I asked for lol). It wasn't amazing but it filled me up. The broth wasn't flavorful, it honestly tasted like they just gave me the water the noodles were boiled in. So i dumped hella chili oil in my soup to add a little flavor. I honestly had the feeling where I was like "fuck I should have just made this at home" but whatever. Purple Dot gives out reallly big portions and their menu is reallllly huge, there's so much to choose from, we probably just ordered the wrong things last night. I hear really good things about their baked spaghetti and salt and pepper wings, so if you go you should probably just stick with what you know, don't get all adventurous otherwise you'll walk outta there disappointed like me. I haven't been to purple dot for about four years and I really wanted to be proven wrong last night since they're under new management and have had a remodel, but unfortunately, I will not be back.

    (2)

  • P B.

    Ugh. We were headed for one of our favorite lunch places in the ID but discovered it was closed for remodeling. We just happened to be standing in front of the Purple Dot so we decided to give it a try. The worst dim sum I have ever had. All the dumplings were slimy. I bit into a shrimp dumpling and all the insides came shooting out with a bunch of cold, thick liquid. I am neither a foodie (not picky at all) nor am I squeamish but that pretty much did it for me. I did eat one of the barbeque pork buns and it was okay. We ended up ordering refried sticky rice with Chinese sausage. It too was alright, surprisingly bland actually which at that point was all I could stomach. A couple of other reviewers mentioned the poor service and I agree. I had to take utensils off the neighboring table. I asked for a napkin three times and then finally also took one off another table. Lucky for us after the first pass of the cart they never came back around even though it wasn't busy at all. That would have been a big bummer if we had been digging the dim sum. My friend also had to get up and find someone so he could order the rice. If you go to other places for dim sum you can hardly stop them from bringing you dishes. But then again you probably wouldn't really want them to because you were actually enjoying the food.

    (1)

  • Veronica M.

    Came with a group of six. We waited 45 min to get our first dish. From that time, it was another half hour or so until we got all our food. I eventually had to ask for water and utensils because they clearly had no intention of doing so. The Steamed Custard Bun was too sweet and not worth trying. I got the BBQ Duck & Taro Hot Pot. It was okay, but definitely not worth $11. I got one order of rice and ended up being charged for six. When I told them I only ordered one, they tried to justify themselves by saying I came with a big group so they charged me for six. Service was completely non-existent and it was almost impossible to get a hold of a waiter. Splitting checks was also a huge pain. They refused to split our checks because it was"busy hour," so they ended up dividing the total cost evenly between all the cards. Which was completely unfair because some of us ended up having to pay more than what we actually ordered for ourselves. All in all, I am never coming back to this place. They did not deserve a standard 10 percent tip, let alone that pre-added 18 percent gratuity.

    (1)

  • Lynda H.

    This place is good, food is good. The fried rice has a lot of ginger in it, I don't really like ginger. Waiters are really rude though. I asked for a cantaloupe bubble tea and got a honeydew milk tea. I told the waiter and he argues with me and said that he gave me cantaloupe.... The drink is green and tastes like honeydew, how you gonna tell me!!! It's also warm. I'm really beefy about that hahah. I was looking forward to have some cantaloupe. Overall food is coo, but I want my fucking cantaloupe.

    (3)

  • Maria L.

    I'm visiting from Indianapolis where good dim sum is hard to find. The dishes were really tasty but we came later in the afternoon and there were few carts and we had to order directly off the menu. I enjoyed my meal here and would return.

    (4)

  • Kim P.

    Headed to SeaGarden but detoured due to NOT knowing that the Christmas arson burnt our beloved restaurant down, BUMMER:( Someone suggested Purple Dot which I never noticed since I always go across the street to Honey Court. Walking in the place was a little nicer than the competition across the street, service was so-so, I prefer the later. The table we were seated at was riggity and annoyed me but I knew we wouldn't be here much longer so I didn't make a big deal but I'm sure they could have moved it and/or fixed it. Food was pretty good, nothing spectacular, would probably only venture here again is the place across the street was crowded. Other than that is was my first and last.......

    (2)

  • John A.

    Always been hesitant to go into here but the restaurant I originally wanted to go to was close. Man was I glad. The food was great. The best was their French toast but asian style. Not your classic french toast with challah bread or day old white bread. Friend dough like a puff doughnut. It was probably the best I've had. Nice staff who also gives recommendations. Food came out in a timely matter and very attentive. Not many asian style restaurant would come over and refill your water glass until you ask for that to happen. Would definitely come back here.

    (4)

  • Mandy T.

    This place slaps! Ambiance is adorable. It looks a lot more modern that I expected it to be and I have not been disappointed yet. The ordered the Salty Fish and Chicken fried rice and that was delicious! Slap some chili oil sauce on there and you're good to go! It was delicious! My friends ordered the baked spaghetti and that absolutely did not disappoint either! I'm looking forward to trying other things they offer because they offer a wide variety of options through their menu! Definitely a must go if you're in the area! :) service is nice & quick as well!

    (4)

  • Sarah R.

    One of the best things about this place is that they're open super late! And, food and service is not too shabby! Interior is nice too. I haven't been disappointed, although I really should try coming here during the daytime sometime. Everything I have tried has been good which include: SALT & PEPPER SQUID, BBQ PORK FRIED RICE, JELLY FISH, GENERAL TSAO'S CHICKEN, HONEY WALNUT PRAWNS, BAKED SEAFOOD FRIED RICE, and BAKED SEAFOOD SOUP (reminds me of a pot pie). That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

    (4)

  • Cliff O.

    Dim Sum is the only type of meal I've had here, typically on a weekend lunchtime outing. I think overall this place is pretty great! There seems to be good access to seating and short wait times (if any), especially on busy Sundays when Jade Garden and Harbor City are packed. Went here on a weekday and service was noticeably slower. We were better off asking for our dim sum than waiting for the cart to roll by. Still, the food is fresh tasting and hot. I'm pretty happy...and their tea is really excellent!!! :)

    (4)

  • Alex H.

    I've said this before, you are crazy if you come to any Asian restaurant expecting amazing service AND food. This place hands down delivers on the food. I won't say anything is to die for but it's definitely my favorite late night good food place in Seattle. It's a must go. It's also a very good lunch time spot and dim sum place for breakfast. Their food is spot on, every time. And I mean everything. You can't go wrong blindly picking a dish, maybe two, three, or four. As mentioned the service is mediocre at their best. They come by, they take your order and money and that's all they care about.

    (4)

  • James H.

    The food was really good and flavorful. The best I've had so far since moving to Seattle. Could work on better customer service.

    (4)

  • peter c.

    Came here with a group of 10 after trying to get into Jade Garden without success. We were lucky and got the backroom and a couple fresh carts immediately. All the dim sum was surprisingly fresh and not nearly as greasy as Jade Garden. At first I thought we got lucky and just got a newer cart being adjacent to the kitchen, however each round was as consistent as the last. Probably the best singular instance of Dim Sum I've had in Seattle. I can't say how consistent the venue is across multiple visits as this was my only one so far.

    (4)

  • Jasmine S.

    Stopped by for a late lunch/early dinner. I asked for salt and pepper squid which I didn't see on the menu but they do have it. So good!! A little light on the peppers but the squid was cooked perfectly, nice light crispy batter, not greasy at all! The dim sum (which they will give you a separate menu for if you ask) was inexpensive ($4 per dish) and good; we got the BBQ pork buns (yum), carrot cake (good), shrimp dumplings (also yum), and the ribs (nice flavor but a little fatty/gristly for my preference). We also got noodle soups, mine was a seaweed, fish ball, and beef ball with wide noodles. Just ok. $6 a bowl. The broth was good, the seaweed was good, but overall it was bland. The balls didn't really taste like anything and the noodles didn't really soak up any flavor. The total bill was $42 which was more than fair. Overall I was pleased, I wouldn't have minded a little more flavor/spice from everything (except the squid and pork buns, those were just right). I've also never had dim sum so it may just be a mild flavor style of cooking, in which case, some more table condiments would have been a nice option. Would go back, their menu is quite large so there's plenty more to try out!

    (3)

  • Pat M.

    Come with a big group and with someone who speaks Chinese, and you're bound to get better food and service. I went with the wifey to a friend's Red Egg party and man I was stuffed! I cannot describe most of the food I ate, but I do know that whatever they did use tasted pretty darn good! They have a back room which people can use for private events and / or have extra capacity. Overall, the restaurant is pretty dark, and sort of gloomy , the chairs are kind of falling apart and the utensils I think were nearing their overuse time ... . But does it matter? Not really. In China, this would be somewhere between a formal restaurant and a "fly restaurant" ... so-called for their delicious food but are sorta dirty.

    (4)

  • Elle W.

    Came here as a recommendation from a fellow friend that use to live in Seattle. The service here was okay but my reviews are usually on the food since that is what matters most for me. We ordered the garlic green beans, roasted duck with the Bao as a wrapper, sole and eggplant clay pot, something called steam chicken, Mongolian beef, and salt and pepper soft shell crabs. The food was tasty but the only dish that stood out for me was the garlic green beans. Not sure what it is but something in the flavor just made me want more. The other dishes were nothing to write home about. Just thinking about the garlic green beans right now is making me salivate.

    (3)

  • Rita C.

    Not too impressed with their nighttime menu. It's the second time we've gone for the late night cravings and of course, they failed to add the regular vegetable which would normally be part of the dish; mushrooms. I mean, is it really that expensive to add mushrooms in the House Special Chow Mein? Personally, I think the dimsum tastes much better and more selection to boot.

    (2)

  • Maybeline C.

    Came her on my last night in Seattle and the food was on point! We ordered the Peking duck, the cod fish egg plant pot, spicy stir fry string beans, black pepper spareribs on a hot plate , and a chicken simmered in a herbal sauce. The food was good and everything was cooked to perfection ,no complaints at all! I say that because I'm Chinese and so were the rest of those dining with me even they said it was better then some of the popular Chinese food places they went to before and I agree. Service is okay and parking is not all that great but I guess it's worth it for the food .

    (4)

  • Kimberly C.

    For my first time having dim sum in Seattle, I'm happy with this place. My auntie loves coming here so my mom, auntie, another one of my mom's coworkers, my son, bf and I came here for my mom's birthday. The food is really good. We initially came for the dim sum and ordered some other dishes as well. The shu Mai was pretty good and so was the shrimp rolls. Those are two musts for me with dim sum. We also got the steamed broccoli, shrimp balls, chow neon and fried tofu. Those were in point. My auntie also ordered some other fried rice dishes and a couple other things that we're good too. Overall, I'm super satisfied with coming to this place for the first time. I'd like to try a dessert next time- if I can save room for it. I'm stuffed like a pig right now and we have tons of food to bring home. It's not priced too bad either so that's a plus.

    (4)

  • Katie Y.

    Let's be real, it's open until incredibly late, and it's in the international district, so I'm not really sure what people are expecting. I thought the food was good, not "amazing", but I was fully satisfied. It strikes me as a typical Chinese restaurant, and so it's hard to compare it to any American restaurant, as far as the service and quality of food goes. It's a fantastic place for large groups, I think it's better for large groups than small ones, actually. They've got all the Chinese food you expect, and although it can be hard to get a waiter's attention, you have to be aggressive, food comes out relatively quickly after you order. I'm a fan, just don't expect too much when you come here and you'll leave happy.

    (4)

  • Rhea P.

    I used to love this place as you can see from my last review. However, overtime I've gotten fed up with the service! I always knew the service was bad but I stuck it up cause I really do enjoy their food, and still do. It's just sad that although I've come here many times that they don't make an effort to change their ways! I never get a smile when I come in, all they want to do is just take your order, serve you your food then just take your money. One time, my boyfriend ordered a steak and it was pretty much raw! He told the waiter and he said he'd get him another, but when we got it back, you could tell all they did was put it back on the grill and cut off the piece he already touched. Disgusting!

    (1)

  • Maria D.

    visiting from California, decided to try this place. food had a different taste than what we use to. Service was a little slow..

    (3)

  • Pui L.

    I think there was a recent management change because their food got WAY better. It wasn't horrible before but with all the other options that they have in Chinatown, this place was mediocre to not very good. I was reluctant to come here because I didn't know there was a management change but my mom and sister frequent Chinatown and told me the food has gotten better. We went for dim sum and it has gotten better. We came right when it opened so everything was fresh coming out of the kitchen. I like that snow cap bun thing with taro in the middle. TASTY! I ordered some congee from the kitchen and it was good. I still wouldn't say it's the best place but it's not bad either. I will come back for the taro buns though :) I have found that lots of places in Chinatown goes through management change so just because the food is tasty now, doesn't mean it'll be the same 6 months later. You really have to be a regular eating in Chinatown to know. There was a few places I really enjoyed but it's gone downhill as time goes on.

    (4)

  • Cynthia L.

    Another spot that I've come off and on over the years since they opened. This Hong Kong-style cafe is open late and serves most of what you'd expect (chow mein, Mongolian Beef, hot pots, etc.) but they also churn out dim-sum during the day that I have to say is really good! Feel like Borscht? They got it. Feel like a breakfast sandwich late in the night? Right here. French toast and a dish that my Chinese friend calls "dog food" (tomato-based chopped meat sauce over rice with an egg on top). Please, it's just too easy! Bring that odd-ball craving here and be sassified! Some items that quite don't hit the good food mark: Mau Pau tofu, salt and pepper tofu and their chow fun is bit iffy. BUT their Japanese-style braised tofu is scrumpdiddlyocious! My favorite thing here. It takes longer to prepare but is worth it, my friends. And most of their dishes are filled to the brim in glass pie pans--good bang for your buck--if it's one of their tasty dishes. What is great about Purple Dot is that like a 7-11 or a reliable paid-escort, they're always there when you need them. Service is shaky at times, but such is the nature of the beast at peak busy times (late-night, Dim Sum.) If it's late at night, and you see a ridiculously-sweaty girl in sportswear, please say 'hi' to me. As long as I'm done eating, of course. 'Don't want to lose a finger.

    (3)

  • Bryana S.

    Whoever said that this place improved after the remodel......... anyway, your skimpin ass honey walnut prawns? 11 prawns for 13.95? bish whet.

    (1)

  • My-Hanh N.

    Their pork chops are the best! Depending on what time you go here, club let out or regular dinner time; be aware of timing and the service you will get. At 3 am its hard to serve a hundred drunk people. I know we haven't gotten the best of service at those time but its expected. When we go for dinner service is great and staff is on point and friendly. Clay pots are good and bake spaghetti is always a go to.

    (4)

  • Ang P.

    I have a few favorite dishes here but the lack of good customer service and forgetting items when you order take-out is something I recommend this establishment work on.

    (3)

  • Bonnie K.

    Good dim sum (ok, not as great as Hong Kong or Vancouver), but still pretty good. Service is descent, and dim sum is yummy. Tip: if there's something you don't see on the cart, ask :) They have the shrimp rice rolls (ha cheung fun) but you have to ask the waitresses.

    (4)

  • Shannon L.

    I had the honey garlic spare ribs, which tasted good, although a bit fatty. The service wasn't great, servers walked away without taking our drink orders, and weren't attentive at all. There are many better places just around the corner, I would pass on this one.

    (2)

  • Anthony N.

    Purple Dot is my go to spot after going out. It's open until 3:30-4ish and we've stayed there until closing a few times. Regular recommendations are: beef chow fun, baked spaghetti, honey walnut prawns and salty fish fried rice. It's drunk food that's open... I'd probably come back the next time my friends and I go out lol

    (3)

  • Becca S.

    The boyfriend and I visited the Purple Dot Cafe this morning for dim sum. Others have recommended Jade Garden and Harbor City to us in the past, but we found the food to be of mediocre quality. Several have said those were the best places to get dim sum, so our expectations were not high for this cafe. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that the quality of the food was better and more authentically prepared in some instances. They also have a great variety of items including several items we have not been able to find at the other two places. This will most likely be our go-to dim sum spot unless we somehow find something better : ) We would love to find a place with dim sum of the quality you find in Toronto and HK (where the boyfriend is from) but the Purple Dot Cafe is very good in the meantime. We took a star off for service because the cafe was very busy with the usual dim sum hustle and bustle and we ended up spending a lot of time trying to snag a server. But the staff were all very friendly and attentive when we had their attention : ) The interior is interesting, it very much reminded us of the kind of cafe you'd find in HK. Overall a good experience!

    (4)

  • Lena C.

    Good atmosphere, great food served quick. We waited for 10 min for our food and it tasted AMAZING. The price for the food was reasonable considering how huge the portions were. We were seated immediately even though we came in at one (they close at one). Overall great experience, would definitely come here again!

    (4)

  • Alden C.

    Well I figure I would squeeze in a few more Yelps before leaving for a wedding in Minnesota in a few days. Many new adventures, hopefully all positive will await us! After spending a lengthy amount of time at the nearby Seattle Pinball Museum, Steve and I were hungry! The other places we had bookmarked were closed or not picking up their phone so we picked the Purple Dot Cafe. We were a little suspicious with their review average but we were glad we went ahead and gave them a try! I ordered Vegetable Chow Mien. Oh wow, was that good! Everything tasted fresh and the crispy chow mien was simply outstanding! Steve got a kind of spicy tofu dish with pepper, it too was delicious! We were getting too full to finish everything so we took in home to enjoy the next day. Mmmmm! We really enjoyed our meal here!

    (5)

  • Jennifer N.

    The jelly fish was amazing! I'm usually not a fan of jellyfish but this was amazing! I also got the mango smoothie with coconut jelly and I love it! The food was average but it wasn't amazing. The service was so slow. We had finished our meals by the time my brother got his.

    (3)

  • Henry L.

    I wouldn't say they are the best. But they are good enough to be my go-to restaurant. They used to be even better before they were changed hands.

    (4)

  • Richmond L.

    I come here occasionally after a night out since they open late on the weekends. However, I was charged a wrong amount once. I believe they changed the tip because it was an absurd amount. However, my bank took care of it. Food is pretty good. They won't take separate transactions after midnight or so due to high volume of customers. Otherwise, not bad.

    (4)

  • Jane D.

    I used to like this place for dim sum in Seattle. As mediocre as many thought it was, I would always defend it saying, "It's nothing exceptional, but it's easy to get into and everything always comes out piping hot." This is not the case anymore. The food on the carts is lukewarm at best, and I am on the hunt for a better dim sum place in Seattle.

    (1)

  • Carlos S.

    I love the fact that they are always open late. Besides you can always go and get fast service and the price is super cheap.

    (5)

  • Alex C.

    New management = horrible. The previous owners were SO much better. They were nicer and much more friendly. I feel like the food was also better. The restaurant has gone down hill since the new management took place.

    (1)

  • Kelleyann H.

    I haven't been here since maybe 2008 or before, the place changed a whole lot, the colors are more brighter reminds me a lot like a cafe/club. When we entered my family and I stood near the door and waited for a waitress- within three-five minutes standing there, about two waitresses and the owner walked passed us several times, couple minutes later a women waitress came and sat us down and somewhat threw the menu towards whoever was with me, like a little slide. I found that disrespectful and unprofessional. After siting down, it took almost ten minutes for the women waitress to come back, while ordering she kept rolling her eyes and sighing, I think it's because we were asking what is in their Special House Hot Pot and what is in other Hot Pots they had. When the food came out they came out it looked good but it wasn't hot, it was medium temperature as if they left it out for ten minutes or so. As we wait for all the other entrées we have ordered, they came out with two small bowls of rice, actually not even bowls, like small bowls, tea cup side or whatever, my family and I looked at them confused, where's the red rice pot where there's unlimited rice?? When our other food came out, we asked them what happened to the red rice pot. They said "if you order three or more entrées we can give you the unlimited rice pot. They were seriously charging us $1 rice bowl per person. Completely unreasonable. We ordered four entrées and they're still trying to charge us $1 per rice bowl. Nuh uh honey all that food to-go. Buh bye. Not coming here anymore. To top it off, when we asked for everything to-go I over heard their conversation in Cantonese, and oooh I was about to pop off on them. Saying "what is wrong with that table, blah blah blah." No. You're just being a horrible waitress and your "three entree, unlimited rice pot" is bull shit!

    (3)

  • Richard T.

    This is one of the better interior looking restaurants in Chinatown as it has been through a remodeling recently. It has a way more modern feel and the furnishings weren't bad. My gf and I ordered beef chow fun which I mostly always enjoy and it came out in a nice big portion which was definitely enough for the both of us to share. It was tasty and had a good wok hay. Price was on point and would come again to try other dishes. The downside of coming here is that the service is very slow even though they weren't very busy. They definitely could hire a couple more people. I could see that a few tables were not bussed when we were seated and it took them awhile to come and place our order.

    (3)

  • Naomi M.

    I first started coming here 10 years ago (back when the tables had a halographic film on them and music videos played in the background) and had no clue of the secret night life this place apparently has, so some of my fellow yelper's reviews had me cracking up. I've been here several times late at night, but I guess not late enough to see all the action. When I lived in Seattle, I ate here very often and always enjoyed it. I have to agree though, sometimes they can be a bit lax on service and it can get annoying, but I still love the food nonetheless.

    (4)

  • Thao N.

    This has a nicer feel to it than most restaurants in Chinatown, the menu is is well presented and the restaurant is well...clean or at least looks clean. I don't question what the kitchen looks like as I'm eating my food. Prices are a tad bit higher than other restaurants around this area, but not unreasonable for the quality. Try the beef chow fun, everybody I've introduced that to loves it. I've also hear good things about their baked spaghetti. I guess this is a Chinese restaurant with a little bit of an American twist to it, just a bit. Service is meh, most of the times I get put around some corner table that I'm forgotten about so I just make sure to get everything I need when I order my food, not a big deal though.

    (3)

  • Pauline M.

    Had dinner here and liked it so returned the next day for dim sum lunch. Ha gow had big shrimps, delicious! Big selection. Definitely will come back next time when I'm in town.

    (4)

  • Saber M.

    Purple dot was a decent place to eat at for chinese food when nothing else is open at night. I enjoyed the food, but when it came to the bill it was totally ridiculous. We had 11 people total at our table and we were all planning on splitting the bill, like most groups of friends would do when going to a chinese restaurant when everyone usually shares food. At the end we all put our debit/credit cards down and the chinese guy said we are only allowed to use 4 cards and the rest in cash. What the heck! What kind of business does that. They said they accept debt/credit cards, and they won't let us all pay like that? We all should've just left, but we were all trying to be reasonable. So we end up trying to put all our cash together with the cards and it got all mixed up making it more complicated. Good food, but the rules of paying there doesn't make sense.

    (2)

  • Mery K.

    Food is good, but the server seems don't care about the customer. They just talk to other customer. We sit there about 10 min and we have to go get our own menu.

    (2)

  • Philicia S.

    Love love love the food here, well the chinese dishes and the dim sum. Its affordable and the food is very filling. They have this really yummy chili paste at the table...oh wow, mouth watering, so good with Rice LOL. My best friend and I love the sauce. Only downfall....VERY VERY VERY BAD service. Quick to start but VERY slow to attend to refill drinks. Everytime I hit this place I end up getting up to ask for water, utensils, napkins, refills, to order, get a box, get our check. But if you can ignore that the service is bad you can get some yummy affordable food. Well at least the chinese food. The paradise bird and passionate love drinks are good too. Don't get the soda, its $2 for ONE CAN. ridiculous. But overall I love this place, just hate the parking and service.

    (3)

  • Karen D.

    It was late at night. We were hungry. Originally wanted to go to Sun Ya for late night dim sum, but that didn't work in our favor, so someone suggested Purple Dot. Cool. I've been here before a looong time ago. The food was nothing to rave about. The walls are purple. Seems to be the late night spot for night heads that didn't want to venture across the street to Honeycourt. Let's give it another try. We arrive and are greeted by, like... 5-6 servers. We were promptly seated in a weird location behind the main front counter so whenever the doors opened, a cold breeze would come through and would make me shiver. So we asked nicely to be reseated at another spot, which we were accommodated. As we were waiting for one more person to join us, we were provided with hot tea and ordered fried tofu and braised chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Not bad, actually.. pretty decent. Everything after this, however... I wasn't thrilled with. Our third person arrived, who is a big eater. So we order... way too much food. We ordered Mapo Pork, it had no taste really, and maybe I'm used to my tofu being diced into smaller chunks. Also not used to the frozen peas and carrots that was dumped in. The half roasted duck was really salty. The salty fish and chicken fried rice was okay, I've had better. We had one more beef dish, but it wasn't as flavorful. At some point, I think we were confused by who we were being served by, or I think maybe everyone contributed to our service? SHRUGS. Either way, our water was filled often without me dying of thirst and needing to track someone down. Scored a point. HOWEVER. I have one suggestion. The soy sauce dispenser was constantly leaking on the side, there was no way in the world we could get it to not spill all over our hands or on the table. No fun. Fix that. I'll give you an extra point when you do. Thanks.

    (2)

  • Wennie H.

    Ill be honest, Purple Dot isn't my first choice for food places. But last night, in our drunken state, there was a promise of "bomb French toast." I was sold. We came in around 1am, and the place was fairly busy, which isn't unusual. Service is quick, it's only when you're trying to leave that it seems to slow down. Anyway, we ordered about a million things and the French toast. When the French toast came out, it looked like deep fried tofu, with a pool of butter. No lies, it was kind of awesome. But eating it was a different story, it wasn't exactly terrible but I wouldn't consider it French toast. There's a distinct Asian taste to the bread. Well, there's a distinct taste to any bread (ex: brioche, white bread, etc). But this one had that Asian bakery taste to me, I swear this exists. The French toast was okay, not terrible but not something I would come back for. Maybe I just needed to be drunker to really enjoy it.

    (2)

  • Johnny D.

    BEWARE !!!! PAY CASH!!! went for food and stupid accountant that closed mess up was charged 150 dollar extra because they move the decimal point over to the right one over now i gotta call my bank for these stupid peoples' mistake NEVER COMING BACK

    (1)

  • Michelle R.

    Wow, way to screw people over with big groups and pocket cash that should have been applied to the bill. This company cheated and added an additional $30.00 to the bill. Your practice is ridiculous.

    (1)

  • Jennifer O.

    Walking by myself in the ID at lunch and decided to try somewhere new as I want to try every place in the ID. Ordered a off the Lunch Special Menu and decided to try the Mapo Tofu which I will normally order the first time I eat if it is on the menu so I can compare it to other places. No pork in it, and it had Peas and Carrots in it and Bell peppers and something that I am not quite sure what it was but it was pickled and my favorite ingredient. Not at all Spicy. I would describe it as MidWestern Americana Mapo Tofu. Normally if I have leftover food I get it to go, but really wasn't interested in finishing it later. They also have Dim Sum at lunch and if I would have been with a friend I think I would have gone that route. Several dishes looked very good. They also had Teriyaki OX Tongue on the menu and I came close to ordering that. I love food that licks you back.... They take credit cards but she told me to bring cash the next time... It is big and open on the inside and was pretty busy at lunch time which I like to see in my Seattle Eating Establishments.

    (3)

  • jeniffer a.

    This place is so good. I first tried their chicken wings, fried to a perfect crunch with a salt & pepper finish. Another favorite is the buddha's delight with crunchy noodles, i can't get enough of this. To our surprise they also offer pretty good dim sum and there's no waiting in line which is a plus! Next in our list to try is their highly acclaimed Hong Kong style baked spaghetti and salt and pepper tofu. I highly recommend this place, good portions, clean and opens late.

    (5)

  • Trisha F.

    I came after a friend assured me this was one of the best places for Chinese food in the ID. After laughing at the weird menu offerings and drooling over several of the nearby patrons orders, we placed ours. The service was friendly and fairly quick. The complimentary tea is refilled in a timely manner as well. We ordered tofu and veggies, spicy Mongolian beef, and pork fried rice. The servings are huge! This is definitely family style dining. Everything was tasty, but not exactly shout-from-the-rooftops amazing. I will return, and look forward to trying more things from the very varied menu.

    (3)

  • Darlene L.

    This is a good place to go if you have a big group. But personally, I think the price is a bit too pricey for the food that you're getting. Our friends really like their baked spaghetti and chicken wings. From what I hear it's typical Hong Kong cafe food. They're open late and makes for a great way to end a night. Service is also Hong Kong standard, so patience required.

    (3)

  • Lucy L.

    Came here with some friends for a late night dinner. We didn't want anything too heavy and congee sounded like just the thing. 3/5 of us had already ate, so we ordered 2 bowls of it, expecting 2 servings. We were not expecting the small bathtubs that came out. Great deal, great comfort food. Took a star off for the the waiter asking us "that's it?" (in a tone that suggested attitude) when we only ordered 2 things. I mean, come on, he knew full well that the serving sizes were large enough to feed all of us.

    (4)

  • Joe C.

    READ THIS! HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! Well I came here during the Chinese New Year Festival everything looked alright and fine for the most part. First off, the waitress offered up fried Tofu. I confirmed with her simply fried tofu. No language barriers or anything had a Chinese speaker with me. Well it had shrimp it it which I'm allergic to so I got kinda sick later from that. Next thing I ordered was the Bok Choy Pork Buns, about to pick up the last one to eat and find a FRIGGIN BABY COCKROACH. Now I have my safe serve license from New York its a lot more in depth than Washington. An Adult cockroach is just kinda a roamer but a baby means TOTAL INFESTATION. Its friggin disgusting! They didn't charge me for the dish but should have comped me for the meal. I left right then and there. How can you serve a ROACH on a platter? I wouldn't recommend going there at all if you are not concerned about your health.

    (1)

  • Waley L.

    Food is expensive, low quality, and super high in sodium. Servers were nice but that didn't make up for the 20 minute wait on my order. Overall the food deserves 2 stars, customer service deserved 3, but hey! They're open til late and they have free wifi so why not?!

    (2)

  • Heedy L.

    We decided to give the Purple Dot a try since Harbor City was packed and we didn't want to wait in the rain. Not bad! The dim sum is on the smaller scale but they carry the basics like haw gao, shu mai, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf and hom bao. The carts are few and far between so make sure you get what you want when you see it. The food was fresh, hot and tasty! I wanted some egg tarts but there were none to be found nor where the shrimp, pork or beef rice rolls. If there was a menu to order these things, we didn't get one. Service is hit and miss. Wave your bill in the air, stand up if you have to in order to get someone's attention. Overall not bad for basic dim sum.

    (3)

  • Kevin C.

    Ever since the new remodel and new owner took over this place has gotten a much needed facelift. Although previously this place has been looked down upon by me and my friends. We've recently found that this place has been getting better. Although waiters and waitress's don't speak the best of English. The new owner is super friendly! Also on Sunday during dim sum I was greeted with smiles by the friendly hostess. But it may getting taking some use too, but it really comes in handy that they stay open late for those late night munchies. And also the food is on point Chinese food, no boo boo msg overload but traditional good Chinese food.

    (5)

  • Phil B.

    My second favorite place to go in Seattle for Dim Sum. The Jade Dragon being my favorite. But lets face it, the crowding and noise can be a bit overwhelming. Good food, and lots of it in a very relaxed environment. I'm particularly fond of the Sticky Rice. Theres the old cliche that if you see Asian people eating at one of these restaurants, then it's good sign. If that's the case, then the Purple Dot passes with flying colors.

    (4)

  • Lonnie H.

    This FRIED CHICKEN (6.95 for like 7) is BOMB! It's better than mine and I.cook southern food on the daily. Ide take a picture but.I.ate it all haha ENJOY!! :-)

    (5)

  • Niño M.

    I went here at 1am the other night. The food is mehhhhh and the service by this tall asian "man diva" was HORRIBLE. "Hi, we ordered the large bowl of soup. not the regular size." waiter -- "uhhh. no... your order notes say u ordered a regular." GTFOH sonnnn. i'd probably not go back here again. save ur money $$$. there are plenty of after hour spots to hit up when you need to get yo late night grubbin on.

    (2)

  • Elizabeth L.

    Tasty, cheap, late night option in ID. Highlights - Salt/pepper chicken wings - yum! Lightly coated and fried to perfection. Recommend. - Beef chow fun - flavorful and tasty, but oily. Would order again. - Crinkle fries - would never order these myself and wouldn't typically rave about fries (esp crinkle cut), but the seasoning on these is quite tasty. - HK milk tea - nuclear-strength milk tea. Tasty but potent caffeine Lowlights - Baked spaghetti - was sadly overwhelmed. This is one of the top-reviewed items at Purple Dot, and I guess if I was feeding a family of 4, I'd be more excited about this dish. - Congee (preserved duck egg) - this was terrible. The duck egg didn't taste right, and I couldn't take more than a bite

    (3)

  • Mikey S.

    I live right around the corner, so ofcourse I frequent this place regularly. The portions here are massive! And cheap for how much you get! One order will easily feed a couple, or give you left over to take for lunch the next day!

    (4)

  • Jessica W.

    Baked spaghetti and their black pepper steak with spaghetti .. so yummmmm .. although most of my visits are very late in the night .. I'm sure I would agree if I were to just come here for dinner :) Their service is really fast with food .. as soon as you sit down they'll stop by so many times to see if you're ready to order .. it's all about flipping those tables which I do not mind at all .. mmm I want baked spaghetti now :(

    (4)

  • Hai Yen N.

    The worst, most horrific, and incensing dining experience I have ever had in my life! For the past five years, I used to happily come here after a night of drinking to enjoy cheap and satisfying Chinese food. I've introduced more than one non-Asian friend to those addictive Cajun chicken wings, honey walnut prawns, and the oily and delicious beef chow fun. But I'll never return after what happened early New Year's Day. I've been attempting to finish this review for the past seven months but reliving my experience made me so frustrated and indignant. Never before has a restaurant given me PTSD so finally, here is my sad and woefully stupid tale. My friend and I put our name down for a table. There was a misunderstanding about us wanting takeout instead of dining in. The woman working the front counter actually argued with us for a few minutes and finally yelled no and absolutely refused our request for a table. She thrusted a takeout box into my hands and told us to take our food and go or she could refund our money. That wasn't our issue! We always liked the food here and just wanted to be able to sit down and eat it. I don't ask for much after 2 am! I never expect spectacular or even friendly service when I come here, but this woman was so shockingly rude. We've never been treated this badly anywhere, especially as paying customers. I understand that a place like Purple Dot deals with its fair share of drunkards and obnoxious customers but we were barely buzzed and we were polite. The situation was unnecessarily aggressive and agitated and nothing about what happened made any logical sense. The woman was simply a bitch. I have never set foot here again.

    (1)

  • Alice A.

    Attempted to eat here twice. It was next to my hotel, so it was convenient. Both times I attempted to eat there I was not even able to order because the servers were so slow. The restaurant was not completely full. Still hungry.

    (1)

  • Alanna M.

    Late night dining establishment for drunk Asians. Everyone has raved about the baked spaghetti so I had to give it a shot and I have to say it seriously reminds me of Chef Boy-r-dee, which is not exactly what I'm dying to eat as an adult... even if I am hammered from a night of drinking. The salty fish fried rice is good and so is the hot and sour soup. Oh and the egg noodles. Service is a bit slow for a Chinese restaurant. Don't expect clean bathrooms or expect to have a stall to pee in because more than likely there's someone hacking in one.

    (3)

  • Sean C.

    Yelp should introduce a two part, day and night rating system for many restaurants, and Purple Dot Cafe should be the joint leading the campaign for Yelp to do so. If you've ever been here before, you might know exactly what I'm alluding towards... Stumbling in after a night of drunken shenanigans, Purple Dot Cafe rates somewhere between 6 and 15 stars. Salty fish fried rice, baked spaghetti, fried chicken, honey walnut prawn and chow mein heaven. I can't recall exactly what it was specifically that I enjoyed about these dishes, if it weren't for the fact that I took some leftovers home with me and ate it for lunch the following Monday. Good god. I can't possibly imagine the regret that someone might have waking up naked next to someone who looked "hot" at the club the previous night, since I never get laid, but I'd imagine that eating Purple Dot in the middle of the day, sober, and at work compares favorably. Remind me to pack a bottle of hydrogenated vegetable oil in my car for a much cheaper alternative next time someone brings up Purple Dot; I guarantee few people would be able to tell the difference between the two whilst intoxicated. That said, chances are high that I'll probably be back again. Thank you, great ethanol, the enabler of all my poor choices in life. Did I say day/night rating system? I really meant drunk/sober. Ughhhhhhhhhhh

    (2)

  • Maria G.

    I have been here once so my review is biased. I remember a friend of mine and I were debating between Hong Kong Bistro and here. I was like, we have never been to Purple Dot so we should visit here. This place looked big inside. The decor looked really nice. The menu did not look too appealing for some reasons. I think I ordered the pork fried rice and my friend ordered baked Spaghetti with meat sauce. My dish was pretty bland. My friend didn't like her dish either. I didn't finish mine, which was a first for me to eat out in Chinatown. It was a pretty bad first impression so I never visited this place again. Should I give this place another chance? I don't know.

    (2)

  • Jeff C.

    Had dim sum her couple of days ago. Not too bad I guess.... they do have some unique "bao" dishes. One of them is baked with egg yoke inside, another one is also baked but with mayo inside/ shredded dry pork on the onside. This is a 3 star restaurant at this point, but would love to come back and try their HK cafe style dishes.

    (3)

  • Maxine A.

    Went there on a Sunday afternoon and it was busy. Got seated after 10 short minutes. The food was good but I was disappointed at the assortment of their dim sum. Service was bad. Hardly had any carts pass by us. Asked for the sesame balls but never got them. Had to hunt down a server for refill of water, twice! Not going back.

    (2)

  • Somaria C.

    Perfect spot to go to when you have a late night craving or just getting out of the club/bar! While it isn't the most cleanly place to dine, and finding parking is really skeptical, their food is amazing! The Baked Spaghetti is absolutely delicious! I know what you're thinking "Baked spaghetti at an Asian joint? No thanks" I thought the same thing! When I first tried it I thought it was bomb because I was intoxicated. And well, everything is good when you're under the influence. But I had to make a sober trip back and give it a try again. And what do you know?! It was just as bomb!! Like the saying goes "Don't knock it til you try it!". The baked spaghetti is something you definitely have to try! Besides the Baked Spaghetti they have other flavorful and delicious dishes as well! Their house fried rice is hella bomb paired with their Cajun fried chicken wings! Also!! Give their watermelon slush a try! Its sooooo refreshing! PLUS! Its made with REAL watermelon and not that disgusting powder stuff. Yum, Yum, Yum! Don't let the exterior of the restaurant and the area deter you! Give it a try (:

    (4)

  • Arry Y.

    Hmm.... I think this is a place to go after a night out of partying and plenty of fun. This isn't the place to go... for dinner while sober. Though... I have to say, I am not one to like it that much even after a night of drinking. I will go, if the crew I'm with insists. (If I choose, it'll usually by street dogs like monster dogs or fish and chips or going home to cook since I'm pretty good at whipping something up). Anyways - I like the baked spaghetti. It tastes pretty good... though incredibly sweet! It could use some hot chilli oil or flakes. I like their honey walnut prawns. The seafood chow mein is not good - it's kinda gross actually with coagulated bland noodles and seafood pile. I don't know... just was not a fan. Yea... let's not go back unless we really have to. Next time... I think I'll have to try the chow fun, the fries, fried rice, ... or maybe a bite of the chicken wings.

    (2)

  • Jeff K.

    I have been there many times for Dim Sum and only Dim Sum so that is what my review covers. The service is so-so, always in a rush but at least they are quick to seat you and bring the cart around. The Dim Sum is average at best and pricier than most. I have noticed that what is on the cart is the average stuff but they tend to bring around better hot dishess occasionally. The Purple Dot is a good place to go if the other Dim Sum places are busy or closed.

    (3)

  • Alice F.

    Terrible service! Actually I was shocked by the really rude waitress. How can they get their job for the worst attitude I've ever met? And food is like so-so. I will never go to this place again. (The waitress of counter tried to force us to pay the tips for the bad service, that was ridiculous!!!)

    (1)

  • Jay H.

    This is sort of a hard restaurant to review. When PDC is on... man, are they on... at least food-wise. When PDC is off... boy, does the world stop spinning. When their food is made with love and care they have one of my favorite BBQ pork fried rices in Seattle and their dim sum is pretty rad. When their food is made with contempt and spite I take a few bites of room temperature whoozywhatsit and move on to the next dish that makes me want to hang myself from my toenails from an overpass... just low enough that my head gets bonked by every passing vehicle. I've been here with friends whose family makes legit foods offered on the menu and have commented on how good the PDC version is. We've also had that same food other times and it's been the worst thing to cross their mouths since the time they tried to swallow a banana slug. The service here is never stellar. Let's be transparent... the service here can't even really be called service. It's slow, unwelcoming, borderline hostile and never wows you with that feeling of 'man, they really appreciate my business'. With all that said I still have this odd attachment to Purple Dot Cafe and still choose to come here from time to time instead of going up the street to Harbor City. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the lobster tank? Meh.

    (3)

  • Anon M.

    I'm glad I didn't go on Yelp before coming here because I wouldn't have gone. But the food was decently good and the service was fast. Yes, the servers don't speak much English but one server pulled a more fluent English server in when there was confusion...and everything worked out great. For a cheap, post-drunk scene (as well as a regular Chinese dinner)--this place is legit.

    (4)

  • Terry C.

    So my fiancee and I came up to Seattle over the weekend. She said that this was her "cafeteria" for the years when she was up at UW. The food is very similar to HK style foods. It has English flair to it and has the "tea time" menu as well. So did bring back memories of my time I spent in HK. The food, it wasn't bad at all. The baked spaghetti, It was alright, but what's with the cut up noodles? It tasted well but really? Not even restaurants up in Vancouver Canada does this. Seemed cheap to do that if you ask me. Service? Well that was nonexistence. First night we ate there with a few friends after the game. Server took our order, brought our stuff and never came back. Not sure what happened there. Maybe with all the walls they seem to have forgotten us, which doesn't make sense since we were sitting by the kitchen. Finished the meal and asked for a box. Sure they say. Never came. Went behind the counter to look for boxes. The people at the front didn't seem to care, for all I know I could have been peeing in the corner. At least they are quick at one thing, presenting a $85.00 bill.

    (3)

  • Leslie Y.

    This place is nice and clean but that was about it....and the food was mediocre......nothing special..... We ordered pork chops and rice, pork chops and spaghetti, both baked.....my pork chops were nasty...didn't eat and didn't return... Dim sum, better than many other places......I couldn't believe they charged for tea at a cafe vs. Dim sum restaurant.....we all ordered drinks before getting tea......usually tea is free at cafes.... Sandwiches and fries, nasty....and cheap, thinner than a slice of paper.....also didn't finish........ French toast...now that was the only thing we finished....besides dim sum....2 stars for that alone...and the 3rd for service..... Don't bother, go next door where the food is 5 stars....

    (3)

  • Linda Z.

    The service here at night is worse than the morning. When we got seated, our server barely spoke to us. We waited for a while and no one came to take our order. When he finally did, All he did was take our order. No hello, smiles, nothing. Didn't even check up on us or even say thank you. Most of the people here are not welcoming and seem like they hate their job. Lots of side conversations going on and they don't lay attention to the guest's needs. In the morning when we have dim sum, we would sometimes order things not in the carts. The waitresses would say ok and never bring them out to us. Overall, terrible service almost every single time. We come here a lot and I don't remember the last time we got great service from this place.

    (1)

  • Crystal D.

    I love this place especially late at night. My two friends and I came here after a night out on the town during the weekend. To my surprise, it was very busy and the service was still speedy! I can see why people choose this place as a late night pit stop. The prices were very reasonable and the dishes were so satisfying. We ordered the french toast and it was one of the best I've ever had. Everything we had was perfectly done and I will be coming here from now on. Goodbye 24 hour fast food! :)

    (5)

  • Shiboo B.

    Ambiance: bustling on a late weekday night, the decor is bright and young though a bit outdated. Service: Our waiter was helpful, even recommended a dish he enjoyed upon request. Other than that, he was not very attentive, forgetting that we had requested hot tea. Food: My hot pot was okay, but I would have liked a crispier texture from the tofu, which looked to be deep fried. Also, I would recommend that Purple Dot scale down on its menu. As my party's order was being taken, my server had to look at each entree number to make sure he had the order right. Purple Dot has some great dishes, but it is difficult to find them when there are other offerings on the menu that don't reflect that.

    (3)

  • Yuen S.

    Awesome place for real Hong Kong style food. Lots of choices. Special daily menu during the week is a really good deal. Their fried chicken wings is a must try also. I've been here for many years since this place first open. The food quality is always great and consistent. And their restroom is clean and usable which is a plus in the international district.

    (5)

  • Isy E.

    Purple Dot makes me wish I lived in the ID*. Hot, cheap, yummy Chinese food at 3AM is a huge draw. Their service is pretty quick for so late. Or I was too inebriated to realise I'd been waiting for my food for an hour. No, I kid. Their service is fast. We had the seafood congee and something else. It was yummy and comforting. *I am not wishing very hard to live in the ID.

    (4)

  • Debby L.

    HOLY CRAP I CAN'T BELIEVE I NEVER YELPED THIS. Been coming here since I was 16 years old for late night food and then when I could drink....for drunken late night food. Every time I go to Seattle, this is a staple. Always late night. Never in the day. It is sin to go during the day...because the food is pretty crappy then. But late night, that extra enzyme comes out where you are in need of the Chinese/Italian/American fusion. It is weird...but so great. BAKED SPAGHETTI: simply the best idea on earth for drunken soul food. I can eat the whole thing by myself. The meat sauce is so delicious. There is just enough meat in it, not overbearing. I never eat spaghetti, but this place...I feel like the Lady and the Tramp dog. I savor every noodle. HONEY WALNUT SHRIMP is greasy, creamy, and peanuty. You can't really go wrong with this at all. HONEY GARLIC SHORT RIB i think it was. Small pieces of flavorful meat that are heaven to chew on. Very flavorful. FRIED RICE. There is a strange ingredient in this fried rice...but I cannot remember what it was. I'll have to get back on this one. It's addicting, and comforting at the same time. Light and flavorful to eat with the shrimp and short ribs. The clubs and late nighters all start to spew in around 2 am so get there a bit early to grab a good table and veg out.

    (5)

  • Kat L.

    Oh Purple Dot, how have I not reviewed you yet. This is one of those places that if good service is important to you, you should probably skip. Service is "better" if you're with someone who speaks Cantonese. I have had dirty plates here and there. They serve Hong Kong style food. It's great late night food or a cheap bite to eat. Their dim sum is actually pretty good. I also reccomend the baked seafood rice in cream sauce. It comes with generous portions of cod fish, squid, mussles, shrimp and scallops. The Magic Ocean drink is also a must order. If you're wanting something simple & comforting, this is a great spot to pick up congee

    (3)

  • Corrine C.

    My rating is more 2.5 than 3. They recently changed owners and it doesn't feel the same. We've been coming here for lunch with the co-workers. They used to have a delicious baked runny custard bun that was to die for but they got rid of that and instead have a taro stuffed bun that tastes kind of bland. The dim sum is ok... the carts don't come around very often so we sit and wait and wait and wait.

    (3)

  • Melissa F.

    Oh, Purple Dot. I don't know where I'd go for my dim sum if you weren't around. Granted, you aren't the very best that I've had, but you are so consistent. Slow and steady surely wins the race in this match. You have all the dishes I like at dim sum, and they're all so very tasty. From your unusually tasty har gow and your blistering hot pan-fried pork bao to your dewy, flaky curry chicken pie and hot sweet tofu soup with just the right hint of ginger... dim sum's become both meal and decadent addiction. You also have shou mei tea!! Bless! So it doesn't matter when the hostess clearly hates me and favors my friend, so much so that she's filled everyone's water glasses but mine, and has also very loudly demanded (NOT rhetorically or humorously) that since I was late, I should get the check for everyone else... I'll be back. Despite the crazy hostess, I'll be back...

    (4)

  • Sharon L.

    One of my favorite Chinese restaurant. Their food are delicious, the server is reallh friendly

    (5)

  • Debbie P.

    Late night grub... It's cheap and good and fast. 1 star deduction for "service"

    (3)

  • Kristine T.

    A typical family style chinese eating establishment. Lucky for me and my family, it's open till the wee hours of the night. Unlucky for the owners, they get all the messy drunks hungry for post-debauchery munchies, including some of the people in our party. while they have large tables, they split up our party because of space. so sad. Oh well, let the ordering of large amounts of food commence. We got the walnut shrimp, the seafood soup, the buddha's chow mein, the salty fish and shrimp fried rice, the General tso's chicken, the salt and pepper squid, and, more walnut shrimp. All hit the spot, and few a group of 6 hungry individuals just fine. My personal favorites include the chow mein and walnut shrimp. and the seafood soup. the Seafood soup seems bland to some, but it's refreshing with all the salt and such. Bill came out to 100ish dollars including gratuity, and considering how much we ate, we were happy. Wish I could say the same for the workers dealing with some hot ass mess drunks.

    (3)

  • Herbert F.

    It was a busy night when we came into eat. They served us pretty quick and the food was great. I suggest the baked spaghetti and the honey walnut prawns.

    (4)

  • Erick P.

    We came here on a Sunday to take my UW-attending nephew out for some Chinese food. Purple Dot Cafe is a typical HK-style Coffee Shop. Yes, the menu is quite extensive as you can get noodles, soup, baked spaghetti, steak, sandwiches, and even dim sum at this place. Most of the HK-style coffee shops don't serve dim sum and after eating the dim sum at Purple Dot, we know they shouldn't serve it. Dim sum was cold, uninspring, and the char siu bao was full of fat--Minus one star. What makes this restaurant shine are the items that come out of the stir-fry woks! Along with the dim sum we ordered Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice and Beef Chow Fun w/Gravy. Those dishes were really yummy even if they had a slight, very slight MSG twang. Although I'm not sure if we got the MSG from the dim sum or from the wok-fired items. The deep-fried chicken wings are also a favorite as they have been marinated before being thrown into the deep fryer goodness. If I was young again and out partying, this would be the place for me to go and eat some very good Chinese comfort food. Very authentic Cantonese fare minus the dim sum. I would say the fried rice and chow fun rivals some of the best I've had in recent memory. Their gaai laan isn't too bad either!

    (4)

  • Jeff S.

    Very unique environment for a Chinese restaurant (I mean that in a positive way). This is one of the best/cleanest places to eat late in Seattle.

    (4)

  • Lx B.

    NO! Go for the canned Sprite, stay for the rice, then leave! Everything was sticky. Everything! Btw if you're allergic shrimp, make sure you ask because they put it in dishes you wouldn't expect...

    (1)

  • Kevin S.

    Food's prett good, but the best thing about this place is that its open late - we're talking real late. As a result, its a great place to go after the clubs close as there's nothing like congee or a tomato beef to help dodge a hang over.

    (3)

  • Maus Y.

    I went there for lunch and ended up getting dim sum. It wasn't the best. I had the taro cakes, shrimp ha gao, and rice casserole wrapped in leaves.

    (2)

  • Linndsey A.

    Wow, it's been so long since I've eaten here. I don't remember exactly what my friends and I used to order, but I remember that the food was at least decent, as well as the environment. My last good memory here was when we dined as a group during Valentine's Day '03 and they gave each of us roses to take home lol..okay the food must have not been too memorable if all I can remember is receiving a flower at the end :P

    (3)

  • Robyn H.

    Quick dim sum, open late, good prices, mediocre food. Well, you can't have everything. They do have a nice variety of menu items to choose from.

    (3)

  • George V.

    Went on a Sunday around 1ish and was seated quickly. :) Dim Sum was very good and reasonable.

    (4)

  • Miriam C.

    I very, very rarely limit myself to calling anything a favorite. I don't pick favorite movies, favorite games, favorite songs, but this is my FAVORITE restaurant. I can't even fully explain why. The atmosphere is great (though it was better before those HORRIBLE table clothes - what gives?), the service is slow but friendly, and the food...amazing. Amazing and a half. I delight in taking people here. I drive over an hour to spend less time than that sitting in this restaurant. Stunning. Stellar. Lots of good S words. Superb!

    (5)

  • Jessica C.

    My favorite late-night joint in Chinatown. Hands down. I try not to come here a lot because I honestly just stuff my face in everything I order lol. Our last visit was last night. Got the baked spaghetti, Kung pao chicken and honey garlic spare ribs. Kung pao chicken was slightly too salty for our liking but the spaghetti and ribs hit the spot!!! I've heard good things about the French toast too and that will be next on the list whenever I don't give in to the baked spaghetti first :p

    (4)

  • Andrea M.

    Open pretty late... When my friends and I arrived here from the east coast at midnight on a Wednesday, the restaurant was empty. The kitchen closes at 1 AM so we all had to put our orders in fairly quickly. The portion sizes were huge. The wonton soup for instance was meant for sharing and not for one individual. It came out in a large bowl prob the size of a medium pho. The chao and calamari also came out in huge sizes. I guess it is a family style restaurant. Go figure since the tables have the turn tables. The food was okay and so was the service. We did come at an odd time so I'd say this review is an outlier since we didn't come at the peak times where the food could have been prepared with more love or service could have been more optimal.

    (3)

  • Jessica A.

    This place is great for intoxicated people looking to chow down late at night! I've had soups, dim sum, etc. and nothing disappoints (though I'm going to be honest and say I'll never touch the spaghetti...sorry I'm not sorry). The best thing on the dim sum menu is definitely a toss up between their BBQ buns and shrimp wontons. The best part about this place is that it's open late and service is fast. The aquarium is a nice touch, too- great ambience.

    (4)

  • Hai-Yen D.

    Lightning fast service and decent food. My group of 12 was visiting Seattle for a conference and wanted to explore downtown but our stomachs made us get off at the Chinatown/International District rail stop to find food. We were led to this restaurant by a local friend and decided to split a few entrees until we had solidified our dinner plans. We ordered: Yellow Curry with Chicken, the Baked Spaghetti, Yin Yang Fried Rice, Chicken Chow Mein, and Ma Po Tofu. The yellow curry and yin yang fried rice were the standouts of dinner; great flavor for the curry with a nice spicy kick and the concept of yin yang fried rice was indulgent and comforting. The rest of the dishes were alright and the baked spaghetti was nothing special like we were led to believe. The service was on point and all dishes came out 5-10 minutes after ordering. I can see why this is a popular spot late at night after visiting a couple bars.

    (3)

  • Ada C.

    The fried rice noodle with beef and green bell purple is so freaking good!! This is random, but the rice noodles are all different widths. They must be cut onsite, but who knows! Portions are huge and prices are fair. The menu is huge with many different offerings ranging from noodles, to rice dishes, to congee and sweets. Service was just OK. Nothing great to report, but no horror stories either. The furnishings and floors are definitely in need of some care. Restroom is pretty scary too. The food is great, so if you can overlook those things... it also seems like a great spot for large groups and late night eatery.

    (3)

  • Hannah L.

    I usually come here late at night on a weekday or weekend after a night out of shenanigans, because it's one of the few places in the international district that stays open past midnight. I'm sure this is many people's go to after a long night out dancing at the club. Pros: quick service, good food, open late, lots of seating, and a huge selection of food. Cons: parking (street parking only) Service from the employees can be a hit or miss, and I definitely don't come here for the service. Some are nice, and some can be standoffish. Sometimes I feel as if I'm being rushed, but whatever. I really like the food here, it's probably the best drunk people's food. Definitely family style, I usually come with a group of friends and we always divide the bill so it doesn't cost much. Each entree is about $8 to $15 which is pretty average for a family style Chinese restaurant. They serve other dishes that aren't Chinese cuisine. I highly recommend the baked spaghetti, it's one of my faves! Along with the Indonesian fried rice, Mongolian beef, and salt and pepper tofu. Come with an appetite, leave full!

    (3)

  • Elina K.

    Purple Dot is my drunchie destination of choice. When I'm not impaired I realize this place isn't really that good but will satisfy my wonton noodle soup fix. That's about it. However, on a few occasions I've come here with a large group after a night out and get pretty much everything on the menu: baked spaghetti, pepper chicken wings, seafood chow mein, salty fish fried rice, and beef chow fun just to name a few off the top of my head that are actually super good! The food portions are big which is nice, and seating area is big so I've never had to wait for a table. DO NOT COME HERE EXPECTING GOOD SERVICE! I've noticed everyone is pretty rude here! But I mostly come here to get a late night bite and that's exactly what they provide so the servers don't bother me!

    (3)

  • Jessica S.

    One of my best Dim Sam place in Seattle. They have the best snow bun only during weekend from 11am-1pm.

    (4)

  • Willy M.

    Went here for dim sum the other day, it was pretty good, the carts had what we were looking for especially them chicken feets!!!! Service is ok, you definitely need to flag the servers down if you need something. You can try this, but this doesnt always work.....flag down the dim sum cart lady, then she in turn will flag down your server. Good luck with this attempt.

    (3)

  • AlyxandraMonique S.

    Purple Dot is definitely a hit and miss for me. For starters, almost everybody from Capitol Hill will come here after a crazy night and grub on some Asian food so it does get VERY packed here when it comes to the early mornings of almost every weekend. I suggest ordering the Baked Spaghetti, Fried Chicken and the Hot and Sour Soup (FYI this dish gets incredibly spicy). Overall, Purple Dot is more for the younger adults crowd so if you ever come here, those are the type of people you'll see and possibly a mutual friend of yours as well. The bathroom is behind the kitchen and it is literally like walking through a maze just to find it. I had a great first experience here with a few of my friends one night, however; when I brought my family here we had one of the WORST customer service experiences of our lives. My mother simply asked for "fried chicken" and the waiter responded with a smart answer and said, "we don't have friend chicken, we only have friend chicken wings". Clearly, this waiter didn't have to reply to a customer's order with a smart attitude nor did he have to repetitively say that they didn't serve fried chicken, only fried chicken wings-- when they are the EXACT same thing. It would have been nice if he had told us that in the first place, that way we didn't have to go about this long predicament about Fried Chicken vs. Fried Chicken Wings. On top of all that, it was more frustrating that my mother had told him multiple times to walk closer to her that way they both didn't have to speak loudly but he simply refused to take a few steps forward and proceeded to take a few steps back instead. Additionally, the waiter didn't even put our order in after had we had been eating for about 15 minutes and when we asked him where our chicken was he said, "it takes longer to fry smaller pieces of chicken", which is ridiculous because wouldn't it take you longer to fry more chicken?????????????????????

    (1)

  • Emily K.

    Purple dot cafe? More like Club Purple!! This is thee gathering spot for late night, post club/ bar, I should eat something to sober up before I drive home place to be! The inside compared to most other late night eateries reflects that. With the neon blue lights to the crazy colors and psychedelic carpeting! They know how to bring in that late night crowd! The food itself, I say is pretty good. I was not fond of their wonton noodle soup. I would rather go next door to hing loon for that. But they make a mean baked spaghetti! Probably my favorite is international district. The perfect balance of sweet and tangy! And the salty fish and chicken fried rice is done so right here. Try that with the chili oil hot sauce!

    (3)

  • Phuoc P.

    Don't get me wrong, the food is good. But the experience can't be worse. We went there one night after an event, and ordered Green Peas stir fried with pork Mandarin style (didn't remember the exact name, but the important thing is that it said pork on it). The dish arrived with no pork. So I ask the waiter pointing to the picture of the dish and the name all containing pork. The waiter simply replies :"It's mandarin style, it doesn't have pork". I said "But the picture and name said it has pork", and he keeps repeating that phrase regarding of what I said. The Tofu which also has pork on the picture also did not contain any pork. I think they run out of pork and too cheap to accept it. Will never go here again.

    (1)

  • Paul Q.

    3.75 Stars if possible, not just quite 4 yet. I cannot believe that we have been ignoring this place for dim sum for such a long time. After my big disappointment dining at Harbor View last week, I need to find a new go-to dim sum place. I was pleasantly surprised how good the dim sum we ordered were. I always almost base my first impression on the restaurant's har gaw or shrimp dumplings, and Purple Dot delivered well. The shrimp was big and chunky and still had the crisp with each bite. The wrapper was not too thick but not as thin and delicate as the good dim sum places in Vancouver, BC; but that would be too much to ask for dim sum places in Seattle though. We ordered the egg custard bun. I thought it would be the typical liu (lau) sha bao where the filling was lava-like and flowing out with each bite. But I was disappointed that the filling turned to be more solid. We told them our concerns and the server agreed to replace it with another dish. We opted for the baked taro bun. It was the best dish of the day for me. If there is one thing I will order at this place again, it would be the baked taro bun. The bun was a little crispy on the outside, soft and with some chewiness in the inside the and taro filling was velvety smooth and not too sweet. It was delicious. We also ordered the beef tendon. We did not know it was not part of the dim sum so it was priced more expensive. It was okay, nothing very impressive. Harbor View used to, again I would have to emphasize the word "used to" have very good beef tendon dim sum. I could skip this dish next time. We also had the red bean and coconut pudding. It was good, but nothing spectacular. I hoped that the consistency was less jello-like and more pudding-like. It would have been better that way. The last thing we ordered was like a baked custard bun. As you can see I am a big fan of sweet buns haha. It is similar to a pineapple bun, the one with a crusty top, but filled with some sort of custard inside. It was good. But at this point, I was too full to finish it. Overall, I will definitely go back here. I cannot wait to try the mochi with sweet yam filling and the egg tarts too. They all look good. But will definitely be back for the baked taro bun.

    (4)

  • Jack Y.

    Came here around 12 and ordered the rib eye steak with mushroom sauce and pasta. The portion was big, enough for 2 meals. The steak came in a sizzling plate and had carrots, cucumber, and strips of onions under it. Pasta came in a separate plate, it would be better if the pasta was baked with tomato sauce and had green beans and diced carrots on the side, but I guess you can't have everything! It was dim sum hour and everyone else got dim sum from the truck. Friendly staff and I will come again when visiting Seattle.

    (3)

  • B J.

    Tonight walked in to order sticky rice with chicken to go and took over 25 mins. And the place wasn't even busy. Boo! Service taking order was quick. And when the sticky rice leaves came out it was filled with chicken and Chinese sausage. 2 for $3.99. Ok, I'm happy now.

    (3)

  • Christine V.

    Great for after hour eating and then the best pasta you'll ever have is here at this Asian place

    (3)

  • Daniel C.

    Came here for late dim sum with parents and uncle. It's a Hong Kong style cafe with sleek, modern decor - purple walls, neon green seats, and nice sturdy redwood round tables. Flat screen TVs showing HK shows and commercials. We ordered a variety of dim sum - some were quite good and others missing the mark. Overall I think four stars relative to other Seattle dim sum places. Most dishes I tried were good, with only one miss. - Xiao Long Bao: Four per order, but they were large, golf-ball sized dumplings filled with meat. Pretty good flavor - didn't squirt out broth upon the first bite, but not bad. -Har Gow: Shrimp dumplings - well cooked and fresh. Could use more bamboo shoots. -Woo Tao Go: Looked almost like a savory pecan bar - but bleh, a bit dry and hard for me to enjoy. Supposed to be soft and gooey inside I think. -Steamed Spare Ribs: Didnt have the black beans but the meat was seasoned very well and there was minimal fat - good! -Chicken Sticky Rice: One of my favorite dishes. It's well executed. Rice indeed sticky and cooked well, and the filling well seasoned. Would consider coming back here to try their other offerings - it's sort of a hip place for dim sum.

    (4)

  • Celina Y.

    They deserve 2.5 rating out of the 5. Came around 2PM with about 30 people and they had room to fit everyone. Their food was decent, not the worse but the not the best. The reasoning for such a low rating was for their attitude. They came around asking and after telling them no they gave us the dirtiest look. Also they forgot our order of chicken feet after hour after. Not the best place to eat around the area.

    (2)

  • Danielle A.

    One good thing was dry beef noodle Dim sum was not good, mapo tofu was terrible. But I guess given its not Sichuan food we shouldn't have ordered the tofu in the first place

    (2)

  • Justin H.

    This is my spot for after a night bar hopping or clubbing in Seattle. There are a few other restaurants open late too but they don't have Indonesian fried rice or baked spaghetti which I both highly recommend. If you're new to the Seattle night life you'll learn quickly how crucial this place is for the late night drunk munchies. It gets a bit pricey if your want variety but you'll get plenty to eat.

    (4)

  • Ryan D.

    Purple Dot Cafe, what can I say? I love this place! I always look forward for my visit to the restaurant. Their menu is so extensive, I can never decide on what to order! I always want to order everything! When you come here, better come hungry! You get a lot of food for what you are paying! Meals typically run around $9-$15 depending on what you order, but I guarantee that you will have leftovers! My favorite item from Purple dot cafe is their Indonesian Fried rice which actually is similar to the fried rices they have in Indonesia. Warning though, it is very spicy! The fried rice comes with an over easy egg, and it is fried rice with both shrimp and chicken. If you like spicy, try it out! Its very flavorful. My second favorite is their honey garlic spareribs. The garlic and honey on their spareribs mesh together very well! It's good to have it along with the Indonesian fried rice. My third favorite is their Singapore street noodle. You can taste the curry flavor in the noodle, and it really does taste like noodles you eat in Singapore! Thirsty? Well I recumbent their Hong Kong Milk tea! It's similar to Thai iced tea, but I think it's a little bit more stronger. During lunch hours they have dim sum (not sure if its everyday or weekend only though). Their dim sum cart was pretty good and cheap. Overall, purple dot is one of my favorite places to go to when I am in Chinatown. They are open late, decently priced, you get large portion meals, and very good food! You will not be disappointed :)

    (5)

  • Jenny D.

    Purple Dot has always been a special place because I used to go out to eat there at night with my parents. It was one of my favorite restaurants as a kid. I recently revisited it after not eating there for the past few years and it definitely did not fail to meet my expectations. I ordered the Singapore Style Fried Vermicelli and it was amazing. There was enough flavor and it also had that "kick". I always look for a little bit of spiciness in this dish. My friend ordered the House Special Fried Sticky Rice and it made me salivating right when it came out. There was the right amount of Chinese sausage and mushrooms. It was my first time eating fried sticky rice and it made me wanting to go back for more. The customer service was also very friendly. I even had a funny encounter with the boss there. When we asked for forks he said "Of course I can get you forks. I can give you whatever you want." And then I replied "You'll give me money too right?" Of course it was all jokes but it was even funnier because we talked in Cantonese. Purple Dot definitely has the perfect vibe for all sorts of occasion. Knowing Cantonese would definitely make your experience even more enjoyable!

    (4)

  • Julian L.

    I had only previously come here for late night HK food (i.e. baked Portuguese chicken rice), which was serviceable but not that great. And since HK Bistro is next door, I would almost always be there instead of here. This time I brought a group here for lunch because it was the first place I could think of in the ID that could seat a party of 12 w/o reservation. True enough, on a Saturday at 1:30pm we got seated immediately, which was great. I didn't know that PDC did dim sum, and in the end I was really impressed with it. - ha gow was fresh and nicely gooey - siu mai (and everything else, really) was piping hot - cha siu bao was really good. a bit smaller than other places (which imo makes it a perfect single serving size) and the bun was moist - beef stomach and beef tripe = both top notch - they have 炸兩 (fried donut rice noodle) and wow its perfect. super crispy, perfect salty+sweetness I was also surprised that this was the cheapest dim sum meal I've had in awhile - we ended up paying $9 per person (not including tip). Highly recommended.. And for me, I'll say that PDC takes the ID dim sum crown from Harbor City.

    (5)

  • Katie K.

    This place is always pretty crowded during weekday lunchtime, and that's always a good sign. I've come with a few different groups, and we've always had a good time. As with most dim sum places, with less than 3 people in your party, you're going to leave feeling very full indeed. Honey walnut shrimp are always a winner, and the bbq buns are quite good. My friend likes the radish cakes, but I'm just not a fan. I could do with more frequent water refills, but most people probably drink mostly tea.

    (4)

  • Thu N.

    Went in for some late night dim sum and was satisfied with the things we ordered. Wish there was more of a variety and options although it all came out hot and delicious!

    (3)

  • Kirstie C.

    For the longest time, I didn't know Purple Dot served Dim Sum since I mainly went there late at night (in my old going out clubbing days) around 2am for some good 'ol Chinese food. Recently, I went there for Dim Sum and really enjoyed it. Flavoring was good and everything we ordered was nice and hot, nothing lukewarm or cooled down. Their Hong Kong Milk Tea was on point and definitely gave me an energy boost. I also like how they served some HK style breakfast items such as their thick toasts. I wish the toast was a bit thicker but it was still tasty with it sugared and smothered with butter while I added my own syrup. Overall, I had a good experience. My cousin and I were seated quickly and served quickly as well (honestly speaking Chinese does help in these cases). This spot is good not only for dinner and late night dining but as well as for Dim Sum!

    (4)

  • Ardie M.

    surprisingly this place had made lots of improvements and now have better/quality food. i remember years ago their food tasted like shit and it just wasn't up to par so i never came back until couple nights ago since i was dragged out to come here and i saw a pic of their indonesian fried rice and i said to myself, i have to try it! yes it was definitely good, better than i expected. i enjoyed it a lot among the other food that we ordered. will come back here again on a drunk night or something. i'm sure it'll taste 10x better.

    (4)

  • Thomas P.

    Not much more to say about Purple Dot other than it's a decent place to sober up after a night out in Seattle. Unfortunately, everyone in Seattle also seem to have the same mindset so waits can be long, and the crowd can get rowdy, especially late Friday/Saturday nights after the bars/clubs closes. That said, the food is decent. Their salt & pepper pork chops and chicken wings are above average compared to most chinese places in Seattle. Their noodles/congee/rice dish are all classic HK cafe (read comfort) food which is not a bad thing at all. Some notable standouts are the Baked Spaghetti, Portuguese Style Baked Chicken over Rice, and Beef Chow Fun. For a sweet tooth, their HK Style French Toast is a great option.

    (3)

  • Sarah Y.

    The beef noodle and shrimp noodle are tasteless, black pepper beef rice is ok... However the service is not that nice,

    (3)

  • Yen G.

    Taste so authentic, I love it. The only complain I have is the custard bun. It suppose to be gooey inside but it doesn't. I think they should perfect that or they shouldn't serve that at all. Overall my husband and I are very satisfied.

    (4)

  • Gabriel C.

    Beef Tendon Noodle Soup - 3/5. For an HK cafe style place, this place gives you exactly what you'd expect. Decent amount of tendon and definitely lots of noodles. Soup reminded me more of a wonton soup than a typical beef tendon soup Do note, my friends came and got wontons and a beef & wonton plates, but their portion sizes were a lot smaller (and a few dollars more expensive!) than mine.

    (3)

  • Carol H.

    The interior has modern decor with purple walls and bright green chairs. You can have dim sum, lunch specials or anything on the menu during lunch time. I was surprised how busy they were on a Monday. The employees were nice. The food was good but our appetizer didn't come out until we were almost done with our lunch specials.

    (3)

  • Denny C.

    On a recent trip to Seattle, I came here for dim sum. My grandma is a fan and we came at her suggestion. Grandma came down early on a Sunday morning to get a table, and the rest of the group joined her at around 11 or so. Even at that point, the restaurant - although busy - wasn't packed. It got busier as we continued eating. We ordered a bunch of food. I'll focus on the highlights here. My grandma loves the pan-fried turnip cake here. She always gets it, and I thought it was decent. We also got the lotus leaf sticky rice, which was standard. The shrimp in the shrimp rice crepe seemed a bit small, but the beef in the beef rice crepe was very good - I'd opt for beef over shrimp here. The shrimp dumplings and beef siu mai were both standard too, although the skin in the shrimp dumplings were more thick than I'd like. Chicken feet were also standard. As you get the picture, it's kind of hit or miss here. The egg tarts were fresh out of the oven, and they were delicious. So too were the taro buns with a sweet topping - they were baked and the taro was just the perfect amount of sweetness. Perhaps the sweets here are better than their savory items. Service: It's cart service here, although if you want something that isn't on a cart, you can order it and they'll make it. We almost got double charged for an item - gotta watch when those cart ladies are stamping your card! Bottom line: Standard dim sum in Seattle's Chinatown-ID. Nothing to write home about in my book, but based on the pics, I'd be interested in trying dinner here too.

    (3)

  • Jeremy S.

    Let me preface this with the fact that I've eaten here many times (probably once a month for years), but after my most recent experience, I won't be returning. We were there for some late night food on 5/30 and we ordered some extra food to take home for leftovers. After getting the food packed up, we sat there for a few more minutes to finish teas and beers. I went to the bathroom before we left and while in there, saw our waiter walk out of the stall (which he'd probably been in for several minutes) and not wash his hands before walking back out of the restroom. After noticing this, I took my leftovers and walked up to the manager and told him that I no longer wanted them (probably ~$20 worth of food) because the person that served and packed the food does not wash his hands after using the restroom. I'm not totally sure what I expected, maybe some of the items taken off the bill, but what I wanted was a "Sorry." Instead of a simple apology, the response that I got from the manager was: "But he packed your food before he went to the bathroom so it should be fine." I could not believe that response. I got upset and said that if he didn't wash this time when I'm standing in the bathroom, it's unlikely that he's washed previous times before he packed up my food. I continued to get similar ridiculous responses: "You already finished your meal, it doesn't matter to this food anymore" or "But how do you know he didn't wash before he packed up your food, he probably did." I still do not understand how he thought those answers made sense and how he expected me to be ok with the situation, even though he seemed totally fine with the fact that his waiter didn't wash his hands after coming out of a stall in the bathroom. Although I've spent probably hundreds or thousands of dollars at Purple Dot over the years with friends and family, we will be taking our business elsewhere after this experience. Even though I found it disgusting that the person that packed my food doesn't wash their hands, I won't be returning due to the manager's response. All I wanted was a simple "Sorry."

    (1)

  • Kelly L.

    This is the first Hong Kong style cafe that I have been to in Seattle and it's not bad. We ordered the chicken wings, hot and sour soup and the baked seafood fried rice. The chicken wings and fried rice was really good and the hot and sour soup was ok. They have a pretty good selection so excited to come back and try other things on the menu.

    (3)

  • Chris N.

    - The food: It's as good as it gets!! They have a huge-ass menu and every single one is a pleasant surprise. You HAVE TO try their garlic honey ribs, you HAVE TO. I don't recommend their lovers' fried rice. They are divided into 2 sides, one is soaked in

    (3)

  • Josh T.

    Great place for late late night munchies and before & after games at Safeco or CenturyLink. Extensive menu but I usually come here seeking congee. Their congee really isn't the best, but of the other places in the ID that have congee, I've experienced so many times that the other places are out, or don't have Chinese donuts or the wait is infinite whereas Purple Dot will reliably get you seated, they will have congee, they will have Chinese donuts, they DO take cards which makes them even more exceptional among ID eatries. Seafood congee with preserved egg and Chinese donut FTW!

    (4)

  • Olivia S.

    One of the best places in town for late night grub. However the food is just OK, I've had better. Folks come here more for the atmosphere. If I'm looking for good Chinese, I'll go across the way. If everyone is curious about their spaghetti... I know the secret... lots of butter in the noodles, and smothered with.. ahh special sauce! = CHEF BOY-R-D.. yep that's right... it's a taste that makes you go hmmm, and it's more familiar than you thought, and yup.. there's your answer. No this isn't confirmation by the restaurant but my instincts. See for yourself. French toast however... is one big giant looking tofu but you can't get it anywhere else! mmm, yum!

    (3)

  • Nina H.

    I've visited this restaurant twice throughout the years of traveling to Seattle, and the last visit was terrible. Purple Dot Cafe is located in Chinatown, so of course parking is going to be horrendous during all hours. There are lots of street parking, but requires circling around to find an open spot. The interior of the restaurant is clean and ordinary. Nothing very interesting. Since I'm not a local I brought my sister who lives in Seattle. She informed me that this restaurant is open late, and is usually where all her friends come to get a late meal. What ruined the experience the most was the service. It's a Chinese restaurant, so we conversed in Cantonese to order. Not being familiar with the menu, we asked the waiter what the specialty dishes or popular items are. The waiter then replies that all the popular dishes are sold out. Thinking that the waiter didn't fully understand the question, we asked again what he would recommend for us. And so the waiter said, now in an irritated tone, that all the good items usually need to be reserved such as seafood and meats, and that there isn't anything good for walk-ins to order. WHAT. That is TERRIBLE service. But we stayed, and ended up getting the hotpot / shabu shabu package with lamb meat, cold tofu, enoki mushrooms, and tofu curd. The lamb meat sent to our table seemed to be cooked a week ago, and barely contained any meat. It was terrible. We also ordered the sizzling pork chops and the yern jao fried rice. We stuck to mainly eating those instead of the hotpot. I usually love late night restaurants and though the prices of the dishes were reasonable/cheap, I wouldn't want to spend my money here. I hate doing bad reviews, but I feel like service is everything for a customer's dining experience. If the food is magnificent but the service is terrible, then the whole meal is ruined.

    (1)

  • Tan Lo S.

    Oh, Purple Dot. Haha... I ordered their wannabe Thai Udon... and it was disgusting. I ate 1/4 of it. and the ginger was way too strong, and was most definitely NOT authentic Thai style. Haha. And the Udon was so hard. Gross. It was not fresh, the food was not hot, and honestly, I think they microwaved it because it was warm and the oil was so present... as in the noodles were swimming in warm oil from the package. My friend ordered their seafood hotpot thing which was delicious though. She also ordered some kind of wonton thing. My other friend got some delicious chinese broccoli and some shrimp wonton. Overall, I've been here before and their Lo Mein is actually really good. I also hear their spaghetti is THE best! So pick and choose. service was okay, their bubble tea isn't too bad here either.

    (3)

  • Anna T.

    What's the hype about this place anyways? I don't see it. As oriental as this place claims to be, the food says otherwise. $13.95 for a small plate of honey walnut shrimp?! C'mon, my big bowl of bbq duck wonton noodle soup was only 6 bucks. Well played.

    (2)

  • Harry L.

    I will always come back for the Cajun fried chicken. Be it for lunch, dinner, late night snack... the fried chicken is AMAZING! The minced beef with egg on rice is really good too. They also have these yummy drinks like the "magic ocean". So good! I can't wait to come back.

    (5)

  • Nina H.

    Alright... so I know I hate to love this place but... it's really pretty darn good after a drunken night. And I can finally say that I've been here during the day as well... and the food is still amazing. Especially the honey walnut prawns and yup, the baked spaghetti... who would've thought to order baked spaghetti in a Chinese restaurant? Well, you know what, they do it best and I've never even seen it in the menu! Their other items are pretty bombtastic as well such as the chicken wings... honey ginger spare ribs... house fried rice... etc. Definitely tasty but a little pricey if you add everything up but come here with a bunch of people and it'll be worth it - family style.

    (5)

  • Karen L.

    I love this place! I mean, it's not the cleanest restaurant, but when it's late at night and you're craving Chinese food, it's perfect. Plus, everything is cheap and yummy. My kind of Chinese restaurant. When my mom and brother were visiting, I took them to a bunch of places to eat, including Din Tai Fung and Serious Pie, and my mom's favorite out of all of them? Purple Dot. Go figure. Mom-approved, so this place has gotta be good, right??

    (4)

  • Kimi F.

    I've been here quite a few times, generally for dimsum, but occasionally for dinner. However the past few times I came here was quite disappointing. The oyster sizzling plate I ordered was very underwhelming and the first two oysters I ate had sand in it. In hindsight it was probably not the best idea to order this at a chinese restaurant but it looked really appealing on the menu. Apart from this, one of the most astounding thing to me was how dry the rice was. I'm the type of person who generally likes their rice on the dryer side but the rice they have me was extremely hard like they didn't put enough water in it when they cooked it, and it is something that you would never expect from a chinese restaurant especially when rice is a staple food. Aside from this, the noodle soup with a side of vegetable was mediocre at best. All in all, it was an extremely unpleasant meal and totally not worth the $35 bucks. I would suggest that you go somewhere else in chinatown to find good canto/chinese food.

    (1)

  • Dennis S.

    This place is awesome in many ways, mostly that it's a safe bet for good food and entertainment after a late night out. I like to order the baked spaghetti at this place. The steak and spaghetti is also good, and so is the duck wonton noodle soup. Ok, I'm getting hungry just writing about this place haha. Though other places are fine for eating out late night, this place seems to be the most vibrant and colorful as far as the crowd that it draws. You'll often find your drunk friends and strangers alike here... talking nonsense and talking to other guys' girlfriends hehe. If you have a sweet tooth, be sure to order one of their yummy bubble teas or smoothies.

    (4)

  • Katherine S.

    Came here with a bunch of friends and had the worst experience. I've been to a lot of Chinese hotpot restuarants and comparing to all of them, this is probably the worst hotpot restuarant I've ever been to. We wanted to try their hotpot but they had a very limited selection. You only get to choose 1 meat and 3 sides to add to your soup. The meat options were chicken, beef tripe, and seafood. My friends ordered the seafood with noodles but got chicken soup instead. My friends noticed that it wasn't the soup they got after adding in their noodles already, told the waitress. The waitress didn't even apologize for the mix up and instead of giving them the new soup and additional noodles, she actually scooped out the old noodles from the chicken soup and gave it to my friends. She made it seem like it was our fault for the mix up. During the whole dinner, she didn't come back to our table once. We didn't even get water until we asked the owner for some ice water and we didn't get refill on our tea until the very end when we were actually paying for the meal. I ordered chicken meat for my hotpot and the chicken pieces were pieces from the neck and the end of the drumsticks. It was very poor quality meat and the soup was full of msg. Due to the very poor service my friends and I got during our meal, we ended up giving them a 13% tip but they actually had the audacity to come out of the restaurant and demand us to give them more money. We ended up having to tell them in person how bad of a service we got. I would never go back there again for hotpot. Their non-hotpot dishes might be good but if you want service, this is not the place to go.

    (1)

  • Hien N.

    This place was not as I expected. I ask for my sirloin to be rare as possible and it comes out over cooked. Couldn't chew the food to save my life. I'll think about coming back but won't order the same thing again!

    (2)

  • edgard k.

    Solid place to get a late night fix! Never expected that a Hong Kong style restaurant can actually make a pretty good Indonesian style fried rice. The oxtail in tomato a sauce is also a must try - big chunks of oxtail!

    (4)

  • Maureen N.

    Great variety. Had dim sum and each dish was so delicious. Well prepared, not overlooked or oily and the pastries were a special treat. Will most definitely come again and send my friends!!

    (4)

  • Jenny L.

    Service isn't that great and got yelled at by the owner for grabbing a small stack of napkins (maybe 7-8 paper napkins) for our table of 10. She snatched it back and said we weren't allowed to have them. Can we say RUDE??? That being said, this place is great for a late night meal after hitting up the belltown area during the weekends, but be prepared to wait cuz usually the line goes out the door (there aren't that many places open after 3-4am). All the food there is mediocre with the exception of their baked spaghetti. Yeah, spaghetti at a Chinese place. Don't doubt it. It's wonderful. Def a must-try if you're there. Oh...and their XO sauce radish cakes during dim sum hr is pretty good, too. I wouldn't come here unless someone else suggested it. For the price they charge for their dishes, I expect better service.

    (3)

  • Gorman E.

    PDot reminds me of Hong Kong style food...so yeah, I am indeed a fan because this is one of the many go to spot after kicking it the whole night. Tip: We try to keep the group among four or less people so we can be seated more quickly before the crowd of drunk big groups trying to fit the whole crew so we always get our food before they even sit down. Also, if you speak to them in chinese...they serve you better. The prices are inexpensive but service is slow like most Chinese places...I even seen some waiters lock the door to make sure people pay but this is the sketchy experience you will enjoy. lol I normally order the Baked Spaghetti and/or Salt & Pepper Squid ( fried calamari asian style) and/or Duck wonton soup without the noodles if I do not want the calories that night. The food is tasty especially after you had a few too many drinks...so try it, you might like it...because it is def better then pizza or hotdogs after midnight.

    (4)

  • E O.

    When I enter the restaurant with my Asians friends, I get instant service. But each time I went in there alone or another white friend I either got late service or no service at all! I mean it. Once people who sat after us got their food, yet nobody even came to get our orders. I walked out and will never go back there.

    (1)

  • Flora C.

    I think I will give Purple Dot a 3-stars if I am desperate for "ChaChanTen/HK style cafe" food and there is nothing available. Otherwise, this is a true 2-stars. I don't understand how can others rave about their food here. Tonight, we ordered: Beef with Tomato pasta (Asian Fusion style) - it was nothing memorable. Beef Tendon Dry Noodle - the soup was so salty to the point of bitter. After the meal, my throat is screaming MSG. No, thank you.

    (2)

  • Jen T.

    I'm definitely a fan of this greasy HK style food. Prices are relatively decent and quality is greasy chinese. lol However- their food is definitely better than their neighbors and their chicken wings are one of my fav. Everything else is pretty mediocre Play it safe and get the chicken wings and baked spaghetti. :)

    (3)

  • Yuh-Line N.

    I miss purple dot. I've realized I'm going through a lot of my old reviews and just feeling homesick... where are my boys at? and where the heck is my honey walnut shrimp???? hungry.

    (5)

  • L Y.

    My Grandmother, husband and I went here on Memorial day. It was a complete disappointment. Not only was the place dirty, the service was horrible. We waited well over 10 minutes after being seated just to get a pot of tea. When my grandmother complained to the "waitresses" they were horribly rude to her. Then when the food finally came...dim sum, it was without a doubt the most horrendous mess of nasty I have ever been served. It smelled spoiled. I could not begin to choke any of this down. We left quickly. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Rude wait staff, nasty food, rickety tables and chairs and dirty everywhere you looked. So many more suitable restaurants to get Dim Sum in Seattle. It was no surprise after going here why it was not crowded when other restaurants were. Definitely a place to avoid.

    (1)

  • Sharon S.

    Not my cup of tea, but definitely one of the places I would go to whenever I'm craving some honey walnut prawns, fried rice, and crunchy chow mein in the middle of the night. However, I recommend you go with a group of friends, walking by yourself in the middle of china town is definitely a no go... Haha. Service is alright, your average "Hi, what can I get for you?" conversation with any waitress, no emotion and intentions beyond a server & customer. The wait for food is reasonable. My brother hyped up the Bake Spaghetti for me... And it honestly tasted like melted slices of cheese on top of any ordinary type of spaghetti to me. Don't get me wrong, but it was pretty bomb regardless the simplicity out of the hype.

    (3)

  • Hila B.

    I came here many time and all of them were for a very late night munch, or should I say early morning :) I remember the 1st time my boyfriend took me there, we just got out of a club and we were both starving!! so we ordered their Mongolian beef and some fried rice and it was SO delicious! It was Halloween night so we had to wait for a bit to get a table but compare to all the people who had waited with us outside we got in pretty fast! It is definitely a great place with even better food, low prices and fast service!

    (5)

  • Rona L.

    My mom's coworker suggested we try this place for dim sum, so we came this past Sunday. Overall...good, standard dim sum food - hum bao, shumai, shrimp balls, etc. Service was great and the place was clean. We also ordered a side of Chinese broccoli and their cajun chicken wings. Of all the food that we ordered and ate, the chicken wings were BY FAR my favorite. I noticed a sign for hotpot while we were eating. Definitely need to come back and try that...

    (3)

  • C L.

    Horible service........ Food is good though. And late night.

    (1)

  • Sara H.

    I used to consider this place the go-to post club sustenance stop. However, after visiting here recently I really enjoyed it....during NORMAL dinner hours. We got the pork chow mein crispy, lemon chicken, salty fish fried rice, beef brisket, tomato pork chop and I must say everything was awesome! There are definitely cheaper places in the international district, however purple dot has a pretty extensive menu which includes some non chinese food like honey french toast! I also liked the cleanliness of this location as some other international disttrict spots aren't as clean.

    (4)

  • Michael L.

    Open late and chinese food. What else can you ask for at this time of night? Purple Dot is one great places in ID where you can go to sober up after a long night out, you could even eat a full meal here if you wanted. They also do hot pots that is not listed on their menu but if you order it they will know what you're talking about. The food was all very american chinese, a lot of orange chicken and mongolian beef type dishes. Also an assortment of fried rice, stir fried noodles and congee. Yum.

    (4)

  • Yuen Tung P.

    Came back here to try the Baked Spaghetti, since everyone on yelp recommends it, and all I gota say is THANK YOU YELP!!! OMG, YOU GUYS ROCK! It was SOO DELICIOUSSS! I didn't know rather to get the mini afternoon-tea size or to get the regular size. But I trusted you , yelp and you didn't disappoint!!! I now HIGHLY recommends this dish. They have the mini version for 4.99 + a free drink. YUMMYYYY

    (5)

  • Micah A.

    This is a list of things that would never happen. - You go to a pizza joint and order their best cheese pizza. After a 45 minute wait, they bring you the sheet of melted cheese. - You go to a sushi place. You order their best... let's say Philadelphia roll. They bring you out a plate of salmon and cucumber squished together with no rice or roll. - You go to a Pho restaurant. You order Pho Chay. They bring you out a bowl of dried noodles and tofu, but no broth. That is exactly what happened at Purple Dot. I order the Veggie Chow Mein. Normally an incredibly large meal for the price, they bring me out one of their large plates, and on the large plate was sauce, mushrooms and Bok Choy. They literally forgot the Chow Mein. They didn't accidentally mishear me or order the wrong meal. They simply forgot to put the Chow Mein on the plate, and then filled an empty plate with sauce and threw on the veggies. Note that normally the sauce is placed on top of the noodles, before the veggies are added. They actually lathered an empty plate with sauce and didn't realize anything was wrong. That's incredible. It might be my favorite mistake of any restaurant in the history of ever.

    (3)

  • Ben C.

    Oh Purple Circle...I should have way more check in's than one but i'm to embarrassed to check in here to many times =P Alright folks...this is a review for their Late Night Service. I don't even know if they are open for lunch or dinner because every time I've been here it's been after 1AM. Are you looking for Greasy, Large Portions of Chinese Food to fill your alcohol induced body? OR do you want to sit and sip tea and people watch all the other drunks coming in slowly passing out over their plate of Baked Spaghetti? WELL if the answer is YES this is the place to be on a Thurs - Sunday night after 1AM!! Purple Dot I think defined late night Chinese Food in the Seattle area. Technically folks like to categorize it as Hong Kong Bistro style. I would define that as a mix of Chinese food and Western food combined in one restaurant. You can find a decent Chicken Fried Rice on the menu right next to Baked Spaghetti or French Toast. The food isn't anything amazing, typically when you are drunk anything greasy is DELICIOUS. I'm to scared to try the food when I'm sober =). The service is pretty good I definitely feel bad for the folks that work here and the crap they gotta deal with, the food comes out pretty quickly, they do a great job managing all the drunks. The restaurant itself is pretty large it's capable of handling small and large parties. In the evening the place can get pretty loud. Food I would recommend that everyone typically recommends: Baked Spaghetti : Ask for the Tobasco sauce =) Garlic Fried Chicken Wings Beef Chow Fun Congee Been told their French Toast is pretty good I'm sure their food is decent during the day but again I don't know many people that have come here for lunch or dinner to have a normal meal surrounded by sober people. That's a different review =) Don't forget my food recommendations is based on having a few drinks first. You have been warned =P.

    (3)

  • Kirstin H.

    Purple Dot Cafe = Good Chinese food, and GREAT after-partying supper!! For those in the know, Purple Dot is the default place to hit after a raucous night of partying. They offer delicious Chinese fare with a Hong Kong twist, prices are great, and service is extremely fast! I don't think I have ever ordered anything bad on the (very extensive) menu, even when obliterated and rambling to the waiter in slurred Mandarin. Some must tries are their Baked Spaghetti, French Toast, House Chow Mein, Yang Chow Fried Rice, Honey Pepper Steak, and Honey Garlic Spareribs. Portions are large, so be prepared to share or take left-overs home.

    (4)

  • Chevelle A.

    I give this place kudos for being open late, because that's a huge plus for a nightowl like myself. The service was great, alot better than I was expecting for such a busy place and it was clean and comforting for being with a friend. Thanks to the Yelper that said the Cajun Chicken was a must here, because it was delicious. Though don't be fooled by the name, it's hardly "cajun". It's really just garlic chicken, but it was so worth the trip alone. Sadly the other two dishes we ordered were a miss for me. We ordered the seafood mix hot pot, which was okay. But I wouldn't order it again. And Japanese Chicken Filet with cream sauce, which was NOT Japanese at all. It was just a chicken filet with mustard seed sauce, with a Cream of Mushroom sauce on the side (those seriously do not go together). I guess my only complaint would be that they need to update the menu because the names of 2 out of the 3 dishes we ordered had VERY misleading names (I forgive the fried "cajun" chicken, seriously, it was very good). All in all I will return here again, this time a little bit more cautious with what I order so I don't get something disappointing. And I'll update my review then.

    (3)

  • Kay N.

    I love Purple Dot! the food is really good and it is open late at night. I just feel sorry for the servers dealing with dumb drunk folks that come in at 2 am to eat here. I have tried the chow fun, salt and pepper squid, honey spare ribs, honey walnut prawns, Mongolian beef, Japanese tofu dish, and jelly fish and they are all very good! YUM, I think this place is a staple for late night dining. I also get their magic ocean drink which consists of pineapple juice, sprite, blue food coloring and jelly. When I am not craving for bubble tea, I always come here and get it. Service is a hit or miss, but lately I have gone there its been a hit!

    (4)

  • Sitha N.

    The Purple Dot is nothing to write home about. But given the relatively low price of any given meal, it's worth it if you're hungry and looking to save a few bucks on a decent meal. Just don't be expected to be treated like royalty, unless it's the "off with their heads!" type, then yeah, you'll most likely get that here.

    (3)

  • Amanda K.

    Purple Dot Cafe is one of those few Asian fusion places that I've been to. This place is trendy, hip, and where the teenagers go for late night snacking. I wouldn't say the food is top notch, but acceptable. The last time I came here was with Faith H., her family, and my own family. I believe we came here on a Sunday night, or sometime during the weekend. Surprisingly, it was decently packed, even though it was past meal time hours. But like i said, it is where teens comes for midnight munchies. It was rather noisy inside the restaurant, but I didn't mind. Their menu consists of many different types of Asian dish, ranging from fried rice to mu shu pork. I've only tried a couple dishes here, so I can't comment on a lot of the menu. I've tried their Hong Kong style pan friend noodles. Basically, the are noodles fried to a crisp, then thick, goopy, sticky, sauce is ladled all over the top. it also comes with meats, seafood, and vegetables. The noodles aren't bad, but aren't particularly good either. I can easily cook my own bowl of noodles, if you know what I'm sayin'. I've also tried their puff pastry cream soup. I think it is cream of mushroom or something. It is full of kernels of corn, peas, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, and ham. I like putting a dash of pepper into my soup, gives it a kick. The soup itself is cream, a bit sweet, and calorie laden. The puff pastry, well, that speaks for itsellf. The dome of soup is probably 1,000 calories, but one of the better tasting options on the menu. My friend, Faith H. likes to order the baked spaghetti with meat sauce. It takes a while to bake in the oven before it comes to your table. The spaghetti is huge. It can most likely feed two or three people, no joke. Cheese is melted all over the top of the noddles. Noodles are covered in meat sauce, with other vegetables throughout the dish. I've only tried a little sampling of this dish. It's way to cheesy for me, and the noodles tend to be a bit dry as well. There is one thing I would recommend here though, order the French toast. It's not like other French toast. This French toast puts a spin on the regular slice of bread, dipped in egg batter, then pan fried. The thickly cute Asian bread is dipped in sweetened condensed milk, then lightly griddled on a stove top. It is pretty presented on a platter, and served with a sort of caramel sauce, and dusting of powdered sugar. The French toast comes warm, and is HEAVENLY. There is without a doubt, nothing like it. It's pretty sweet, and will satisfy your sweet tooth. Bread is soft, caramel sauce is sticky and wonderful. Then the powdered sugar makes it over the top. I'm not planning on coming back for a while...

    (2)

  • Diana C.

    Baked spaghetti is a must if you visit Purple Dot, it is so delicious. The fried rice are also good, I haven't tried many other dishes yet. This place is always open very late, so my friends and I always come here after going out and get late night cravings. Parking is sometimes hard to find. It is very clean, making it stand out among the other Chinatown restaurants.

    (4)

  • Ninette C.

    I have a friend who likes to go here a lot so I've been sooo many times. Other than lunch, I also like to come after clubbing since its open late. For the post-clubbing restaurants, this is probably my favorite in Chinatown mostly just because its got a more fun, chill atmosphere and the selection. You will find lots of drunk Asian 20-somethings here after 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. I've had pretty much everything here besides the dim sum. I can't really name a particular dish because everything was so mediocre. I guess congee and the baked spaghetti with fish or seafood are my dishes of choice here, but I've also had the Shanghai noodles, Thai seafood noodles, curry rice with seafood and soup noodles with fish balls. The people who work here can be kind of weird and short, but whatever I guess. Chinese restaurants. There's nothing foul about this place, but I wouldn't say there's anything great about it either. Besides the late night closing of course.

    (3)

  • Elizabeth T.

    This place is a great place to hit up after a Seahawks or Mariners game. It's even better to hit up after a night of clubbing, drinking, and dancing in Belltown, Fremont, Capitol Hill, and Pioneer Square. Pretty decent selection of fried foods to cure the buzz and get you all sobered up. I tend to frequent here a lot on weekend nights because it is open late. Be sure to get here before 1:30-2:00. It will get crowded since that's when the rush hour will start since that's when people are filing in after last call and closing. I highly recommend their honey garlic pork ribs. Very delicious and will get you set straight very quickly. I went here with a date last night and we had baked pork chop and baked spaghetti...money. The baked pork chop was like pork katsu. The baked spaghetti was just awesome with the special salty sauce they have to go over it. Very popular hang out place after a night of partying for the Asian American community.

    (4)

  • Michelle M.

    Ever need to find a bite to eat after a night out on the town? Who hasnt? This is definitely the place to go for me! Why, you may ask... 1. Open MAD lateon the weekends...3-4am and they still have people coming in! i think they might be 24 hrs on the peak weekend nights. 2. COMBO A!!!! It's all of the best late night alcohol absorbing chinese food one can order for a group of 4 or more...Just order according to your group size and the rest is easy! 3. Food comes out fast!!! 4. They have spaghetti!!! OMG! I have not had spaghetti in a chinese spot since I was in Hong Kong! yea, but this is definitely an Americanized Hong Kong-ish eatery. A word of warning tho...beware of the "hot mess" girls that pass out or vomit in the dining room while you are eating....Sad sad creatures they are. Ahh...youth! I have eaten there during the hours of the normal living people and find that their menu is completely different! It actually confused me...only because I come there most often on the weekends. It's ok, I can work around it but the convenience of the COMBO A is not available before 10pm on the weekends. Must haves for me are: 1) Honey Walnut Prawns 2) Honey Garlic Spare Ribs 3) Mongolian Beef 4) Hot and Sour Soup Now I'm hungry!!!

    (4)

  • Sheila L.

    This is my go-to place for a late night snack or even early morning dim sum! My orders of food always varies just because I cannot decide what I'm craving currently that day. Baked spaghetti.... baked seafood rice.... honey garlic spareribs.... OR even their bomb french toast! There's so much to choose from and even better is they have good dim sum too. Definitely my place to satisfy my tummy. :)

    (4)

  • Arleen E.

    Makes me wonder why it took us this long to discover the Purple Dot Cafe. Interiors are not your typical Chinese restaurant. The restaurant has cool colors and contemporary design. Good selection of Dim Sum - pork siu mai, shrimp har gow, spareribs, bbq pork buns, fried shrimp balls and so on. Seafood congee was good for 4 people. Loved the house crispy noodles and honey walnut shrimp. Would highly recommend these two dishes! The honey garlic pork was very good, but a bit too sweet for my taste. Portions are definitely good for sharing. Overall, good food with reasonal prices.

    (4)

  • Amy Y.

    We were really hungry and found this place to enjoy our lunch. We order dim sum and thought it was alright. I think we might have order too much that it kinda was filling. The price was pretty expensive. You need to pay the tea fee too. Maybe it's different from Hawaii. But that was kinda weird. I thought the environment was so comfortable. The servers doesn't seem that friendly.

    (3)

  • Jeff H.

    Baked Spaghetti people. That's what you need to order if you come in. I know it seems strange to order an Italian dish at a Chinese restaurant, but our group, and everyone around us for that matter, was ordering it. Expect a large crowd and plenty of noise if you're planning on coming in Friday or Saturday late night. This is one of the more popular late night (read drunk people) spots to eat, so come prepared.

    (3)

  • Karina M.

    Good food for an after party night!

    (4)

  • Joann U.

    Ate here with my friend for lunch/dim sum and it was pretty good! The restaurant is pretty spacious. Their service is prompt and fast ... and their servers actually talk to you (well at least, more than the servers across the street at Honey Court). Sometimes, they talk too much and almost seem likes saleswomen when it comes to the food. Nonetheless, the food is good... i'll probably be back for some more dim sum next time.

    (3)

  • Yee V.

    I'm a fan, no doubt. I use to come to Purple Dot in my Senior year of high school (2002-2003). The place had just opened then and was often pretty busy. They served good food, but often had dirty plates, silverware, or cups. Recently I've come back to Purple Dot after a few years and the appearance has changed! New furniture and painting has definitely given it a lot more lively look. The food is still as good as when it first opened! I always get the baked seafood over rice and an order of salt n pepper squid. BOTH are very good here, I'd say the best salt n pepper squid I've had recently. Call a few friends, setup a time, and come fill up your stomach.

    (4)

  • Alice H.

    I first came here for dim sum about 4 years ago and when we spotted that it was still around, we decided to stop in and check out their selection. Excitingly enough, they had what we were searching for -- sweet silken tofu with a gingery sugar syrup. We had already had a full brunch of dim sum at Harbor City, so this was like a post-dim sum dim sum. The tofu was nice texture and very hot and fresh, but the syrup could have had a stronger ginger flavor. The sweetness was a bit cloying. We also ordered the Hong Kong style milk tea, hot. The milk was overheated and gave it a spoiled dairy flavor, so that was a bit disappointing. The texture of the boba (or whatever they call it in Seattle) were pleasantly chewy. They have a trendy decor and basically resembles a typical boba shop but with more food and tables. If I remember correctly, one of the better dim sum desserts to get is the checkered jello!

    (3)

  • Will L.

    I used to think really highly of this place, but maybe it's because I used to come here during my vacations from overseas and my pallet was desperate for anything but cafeteria food. I would come here for dim sum, back in the day. But I've discovered more places that I prefer now. I really like the walnut shrimp, or whatever they call it here. I haven't found the time to find another place that serves better walnut shrimp, so far now, this is my go to place for that favorite Chinese dish of mine. It's a fun place to come to if you have no idea where to go, and to meet up with friends. The business hours make this a nice choice for after nightlife partying, but that means traveling from a venue that is in another district in town. Not a bad place to eat, but I wouldn't come here for any kind of special occasion or treat.

    (3)

  • Dae Y.

    got the baked spaghetti again and also tried the seafood chow mein. that last one wasn't that good. we left at least half of it. it's that hard deep fried noodle that gets soft in the little bit of sauce that in there. it just didn't appeal to us. but the baked spaghetti in all of it's sugary goodness is still pretty awesome. i added the hot chili oil to spice it up and it was even betta!

    (3)

  • Alex R.

    This was one of the most disappointing meals I've had in a long time. Salt and pepper tofu was bland as hell. Buddha's Chow Mein was just Top Ramen with horribly cooked mushrooms, bok choy (how do you screw up bok choy?) and baby corn that tasted worse than if I had eaten it straight out of a can. Bad times.

    (1)

  • Jake K.

    Yum, yum, gimme dim sum. I went to Purple Dot on the recommendation of friends when they were too hung over to get out of bed. Since I wanted to get Sunday groceries, I stopped by here prior to making my way to Uwajimaya for some food to last me the week. I had the beef noodle wonton soup along with a few dim sum dishes - awesome cure for the alcohol morning after that I was experiencing following a bender at Snoqualmie. I definitely recommend the place - my meal (I gorged) cost me less than $20 and went down rather easy. The waitresses were actually friendly - another anomaly for Chinese places that I was happy to see. I'll be back when I'm back next summer!

    (4)

  • Henry L.

    Very modernized place with good seating and tv's. They got American and Chinese food unlike other restaurants. Yummy, honey walnut prawns and the beef egg stir fry noodles are fantastic. They're open lunch, dinner and late nights. Overall, the customer service, food and atmosphere are descent.

    (4)

  • Chuck L.

    For piping hot dim sum without the wait this is my favorite. 1. They push the food around in carts. Ordering it from a menu is just not dim sum. 2. Even on a weekend at noon I can usually get a table without waiting. Runs the fine line of being good enough to be busy but not so busy that it's too painful to try to eat there. 3. The waitstaff can be annoying. There's often no clear cut waitress for your table and so you'll see four people buzzing around blind to your waving hand, meanwhile your cups run dry. Not a good thing when you're thirsty from all of the MSG you've probably just inhaled. Don't get me wrong. I love MSG. I just need a steady flow of Diet Coke after.

    (4)

  • lux l.

    Another restaurant that opens late for party goers. There's a menu that you can pick any items for a certain price as opposed to picking a particular item on the regular priced menu. The waitress is always "busy" not attending to their customers. I seen this waitress just walk right pass a customer when they were asking them a question. The waitress that was responsible for my table was helpful but the others were useless. I wanted to get a to go box, pay the bill and leave. In the end I had to ask another person to get my request.

    (2)

  • elsa f.

    This review is overdue. My parents came to town to visit their elusive girl - moi. They wanted Chinese food, so I brought them to the I.D. My dad chose this place for its name. We ordered some dim sum fare. I wanted them to enjoy their food and show them a nice time, but then the one dish that set off the defining experience for us was the shrimp dumplings ("har-gow" for those of you that would like Chinese clarification). One bite of it automatically induced the terribly ill-mannered manuever of oral rejection. The shrimp was spoiled. We informed the owner of this, and she nearly denied it. She took the shrimp dumpling dish away, and there wasn't even a smidgen of apology or humility. F*ckin digusting! It should be negative 2 stars. This rat hole gets a "Hell NO!!" 'nuf said.

    (1)

  • Debdeep B.

    It was Ok .. there can be a lot of choices but i am looking for a real fusion .. a place where American food is cooked in a chinese style ..

    (3)

  • Ronald M.

    GEH. TOE. It is 4:15am and just got home. Visiting Seattle, partied it up and explored for a packed late night food place. We sat down and was able to order quickly. CHAIRS STARTED FLYING. Plates and silverware being thrown. All out fight. I gave them 1 stars because of the ONE salt-and-pepper (MSG) chicken wing I grabbed as we quickly evacuated the restaraunt. It was fresh, hot and tasty. 1 star for the cops who showed up promptly after the altercation. I would have given them more stars if I was able to swipe more of the MSG chicken to-go. Damn. I was hungry too. And yes, the fight was over a girl.

    (2)

  • Joy S.

    i vow on every last digested morsel of food eaten here that i will never come back! *throws chopstick* It was the warmest day of the year today, and the first day i had felt happy in a long time. I never come to China town when the moon is not out, so this was a rare treat. During my walk around the neighborhood i had planned to make my lunch out of some sashimi from the Uwajimaya deli (easy on the wallet, easy on the tummy, no tip needed), but gave up and ducked into Purple Dot to try a couple dim sum dishes out of a desperate need to eat something. In the back of my conscience, I knew P-Dot was not the best place to go in China Town and that i should hold out or go next door to Homestyle Hong Kong Cafe....but i had never tried their lunch dim sum and i am too impulsive. Under the pushy and uninterested pressure of my waitress, I hurriedly pointed to what i wanted from the tiny dim sum menu the minute i sat down (the choices were less than enthralling, but not horrible): eggplant stuffed with shrimp, and chicken feet. Having my order taken felt like i was asking my waitress to wax my bikini line. Paying $5 for each dinky dim sum entree should have come with the service, if you ask me. I ate alone, and the only other table was occupied by a couple of ladies, so it's not as if my patronage was obtrusive. The waitstaff (one guy, one girl) spent 99.9% of their time hiding in the back. My food came out at such a snail's pace that i couldn't begin to wonder why this single order - and i mean, the only order in the place i am pretty sure - of chicken feet and stuffed eggplant had been such a task (or maybe i did not want to know!). They were delivered like an unwanted pregnancy to my lonely table. My inquiries for chili sauce were met with, "THERE," and a chilly index point to a nondescript tin on the table. THANKSSOMUCHTHISLOOKSSOGOODYUMYUM!!! God, lady! I hate playing the part of the dumb white chick who will take crap from bad service at Asian restaurants. But that's what i did. The chicken feet sucked. And i TRIED to suck...the feet, that is. They were not those fatty, gelatinous little morsels of delight i was anticipating. These chickens were anorexic. I think what took so long in the kitchen was that the chef had Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie shipped over and deep fried their talons. The eggplant was nice and big and juicy, however. So that's that. My tea was a tall glass of lukewarm sewer water. Nobody checked in on me, and that's fine. The cook and the waiters peered over at me a few times from the kitchen in a mockingly funny way a couple of times. I felt like i was on some sort of Laugh At the Stupid Customer Candid Camera Show. Maybe i was paranoid. I'm not really sure! After playing with my food, i finally gave up and wanted to go join what was left of the sunshine. The waitress ignored me awhile and squawked away on her cell phone until i interrupted her enough to get her to bring me my check. I wondered about leaving no tip, but i have never done that, and the times that i've left a bad one i felt like a jackass. I left $3 on the two $5 dim sum dishes and wrote a sad face and a note along the lines of, "Get off your cell phone" and , "Take a clue from Homestyle Hong Kong Cafe". I don't know. Nothing bad. I just love my Hong Kong Cafe. Serves me right for straying. There are so many wonderful places in this neighborhood, and this one is just embarrassing. You may have gotten my lunch money, you bullies, but you'll never have my business again....i'm walking a different way to school from now on! *joy

    (1)

  • Brandon M.

    Awesome food omg!!!!

    (5)

  • Sharon K.

    I don't know about quality but it's a definitely a great place to go with big groups, late at night. Of course, a lot of times when you go at night, you will see people who are still tipsy or drunk. I still remember a time when I saw a crazy scene outside Purple Dot one night... a barefoot Asian girl wearing hoochie clothes was carrying a hugeeee chunk of broken concrete. I was wondering what she was doing til I saw her lift it a little higher then in slow motion, chucked it at the windshield of a nice BMW. OUCH! The bastard must've cheated on her hahaha - she ran off with her friends as a cop came driving to the scene. The crazy things that happen in/near Purple Dot at night...

    (3)

  • Theresa L.

    Service was not so great. Food was ok. Some of their dishes are way better then others. MSG was used in the food, my tongue could tell. They forgot at least one dish of food we special ordered. Wish the food was more consistent.

    (3)

  • Shelley P.

    I love their salted fried tofu! It's crispy on the outside and melts in your mouth when you bite into it. It bursts with flavor and there are little bits of fried garlic, yum! The dim sum was good too!

    (4)

  • Juli M.

    Federal Way has better implementations of the late-night Asian cafe thing, but Purple Dot's the best I've been to in Seattle. The ambiance is pretty damn good but none of the savory stuff I've had has been worthwhile, and likewise for the desserts. The drinks are good, though. I must rate it only on drinks, as it's the only reason I go. Get a cold lemon water or a hot lemon honey and talk loudly with your friends and be happy. Go next door for anything that requires chewing.

    (4)

  • Susan H.

    My husband, son and I visited this place a couple of years ago on a trip through the NW. There's lots of reviews....but I had to add, we had only dim sum, and the servers were absolutely great with us and our little boy. I still dream about the dumplings here. There was one with pork sausage and little cut-up shreds of pea greens in the dumpling dough...ahhhhhhhh. We were there in the middle of the day and the dim sum was rocking, cart after cart after steamy delicious smelling cart!! The international district has changed since I lived in Seattle but this place is a great addition...if we ever get back there, we're going to Purple Dot!!

    (4)

  • Osiris N.

    I'm going to rate Purple Dot highly, not for the food or service, but simply because of the entertainment factor involved in this establishment. This place is a novelty, a zoo to be exact. See everyone after the bar and club at their worst...all sweaty, makeup smeared, drunk, incoherent, throwing up, starting fights, and overall trying to sober their asses up with some Chinese food. The food is disgusting unless you are completely wasted. However, their baked spaghetti is a staple.

    (4)

  • The-Hoa H.

    Honey ginger spare ribs.....nuff said.

    (4)

  • Jake L.

    If you're looking for a late night Chinese restaurant after a night out on the town, this is one place to stop by. The chicken wings are to die for sober or not!!

    (3)

  • Laura O.

    We came around 11:30 right before the lunch rush hour. I felt good about eating in a place like this when there are Asian people who do not speak English eating the food- to me- that means the food is good! I was quickly seated. They brought me water and tea soon after I requested it. Dim sum was hot and fresh! We were warned to go early before the good dishes are gone! The ladies serving the food came around with their trays asking and showing the food on their tray. We just picked what we wanted. I thought the wait staff was very nice even though I did not understand some of them:-) I did ask one staff why the place was called "Purple Dot"- she said the former owner named it purple dot and the current manager kept the name.

    (3)

  • Duckie A.

    This place is what my friend calls Hong Kong American fusion. It's kinda chinese food but with an American twist. They got spaghetti...but they have salted peppered squid. I had the squid and it was pretty yummy! The waiters gave you water the moment you request it so it's not like usual Chinese restaurants where you gotta shoot a flare to get any attention. It's set up to be more of a pop establishment....probably to cater to a younger crowd...I think. It looks kinda like the Ikea cafe. So it's pretty well lit. If you're in the neighborhood in the middle of the night and you're looking for a yummy midnight snack, go here. You'll like it too. :o)

    (4)

  • Jon L.

    Great when it first started. Since new management took over. Things have gone down hill. The restaruant have lost it's touch as a Hong Kong style cruisine. Now turned into a dim sum serving, and late night eat. The menu has been the same for ages and no new innovation. As other said, great for those 2am night out days when nothing else is open. Baked spaghetti, Seafood cream sauce over spaghetti, and blacken steak are still the classic. Good for what is its at 2am, however any other time, not so good. =)

    (2)

  • Shar S.

    I had the worst experience at this restaurant (cafe?). I heppened to go this restaurant with my friends to have some coffee because it said Purple Dot CAFE outside of the building. However, when we ordered 3 cups of coffee, they said "if you don't order any foods, we will charge $5 service fee to each of you." Since we didn't have time to go another cafe, we ordered some desserts, but the desserts were not good at all. DO NOT GO THIS RESTAURANT.

    (1)

  • Minh V.

    Decent cafe food. I always get the beef egg noodles. It's my favorite dish there.

    (3)

  • Tom N.

    NICE PLACE. food okay. service is pretty shit, unless you're with your china parents and they keep those bitches in check. we have a few gatherings now and then with this place for a couple years. it's hilarious how they lock the door/keep an eye out for kids eating and running out. i wouldn't recommend their china steaks, sorry only americans can cook them. i asked for medium rare and they gave me a raw meat straight from the cows. their duck noodles w/ wonton was bomb, average crab meat soup and all their other dishes were okay, nothing special. this place is only nice for first dates and seeing friends showing up when you're leaving.

    (3)

  • Henry W.

    I'd give this place 2 stars but it had a couple things that upped it to 3 stars .. which is the fact that is open late, clean, and the baked pork chop. The baked pork chop was really great and how it supposed to be made in HK. Cheesy sweet tomatoey sauce mixed with noodles and super tender pork chops.. yum. Everything else we ordered was pretty shitty.. congee and salt/pepper squid. Super bland and probably beat by a tv dinner. I'm still trying to figure out why this place is so popular b/c there are other places open next to it.. I'm thinking its just b/c its a "cool" place to hang out and its clean.. all the other late night chinese places around it looked really lacking in the clean and cool factor.

    (3)

  • Grant M.

    What the hell? Why are all of you ordering off the menu? We went once and missed lunch so we ordered off the menu and it wasn't that great but weekend lunches are a treat. If you look at the reviews here you'll notice that either people are stumbling in stone drunk in the middle of the night or their ordering off the menu. Here's my suggestion, go on Saturday at about 11am and have lunch and don't even pick up the menu. When a cart goes by and you can't understand what the heck they're saying just have them show you everything and pick what you want by sight. I like any of the pork dimsum and some of the shrimp are good too. Overall it's the experience you're there for becuase it's a bit crazy at lunch but the food is fresh and good.

    (4)

  • Steven W.

    i feel stupid writing a review on this place since its the after club spot... but hey I know my chinese food and I have to give this place their due respect. The food is just good. chicken wings especially! not the cleanest, best service, on and on.... but go for the food buddy.

    (4)

  • Haylie J.

    I went there 3 times within a week. ordered from menu one time and two other times were dimsum. DIMSUM were very delicious. congee taste like MSG in it but not sure. Yes, they probably do have an attitude. Not because they are rude, that is the way people are in HongKong and many asian cities. They are just fast paced.

    (4)

  • Eclat L.

    open late night...

    (3)

  • Peter C.

    Usually not big on Chinatown's restaurants, but Puprle Dot's one of the few exceptions. There are a few regular items I always get. Their pork & preserved egg congee is my favorite in the Pacific Northwest. "8 treasures seafood hot pot" is a must have everytime. They also make the best Hong Kong style Cajun chicken wings in town. for dessert, try the Mint 7 tea, pretty sweet stuff. But it's the atmosphere that sets it apart from the rest of Chinatown's restaurants. No other restaurant in the Seattle Area is more lively at 3AM than it is at 7PM on weekend nights. This is the place to enjoy the company of all the drunken club goers after the Seattle clubs close around 2AM. It also offers instant relief for the guys who had a disappointing night at the dance floor, with some yummy, greasy chinese food, hot tea, and good company.

    (5)

  • Amy Z.

    The food is great, but i went to dim sum and they took 30 minutes each time to come around. The waitress also spilled water on my plate and didn't clean it up. I wanted one last thing and they took forever! Plus i had better dim sum. Would you ignore a paying customer? Sheesh

    (2)

  • Sarah M.

    God i hate this place. Haha. Every time its really late at night and someone suggests purple dot for a midnight snack, I' m like "Ohhh yeaaa! Lets do it" and then I take a bite and remember how gross their food is. I' m not a big chinese cuisine fan in the first place, and this place ruins it for me even more. I get why people go here at 2 am when there isn't anything else to eat but yeaaa... i dont even know what else to say. One positive is that the people who work here are always nice.

    (2)

  • Meri D.

    Love me some Purple Dot! You know it was a good night out if you end up at the PD! I've only been there once for lunch and once for dim sum, and it isn't scary during the day. But it does seem to taste better at 2 am! Sweet and sour soup, baked spaghetti (think souped up Chef Boyardee style), chow fun, cajun chicken wings, spicy Mongolian beef, and Kung Pao chicken are our general go-tos, depending on who we're with. I've never seen the staff refuse service to anyone, even if they're probably blitzed out of their minds. It's funny because usually when we're there for late night eats, I look around and notice that EVERY table has at least one person sleeping/passed out, and no one seems to mind! I wouldn't call this place uber cheap, but it's pretty inexpensive if you go there with a group and divide things up. We always have a ton of food left over, so we make a mean fried-rice creation of sorts out of it the following day. Be prepared to wait a bit if you get there after all the bars close because it gets pretty packed. The wait is never too long because it's a big place with lots of staff, so they turn tables around rather quickly. You should definitely make your way over to the Purple Dot if you find yourself with an empty belly and in need of some hilarious people-watching after a long night out in Seattle.

    (4)

  • Selena B.

    This place is the place where all Asian clubbers seem to go after a long nights drinking and dancing - it's open till 2 am. Their menu is long, and has lots of food on it. Overall it was decent, their french toast was yummy. Careful if you go with a group of 6+ since they had 18% gratuity automatically, and if you pay in cash, they're just take your change on top of that. The service is here is on an "ask" basis- so there's no reason to tip. (Its not like they go above and beyond of what their job requires). Only go here if you have the late night munchies.- Better to go with friends than alone.

    (3)

  • Jack B.

    In short: late night awesome-ness. These guys serve great food considering the ridiculous hours they are open and the ambiance is much better than the ghetto-looking Honey Court across the street. Get drunk, get in here and eat. I recommend the salty hot wings (can't remember the menu name), the honey walnut prawns and maybe some congee on the side to soak up the alcohol. Stick to what the locals are eating, don't hang around if people start getting rowdy and make sure you'll be in the vicinity of a restroom later in the evening. Good times!

    (5)

  • Nori V.

    I always wanted to eat at this place and FINALLY made it! I have heard lots of rave about this restaurant from friends. Everytime I would pass by anytime of day or night, the place was ALWAYS crowded. We went in about 8:30pm last night and the place was empty - just a perfect atmosphere. They have WIDE variety of food to order - soups, noodles, vegetables, meats - chicken, beef, pork and seafood, special rice and noodle dishes, hot pots, starters - this was unusual...they serve FRENCH TOAST! I almost ordered and asked about what was in: LOVER'S FRIED RICE *wolf whistle* - I was too hungry and didn't want to bother, maybe next time! =) We had ordered the typical and usual chinese cuisine: 1) Chinese Broccoli with Beef - VERY tender sliced beef that almost melted in your mouth! The chinese broccoli was underneath the beef. They had drizzled garlic hot oil on the broccoli, then cooked the beef in oyster sauce, garlic and straw mushroom and placed it on top. There is a way to eat a chinese broccoli when they serve it as a whole stem, if there are no knives around... start from the bottom of the stem, bite each stem as you go up to the soft leaves - that is the key! 2)House Special Chow Mein - This was delicious! This was not the typical House Special Chow Mein. The ingredients were not minced, like I normally would get from other chinese restaurants, they were in huge bite size pieces. I forgot to order "pan fried" noodles, they are the soft noodles instead of the crispy. Again, they had stir fried the meats (chicken, bbq pork, squids, bay scallops and large shrimps) and vegetables (straw and shitake mushrooms, baby bok choy and carrots) and placed it on top of the crispy noodles. The gravy to the stir fry made the crispy noodles soft. 3)Honey Glazed Garlic Pork Ribs - These are REALLY tasty! Get ready to crack and break a tooth or ten! Eat them while they are hot! They deep fried the chinese style ribs and glazed it with chopped garlic honey sauce...YUMMERS! 4)Steamed Jasmine Rice - THANK GAWD they serve it! I don't care for sticky japanese, chinese long grain...plain and no taste. I LOVE the Jasmine rice! The young waiter we had last night was not friendly and crappy customer service - he gave me what I had asked. I was too tired to care and glad he left us alone. I went to the bathroom after I ate and just wanted to throw up all the delicious, succulent and wonderful food I just had! Something had DIED in there! I did my duty and left. By the time we left, about an hour later, the restaurant was 3/4 full of customers. A MUST TRY! =)

    (4)

  • Rome C.

    We love this place. Just about everything is very good. The prices are reasonable.

    (4)

  • Keith A.

    I came here with my wife and friends for a midnight bite. It's really cheery in design, sort of as if the furniture was made by ikea and painted by nickolodean, the place had a decent amount of people for the time of night and service was quick. The food was suprising fair priced, quickly served and GOOD. Plus I didn't have to chase after a waiter to get some water! I think I've now found a new favortie spot in seattle for eats!

    (5)

  • Ndamukong S.

    When it comes to dim sum in Seattle, Purple Dot is as good as Jade Garden. Jade's quality and popularity is pretty well known; the only difference between here and there is that the line is typically 30 minutes shorter. Just sayin

    (5)

  • Mark P.

    More hype than good food. There are better places. The chicken was tough and vegetables didn't seem fresh. Eggrolls were inedible. Walk by and try another of the many restaurants in the area.

    (2)

  • Jerome B.

    Food is not that great, the only thing that I really liked about this place was of it's decoration. Very fun and playful. However, I've had a few visits here, where I was less than satisfied. Some of their food is bland, and one time the customer's next to us found glass in their food. The restaurant didn't even try to compensate for their found glass, they just took it. There was no other plate they would re make, not even taking it out of their bill. Oh well, my suggestion is to go to Sea Garden a few blocks up. EDIT (December 24, 2007) I recommend going here now. I must say, after my first post, I hadn't visited the purple dot cafe in two years, however my feelings have changed. Their menu is very eclectic and the food is just as good. A lot can change in two years, and this establishment has really stepped up their game.

    (4)

  • Mike P.

    Good dim sum. The radish cake was especially good, as was some fried eggplant and I usually do not like eggplant. Pork buns and shumai pretty good. Good quick service.

    (4)

  • Rima A.

    The worst experience! My friend and I went to the Purple Dot cafe and the first issue was the rude servers! We ordered 3 main dishes and the first was horribly over cooked, second one was terribly undercooked - the noodles were crunchy, the the third meal was fried rice with tomato souce! Apparently by the third meal they mean rice with vegetables and egg (which is the definition of fried rice), however they forgot to write in the menu that rice with tomato souce comes with 3 types if meat!!!! The rice came with pork, meat the I do not eat, and when I try to cancel it the manager started to scream at me! She said the I have to pay for the rice that I have not even touched because I ordered it! When I explained to her that the menu does not mention any meat in the dish, she told me that I had to ask her for that!!! And after I listened to her screaming at me for 5 minutes she called the police!!! I didn't have problem with paying my bill but I did not think that it is correct to lie and scream at customers! This was the worst restaurant that I have ever been in!!! I payed $40 for 2 glasses of ice chocolate! For the first time in my life I have ever left a restaurant hungy and yelled at! I will advice all of my friends not to go there and I will advice every person that reads the reviews Do Not Go There!!! you will be disappointed and treated badly! It Is not worthed neither your time nor money! If you really care about service this will be the wrong place for you!!!! Horrible, disgusting and extremely unpleasant are three of the few words that can illustrate my experience!!!!

    (1)

  • Maryneth K.

    When it's late at night and you have nothing else better to do than eat Chinese food, this is the place to be.

    (4)

  • Coleena S.

    The ever popular late night spot. It is a great alternative to seedy places like Denny's on those nights when I don't feel like eating breakfast for dinner. I like the Filet Mignon here, it's a good price for what you get. I realize some people say this place is hit or miss, but every time I've gone it's done a good job of leaving me satisfied. (That's what she said...haha)

    (4)

  • Jane C.

    Dim Sum isn't bad here. The service is good, establishment is clean, and there's never a wait because this place is huge.

    (3)

  • J K.

    Sort of like the Denny's of Asian food.

    (3)

  • Grace L.

    Five words: chicken wings to DIE for.

    (5)

  • aphrodai A.

    There are only 4 flies and 1 old Chinese smoker that circle in front of the doors to the Purple Dot Café, and that in itself is a reason why you should eat here. No but seriously... I've never dined-in at this restaurant, but I've taken it to go. I ordered my usual Kung Pao Chicken and got a 5 pound load to take with me in T-5 minutes. The veggies were fresh and crunchy. The peanuts were perfectly cooked and not thrown on as an afterthought like a lot of other places I've been to in Chinatown. The cashier guy was real quiet, but he wasn't rude - just proper. (there IS a difference you know). I'm a fan of the food for sure, but not so much the movie-theater-carpet and wood "dots" and sheets of aluminum that are superglued to the walls. Not quite sure what to think about the lottery ticket machine by the cashwrap.. I kinda feel like a "dance dance revolution" is more appropriate for this venue.

    (4)

  • Angie Q.

    The food here isn't bad. They have quite a variety to choose from. I ordered a noodle dish (probably chow mein) as I was craving greasy noodles after a movie. Service is quick. The interior isn't the usual drab of international district which is nice. The only thing that annoys me is the constant whiff of sweat, alcohol, and cigarettes as clubbers come in and out right around 1am.

    (3)

  • Derwynn D.

    Where else can you order good dim sum and spaghetti in the same place? The crysanthemum tea is pretty special too.

    (3)

  • Tina G.

    Food's always great, servers always try to be nice and polite. Dim is delicious and the their menu has a variety to choose from. I like it there but every time I have gone at night it gets a little crazy and there always seem to have a fight in front of the restaurant. Hey it's chinatown what else do you expect after club hours!

    (5)

  • kat s.

    I have been here for dim sum a couple times. It is adequate. Sometimes a little cold, and usually pretty greasy, chopped full of MSG and salt, but enough choices and quick service to get you full and out the door satisfied.

    (3)

  • Lee T.

    I had gotten off late from work and was hungry. But around the downtown area, there are very few places open for a nice sit-down meal that's not in a bar. My partner picked me up from work and we tried to figure out what to eat at 10pm that was good and, most importantly, open. With the help of Yelp on my iPhone and recalling rumors that there are lots of Chinese restaurants in the ID that are open past bar time, we agreed on Purple Dot. When we found it, we were impressed by the cleanliness of it. It's clean, modern, and has the feel of what I'd always imagined as movie Hong Kong - bright colors, modern tables and chairs...all which looked like Ikea might have thrown up Asian-style. We were immediately seated and brought hot tea served in plastic tumblers. I wasn't too impressed with the tea. I asked for ice water, but our waiter never returned with any. And when he came back to take our order, he was sans water. We placed our order of General Tso's Chicken (because you can't almost ever go wrong with General Tso's anywhere you go) and the Yang Chow-style Fried Rice. After taking our menus, we waited nothing more than 8 minutes before he brought out our General Tso's. Still no water. And where was my fried rice?? It followed pursuit about 5 minutes later. But no water followed it. So I waved him down and kindly reminded him I had asked for water. He acknowledged. But none came. And by the time we were almost finished, I just decided to screw it and wait to go across the street to Gossip and treat myself to bubble tea. Now for the food, I was quite satisfied. The GT Chicken was nice and crunchy and the sauce was not overly sweet or spicy. It was good considering my partner doesn't like spicy. And my fried rice was really good as well. Lots of veggies and meat! Just the way I like it! It would've been better if they brought out both of our meals at the same time, but my partner and I have no qualms about sharing each other's meals. So that saved them some of my bitching. We love the fact that it appeals to a younger crowd and seems much hipper than the other surrounding more traditional-style Chinese restaurants. It was a fun atmosphere and it's nice to know there's other options to late-night nosh rather than Dick's, fast-food drive-thrus, or Denny's. I also did find it odd that you could find items like pork with spaghetti or rice. There were quite a few menu items where you had the option of spaghetti or rice. I'm not sure spaghetti is quite Hong Kong, but somebody has to be ordering it since it's still on the menu (along with clam chowder, burgers, club sandwiches, etc.). Maybe I'll try it next time. And yeah, I'm a little peeved I never got my water. But that fact didn't completely turn me off Purple Dot. It just means that's something they can work on and I can treat myself to a bubble tea across the street anytime it happens. It's definitely worth going again the next time I have to work late or have a late night out with the besties.

    (3)

  • yin y.

    When this placed first opened... It dominated the market and took most of the business away from other restaurants. This placed offered good food with nice decor (which was unheard of at the time). My friends and I would drive to "Chinatown" every weekend to chat over steaks and bubble drinks. Also the owners of the restaurant are to blame for the fact that one of my close friend's family inherited five of their dogs. It was this placed that I got kicked out of because we had a cake fight (I was young and stupid). Now.. this place has lost it's touch. It's not as good as it was before (new management). This place has to open late to make up for the profit lost during the day.

    (2)

  • Linda J.

    This is a great place to go after you're done partying. It's packed, but I don't think we had to wait too long to be seated. The service wasn't that great but I didn't expect it to be. They didn't wait to just bring everyone's meal out at once... so we had to sit there and wait until everyone had their meals, which was difficult since we had five very drunk and hungry people at the table. The food was pretty delicious, but we had to wait longer than needed to get the check. Then we waited even longer and had to flag down a waiter to take our payments. I might go back there if I'm in the area and craving Chinese food, but if I find a different late night joint I'll probably go there instead.

    (3)

  • Isaac C.

    I been coming to this establishment every time i make my trip to Seattle. I concur with Julie M, regards to service: they are very attentive. My water was always filled and quick with any demands. Definitely stopping later this year~!!

    (4)

  • Gary K.

    Maybe they just changed a bit or the other reviewers missed this but it's a very good Dim Sum place. I was there with my Chinese born wife and her cousin and we all liked the dim sum which is usually only served until 3 PM at most Chinese dim sum restaurants. I don't know how late they serve dim sum at the Purple Dot. The Jade Garden dim sum a block away is about 10% cheaper but often has huge crowds and they often want you to share a table. So walking a block to the Purple Dot is a no brainer, plus the Purple Dot looks cleaner and neater and you can actually see out the window while you eat to see if it's raining! The only complaint was the service was a bit unfriendly when we asked for more tea but that could have been just a bad day for the server. But after reading other reviews of this place maybe so so service is standard there.

    (4)

  • Liam R.

    Stopped in to get some lunch to go. The waitress was rude and didn't place my order after I told her what I wanted. I paid $12.50 for soggy lemon chicken and steamed rice, which was really bad. Tasted the dishes that some of my coworkers got and it wasn't much better.

    (1)

  • G L.

    First time here, great diverse crowd on a Friday nite. Two security guards in the front so it gives the impression that your safe even when your entering an establishment at 3am. We ordered the $68 family meal since the kitchen was closing in 10 mins. The $68 fam meal consists a plate of steam broccoli (decent), walnut shrimp (not bad except the fact that there was way too much mayonnaise, maybe to mask over not too live shrimp, plate of battered fried squid Chinese style, Mongolian beef which was way too sweet than spicy, yang chow fried rice which the rice was way too hard and spicy and sour soup which tasted like neither. I honestly believe this meal would of been favored by the less typical tastes of the common oriental but never the less their lemon ice tea was certainly up to par. More than 6 people and 18% gratuity is included. Don't ever try the fam meal again but will give it another shot at dim sum.

    (2)

  • Coffee L.

    I am beginning to think that all the dim sum in Seattle is created by one kitchen, and restaurants around the ID simply outsource their dim sum prep, get their morning dumpling deliveries, and heat them up to serve. And, I would bet such a kitchen would even provide the steam carts! The Purple Dot may just be one of those participating restaurants, as they serve the standard, vanilla dim sum you get everywhere. Albeit, their siu mai is a bit more tender than most, and their spare ribs are dotted with a bit more black bean sauce, and their dumplings are a bit stickier. But as far as the genre goes, they are no exception to other restaurants in the area. One interesting thing is the eclectic menu the Purple Dot Cafe offers. I believe one of my friends from Hong Kong claims that this is your typical, contemporary Cantonese restaurant. In addition to the dim sum and casual Chinese dishes, you'll find French Toast, eggs, pasta, steaks, and a bunch of other stuff to fill in the gaps. There are over 200 food and drink items on their menu. Why? The service was good for me. I was by myself, having dim sum, so it was simple. (BTW, I wouldn't recommend anyone having dim sum alone...it really is meant to be enjoyed by a group of at least 2, if not more.) And, the tea was excellent. I wish, however, I had known of all the tea choices before they served Jasmine to me, as I probably would have sprung for the Chrysanthemum or Lychee Black Tea. So, whimsy comes to mind as I write about the Purple Dot Cafe. Their name, decor, and menu choices provide the elements necessary to stretch your imagination. If they could only match this persona with what they actually serve, they might just pull it off. Their Intention here is clear, but their execution promulgates the ordinary.

    (3)

  • Alice R.

    For those really late night dinner cravings, Purple Dot is my go to place. For one, I know it will be open and busy and two, it's always entertaining to see such a cross-section of people. It's great for take out, too.

    (4)

  • Alan H.

    I am old school when it comes to Chinese food. I always get the same thing, or about the same thing, and it will never go out of style. Its old, yet trendy, yet sophisticated enough that no one would ever attempt to make it at home. My Chinese food ecstasy is Sesame chicken or General Taos Chicken. Purple Dot Cafe does it up better than most with a flavorful sauce and the addition of onion and peppers. There menu can be a bit interesting with things like french toast, noodles with meat sauce, fish with cream sauce, etc, but I think if you stick to the Asian fare you will always leave happy and satisfied. Prices here aren't the cheapest Ive seen, but the place is clean and the service is nice.

    (4)

  • Laura M.

    Fun place to eat. Food quality is pretty good. We order the baked spaghetti dish and did dim sum. Initially it seems over-priced but the bill ended up being reasonable.

    (3)

  • Anje V.

    Purple Dot: a Far East Denny's. I wouldn't think of Purple Dot any other way than an Asian greasy spoon. Service is upside down at this establishment so head in without expectation and a sense of humor. I would rate everything at Purple Dot the same way I would rate Denny's. Nothing special here and this eatery will serve it up just as reliably as the American chain. Recommending Purple Dot as a place to get unbelievably good Chinese is like directing someone to Shari's for Filet Mignon. For late night snacks and giggles Purple Dot will work. The insanely thick French Toast with condensed milk is comforting after a bad day. Red Bean Ice is refreshing after bar hopping/clubbing or a day of shopping. The staff tends to come by only when asked and will leave guests to their long conversations. Underneath the pop music and juvenile interior Purple Dot is just a simple diner.

    (3)

  • Sam P.

    A solid Hong Kong tea restaurant in Seattle. I always order #92 (Beef with Wontons & Noodles). The service is fast, and they're open pretty late. Tip: Parking is usually hell down in the ID on weekends, so I often park in the Uwaji parking lot, go to the Dot, and then buy some groceries at Uwaji and get my parking validated.

    (4)

  • Jacquie L.

    Chicken Chow Mein is mean I was having a super craving for some really great chicken chow mein and after checking out what other reviewers on yelp had to say headed to the Purple Dot on a Friday evening. When I got there I was starving and hadn't eaten all day. My boyfriend and I ordered a lot of food. We ordered: Mongolian Beef: My boyfriend judges a Chinese restaurant by this dish and we weren't disappointed. The beef is incredibly tender, Spicy enough and lots of flavor. Chicken Chow Mein: The flavor was there and the crispy noodles helped bring some complex texture to the whole experience. Only wish the chicken and veggies were in bigger chunks. It hit the spot though. Hot and Sour Soup: They didn't have cup sizes as far as I could see, so we ordered the small group size bowl. It was great, though it had shrimp in it which I had never seen in Hot n sour soup before. Chicken Satay: This was kinda weird, not like what I have had in the past at other places. The chicken had a lot of seasoning on it and tasted more like southern baked chicken that Asian style. The peanut sauce was not typical either and really didn't have a peanut flavor. I wouldn't get this again. There was so much food and it was all pretty much good. I would go again. Maybe next time I'll go for Dim Sum

    (4)

  • Tai T.

    Didn't realize they had Dim Sum here. Tried it out yesterday with coworkers and it was good. The servings are generous and the quality decent. We tried a lot of different dishes between the six of us. The only thing I'd stay away from would be the Shanghai Dumpling as the shell was crusty and there wasn't any juice inside. Maybe it was a bad batch.

    (3)

  • Chris M.

    Ok the people giving this place 5 stars must be intoxicated. The food is ok, just ok. The service is not ok, it's bad. The prices aren't cheap, either. If you think a can of coke for 2.25 is cheap, then this is the place for you. They bring tea to your table and charge you 1.60 without asking you if ya wanted the tea. The lady @ cash register gave out dirty looks and was unfriendly. Won't be going back anytime soon.

    (2)

  • Bee B.

    had dimsum here today. nothing extraordinary. decor was okay. was actually surprised when i came in. didn't expect it to look that way. we were seated next to a wall with an aquarium so that was pretty nice. the girl that served us was friendly. restroom?! ahm, uhm. turn off was too many kids running around with straws in their mouth... i was amused with the couple and their girl friend next to our table. it must be their first time to eat chinese food or try dimsum cause they kept making comments that made them look stupid. was so funny when she saw me eat the sesame balls (it's not even gross, should've ordered chicken feet). her eyes grew big. so just to tease her we ordered another serving ** evil grin** the guy was the only one who actually enjoyed their meal... oh well. liked the food but nothing spectacular about it.

    (3)

  • Bryan V.

    Not being from the area, we had no idea that the ID housed resturants that were open as late as we usually stay up. So after clubbing with friends, we rushed to Oasis for boba and then found this place for food. Well for one thing, we were completely surprised at how packed it was. It smelled a little funny, but we didn't mind too much, there've been worse. I'll eat Chinese-ish food any day, so I was all for it. The waiter? Hah, he was on something, something closer to acid than to his job, since he didn't seem to give a damn about us. We sat there for at least 15 minutes before anybody noticed we were actually holding menus. And when we finally placed our order, he said, "that's too much." Who are you to tell me I'm eating too much? And apparently he didn't have enough of an attention span to notice that my fiance was a vegetarian, so he took no action to stop us from getting something for her that had all types of meat in it. The only thing that guy had going for him was that he looked like he could have been in a Taiwanese drama. Alright, the food. The chicken fried rice, my special fare, it was alright. However what gives this place the stars is the honey and walnut prawns. DELICIOUS. Other than that, bleh. I'll go to Sichuanese over this place if the time is right. The food was definitely not worth $65.

    (3)

  • Michelle B.

    The menu is really a book, a huge book, a book that needs chapters and tabs to help you navigate all of the diverse offerings. And, boy, are the offerings diverse. Everything from an easy peasy stir fry, to a few seafood dishes that make my eyes go wide, and a couple of things that make me wonder how one could possibly consider that food. I know they offer spaghetti noodles as an alternative to traditional Chinese noodles, and I think I even saw pot pie on the menu one time. Some day I will talk someone else into trying these things so I can try a bite without taking the risk myself. I always stick to their tofu dishes. They tend to do those right and they are rarely bland. Open late with an interesting diner-esque interior awash in purple and chrome, the Purple Dot cafe should be on your list of things to try at least once.

    (3)

  • Heejin L.

    it's your typical dirty chinese restaurant. with decent food. :D

    (3)

  • Derek P.

    I haven't visited the Yahoo! headquarters, but I imagine their cafeteria would look like Purple Dot. No joke. I bet I could snap some shots and blog about having visited Yahoo.com . Regarding the food and service, I have never had a positive experience at this restaurant. Call it bad luck / bad timing? We can never seem to receive service from a waitress who actually gives a damn about a positive dining experience. Case in point - my friend and I came in looking for dim sum. Knowing that we were cutting it short with 30 mins before it ended, we headed in anyway. The waitress motioned us towards a table, seated us, then turned around to clear the table behind her. No greeting, no inquiry as to whether or not we wanted drinks. We let her make two trips before back and forth to the kitchen before interrupting and politely asking for drinks. Without saying anything she walked away. On her return we asked if we could order dim sum. She looked at her watch somewhat annoyed and said dim sum is over. There was still 25 mins on the clock! We caught the managers attention and asked if dim sum was still available after which he replied with a yes, took our orders and returned with the dishes.

    (1)

  • ROCKKSTARR h.

    I love this place. The dim sum is soooo good. :) 4 stars

    (4)

  • Ken H.

    My wife and I occasionally go to China Town for some Dim Sum. This place is great! The Dim Sum is delicious, the service is prompt, and the price is right! We also like Harbor City, but we love the fact we don't have to wait to be seated here.

    (5)

  • Courtney S.

    Eating here is better than not eating at all, but that is not saying a lot. The food is bland, the service spotty (I think we had to flag down our server every time we needed something). The menu is funny to read, just because of how diverse the items are - from french toast to spaghetti to internal delicacies (?!?) to sweet and sour chicken. Also - they serve (very acidic) wine and beer only.

    (2)

  • errol c.

    Good for late night grub if you're hungry. their food is mediocre. I recommend their spaghetti though. I just find it different/strange that they serve that there as well as some breakfast foods. It's cool though. It really is a late night spot to get some early breakfast at 1am.

    (3)

  • Leon C.

    Chicken Wings. That's everything you need to know. This Macau-style restaurant is a kind of East-West fusion without the pretentiousness of the "fusion" label. Although it has the look of a Chinese restaurant, the lesson here is that you shouldn't be embarrassed to order something like the baked spaghetti. Those dishes aren't just on the menu for the less adventurous insisting on American food... honest! Yes, I think Purple Dot Cafe should consider dropping the rest of the menu to focus on taking on the KFC fried chicken empire. However, if you do wade through the rest of the encyclopedic menu, you'll find other decent and authentic dishes (though clearly "Beef Internal Delicacies", while very good, is not for everyone). The Purple Dot Cafe is open late on weekends and draws a young crowd coming out of the nightclubs. Remember... chicken wings!

    (4)

  • Icha S.

    it's a good place after a night out in town since it's open. i had the indonesian fried rice and it was straight from the instant packet spice. i could have cooked it myself at home. but there were other things that my friend ordered that tasted pretty good. i had to continously remind myself that's a cafe type of food so quality isn't going to be the best.

    (3)

  • Curtis H.

    good food. open late. both a plus. when it first opened, service was horrible, they always forgot my rice. since then, service has improved quite a bit.

    (3)

  • Marisa C.

    I come here once in awhile mostly with a group of friends, but last night I had gone here with my family after my brother's graduation and decided to try out the baked spaghetti with meat sauce. I've heard that it's super yumm. So once it had came, rest assure I was like "ohhh!" WAS planning on sharing with my family but I had finished it alone. hAHAHA :D my brother had ordered this as well and finished it himself. Guess we were both hungry for the baked spaghetti

    (5)

  • Timoteo B.

    A true fat boys paradise... gotta love a place where you can get spaghetti, pan fried egg with meat sauce over rice, a classic club sandwich (my favorite), and/or a delicious ice cream treat, not to mention their always delicious Chinese food. Their hours are awesome, open when most places are not (into the late night/early morning). Pricing isn't terrible, service can very, however I've never been dissatisfied, and like I already mentioned the food is awesome. On the weekends (fri,sat,sun) you can expect droves of people flocking through the doors around 2am (after hour snacking I presume). A large percentage of which consist of pretty young Asian ladies looking for a bite to eat in the late hour. While it's not the sole reason to go, it certainly does add to the ambience of Purple Dot. The only knock on Purple Dot (which isn't entirely their fault) is the parking; a victim of its location. It's strickly on street parking so it's essentially a luck of the draw situation when looking to park close to Purple Dot. Another knock, if you could call it one (once again not Purple Dot's fault) is the fact Chinatown turns into the "Night of the walking homeless" during the late hours. Whereas I don't have much of a problem with it I figure some might. During the late night/early morning there can be some pretty aggressive pan-handling surrounding Purple Dot simply because the restaurant draws so much attention/business, so just be forewarned (to those who mind).

    (5)

  • rose m.

    This place is a Gluten Intolerant dream come true, I took my usual 20 minutes in looking over their menu and came up with lots of options. I had Dim Sum, I can say the best I've had in Seattle and the pieces are huge. I also had a dish of real vegis with Rice noodles and a mmmm mmmm sauce, thank goodness for tapioca starch. I was also able to crush my sweet craving, which has been the hardest thing to do, with a bean paste bun. I thought my life was over when I was diagnosed with this illness but I can say with much joy that Chinatown has saved me.

    (5)

  • Kristine A.

    Baked spaghetti! YUMMMMM.

    (4)

  • Rossana Y.

    This review is for the dim sum only. I came here with my family and a couple friends (5 of us) at around 12:30pm so it was pretty busy. We were seated right away so we didn't have to wait for a table. It did take us awhile to wait for some of the dim sum ladies to push their carts to our table to get some food. Since we were eating at a busy hour, all of our dim sum was hot and fresh from the kitchen. The fact that my grandma was there and was able to order the food in Chinese was a plus too. The taro dumplings were excellent and the chicken feet (fung zhao) was pretty good. We also had the BBQ pork buns, shu mai, egg tarts and the sticky rice w/meat wrapped in lotus leaves. The ha gow (shrimp dumplings) was a little bit on the soggy side but everything else was decent. I ate so much that it felt like my arteries were crying, but thank goodness for the tea to wash all that fatty goodness down. Compared to most other dim sum places in Chinatown, this one is the least expensive. I recommend coming here during busy hours so that your food will be nice and hot.

    (4)

  • Tarquez W.

    Good food but poor customer service and this wasn't on a busy night.

    (2)

  • nuwy N.

    Bad quality dim sum. I only tried three items that looked presentable on the push cart. Unfortunately, I was nauseated after a few nibbles. The har gow was mushy and instantly fell apart when I bit into it and the green onion buns tasted bland and stale. The eggplant and tofu dish was a bit oily and oversteamed. I stopped eating after that and went over to Jade Garden which offers consistently decent dim sum.

    (1)

  • Judy C.

    Server was not friendly. Gave us the wrong food. No apologies. Worst place for hot pot.... But they did change the channel for us.

    (1)

  • L B.

    Good place to go late at night. What's good here: honey walnut prawns, french toast, house special chow mein, mongolian beef, pepper beef and spaghetti. Take a date and hold her hand!

    (4)

  • Joe L.

    Great for late night, as in beyond 2 am. I've never been here during "normal" hours so I guess take this review with a grain of salt. Congee is great, baked spaghetti is delicious. One drawback is that kind of dirty feeling I get walking into this joint super late at night. I will have to try this place during the day and really get a better feel for it.

    (3)

  • Dario B.

    Imagine a food truck parked within a building and, of course, open late during the weekend. That's it. Portions are good and flavor-wise I really had no complaint, I guess because I walked in with no expectation. Ambiance is fun too, probably the best part. It's a lively food court with loads of tipsy late night out goers. Me likey!

    (3)

  • C C.

    We only go here for Dim Sum and it's good. Getting water or a refill is a problem, but all you do is ask and they will bring it. I finally went her and eat off the regular menu, wow not good! Very strange menu items. If you go, go for Dim Sum.

    (4)

  • April K.

    Service was ok, but the food did not taste good at all. The Budda delight was tasteless. Our Greenbeans with pork, tasted ok initally, but was chalk full of MSG and left a bad after taste. Cute, astmosphere, but definitely would NOT recommend this restaurant.

    (1)

  • Jason I.

    Hands down the best chinese food in all of Seattle. I'm from Canada, so I've been spoiled with great chinese food, and this place is the closest to the chinese food back home. Try to Japanese braised tofu, the fun noodles, and the chinese steak. Can't go wrong with what's on the menu.

    (5)

  • ran y.

    Unless you are Asian in general, or specifically of whatever heritage the waitstaff is comprised of, don't expect off the charts service. To me, it's no problem. I will take a person being about their biz to the point of gruffness in a different language any day over some slack jawed, glazen eyed, un-showered hipster reject who speaks fluent English yet still lacks the basic communication skills required of their job. That said, the food options here span many countries and styles and are usually tasty and affordable. While not open as late as many other International District (not Chinatown! Also talking to you, Central "Area" gentrifiers) restaurants, it's still possible to eat after normal business hours. I like their soups, but the real reason I find myself in there is the Nasi Goreng. Of course, I have had better Nasi Goreng (Trans. "fried rice") from straight up mobile stall push carts in Jakarta, but we aint in Jakarta. For under $10 I get a plate of Indonesian fried rice that is not only tasty, but actually filling. They don't play games with your hunger and even someone with a serious appetite like myself can achieve satisfaction. Taste and portion wise, it's a good value. And the fact that I would have to travel to Northgate to find an actual Indonesian restaurant makes this place an occasional and pleasant destination.

    (4)

  • John C.

    I don't know what it is. Maybe they lace the food with something. But everytime I go to Seattle, I MUST eat at this place. It's cheap eats for the most part. And it's typical Chinese cafe fare, but something draws me back. I can't even remember what I ate there the last time around, but I'll be back.

    (4)

  • Jeff L.

    Food's so so. I don't know why its even still open after all these years when there's so much better food in the ID. I do remember quite a while back my friend found a hair in his food. They were nice enough to not charge him but he never did go back there again. Sure beats Chinatown in NYC when I found a bee still to the skin of my meal.

    (3)

  • Maria L.

    This place is OK. Their dim sum is decent, if they're able to pace themselves properly and keep things piping hot. Fortunately, their worst waitress got another job at 663 (which is -unfortunately for me- a far tastier place to eat).

    (3)

  • Joolie T.

    i hate you. i've always hated you. i will always hate you. inconsistency is right. the food is never the same (except the baked spaghetti), the specialty drinks are always lacking or contain TOO much, the servers are complete moronic gutter brains, the cashier is a fat slob who likes to pick fights with me, and the crowd of customers varies from late-night clubbers to college kids. i'm never happy with the crowd... i see people i don't like at Purple Dot all the time. it's hip and trendier than most of the Chinatown eateries at 1am. so why not, right? my friend's family run this place. well... they need to fire everyone and hire a whole new set of staff. they really don't know what the heck they're doing. even BEFORE new management... the service sucked! they just kept the same staff and never revamped the place. boo. the wonton soup is good. the pan-fried chicken with cream sauce is good. the spaghetti is good. everything else can kiss my arse.

    (2)

  • Ane P.

    I began dining at Purple Dot when it had first opened, back when they had their glittery tabletops. I miss those tabletops. Anyway, I went back after the management had [apparently] changed hands and was not impressed...so I stayed away for a while. Until of course, one late night when I was craving something salty and couldn't figure out where to eat. That was when I discovered their salty fish fried rice. To dieeeeee for if you're looking for that perfectly salty but not over the top dish. Along with that I love to order the House Special Chow Mein which they use the crispy noodle to create. It has shrimp, squid, and bok choy among other things in it. It doesn't exactly make sense with the other dishes, but I ADORE their french toast dish. The french toast is deep-fried, and has a sort of creamy jam in the center. Topped with lots of butter, this is a huge treat. The extra-special thing about this place is that it's open very late into the night, so you can always count on being satisfied at whatever time it is that you decide you're hungry.

    (4)

  • Robby T.

    Late night eatin' on the cheap tip! On a cold evening at midnight-ish, 2 friends and I enjoyed a meal at PDC. Friendly service at midnight? Check. Hella cheap? Check. Good atmosphere and people? Check. Food? Decent. The duck noodle soup I had was intense and big! All good. Get to Int'l District for food.

    (4)

  • Vince T.

    Stuff here is ok, i really only order the garlic spare ribs here. Oh, and it gets packed on club nights, so I definitely would not tell you to chow down here. Service is ok at best.

    (2)

  • aaron h.

    One word: cockroach. We ordered some chicken hum bow and when they brought it out to us I noticed a cockroach head and body sticking out of the bottom of the hum bow. Disgusting. They comped us the hum bow (how noble!) and gave us 10% off of our meal. I think it should have all been comped. The rest of the food was middling at best... Not recommended.

    (1)

  • CT B.

    Their cajun chicken wings are crack. Everything else is mediocre

    (2)

  • Curtis L.

    I went here for dinner with the family. It has become one of the chinese restaurants that my family frequents in chinatown. The selection is starting to get limited. Their food quality, quantity and prices are pretty good. Great service and cleanliness are rarely found in chinese restaurants so I can't hold them to a high standard. We ordered from them custom set menu . For a set price that will feed a certain amount of people, you get rice, soup, dessert and to choose your dishes off a list. It's a good deal since you can be out the door for less than $10 a person and boxed of left overs. Their food came out hot, was not over seasoned, pretty quickly and for the most part, tasted fresh. Service is friendly and interaction was at a minimum. The place definitely need a remodel as the table, chairs, etc are in need of being replaced. Overall, you will be satisfied by the meal but if you are looking for something higher class, you may want to head to the east side or downtown.

    (4)

  • Ngoc H.

    The best dish at this place is the baked spaghetti with meat sauce. I frequent Purple Dot for this dish alone. Everything else is just ok or below. Never order the wonton noodle soup here, it's got no flavor.

    (4)

  • Chiu L.

    Inconsistent quality, overly salty at times, moron waiters, not even that cheap either. Remodeling sucks. Trendy-wanna-be crap. Can't deliver what's most important: The Good Food.

    (1)

  • Mai S.

    Good food, I like how they have variety food on their menu, I went there with my American friend that was really picky. She actually found something she likes. They are also open really late. The service was ok, they don't really come around to check on you. My fav on the menu are Baked Seafood Soup, and Salmon Steak!

    (4)

  • Alex G.

    The food is alright, not amazing but it's not horrible either. It's a great place for a late night snack. Menu ranges from Hamburgers to Mongolian Beef and the place always seems to be packed at 2 am. Great place to go after a concert

    (3)

  • Mags L.

    I love food. But, eating here, I could've really walked out on my meal and felt okay about it.

    (2)

  • Mackie M.

    Food's not bad. But not that great either. I loved their Thai-Style udon noodles but they took that off the menu some time ago so that's pretty lame. You usually have to wait a long time to get seated. Wait staff sucks. You have to ask them 5 times for water before they bring you any.

    (2)

  • Mark C.

    I've eaten there on other occasions previous to this recent one, and never really thought anything of it. But this past weekend we did Dim Sum there, and it was really good. What was cool was the fact that they actually had Dim Sum carts rolling around. These carts are nearly extinct in Hong Kong thanks to SARS and all those other diseases floating around that made Chinese all paranoid. And an added plus was the fact that it wasn't a super crowded place for dim sum (others were eating from their regular menu), so you don't have to battle for your food as soon as it comes out of the kitchen! Not one dish especially stands out, but it was the whole dim sum experience overall that was good.

    (4)

  • Don M.

    5 stars as it is one of the best late night hang outs after the bars close in Seattle - oh yea - and the food is good too!

    (5)

  • A B.

    If you're looking for late night dining in this area, I'd recommend HoHo versus this place. Always a long wait and incredibly loud throughout the whole restaurant. I've gone here a couple of times and they always mess up our order or someones food is missing. After speaking with the waiter, then the manager about this, there is no solution to the problem, he just says wait 5 more minutes, and starts speaking to his staff in his language probably talking ill about our table. I just feel that the service and food is not anywhere close to HoHo's.

    (1)

  • Jesse R.

    I've only eaten here after two am on a weekend, so I have no idea if it's normally like this or not, but it's amazingly crowded at two am, and the food is so-so (but good for two am.)

    (3)

  • tina k.

    ...so hood!!! 5 stars because there is always a scene - just depends on your alcohol level. also, kudos to the staff that has to deal with all the drama. yay!

    (5)

  • Esteban D.

    Ive been here 4 or 5 times and it's not all that. It's newer and trendy for the young crowd, and they're open late... that's about all the good I can say about this place. General rule of thumb with dimsum is, the busier it is, the fresher and hotter the food. I went here with wifey for a little dimsum and it was terrible. Place was almost empty, but it was around 1, so I figured we beat the crowd by showing late. Wrong. We requested dimsum and they went around the corner and brought out this sorry ass half empty cart with semi lukewarm food. After seeing very little on the cart we wanted, we chose the standard shumai and ha gow and waited patiently for more items to appear. They never did. In fact, after eating 6 sorry ass pieces of dimsum, they asked if we wanted anything else as if we were done. Dumbfounded, I looked at Shari, and back to our hapless server and said, "Yes!" She looked confused. I said we were there for dimsum, and she (after microwaving a few things) came back with her sorry ass cart from which I went with a safe bet of spare ribs. They were fucking cold. I flagged down our waitress and informed her of this problem and ahe sent it away, presumably to be microwaved again. The food and service here is less than okay, as this is not much different from my other experiences here. Dont go here for any reason unless you just want to know what cold food and bad service are like firsthand.

    (1)

  • Kelly A.

    The outside looks like a deli, but the inside is ok. They've remodeled. They need to upgrade bathrooms though with a baby changing table. The food was mediocre. Service was mediocre. Price is high for a chinese mediocre restaurant. Not sure if I'll go back. Pros - Good dessert - try the banana pancake. Cons - On-street downtown parking, no baby diaper changing station, not good service, high price tag for chinese restaurant

    (3)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :9:00 am - 1:00pm

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : No
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Late Night
    Parking : Street
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : Yes
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : No

Purple Dot Cafe

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