First Things First
No, I wasn’t forced. Nah, didn’t lose a bet. And nope, it wasn’t a requirement for work. YES, I actually wanted to check out a place that for some crazy reason didn’t serve meat. In case you didn’t pickup on it, I’d rather rip out my finger nails with pliers than eliminate things like bacon cheeseburgers from my diet. That said, eating healthy and being aware of what I’m putting in my body (meat included) is definitely important to me. I’ve even recently been whining passionately discussing the need for an organic drive-thru in Seattle. Sidebar — I’m always on the go and grocery-shopping-when-hungry gets the best of my bank account, sometimes I just want to drive up and order something without getting distracted and WITHOUT getting out of my car. Anyways, I digress. Some “health food” taste like cardboard or even better, the dirt it was grown in, so I’ve actually avoided vegeterian (especially vegan) joints. Until now.
Well, look who finally decided to grace us with their presence
Before Sunday, I had heard about Plum Bistro many times. Consistently, I was told emphatically that it’s great “even if you’re not a vegetarian”. Everyone said really positive things, I’m just notorius for being incredibly dramatic trying to avoid neighborhoods with crappy parking. So how did I end up there? Well, the last time Plum came up in conversation, a friend slipped me a solid nugget of wisdom, “If you’re checking it out for the first time, you should go on a Sunday. They have a great happy hour and you’ll get to try a few different things without spending too much.” DING DING DING, tell her what she’s won Bob. I’m not sayin happy hour is the magic phrase or anything, but since I’m a commitmentphobe it sure brings down the barrier to entry. There are fewer things worse than ordering food I don’t like and suffering through it — I damn sure won’t waste it, I won’t be rude and return it, but I’ll be mad as hell while I finish it (internally of course). So not cute. Anyways, I was driving around Sunday running errands and the light bulb went off! It’s Sunday. I’m hungry. Go to Plum.
The meat-eater dilemma, what to order?
The happy hour menu has quite the selection, from hummus and sliders to tacos and pizza, I had plenty to choose from. Even moreso, I was wise enough to sit directly across from the open kitchen. It was great to see how the food was prepped, and even better, to see how good it looked just before carried off to its rightful owner. I’m not a food critic, so I won’t get into the annoying details of “savory this” and “ingredients that” but I will say, my food was pretty damn tasty. Tasty enough, that I’d try anything else on the menu (despite the fact that I secretly hate the idea of tofu). I should also mention, the house red was a nice Temperanillo (Tempranillo’s are so under-rated IHMO) and it went well with my Carribean Jerk slider. Watching the dude in the kitchen slice giant onions inspired me to order what turned out to be some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had – yes, they even beat the ones you get from the greasy hole in the wall, drive-up burger joint. Also near the top of my list EVERYTHING WAS MADE FROM ORGANIC INGREDIENTS, it was a very pleasant surprise to see that on the menu. If all that isn’t enough to get you in there…your loss…more for me 🙂
What you should know
- The staff is FANTASTIC, I sat at the bar and had a lovely chat with the bartender Alex. She was great, and didn’t roll her eyes at my annoying “what’s in this?” questions. And believe me, if I was her, I’da rolled my eyes – at least secretly.
- If you’re an onion ring enthusiast, you’d be a fool not to order them
- There are 10-15 tables total in this place so if you’ve got a big party, call ahead.
- Parking on Sunday evenings isn’t terrible, think I only had to go around the block once (huge win in my book)
- The 90’s R&B music playing in the background is freakin awesome, but clearly, I love 90’s music
Bon Appetit!
If you check it out, we’d love to know what you think.