Pandemic takeout review: Purple Dot Cafe is a wonderful spot for takeout in the Chinatown-International District.  I like that you can easily order from them directly online (I don't use third party apps).  They offer dim sum until closing at (I think) midnight, which makes them the best spot for late night dim sum cravings.  Plus they also have delicious entrees too.  Here's what I've tried so far: Dim Sum: - Peanut and pork dumplings (chiu chow dumplings), 5/5 - Pan fried radish cake, 5/5 - Steamed bean curd rolls, 5/5 - Five spice taro dumplings, 5/5 - Soy sauce rice roll, 4/5 - Pan fried eggplant stuffed with shrimp, 4/5 - Shrimp dumplings (har gow), 4/5 - Pork and shrimp dumplings (shu mai), 4/5 - Steamd BBQ pork buns (char siu bao), 4/5 - Soup dumplings (xiao long bao), 3/5 Entree: - Szechuan style black pepper chicken, 5/5 - Salt & pepper green beans, 5/5 - Fuzhou tofu, 5/5 - Fookin fried rice, 5/5 - Fish fillet with corn sauce, 4/5 - Beef chow fun, 3/5 read more

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We haven't even gotten our food yet and I'm already displeased. I had came in at 11:30pm with my family to get dinner and we're informed that dine-in would not begin until April 1st. Yet, we saw two other parties dining in. My family was racially profiled and we will no longer be contributing to their business. On top of everything we didn't receive our whole order and was not given enough time to check it before they closed and literally ran out (the man who works the front counter). I threw the whole order away. It was incorrect and contained meat, which I specifically ordered without. SINCE I CANNOT HAVE MEAT. Neither did they follow COVID guidelines as the man at the front counter was not wearing a mask. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Dumpling - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I came here with my SO when I was way past my Hanger mode. Ordered the Fish Fillet with Corn in Cream sauce over rice ($9.95)and a plate of Fried Salted Tofu ($6.95). Sometimes I wonder who would have thought of putting together battered fish fillet and covering it with a creamy corn sauce? Seriously, its so genius. I grew up on this back in Vancouver, so I happy that it took the hanger right out of me. Now the tofu. I LOVE deep fried tofu. The pillows of soft goodness was perfectly fried. With a touch of seasoning. Purple Dot Cafe is a but pricier then some of the other HK joints around, but we were very happy with what we ordered. Plus they're open for those who have late night munchies. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - fish fillet in creamy corn sauce - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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One of the few restaurants in ID that let you put in reservations for weekend dimsum! There are no carts right now due to covid but all the menu items are available, you just have to point them out on the menu or if they're not on the menu, know the names to order them with the server. The only items that weren't on the menu that we ordered separately were shrimp rice rolls (cheung fun), footballs (ham sui gok) and egg tarts. One star removed because we didn't actually get the egg tarts because they forgot the order and then ended up forgetting again the second time. The footballs were also undercooked and returned to the kitchen but it appeared like they just threw them all back into the fryer so all the filling was missing read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Spare ribs - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Hong Kong style cafe in Chinatown. It's a medium-large sized restaurant with a modern decor that is predominantly white but accented by purple. Their Chinese name though has nothing to do with Purple Dot lol. Went there for Sunday dinner with group of 8 and there weren't that many people so we were able to get one of the large round tables. Menu is classic Hong Kong cafe style, so there are a lot of Cantonese fare, along with Hong Kong style western food like baked dishes and pastas. We ordered a whole bunch of stuff including fried rice, stir fried beef noodles, soup noodles, casserole baked seafood rice, lamb pot. There was nothing that was outstanding, but everything tasted pretty decent. Portions are okay. We were hungry and finished all the food, but we were definitely satisfied by the quantity. Overall bill came to $23, which was not bad. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - whole bunch of dishes - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Stopped in for a quick lunch and was quickly seated. Tables were a little close together so it was a little awkward. However, we were able to quickly order Covid style where you mark what you want on a piece of paper. Food came out quickly and piping hot. The dimsum was delicious and hit the spot. The beef chow fun was fresh and the food enjoyable. Will definitely return in the future to try other dim sum dishes. I just think the restaurant could do with better cleaning as there were cobwebs where we sat by the window. However, do the Jedi mind trick on yourself into thinking this is typical of all Chinese restaurants and just focus on the food taste. The sticky rice was so good and can't wait to return to have more! read more

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BEWARE OF HIDDEN UPCHARGE! Visited this place just tonight, when we are done paying for the food we saw a price difference on the receipt, we where charged extra for two dishes we ordered for no reason, the price is clearly different from the menu, we asked the cashier he just replied us that the menu was not updated. (Even if this is the case you should still provide with at least one menu with the correct price) We went through all the menus in the restaruant and none reflects the price we paid. This is a very serious dishonesty in price. If you have to come here ask for the receipt to see if you got charged extra! If you don't ask for anything they will charge extra! Don't let the restaurant lie to you! read more

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First time having dim sum inside a restaurant in over a year! Interior is 4-5 stars. We ordered four Dim sum dishes and ordered the stir fry noodle dish, I would re-order the stir fry noodles again in future. Service is 2 stars as it took three separate requests to get a cup of water. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Front entrance - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Horrible service. Purple dot should never be anyones go-to late night spot. Came after a concert at Lumen Field. Fine. Our small party of 2 expected it to be busy. But, got seated right away. Ordered maybe 20 minutes later. All is looking pretty positive at this point. Ordered 4 dishes--calamari, wonton noodle soup, bbq pork fried rice, green beans with minced pork. First dish comes out about 15 minutes after ordering. It's hot and sour soup. I try flagging down the server who is bringing out the dishes, but he ignores us, literally using his hands to cover his line of sight to try not to make eye contact with us, shaking his head, "Sorry, sorry." Basically saying sorry he couldn't stop at our table. I flag down someone else after 5 minutes and explain to him that this is not what we ordered. He takes it away. Next up, the original server brings out a mound of rice, smothered in some sort of orange looking gravy with an egg on top. This is, again, not ours. Try to flag down the server again, and SAME REACTION. Ignore and avoid "Sorry, sorry." Finally, I am able to flag him down after 10 minutes. I explain this is not ours. He takes it away. By this point I'm hangry. But, I held out hope that our food was being cooked and at least 1 out of the 4 things we ordered would be arriving soon. Third dish arrives about 10 minutes later. Two pieces of some sort of fried chicken or maybe even quail. WTF. Flag down the server. Explain to him that this is the third time we've received something that we didn't order. He was flustered and didn't understand so he flagged down yet another waiter. This waiter was not very apologetic or concerned. He retook our order again. By this point, we had enough and left. We were also worried by their rudeness that they would spit in our food. A few additional reasons why I will never step foot in Purple Dot again. 1) Never once did we receive water or tea. 2) There were at least 3 parties of 8-10 people around us, who all ordered after us, but their tables were flowing with dishes while I'm pretty sure I saw our calamari go to one of these tables. 3) Never once was there any apology or acknowledgment that this would be fixed or prioritized, just a "we're very busy." I know this is Chinatown, and a high service level is not expected. But, I will say, we went to Ganbei prior to the concert the same night and they are smaller and were just as busy. We constantly received apologies from the owner about the service and how long it took to get our food and thanks for our patience. It was comforting. Purple Dot, I'm disappointed and I won't ever understand why any Seattleite would hype it up for late night or any other time. read more

It's been a while since we've eaten here and it's changed quite a bit from what I remember. The food was tasty and everything came out hot and fresh. Service was so-so; nothing spectacular but not totally ignored either. The only downside was when we got our bill, they added an 18% service fee for our table of 4. I understand the charge for larger parties but for a family of 4? Then they asked for a tip on top of that. Umm, no thanks. Not after you charge us 18% for mediocre service. I recommend for the food, but not for the shady practice of adding a service fee for small parties without informing them beforehand. Definitely look at your bill before paying. read more

I usually come here when Honey Court is full (literally just across the street) and we are hungry after a night of drinking, clubbing, etc. Now I'm sitting here realizing how much I prefer Purple Dot. The restaurant is fairly spacious, quick service and nice employees and never a wait for our tables. The food is decent, gives a good amount to share and priced like most other restaurants. Their food all came out hot and appetizing. We ordered chow mien, fried rice, soup, honey nut prawns (this dish is fairly small), and the very delicious spaghetti. Overall, paying was quick and efficient as well! read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Soup first and one piece of honey prawns because he had a lot of people in our group . - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

i got the beef chow fun (rice noodles w beef) and the longevity noodles (braised e fu noodles). the rice noodles were okay, nothing special. can definitely skip on the longevity noodles next time as there was barely any flavor or toppings in it. the menu does have a lot options so there's a lot to choose from. read more

Compared to other dim sum joints in the area, Purple Dot Cafe is on the lower tier. It's not bad, but it's far from the best. I came here to meet up with my friend's family, as they were having dim sum on a weekday around lunch time. Now that's cool - dim sum just isn't on the weekends like at some other spots, so a star for that. Service was also good. The staff frequently checked in with us, which can't be said for the other neighboring dim sum spots. We got what we needed with never having to wait long. Food was okay, like what most Yelpers have indicated on here. It's not the best, but it's there if you find yourself with nowhere else to go. I had a taro bun, some pork spare ribs, and an egg tart, all of which were just fine. Nothing to write home about. Fried rice was mediocre. All in all, Purple Dot Cafe is satisfactory. From what I had I didn't seem to find anything that would have me visiting again. But gotta love the service, which is a pleasant surprise in this neck of the woods. read more

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The food was a little to salty but still the average Chinese food. I also want to say that the dim sum had one shrimp skin where it wasn't supposed to have. I want to say that the service is decent and in time. But once I walked into the restaurant, it smelt like an old man with stanky breath. Also, the waiter was nice. I recommend this place to go once a 2 month. The ambiance while being in the restaurant is really Chinese-y and would say the food is right on point. There is a lot of people eating here and many seem to enjoy the food. Food could be better in my opinion, I wish it was not as salty and could have some color to the food. Also the cold chicken was super duper cold and I personally think that it should not be this cold. Next time do not make the chicken that cold and have it a little bit warmer. Finally, the food is top notch and would recommend the vegetables because my brother forced me to eat 2-3 whole ass plates of it. But overall, I enjoy this amazing experience with this place and would up my rating to a 3 to a 3.1. Thanks. P.S. the waiters are really nice and Chinese-y. I think the place could need some freshers because this place is stinky af. Next time I come back to Seattle, I better be able to breathe. Also I want this place to be a little bit more cleaner. I can smell the bathroom from a mile away. Thanks and good night! read more

This is our go to dim sum spot! We love the quality and variety they serve while still being reasonably priced for dim sum in the area. I also like that while it's popular, it usually not overrun during peak times so we usually don't have to wait long for a table. The service is very efficient as well so you don't have to wait long for your food. There are definitely many great dim sum places in the international district but personally this one will always be our favorite read more

The food is okay I was over charge for a meat dish, keep an eye with the price on the menu and the price in the check. Tea was serve with out us asking and we were charged. I found a hair (brown and blond ) in one of the fried shrimp balls, I talked to the manager and he said it was a from a paper they used to create the fried shrimp ball. Which was not. Gratitude is added automatically even if the service is not grate. read more

Our group came here after the game. I wish we never stepped foot in this establishment. The worst service and I'm shocked at the reviews because everything (minus the sizzling rice soup) was a disappointment and lacking flavor. My grandmother asked for more water that came moments before we left. The waitress stated that they ran out of cups and poured water into the bowl that my grandmother used for her soup. I urge you to check out the restrooms before ordering. Purple Dot roaches are ready to greet you. I wish we would've used the restroom prior to ordering. We would have left! read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Filthy - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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[Quarantine Takeout] Our cravings for dim sum were satisfied...Purple Dot Cafe offers some pretty authentic dim sum dishes that you should not miss out on! We ordered 12 dishes for 3 people and yes it's a lot so we had some leftovers. We ordered (from top left to bottom right): beef tripe w/ abalone sauce | sticky rice in lotus wrap | sesame phoenix claws | golden fried dried shrimp dumplings | pan-fried radish cake | steamed shrimp rice rolls | steamed prawns w/ chives dumplings | steamed BBQ pork buns | steamed egg custard buns | pork & shrimp shui mai | jumbo prawns dumplings "ha gao" | walnut honey prawns Overall, it was a great dim sum experience and everything we ordered were delicious. The ones that are on the "must order" list would be... * Golden Fried Dried Shrimp Dumplings : Crispy fried sticky rice dumpling skin that's thick, chewy, and somewhat sweet! Amazing savory fillings with the dried bits of shrimps. * Steamed BBQ Pork Buns : Soft and chewy...steamed to perfection! Love the sweet bbq pork filling and it just melted away in our mouth! * Sticky Rice in Lotus Wrap : My friend loved this dish, especially the sticky rice texture and pork fillings in there, good balance in portion. * Steamed Egg Custard Buns : Wow. The egg custard literally exploded when we tried to rip it apart...if you like some savory flavor to go with your dessert buns, this is the way to go! * Ha Gao & Shui Mai : Classic dim sum dishes that can't go wrong! read more

Purple Dot Cafe - [Takeout] Dim Sum Assortment - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Only gave this place a 4 because of how late they open and how nice the workers are! The food though is mediocre but their dim sum is awesome. I love a couple of their dishes but most of their dishes are kinda bland. read more

Worst dim sum I've ever had. And I'm from San Antonio. Thick, chunky, underdone dumpling dough and under cooked, flavorless pork filling. The bbq pork buns were also undercooked and doughy. Yuck. read more

Great spot for dimsum and quick good Chinese food. Pretty good selection on the menu and servers are very friendly and nice.

I love this place, it reminds me of home when no where else can. I came here just to try out a new spot but it turned into a place i will surely come back too in the near future with not just family, but friends aswell. read more

Service is pretty good. Highly recommend the Pork Hash and Steamed buns. Always busy and the environment is modern and clean

Purple dot was my first Seattle dim sum experience and I've gotta say it was great! The food was amazing and the portions were pretty large (and that's coming from a southerner). The space is clean with plenty of seating. The service was good as well. Our server made great recommendations for us. I also love that they close so late! Perfect spot to come when I have some late night cravings. read more

Purple Dot is one of my go to restaurants in Seattle since it's great for any outing! Date night? Family event? Graduation? Drunchies? Purple Dot will deliver day or night! I would recommend Purple Dot if I was sober OR Drunk! That's how good the food is! Their menu is diverse so they have food that can fill anyone's stomach! 10/10 would definitely recommend. read more

Came in for dim sum on a very busy Saturday during Lunar New Year. They sat us incredibly quickly despite this, and I'm not positive it was done on purpose but they put us in a booth kind of tucked against a window so we had less table neighbors and a great spot to park our huge jogging stroller. When you have a toddler in tow it is nice to not feel like you're ruining everyone else's dining experience, too, so the seclusion was very welcome. The carts come by really quickly, and it is easy to get something because the waiters suggest great items. We started with Chinese broccoli and my single complaint about the entire experience was the lack of sauce. Two tiny dollops was not nearly enough for this generous helping of perfectly cooked vegetable. I am sorry I didn't get better names for the items, but we had a steamer basket of 5 meat dumplings (chicken?) , egg creme buns (3 to an order), BBQ bao, fried rice wrapped in leaf (2 per order), shrimp stuffed into a Japanese eggplant, huge crispy fried shrimp balls (3 per order), fried rice balls stuffed with meat and sauce (3 large pieces per order). We actually had one more steamer basket but by the time I write this I couldn't remember what it was. Our total plus tea was 42. FORTY TWO AMERICAN DOLLARS. For food that fed two adults and a voracious toddler for lunch, dinner, and another small snack/meal. I have no idea why I haven't been doing dim sum here! Will be back. read more

This is the place to get the most authentic Hong Kong cafe style rice plates! There are many Hong Kong restaurants on the same street, but this one is the one that got it right the most. I would recommend everyone steak in black pepper sauce. read more

Solid menu, love dim sum at 1 am! Food was pretty decent. The beef and broccoli was super good, the fried rice was dry with old frozen peas and carrots. (Yuck). It also contained a piece of plastic. When alerted to this, the management fixed things right away, which was excellent. Other dishes were quite good. I want to give 4 stars but can't get past the high prices and bad fried rice. Open til 2am was fantastic though!! read more

I ordered the golden fried dried shrimp dumplings (in person), and they gave me "deep fried stuffed dumplings" with pork and mushroom filling instead. They look the same on the outside, but definitely not on the inside. The crispy batter was really good. It was similar to what they use for the French toast. The glutinous texture of the dumpling was strange, and the flavorless filling included an unappetizing gel-like substance. The steamed egg custard buns weren't custard at all. It was just salted egg yolk, and it was pretty gross. The bun itself wasn't even good. It was dense and dry. I don't like carrots and peas in fried rice. I much prefer onions and bean sprouts. They cut the beef in the fried rice into strange tiny cubes, and they do the same thing with the BBQ pork. The meat is low quality. My friend and I shared the BBQ pork fried rice, and we both got sick afterward. While we were waiting for the food, the cashier took the pens out of the "dirty" cup and put them in the "clean" cup without actually cleaning them. The French toast is good here, but I'm not sure I trust them for anything else. read more

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I got a plate of disappointment and a side of disgust. Don't get me started on the manager. He probably went to school for rudeness and got a degree in poor customer service. read more

1 star for the hot and sour soup. Other than that, food is at best mediocre. Service is so-so and they overcharge for alcohol and probably other things, I called out what stood out the most. They definitely took advantage of our group coming in after a night out. $80 for a $12 bottle of Sake (now that's a frkn mark up), $20 for 1 bottle of beer, that's insane!! To say the least we don't have plans on ever coming back, just be mindful of your bill and the ridiculous prices. You should be ashamed of how you take advantage of customers. read more

Dropped by this place on a Sunday afternoon since the other nearby dim sum places were closed. I regret stopping by now that this place served me raw shu mai (pictured) which I only found out after a couple bites in....they took back the food with only an apology and gave me another order, but honestly I feel like I'm going to throw up. I have never been served partially uncooked food at a dim sum place before and this is just unacceptable. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Raw shu mai :( - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

TASTY BUT NOT SUPER CLEAN My wife and I were in the International District starving when we decided to try a totally random place without checking Yelp. This place was the spot and we hoped to get some dim sum. The place actually smelled not like food when we went in, in a not good way. We were not encouraged by the fact that at our table the wall had stains as well.... but hey, we like adventure and we wanted dimsum! The dimsum menu was very limited it turned out, with most of the menu variety being not dimsum. Shame on us for not checking that first. Anyhow we ordered dimsum, like shumai and bao, and they came out and tasted decent. I also got a beef soup that tasted pretty good. So overall the food was actually way tastier than expected. The thing was later that night and the next day I had some pretty serious digestive issues. It probably was from the chili paste we added at our table, I'm not sure, but I'm curious what their food inspection score is and if that played a part... I am not sure. Anyhow they seem to be trying to serve decent food but given the circumstances I'm not going to try again and would probably recommend doing your homework before going here for dimsum if that's your goal. read more

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Best services I've experience at a restaurant in the Seattle area, hands down! The servers are so attentive and vigilant towards the customers, they would literally "run" to you to find out what you need and then quickly fulfill it. They are AMAZING!! And what's even better is that the food is DELICIOUS! I highly recommend their salt and pepper fried pork chops, they are so well seasoned and crispy that you'll dream of it from time to time. The deep fried pork chops go well with their house special stir fried vermicelli (thin rice noodles), and iced milk tea. Their milk tea has a unique tea fragrance that makes the drink really special! So I hope you'll try it! Finally, I love how Purple Dot opens till 2am, which makes it a perfect late night date spot! read more

Purple dot is opened super late and really great. Personally favorite things are the salt and pepper tofu and fried rice. Have not had anything disappointing there. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Outside - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Came recommended by a local. Well priced and loved the white seating. Great service. I think the din sum was well priced but not the best I've had which maybe is hard to measure up to. The shrimp balls were our favorite. read more

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The food there was both affordable and delicious. I would have honestly give a 4.5 star for both the dish and customer service alone. However, I didn't like how they would assume the 18% service tip without our consent. When I asked why the service tip fee, the response was they went ahead and added it "for" me. I would go back for the convenience of eating out late night, but am dissatisfied with how they handled the payment. read more

Purple Dot Cafe is your traditional Hong Kong style restaurant in the heart of the ID. It serves really similar food to Hong Kong Bistro next door, and they're both open really late, so just take your pick. AMBIANCE The restaurant was remodeled and definitely feels more posh than it did before. The white leather booths are a nice touch. I haven't been for dim sum in a while, but dinner service is pretty standard, no complaints here. FOOD I went for a Hong Kong classic dish in Baked Pork Chop over Rice in Tomato Sauce. Purple Dot uses vegetables and doesn't drown the dish with the sauce, which is appreciated. The tomato sauce isn't too sweet like many other places. The fried rice underneath was a little dry, but we did come in at 2 in the morning, so you can't expect them to have the freshest rice. Preserved Egg and Pork Congee is also another traditional HK breakfast dish. The consistency of the congee was spot on, not too glutinous, and not too watery. The pork was a little salty, but the dish was still solid. My favorite part of HK style cafes/restaurants is HK Milk Tea, which is generally a little more bitter than your traditional Taiwanese milk teas that you'd find at boba shops. No complaints with their HK Milk Tea. OVERALL Great spot for a post-night-out meal. Purple Dot has the extensive menu that you'd come to expect from a HK style restaurant, and is super affordable. Get the HK Milk Tea. Don't get dim sum if you come in late, it's probably not the freshest. read more

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Mr Sam absolutely loves the house special bean claw dish. There is no better bean claw in the Metropolitan Seattle area. Tell your friends. read more

Purple Dot Cafe - Mr Sam absolutely loves the Bean Claw special dish. Highly recommend if in the neighborhood. - Dim Sum Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My team ordered delivery while working a night shift. Purple Dot is open late and has a very large menu of both familiar and more adventurous (mostly) Chinese food. The beef chow fun had lots of tender beef. The black pepper chicken didn't distinguish itself too much but it was very peppery and overall pleasant. My favorite was the box tongue with tomato sauce. I absolutely loved the tender, slightly gamey slices of tongue and the sweet tomato sauce. The meat-to-rice ratio was a little stingy, but I would still very happily order it again. If I'm being honest this wouldn't be my first choice for dinner, but it is towards the top of nighttime delivery options in Seattle in my book. read more

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