The Purple Heather

Spontaneous restaurant stops don't happen often anymore: with two young'uns there are nap times, bedtimes, and food allergies to contend with.  So when we decided to stop for a bite to eat at The Purple Heather yesterday afternoon it was with  tentative hope that we'd actually enjoy a meal at a restaurant we'd never heard of, at a time of day that would allow bedtime for the youngest to still be on time.

Aside from sharing a moniker with me, The Purple Heather wouldn't have done much to catch our eye.  It sits in a relatively new plaza on the west side of Walker's Line south of Dundas.  However, we were pleasantly surprised.  Here's the quick scoop:

For the fam: The restaurant was nearly empty at 4:30pm --great for bringing in children.  It was starting to get some flow by the time we left.  They have no highchairs but do have booster seats.  They have a children's menu.  Our only dairy-free tomato-free option was battered fish and chips, our go-to allergy-free meal, at half the price of the adult plate.

For the asthetically-minded: The decor is regal without being dowdy or heavy: high-backed royal purple chairs, interesting lighting (useful while waiting for food with a toddler), dark wood without being dungeon-like.  Great patio at the front, though it faces the parking lot.

On tap:  Quite a large selection -I tuned it out after a while since I wouldn't be taking advantage of it.

Food:  The sign said "Gastro Pub" so we expected (and got) higher-end pub grub similar to Watermark in Toronto. What I didn't expect is that The Purple Heather is a privately-owned, non-franchised restaurant which means, right from the get-go, there is quite a lot more investment in what food is offered, and more interest in explaining what is in the food.  This was excellent for dealing with our dairy and soy restrictions.  The food took a bit longer to prepare than I expected, but it could have been the time of day or our requests for soy-free.  Food that caught my eye (though it had dairy or soy) were veg samosas, fish tacos, peaches and brie, quinoa-blackbean burger (I would have LOVED to have this) and vegetable curry.

The waitress was helpful in ensuring the food met our restrictions, including a complete re-working of their quinoa sushi which was quite yummy.  They subbed out french fries in favour of carrot sticks and celery for our toddler.  Each nacho on my husband's plate had cheese on it: two thumbs up from my husband, though our toddler was disappointed to learn that this meant he could not have any.  Any disappointment I had over limited choice was made up for by the extent to which items are made in-house, including their taco wraps.

Perhaps without the kids next time: They have live entertainment Fridays and Saturdays, and sure looks from the photos on their site that they have a Robbie Burns celebration with all the stops (kilts, pipes).

Verdict:  We'd go again.  And I might try making quinoa sushi at home!

A place we call home

Burlington, Ontario.  It's where we call home.  It's where we play, and eat, and explore,  hike, bike, and shop.  This blog will chronicle it all as we discover all there is about our new-ish hometown that makes it a great place for us to live.