Purumé

The relaxing ambiance (no A/​C blasting, soft music, plenty of space) makes up for the somewhat confused menu. I haven’t had any food here, but had a beer recently. Can’t really screw that up, though.

Purume went all vegan!!! However, the menu went from HUGE with lots of specials to a mere 10 items or so. I am told they got a new chef and are «trying out new things.» While I don’t think it deserves 4 stars, I am ecstatic that they are all vegan now!

this place was meh at best … don’t waste your money, go somewhere else!
The food is pretty gross, not fresh tasting at all, the service is nothing to write home to mama about …

Five o’clock on Judgement Day /​Doomsday /​Saturday was fairly empty.
Four of us ordered iced coffee that was quite bitter even with loads of milk and syrup.
Three others ordered tasteless tea, «green juice», and «organic wine.»
Two hours were spent lounging around and not ordering any food whatsoever — wait staff never gave us dirty looks, yay!
One of us appeared to be raptured — until we realized he was in the bathroom.

Very happy to have discovered a new organic place. It is Vegan, except for fish that they offer. Loving the sweetness of the filtered water, that the dishes are fresh and mildly seasoned. You can choose from a variety of dressings to use on your own to spice it all up. A wide range of basic balanced Purume platter and bento box servings with steamed squash and roots, a grain, beans, greens, to sushi and rice noodle dishes. All deliciously looking and tasting. Desserts are yummy too. The coconut cream pie my favorite, they also make heavenly kanten.
In New York’s usually crowded places, I truly enjoy Purume with it wide open loft-​like feel. The interior design is so exquisite, I feel it is feng-​shuid. Pleasant colors, big light spheres hanging like moons from the ceiling, a gallery of green lush plants and huge flower arrangements everywhere, lots of raw wooden furniture and a lit yellow orange marble bar, and an art exhibition of beautiful paintings enriching the already wonderful atmosphere. The staff is accommodating and lovely. Mostly, the large black and white silent musical and classic movies projected on the wall behind their bar adds another nostalgic dimension to the place. Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart, and Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire sweeping across the dance floor, while munching away on culinary deliciousness! Wonderful experience we go back to again and again!

This place is weird. But nice.
I feel like I’m the only one there that doesn’t quite understand the aesthetic of what they are going for exactly… but the food is good!
It feels all intimate-​y and fine dining-​y-​ish at first, but then the chalkboard signs are brought to the table and it’s awkward for the server carrying them around and awkward to look at in general. It sits on the chair like an unwanted and sad dinner guest, total 3^rd wheel style.
I love the films that are projected on the wall, it’s a nice and completely unexpected touch at a place like this. The restaurant is sooo big and always feels kind of vacant and quiet whenever I am there.
Anyway…the foooood.
I’m a crazy vegan so the mere appearance of fish and other non-​vegan things on the menu makes me slightly uncomfortable, but the vegan options there are SO good that I remember why I am there. The green dumpling soup is damn good, and I’m not even a «soup person». They also have really great green dumpling vegetable buns that are really yummy. I usually get some sides and random dishes, and everything is really great. It’s definately the place to go when you want something health-​ier-​ish and you don’t feel like souen.
The service is attentive and they even bring out 5 miso soups and every other oddball request that my lovely dining companion makes :)
If I ever smell some sort of salmon or eel brain in there though, I will never go again… but in the mean time I will go and enjoy it.

Great gluten-​free super veggie entrees, gorgeous salads, and interesting tea options. The front looks a little like a café but opens up to the back part which is a little classier. I had the risotto on the special menu which was amazing. Lots of kale choices and super moist brown rice. I’m a fan.

More of a 3.5 but I’ll round up
My best friend and I came here for a Sunday night dinner. We were looking for a quite place where we could catch up over some wine and this place was perfect. I ordered the Brussels sprouts appetizer from the specials, a broiled fluke and a side of brown rice. I initially was looking at the platter but the waiter steered me away by mentioning it came with a lot of food (saved me $ 10!). My buddy ordered the fluke (in pesto sauce) platter which came with vegetables, rice and a soup. The waiter was right this would have been way too much food for me. My friend declined the soup and was brought wild rice with the meal as a substitute. Yes the food was simple but made with all fresh ingredients it tasted great. I am generally a fan of healthy food so I found everything executed perfectly but can see how others would prefer their dinner with more flavor. The waiter was super sweet and when I ordered a glass of chardonnay he brought me a glass for free because the bar was finishing the bottle. The prices are pretty reasonable and we paid $ 85 (including tip and 3 glasses of wine). If I’m in the area, I’ll stop by again.

I went here with my sister for lunch. Service was good and food was good. It was light, healthy asian-​style food. She got the bento box and I got the stir-​fry vegetables and we also shared a vegetable bun. It was a nice light meal and I think you have to be some sort of health food fan to appreciate this place. I did not think anything was bad or bland — perhaps people are just used to eating too much crap? Not sure what all the bad reviews were about. I myself eat a mostly vegan diet and this place was good because it gave me a lot of options to choose from. Reasonable prices as well! I would go here again.

Slow service, disgruntled employees (are they paying them at all?), BAD FOOD!
My take-​home Miso Ginger Stir-​fry Noodle was half cooked!
Coffee was good. One star for coffee.

Verdict: Well it serves healthy food but that shouldn’t mean it cant be tasty ! The food was mostly bland and their soups are nothing to write home about.
Location: Close to Union square, the place has very high ceilings though somehow they don’t reflect the richness an open space like that should. In fact it seems a little vacant and empty.
Food: Nothing to write home about except that you would mostly be eating very healthy stuff. But I am believer that inverse relationship between healthy and delicious doesn’t hold (though am still searching for more experiences to prove this). Soup’s crappy.
Service: Pedestrian ! In fact on one occasion when our server was busy, two other servers standing close by didn’t have the courtesy to quickly respond to our glances /​requests.
I pass !

I love this place! Great food. Always Nutritious. Lunch boxes are affordable and easy… and they have AMAZING gluten free options! I love the kudzu Stew!
I’m sure some of the reviewers have question about the similarity to Souen… But I’m GRATEFUL for having this amazing downtown option AND wine. YAY! along w/​GREAT people!
Don’t let these other lower stars confuse! Just try it! You’ll see!

Beautiful, big, oddly designed space, and a totally dysfunctional restaurant. Awkward and embarassing. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Should be out of business by Easter.

I went here for lunch one day and thought it was good. There weren’t a ton of customers in there since it was on the early side (before noon) but enjoyed some steamed veggies and soup. Both were delicious and came with yummy dipping sauce/​dressing. I’d recommend giving this place a try if you are looking for a light, healthy lunch.

I have a vegetarian friend visiting from California so I mobile-​Yelped Union Square to find a place. Unilocal brought up Souen and so we headed over to 13^th to check it out. Souen=CLOSED. But luckily across the street was Purume.
We headed up and in and were quickly seated at a table. (It being about 10:30 on a Friday night.) My friend had a vegetarian dragon roll with plenty of crisp and fresh veggies. She then had a plate of steamed and tempura fried vegetables that looked scrumptious.
The décor is calm and relaxing with an old Judy Garland movie being projected on a huge wall over the bar. The waiters were informative, kind, and quick. And the final report from my friend was that the food was great.
So all in all… Purume is now on the list of where to take my vegetarian friends for a dinner in the city!

I was so excited that a new vegan restaurant was open in my neighborhood!
Is it new Souen?
Is it fresh and healthy?
I was disappointed with that they never use organic vegetables.

I like!
Always so so happy to find new vegetarian, fresh and organic places in the city. Bonus points if they do vegetarian dim sum and offer a great zen environment.
Had a very nice lunch here with a friend and it was a peaceful perfect Saturday afternoon. I highly recommend the vegetarian dim sum, but so so many things looked good on the menu. The also offer some very interesting teas as well, so check it out!
Souen on 13^th street is closed for this summer for renovations I believe but happy to see there are vegetarian options around Union Square!

Interesting how this location keeps trying to reinvent itself, but somehow does not seem to bring it together, so it closes and opens as something else.
Right now it’s purume. Went here a few weeks back to try it since it’s a block from my house.
food taste — 4 stars
portions — 2 stars
price — 2 stars
It’s a very spacious place, and rather quiet because there weren’t a lot of people in there even on a Saturday night. Because of the weirdly small portions, I had to keep ordering. I think I ordered two entrees and two appetizers, so what seemed to be reasonable prices, netted me $ 50 without drinks by the end.
The place has potential, but I guess they’d have to drop the prices, and jam a ton of tables in there to make it work.

Let me start by saying that the service was practically nonexistent. The idea of getting a water refill is apparently absurd to them, and they really don’t want to give you the check.
Now, to the food. I ordered the bibimbop, which I had assumed would come in at least a bowl. Instead, they did a deconstructed bibimbop, which each ingredient incredibly far away from each other. There was also no flavor to speak of. I left feeling very sad and a little hungry.

I liked this place and would return, but there were a few drawbacks. I got the millet-​crusted seitan filets, which were tasty. I hadn’t had millet before, but I liked it and it added a nice crunch. It came with a side of beet marinara sauce, and I’d always been wary of eating beets — but it was great! Came with brown rice and broiled (I think) vegetables on the side. The vegetables were not terribly appetizing, and my friends who tried my miso tahini dressing (which I didn’t try) said it was not good at all.
The prices were on the pricy side, but not ridiculous. My friend ordered the pad thai, and they added scallops to it without him requesting them — which made the dish $ 5 extra. He also said it didn’t really taste like pad thai. Still, a good dining option for people who are vegetarian and who like fish. Also, they are mostly organic, save for a few ingredients that are difficult to find organically grown. I did notice they say they don’t use sugar, which is fine in dinner dishes but makes me leery of trying their desserts and baked goods.