Poppinjay’s Cafe and Catering

The staff at the Poppinjays’s, Bellevue location are phenomenal!
My favorite:
**Turkey & Swiss (toasted with bacon, tomato, mayo & lettuce on a ciabatta bun.) **
Other items I have enjoyed:
* Smoothies — Lean ‘n Green (mango, pineapple, spinach, cucumber, fro yo, apple juice, flax & protein additive.) Looks like hell but tastes awesome. Add blueberries if you like your smoothies a little on the sweet side.
* Homemade scone — strawberry. Wow is all i can say!
* The Veggie sandwich (cucumber, sunflower seeds, lettuce, tomato, mayo, sprouts, carrots and avocado on honey wheat bread.)
* Chicken Salad Croissant (chicken breast mixed w/​toasted almonds, celery, dill and mayo.) Get this one toasted, it makes it that much better!
They have daily specials too, which is nice to change up the menu a little. Prices are very reasonable, staff is great and food is yum!

For a lunch place this is not bad. Coffee is great and service is always friendly. I can’t ask for more. I try to bring lunch everyday but on the rare day that I don’t, I love grabbing a bite from here.
It’s not the greatest food but definitely not bad. I like that they have some sitting area and very chill atmosphere. Their cozy environment makes me not want to go back to work after lunch.

This place is not good. I work in the building and sometimes pick up breakfast or lunch here. The food tastes good, but its not always what you ordered. More times than not, they have messed up something on my sandwich, forgot the cheese, put tomatoes on when I asked for no tomatoes, etc. It takes forever to get your food. Especially if there are more than 2 people in the whole place. You can wait 20 minutes to get a simple breakfast bagel to go. They only have 2 burners and cook one order at a time. On top of all that, their prices are really high for the food that you get. You are better of going to Starbucks for sure. Skip this place if you can. Additionally, their Chai lattes are the same mix as Trader Joes, I’m almost positive. Might as well make your own.

Poppinjay’s is A-​OK for what it is, a café located in an office complex. The food is not amazing but it is good. My office will order boxed lunches from Poppinjay’s and the food is pretty consistent. I have gone to lunch a few times in the café with a co-​worker and I usually order the turkey wrap. This is not my first choice for lunch as it is set up kind of like a cafeteria and the view is of the office park. Nothing fancy, but it does the job if you do not want to drive into downtown.
Parking is plentiful and easy and the café usually has plenty of seating.

A «hidden gem» alternative to the neighboring Starbucks. I should disclose that I am not really a foodie, but I’m really happy to have this lunch or afternoon snack option in Carillon Point. If you work in the area and want to have a quick (non-​celebratory) lunch with a visiting friend or co-​worker, it’s great. There’s plenty of room and a view and you are angled out towards the marina, so it is a nice mini-​escape from the workday. I like to go over there in the afternoon and order a Berries Only Smoothie. I also eat the Tuna Salad Salad. Yes, it’s relatively pricey for the fare, but you gotta make rent in Carillon Point, so I am just glad this establishment is there.

I don’t know what the other reviewers are expecting. It’s a café in an office building — you’re lucky to have this place, instead of a vending machine!
Sure, this place offers the same fare as a Subway… but the bonus is that there is a lot more. In fact, my sandwich was pretty yummy.
Anyway, it’s roomier than I thought, and though I was there before the lunch rush hour, I could see how it could get crowded. Especially because of the moochers using the free wifi.
Parking is a problem, too — since it’s in an office building, there are only a few spots allotted to the café. Good for the office workers, but a hassle for those who have to drive over.

This is the one deli that is close enough to the office complex that you can walk to. Of the three times I have visited I have had a happy visit for 2 out of the three times. My first visit and experience left me with a bland salad filled with dead lettuce (Chinese chicken i believe). I went back as I was starving and enjoyed the Turkey Café (cranberries & cream cheese) and went back again and had the meatloaf sandwich. I loved that the meatloaf had shredded carrots in it as it made it very moist.
I will go back again for the last two experiences or something new!

When I first started working in the complex that surrounds this little joint I thought it was going to be a total blessing in disguise. At first things were good, and since I was still eating meat at the time my options were aplenty. Their daily specials ain’t half bad, and their bakery selection always entices me through their shiny glass displays.
However, over time I’ve noticed a decline in quality. The avocado and havarti sandwich felt like I was eating a cheese and lettuce sammy with a smidge of avocado flavor. They charge too much, in my opinion, for something I could make for myself with whatever i’ve got here in the fridge at work. I’d be nicer to myself while making it too…
I just went this morning, and the woman was so unacceptably rude to me that I have officially vowed to never go back. She didn’t respond verbally when my friend ordered food, she just took off and started gathering ingredients, which in turn caused me to have to stop her (or attempt to) somewhere mid-​stride to let her know I wanted something as well. While she didn’t stop to look at me while I was trying to let her know I wanted something, mid-​sentence while ordering my bagel sandwich, right as I was about to say «but with no bacon please», she barks at me «PICK YOUR BAGEL OUT». umm… okay. Did she catch that I wanted no bacon on that? I doubt it since she started talking over me. So while I was politely tryinig to make sure she knew I wanted no bacon, I was convinced she was purposely ignoring me until she responded after a long pause with something like «so no meat then???», again without even a glance in my direction. I thought maybe since I got no meat on my sandwich there could maybe be a discount on that. Nope, full price. I would have also loved to add a tomato, some mayo and mustard to this dry concoction… Meh…
In all fairness though, this particular woman is the strangest I’ve ever dealt with there on multiple occasions, but never before has she been this blatantly rude.

Conveniently tucked into the massive office complex where an awful lot of people seem to work, is Poppinjay’s. I happen to know, and have lunch on a regular basis with, one of those working stiffs, so I’ve now been able to enjoy offerings from PJ’s twice now.
The first visit, attempts to order the peanut butter and banana sandwich I’ve heard about over and over FAILED when they were out of bananas.
I instead went with the avocado and tomato sandwich. The only downer to it was the huge lettuce leaf. Nothing wrong with it, just didn’t texturally fit well with the sandwich to me. I also enjoyed a nice hot apple cider, which went perfect with the chilly winter weather that day.
Today, however, Lady Luck smiled upon Don and I, as bananas were plentiful and we were able to enjoy the PBB wonder.
Peanut Butter, Bananas, sesame seeds, raisins, drizzled with an ample helping of honey on delicious honey wheat bread. On the honey, I do mean ample… there were a few close calls with the drizzle and my (also ample helping-​ed) cleavage.
The sandwich is like a live action granola bar in flavor and texture. I though the sesame seeds were a great choice for giving it a little ‘crunch’, but I would have either ditched the raisins or not had quite so many in. They detracted a little from the banana, but did give a great texture experience to the sandwich. A little more peanut butter than what was on there, and it would have been perfect.
I chose just a simple tall mocha as my drink, my first cup of coffee of the day (shock and horror!). I wasn’t looking for perfection here, even going out of of my normal ‘breve’. It was a tad on the hot side, but overall, quite nice.
We shared a cup of the chicken noodle soup, and it was good. LOTS of carrots, which is always a winner with me in soups.
They have a fairly large selection of treats, drinks, sandwich options, soups, and run daily specials. Several different people in line in front of me asked about their chili (only on Mondays and Fridays), so I’m curious to give that a try as well. Now that I’ve had the PBBwonderwich, I can start tackling all the other soup and sandwich offerings.
During general lunch rushes, there is a bit of a line, and the lovely ladies working there seem to get flustered from time to time, but their service is always happy and kind.
Various seating options, current magazines and newspapers, soft music all help create an atmosphere that encourages you to just let the work day ‘go’ for your time there and enjoy your lunch. A large portion of the clientele seem to take lunch to go, so the place is always in tune with that quiet, relaxing atmosphere out of the office.

Poppinjay’s is the only restaurant within walking distance of my office building, so I’ve tried it a few times.
The first time I went, I didn’t see anything on the lunch menu that particularly sounded appetizing, so I just opted for a chai tea latte and a croissant. The croissant was great – big, fluffly, buttery, fresh… you could tell is was baked right there. One of the better croissants than I’ve had in a long time. The chai, on the other hand, was like drinking a liquified candy bar. It was so darn sweet, I couldn’t take more than a sip of it. I had to find someone else to give the chai to.
The second time I visited, I ordered a 1% steamed milk. I know they’re no Starbucks, but I didn’t feel like there was much value in what I ordered. The milk was obviously that nasty-​tasting Darigold crap that has a shelf life of a year, and the lady making the beverage only filled the cup up halfway with liquid milk – the other half was froth. A little froth on top is nice and adds to the ‘steamed milk experience’, but a half cup worth is silly. What a waste of $ 2!
The third time I went, I ordered their Chinese Chicken salad. I was disappointed that the lettuce was that cheap iceburg stuff, not the dark leafed lettuce that’s higher in nutrients. The chicken on top was okay. The dressing was very unusual: it had a hint of ginger, but was overwhelmed with a cinnamon flavor. So strange! Overall, so-​so on the salad.
The fourth time I went, I ordered a Power Berry Smoothie. Okay kids, do not order these expecting Jamba Juice. It was THICK with yogurt and sweetener. The berries were plentiful and fresh, thankfully, but the consistency and sweetness was just gross. I didn’t drink more than a quarter of it.
Poppinjay’s has some nice people working there, and someone who I’m certain is the manager can frequently be seen warmly greeting customers and helping prepare food. But the bottom line is this: don’t bother going here unless you’re REALLY hungry and have no other options.