208 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Laos, Thai
Date visited: January 2011
www.queenmothercafe.ca
So after our India Palace stint, we saw some restaurants along Queen that looked good to try out. I chowhound-ed what places were good to eat and there were some recommendations on Queen Mother Cafe. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical after looking at their menu as it contains many different ethnic foods (including pasta, roti and meat loaf??) but we gave it a shot anyways.
Food: 4.5/5
I read that the Ping Gai was fantastic. And boy I have to vouch for it. I really think it's THE best chicken I've ever had. It is unbelievably tender and it came with a really nice spinach salad. The pyramid of rice was less than appetizing and the rice pyramid of Giza remained on my plate mostly untouched. The bf got Bah Me Hang and wow were these noodles really good! The flavour of the entire dish was really good and it had a nice kick to it too. The desserts in the dessert window looked mouthwatering but we passed up on it (the portions are also HUGE. The couple beside us got a slice of cake and it was a monstrosity).
Service: 3/5
We got seated near the door .. which means that you get forgotten a lot. I had to remind the waiter for hot water 3 times. To his credit he seemed genuinely busy and was really apologetic about not getting it the time before. But it kind of sucks when you're sitting right beside a window on the coldest day of the year without hot water. He didn't come by very often but when he did he was really enthusiastic.
Atmosphere: 3.75/5
This place does have a cafe feel to it (if you're sitting more "inside"). But it was a bit dark and it was bloody cold by the window (the bf was sitting over a heating vent so his butt was nice and toasty, as I was told). I think if we had gotten a booth or somewhere further in I would have rated it a bit better.
Price/Value: 3.5/5
The food here is a touch pricier than I had hoped. My Ping Gai chicken was $17 and bf's noodle dish was $14. Granted the food was delicious but it does border on the expensive side for us. The portions were quite decent and we were pretty stuffed after our meals (no appetizers).
Overall dining experience: 3.75/5
The food was really good but it was the service and the fact that I was freezing the entire time that I had to ding points off. Unfortunately we got seated by the giant window which will obviously be colder. Waiter could have been more frequent in tending to us and remembering our drinks. However I'd like to give this place another chance. Also unfortunately, India Palace sits right across from here so when I'm eating at one of these 2 places I'll be staring out the window looking at the other place :)
