Queen Mother Cafe

So long Queen Mum, thanks for the memories!
The Queen Mother Café was one of the first Queen Street restaurants I visited when I came to Toronto to attend university in the 80’s. It became a special place to meet with friends and discuss lofty subjects over sticky rice with peanut sauce, Pad Thai and wine. Cozy, warm, eclectic and cool. The Charlie Pachter ‘Queen on Moose’ prints welcoming one to a uniquely Canadian experience.
Perfect after skating in Nathan Phillips Square or for sitting on the back patio on a hot summer evening, I frequented the Queen Mum about 12 – 15 times throughout the 80’s and 90’s. The food changed very little, and that was always reassuring. The service was always casually friendly and consistent. I brought many visitors to to Toronto to share the experience, always to a very positive response. I remember my mom trying Pad Thai for the first time. In fact, that was her first try at anything Asian, (beyond sweet and sour chicken balls) and her mind and taste buds were jolted awake.
Over the last 15 or so years, as Toronto’s food scene exploded, my taste buds drove me to continually try out new experiences and I somehow neglected to return to the Queen Mum.
We found ourselves in the neighbourhood recently and while deciding where to grab a quick early dinner, my partner ventured ‘How about the Queen Mum?’ Perfect!
Well, not so perfect. We were seated and promptly shown the menu and told that the kitchen was only currently making a limited version of the menu. We were shown the appetizers and then 2 of the mains. Fortunately, the two dishes were ones we were interested in, the Pad Thai and the Ping Gai. We overheard another server explaining that the full menu was the dinner menu, which started a bit later. Why not have a separate lunch menu??? No, let’s show you what you’re not allowed to have.
After about 10 – 12 minutes, we were ready to grab our coats and leave without ordering when we were finally approached by our sever. We ordered drinks and our food. After another 12 – 15 minutes, our drinks arrived. One of the drinks, a $ 12 gin cocktail, was served in a tiny stemmed glass and tasted as though there was no gin in sight.
The food arrived a few minutes later. The Pad Thai was tasty at first but very salty. After several bites it tasted mostly of ketchup. 2 small shrimp and no sign of tofu. The Ping Gai was basically a piece of dry chicken and half a plate of leafy greens with a bland oil and vinegar dressing, mostly oil. The saving grace was the bowl of very yummy dipping sauce.
Disappointed, we ate our food, polished off our drinks, skipped dessert and coffee (would have NEVER done that back in the day), paid and left. We stood on the sidewalk, looked wistfully at the façade and decided that was the end of an era, our last ever visit to the Queen Mum.

My friends and I came here on a Saturday night after an evening full of skating. We were looking for a late-​night spot to grab some coffee and dessert and Queen Mother Café fit the bill.
The candle-​lit space felt very intimate and the atmosphere was warm and cozy (and dare I say a bit romantic?). Our server was very friendly and attentive. He was also knowledgeable about the menu items and made helpful suggestions. In addition to coffee and slices of cake, we ended up ordering the Nam Dip appetizer (3 Vietnamese fresh spring rolls served with sweet and spicy peanut sauce). The coffee was quite good and came with free refills, which was a nice surprise. There was a nice selection of cakes to choose from and the toffee cheesecake I ordered was tasty and filling (free cake refills were not offered, unfortunately). The Vietnamese fresh spring rolls were pretty standard but this dish is waaaay overpriced ($ 9.95). Oh well, you win some you lose some. Overall, we had a very pleasant experience here!

This Toronto institution is great for so many purposes — first dates, family lunches, post AGO meals, and any other reason to put delicious food in your belly. The sister of my other fav Toronto institution the Rivoli, the Queen Mum is always busy — all day long tourists, regulars and out of town frequenters keep this place thriving.
A warm space with cozy booths, tables, and a bar set up, a surprising number of people can fit into this restaurant. There’s also an upstairs patio for those few warm months we get here. But what matters of course is the food! Having tried most of the menu I can recommend a lot of things — my favourite trio is the edamame with temptingly drinkable chilli soy dipping sauce, the nam jeun with equally temptingly drinkable peanut sauce and the nam dip make a lovely start to any shareable meal.
Another favourite of mine is their kale, roasted tomato and green lentil salad — I know it doesn’t sound very exciting but it’s really well balanced and dressed and filling so buyer beware, it’s a full size portion and not a starter salad in my opinion. I really like their Pad Thai (tofu version for me!) as their vegetables are fresh and not overcooked. Many of my friends enjoy the Bah Me Hang too.
Many of my meat eating friends rave about the Ping Gai so I always suggest it to my companions if they’re new to the Queen Mum. I’ve never heard anyone disappointed. I can even admit it looks delicious to this veg-​head.
Drinks are well made by the staff from caesars to martinis, everything is professionally done. A small but decent and relatively well priced wine list is available as well. And of course for dessert, there’s a full display of delectable cakes and pies on offer that is worth a look even if you are too full from all the other delicious food.
My only complaint is the tables are quite small and it’s tough to get your drinks and food to fit on it comfortably and if it’s really busy, you’ll be right next to your neighbours so it can get a bit loud and lack intimacy — but it’s a small concern for such a good dining experience otherwise.
Adorable pictures of… who else, the Queen Mum await you in the downstairs lavatories so you feel these folks care about your experience from start to finish. If you live here and haven’t been there, what are you waiting for? If you’ve got parents or friends coming to town and you haven’t taken them there — do! There’s something for everyone here.

Fantastic food! The calamari was the best I’ve had in the city, it literally melts in your mouth! The Ping Gai was phenomenal, i’ve never had such tender and juicy chicken. The staff was amazing, very friendly and helpful. I also love their social media account on Instagram, it has tonnes of helpful info like daily specials and upcoming events. Will be coming back! :)

My friend got the ping gai and the chicken was fried with a crispy skin! Delicious! I got the pad Thai medium spice which was way spicer than I expected! My other friend got medium and it was much less spicy than mine so they might have messed up my order or something! Good food still! Would return but I’m a bigger fan of pai since they have a Thai ice tea that goes so nicely with spicy food!

This place was never a «destination» spot for me, but having lived 2 minutes away at one point in my life, you tend to run out of options. I’ve probably been here a dozen times, which should be an indication that I need to go to the gym more, but that’s another story.
Long story short, you need to order the following:
1. Get the Ping Gai. Tasty, moist chicken served with rice and spicy sauce.
2. Calamari. It’s pretty standard but they do it proper. Lightly breaded, and cooked perfectly.
3. Quinoa Salad — Add chicken breast. This plate is huge and tastes amazing. Huge chunks of feta, with cilantro.
As a note, if you’re not from Toronto but looking for «authentic» asian food, this is not your spot. You may think it is, but trust me, its not. Don’t panic, Chinatown is just a few blocks west.

Service was very slow on a Friday evening. I had to wave down the server and do a hand motion to get a menu. We tried the Ping Gai and the Ba Mee Haeng. The sauce that came with the Ping Gai was excellent but the chicken itself was pretty standard. The Ba Mee Haeng was tasty but seemed like something I could cook at home.

Two words ping gai!!! Unreal. The coriander is the best I’ve ever had. Not overpowering, just right.

This restaurant is located just 5 minutes from the City Hall. The entrance was confusing lol, there were like 3 doors and only the left door leads to the actual entrance. We came at around 5:30 so we were able to get a pretty good seat near the window.
My friend and I both ordered the highly praised Ping Gai. The dish was about $ 20. The portion is huge and they do give you quite a lot of meat. I didn’t quite like the salad however, not a fan of the type of vegetables that they use. I don’t remember a lot of details about this meal to be honestly, the food just felt average to me.
The service was slow, it was difficult to call the waitress over whenever we needed something. One of my pet peeves is when the server not splitting the bill and sure enough here the waitress gave the combined bill. I ended up just giving the curtesy 10%

It’s nice. I went to the back patio (which is downstairs, through the restaurant and then back up and then out…) to enjoy the sun. Even in the middle of the week it was packed. The drink options were okay — not a full bar at least not in the patio area, but they had some beers, cider and wine so it was fine. Had some snacky foods. The price was okay, the service was quick.
It has a very laid back and hip vibe. I imagine it would be a good bar to go to with a group, though even for one-​on-​one the ambience was good on the patio.
A solid place, nothing to write home about, but worth checking out if you’re nearby.

Ping Gai — OMG! One of the best tasting meals I’ve had in ages!!! Recommended by our AirBNB hostess, we came here for dinner and left feeling like we are just let in on a huge secret: eat here for the yummiest chicken in Canada! Asian Fusion
mostly with an excellent steak & fries as back-​up. Food would be 6 stars. Weak drinks would be 4 stars. So a five-​star dinner!

Decided to check this restaurant out after reading about it in BlogTO. My husband and I LOVE Thai food but this place definitely did Thai food a big disservice. Every item we ordered was disappointing. The waitress was nice and the food came out relatively quick, but I’d rather wait for better cooked food.
For appetizers, we ordered Sticky Rice with peanut sauce dip and Wasabi Guacamole. Both sad imitations of what they could be. First of all, the rice was sticky but ridiculously bland and dry. The peanut sauce tasted pedestrian, like they just mixed peanuts with coconut milk. No depth whatsoever. I’ve tasted better sticky rice at a Thai place in Whitby, of all places. Second of all, the guacamole was fine. It was fresh but why stick the Wasabi label on it if you can’t even taste it? Not even a hint of it. I expected a sharp hit of wasabi with the guacamole but tasted like avocado blended with no other ingredient. Couldn’t even taste any lime. It also came with taro chips. Very dry. Taro chips and guacamole do not go together, especially when neither have any salt or seasoning.
For mains, my husband ordered Crispy Calamari since he wasn’t that hungry. I ordered Khao Soy Gai. Sounded amazing. Spicy broth with ginger, Thai herbs, tumeric, curry and coconut milk. Uh no. Tasted like watery curry powder with dry noodles. The noodles was the wrong choice because it can’t soak up any of the sauce. Where’s the thick rich coconut? Where’s the fresh Thai herb flavours? Very disappointing. For the first time, did not finish a Thai noodle dish, packed up and actually decided to throw it out because who wants to eat a watery mess? The calamari was fine. The batter was crispy but this dish can’t save this restaurant.
If you want a poor imitation of «Asian Fusion and Thai», come here. I can’t believe any of the positive reviews here. It was two years ago that I read exciting reviews on BlogTO. What happened? ANY other Thai place, even the fast food place Thai Express, would be better than this place. Plus, this place doesn’t even sell Thai beer like Singha. Wow. Won’t be coming here ever again.

The quinoa salad is fresh, generously-​sized, but under-​seasoned. The Ping Gai tasted good but it was quite dry and did not live up to the hype.
The menu is really diverse! Will come back to try new dishes if I’m in the area.
The employees are chill, helpful, and friendly. Be careful when venturing to the washrooms in the basement, the stairs are worn and really easy to slip on.

I have been to Queen Mother Café three times. Overall, service has been adequate. There were times when the service could have been better — at times, it took a while to get seated (even though the café itself was not very busy). It also took a while for the servers to get my bill. Apps and entrées were good — nothing out of the ordinary, but good nonetheless. The food was a bit overpriced — I mean $ 11 for salad? I would pay maybe $ 6 max. for the quinoa salad that I got today. Desserts, however, were delicious! I remembered trying their triple chocolate cake and it was really good!
After my experience with QMC, I would probably come back just for desserts (and perhaps try out their espresso and coffee).

We came here as group 8 at 6pm on Thursday and the patio was all full so we sat inside. The menu is mainly Thai-​Lao flavours with a mix of western and other asian flavours. I’ve heard the Ping Gai is the most popular dish but I felt like noodle that day so I ordered the Bah Mi Hang, which is a stir fry thin egg noodle. It wasn’t crunchy like the Cantonese version more similar to a pad thai, which is still good no complaints. But not something I’ll come back for. The others ordered the pad thai and liked it as well. The apps we ordered was good — Wasabi guac with taro chips, sticky rice with peanut sauce. I like their sangria which you can order by glass or pitcher. The overall experience was good. It’s one of those places where you don’t love it enough to bring people but wouldn’t be opposed to coming again.

Great food. Had the chicken pad thai. It was delicious. The meal came out fairly quickly as well.

Get the Ping Gai chicken. Seriously. I’m sure other items on their menu are lovely, but why go for anything else when the Ping Gai tastes so damn good.
It’s sweet and savory, loaded with garlic and cilantro and roasted to perfection.
Be sure to get a side of their hot sauce for an extra kick.

When in town I must make time for the Queen! Great little spot full of tasty and unique food with an even better selection of drinks!
This is one of the places you can get St-​Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale, well that I know you can, and also have some amazing options for food. From asian fusion cuisine to classic steak frites. I had only ever been for lunch but this time got to experience their dinner! The dinner menu compared to the lunch menu is a nice change of pace. The lunch menu consists of lighter fare and lighter prices, then the dinner gives more substantial meals and with that come more substantial prices. (which is fair!)
The Atmosphere, I would describe as dark and cozy… the booths are a great size but the table seating is slightly squished for my liking, but a great way to make friends!
All in all… great spot and great food! Worth a trip in when on Queen W.

Hello. I’m a stupid American that doesn’t pay attention to local holidays. I still don’t really know what a «Civic Holiday» is, other than it means almost EVERYTHING is closed. Funny I’m writing this on the American «Labor Day,» eh?
We struck out at Pai, Khao San Road, and one other Thai restaurant before finding Queen Mother Café.
Thank you, Queen Mother, for being open for us ignoramuses.
In the mood for Thai (duh), we ordered the Pad Thai. While the waitress assured me that the «spicy» was indeed, spicy, this dish was milder than I had expected. It tasted good though, and (bonus points) had both chicken and shrimp in the dish!
I had two margaritas, both tart and strong.
The menu is a little all over the place in this moody, casual café. There’s also a full bar menu. It saved our asses just before we started to get hangry.
Queen Mother Café still probably would not be a «destination» for me, as I was obviously headed for some serious hot spots for Thai, but it worked beautifully as a back-​up plan. We left with our bellies full and satisfied.

MUST TRY: Khao Soy Gai. (rice noodles in curry soup)
People will tell you that the Ping Gai is the best, but get the Khao Soy Gai instead and thank me later.
Sticky rice is a good snack… though it can be inconsistent. Last time I ordered this, it came as post-​sticky rice. The rice had hardened and was one giant grain of rice, so I had to rip off chunks of it and throw the delicious peanut sauce on top.
This also begs the question: Is there a singular form of the word rice?
There is a back patio. BTW, it has a really strange entrance where you have to walk downstairs, then back upstairs, and your waiter walks through the kitchen. For a moment, it’s all a little bizarre and reminiscent of a bugs bunny cartoon.
Servers are good, laid back.
BONUS: Kitchen is open late

L’ambiance est agréable, décor original, funky. La cuisine est correcte. Reste un inconournable de Toronto