Queen Mother Café (Toronto, ON)

Sometimes having low or not having expectations can be a good thing as whatever you get can become very nice. Sometimes it does not help at all. I did not know what to expect from Queen Mother Cafe but I was certainly not impressed.

We went to Queen Mother Cafe on aTuesday night and surprisingly (at least to me), the place was full. They have a bar and a few sessions of dinning tables. The decor is very Queen West, church benches, old photographs on the wall, and vintage light fixtures. Quite relaxed. I liked!

It was not a bad meal but what I experienced was not a good meal. I have to say that my friends were not totally disappointed with their food. One of the dishes was extremely sweet but I did not taste it so I rather not comment much on it.

My main was Khao Soy Gai as I felt that I needed to ask for asian food in there. It was a traditional northern Laotian dish of chicken and noodles. The chicken was strangely soft. The noodles were very similar to cup noodles so I did not enjoy that part much.  The broth of ginger, fresh Thai herbs, turmeric, curry and coconut milk was the only thing I could enjoy in my meal but I left half of the noodles on the plate.

We had dessert and I really don't know what I ate as I took a picture of the one I wanted to try and showed to the waitress but it consisted of some buttery cream, cake, walnuts, and meringue. It was a huge piece. We shared between the four of us and we left most of it on the plate. It was too sweet. 

The service was ok and the place itself was nice but I would not come back there based on the food I had. Thank you God I was in good company!

Café Boulud (Toronto, ON)

This Summerlicious I had the pleasure to check a few places that I wanted to try for some time.  I have to admit that I usually have low expectations for summer/winter-licious meals but somehow this year, I had very good surprises. The number one was Café Boulud.

 

I wanted to start by stating that I had a fantastic experience at Café Boulud. The service was impeccable. The food was perfectly done. The decor is classy.

We were a party of four and we were seated right away. We had about 5 different servers working with our table. They were extremely attentive, cordial, and knowledgeable. I only have great things to say about the staff at Café Boulud. One of the waiters dropped some red wine on my friend’s jacket and I discretely mentioned that club soda would do miracles, and quickly we had club soda and a clean napkin plus a lot of apologies.

 

I had the scallops for appetizer. It was perfectly executed! The fish with bouillabaisse and crouton was marvelous. The wine pairing was a great choice and the tonka chocolate mousse was very good but I was happier with my friend’s option, the mango, passion fruit with meringue dessert. So good!

 

I liked so much that I already went back since my first visit and I still love it! I would recommend Café Boulud for a very special date night when you want everything to be perfect.

 

 

THR & Co (Toronto, ON)

I am a big fan of the Harbord Room so when THR & Co opened their doors I had to go and check it out.

The place is gorgeous. I would love to be able to hire the architect who designed the place. Great décor with very comfortable seats. The bar is a place to see and be seeing. It is the perfect place to show off your summer dress and your jimmy choo hills.

We were a party of four so we decided to share everything. I started by having a “Tall Confession” as it was our waitress favorite cocktail. The mix of blueberries, gin, and dry cucumber soda was very refreshing. I loved it!

We shared the black spaghetti, the braised oxtail cavatelli, the ossobucco, the bronzini with green sauce, and the grilles asparagus.

We shared all the desserts they had in the menu. My favorite was the slow cooked chocolate cheesecake. It tasted like a mousse. It was so good!

I had a fantastic experience at THR & Co! The portions were on the small side but the food was divine. I will definitely come back.

Cafe Bar Pasta (Toronto, ON)

Visiting a recently opened restaurant can be a hit or miss as you never know how prepared they will be. I can tell you up front that I was pleasantly surprised.

It was a friday night and we were looking for a place to have dinner before going to Lula Lounge. We had a few options but I really wanted to try this new Restaurant on Dundas West that I accidentally found a few weeks earlier while they were only opened during the afternoon as a coffee shop.

We had a reservation for 8:30PM and  when we got there the place was not yet full. We were quickly greeted by their hostess and within no time we had our waitress explaining to us their menu and specials for that night. As the name says, they had several pasta dishes but don't expect the ordinary. Unusual pasta types and sauces are the norm even though you can find classics such as amatriciana. The menu is small (as it should).  It has an appetizer session, a first and a second course sessions. They also had a dessert menu but we were so full by the end of the meal that we could not even try it.

We shared the trio of ceviches (salvadorian, peruvian, and mexican). We loved how fresh the fish was and our favourite was the mexican ceviche. We also shared the arancini with ricotta. The arancini was very good but I felt that it could take a bit more of salt. I really appreciated the size of the arancini as sometimes arancinis can be very big and challenging to eat.

For the main I had the ossobuco ravioli with a cauliflower and cheddar sauce. I was really happy with my main. Delicious!

The selection of the wine was done by one of the owners who is also a sommelier and I was pleased with my two options, the sauvignon blanc and the shiraz. 

The service was friendly, attentive, and very knowledgeable of their menu and the wine options. That shows how good of a job the restaurateurs are doing. We told our waitress that we wanted to pace our meal and therefore we ordered one item at time. She was nice enough to bring us some fantastic bread from time to time with sicilian olive oil. We did not feel that we're being rushed at any time. Two thumbs up!

The ambiance is very modern. White walls, red art work, magazines hanged on the wall as a decoration piece. A majestic light fixture anchoring the communal table at the entrance of the restaurant made of silverware is probably the dream of any foodie. For the ones who enjoy working outside of the office, they have several electrical outlets that you can use to power your laptop while having a latte and a scone in the middle of the afternoon.

They had a chef's table that fits up to 16 people and a private dinning room in the basement. Great for hosting your next birthday party.

I recommend Cafe Bar Pasta. It has passed the test. Good food, ambiance, and service. I will come back!

Parts and Labour (Toronto, ON)

It was another gorgeous but chilly day in Toronto when I headed to Parkdale and met with a group of five girls for Brunch. This time around we had a reservation for one of my favourite spots in Parkdale, Parts and Labour. Even though it was not my first, second, nor third time at Parts and Labour, I was excited because I am always hunting for the perfect brunch spot in Toronto. I usually go for Parts and Labour for dinner and drinks, or just to visit "The Shop", a place that reminds of a high-school-basement-party with cool DJs, kitschy decor, and a hipster crowd. Anyway, today was my first brunch at the restaurant and I am happy that I went there. The layout of the space is great! Communal tables, long bar, and I just noticed today (there are two tables by the kitchen - four guests per table). The decor is modern, industrial. The bar has a gazillion light fixtures of different colours and heights, all with their wiring exposed.

If someone asks me why do I like Parts and Labour so much I will probably say..."because of the drinks". The food snob in me does not like to admit it but that's the truth. We were the first guests to arrive and as soon as we sat, I was eager to get the drink menu and order my favourite cocktail, the Western Hinny. Trouble is that they don't serve their dinner cocktails during Brunch, only Mimosas, but I am happy to report that our bartender was gracious enough to fulfill not only my wish but the wish of three other girls from our table. It is very nice when we find people who are willing to bend the rules here and there. We were all very grateful! Quality of service should be always stated in a restaurant review.

I had a steak and eggs with béarnaise sauce and home fries. It is needles to say that I barely ate the potatoes but I was very happy with my steak. It was tender and juicy. Just perfect! The other girls had the halibut with white beans, the french toast with poached pear, and the fried chicken (that one I tasted and it was very good).

I definitely I will keep coming back for more at Parts and Labour. It is not in my top five list of brunch places in Toronto but where else will I get a Western Hinny?

Brunch at The Saint Tavern (Toronto, ON)

If Sunday brunch was a religion, I would highly consider converting into it. Conversion to Sunday brunch would require you to accept the fact that you don't need to wake up early on Sunday, and therefore you can allow yourself to eat something that is heavier than just breakfast. Brunch brings to the table a few things that are worthy of worship such as eggs benedict, bagel & lox, and huevos rancheros. I love the concept as we usually have brunch with our friends, family, or loved ones; hence, brunch builds a sense of community. Jokes apart, going for brunch is one of the highest trends in the Toronto restaurant industry. In the past few months a few fine dining restaurants have added a brunch menu. I have a few favourites in the city but today I will focus on The Saint Tavern.

The Saint Tavern is located on Ossington St. near Queen St. West. We were a group of four and we arrived at the restaurant around 1:30PM. It was busy but we were lucky enough to get a very comfy table. The decor was modern and charming. Polished cement floors, old looking light fixtures, all black, white, and gray with a very-large-bar.

We started with the deviled eggs with chives, radish salad, and bacon. It was delicious and we were all fighting to get the last piece. I opted for having their grilled cheese sandwich with roasted tomatoes and salad. It was simple but perfect. The strong cheese was balanced by the tomatoes- so yummy! My friends loved their choices and we were all pleased with our waitress. I recall drinking copious amounts of coffee on that day and not eating ANYTHING ELSE after having that meal.

We spent a few hours at the restaurant and we had a great time! I would love to come back there for another brunch or maybe dinner one day. It feels good to be able to write a review like this one!

Osteria dei Ganzi (Toronto, ON)

Osteria dei Ganzi is one of the latest additions to the Toronto restaurant scene. The restaurant is located in an old mansion at Jarvis just south of Bloor. The décor was not pretentious but we could see some beautiful woodwork throughout the dining room. The patio looked great as well.

The crowd of Ganzi was very diverse. You could see young couples, groups of buddies, and large groups such as mine in the dining room.

They claim to be an authentic regional Italian restaurant but looking at their menu was quite hard to understand which region of Italy they were referring to as the menu was all over the place.

I had a fig, prosciutto and melon crostini with mushroom as an appetizer. It was barely eatable even through the crostini was perfectly crispy. I am not an Italian chef but as far as I know, Italian food should be simple and unpretentious. When you mix so many ingredients you not only go far away from the principles of Italian cooking but you also need to be extremely skilled and… that was clearly not the case.

Oh, and the restaurant website does not list the name of their chef, and my guess is because they probably don’t have one. That would explain a lot!

The pollo scaloppine (which in proper Italian is scaloppini di pollo) was good, I have to admit.

The staff was….young and inexperienced, or just plain inexperienced. I was not clear on how many tables our waitress was waiting on but it felt overwhelming to us. The whole process was sloooow. Unfortunately, I have very little sympathy for restaurateurs who don’t take their business seriously. Not having your staff trained on what you serve is unacceptable. Giving more tables to a server than she/he can handle is just not smart. We could have spent way more money if we had a server available and if they knew what they were serving. We all felt sad for our waiter scrambling to put together our bill. The dining experience felt very amateurish. I hate when I have to write reviews like this one but unfortunately that’s life. I would not return to that place.