Did Queen Mother forget how to cook thai food?

[bisimilai]

Went there last night with friends. Haven't been in a few years. Remembered how good their spicy pad thai was. What came out was a plate of noodles with mild tomato sauce, some chicken and 2 soggy shrimp. Disappointing!

[kayehm]

I used to eat there all the time between 4 and 8 years ago - service was decent and the food was good (never really great). Only been once this year and the pad thai was definitely not as good as i remember. Ketchup-y sauce, poor quality meat and just not as flavourful as I remember. But maybe I've raised my standards over the years?

[bytepusher]

I think the reality is the QM cruises on past reputation, which can only last so long. They were something else in 1978 when Thai was a novel thing in Toronto. I used to be hooked on the Ping Gai and they still are capable of doing a decent job on that but at 17 bucks a plate it's insanely overpriced. Luckily I found what is supposed to be their recipe and now make the stuff myself when I get the itch. The challenge sometimes is finding coriander plants with roots inact, that's the secret to the marinade.

[garynye]

Who cares about the food itself? The QM completely forgot about the concept of customer service! Don't get me started on the typical service attitude...

[Strongbad789]

The only thing I've had there that I liked was the indonesian food, but I thought they did a decent job of that, at least.

[JennaBean]

IMO the food there has never been anything but borderline acceptable on a good day and terrible on a bad day. I really don't know why people eat there.

[koknia]

Their pad thai is the worst thing I've ever been served with a straight face in this town. I have no idea why it gets recommended.

[dxs]

Seriously. On my first and last visit there I ordered some thai noodle dish and it was inedible. The noodles were mush, the chicken was mushier, and the whole dish gave off an unmentionable stench.

There must be something they do well, as I often see other CH'ers recommend the place, but the memory of that abysmal plate of food has put me off forever.

[Splendid Wine Snob]

Agreed. I've never understood the recommendations for it on this board either. Mushy and bland are the two words I would use to describe the food I had there.

For the ones who do recommend the place, please enlighten us on the dishes that they do well. And I'm not talking about a nice patio here...

SWS

[Wahooty]

As someone who has recommended it (but only when someone specifically asks for that neighborhood and a nice patio), I'm afraid I can't be too much help because when I was there I had a special. It was skate wing in a fairly simple bistro-y preparation (buerre blanc, maybe?). Not mind-blowing, but perfectly fine, and the fish was well-cooked. In some of the older reviews, it seems like there are a few things that people really do like there, but it's possible that those are now outdated.