Driving a typical route home one evening along Edmonton Trail, a new sign caught our eye: Queens. Breakfast. Cocktails. Simple enough and being as those are two of my favourite things, it was a place we had to check out. Unassuming from the outside, we entered the restaurant and felt as though we were in a trendy cocktail bar in New York. Brick walls, gold and black decor, and an industrial vibe accompanied by chandeliers, silverware, and velvet seats all feed the experience. To say it simply, this place is gorgeous. It’s hard to put into words.
Their breakfast menu is substantial and offers many items for you to desire. It’s divided into six section, your traditional plates, benedicts, croques, sharing boards, poutine, and dolce. We ordered the queen’s breakfast and double smoked bacon benny. The queen’s breakfast was almost like a sampler. It had everything from eggs to their lemon ricotta pancakes, and left us wishing we had room for more. The benedict was served on an in-house, freshly baked croissant, with a mouth-watering hollandaise sauce and eggs cooked to perfection. Both meals were fantastic, but what surprised me the most was their take on hashbrowns. You could tell they were chopped freshly by their irregular shape. They tasted as though they were deep fried on the outside, yet were creamy on the inside, and sprinkled with this delicious, homemade sauce. Truly spectacular hashbrowns typical of a European style that I’ve never been able to find here before. As we watched other meals arrive at tables, we have many other items added to our list to try on our next visit.
To add, Queens does a fabulous job on their cocktails. You can order your traditional cocktails but they add their own twist to them, making them a unique concoction. The two we had, the white negroni and the Italian connection, are ones we would definitely recommend trying.
I’m not sure if it’s the amazing quality ingredients, the preparation of the food, the vibe of the restaurant, the friendly service, or perhaps a combination of them all, but Queens truly is a breakfast place like no other. You really must visit it!
Out With Erin 