Congee Queen — Restaurant in Toronto

HORRIBLE FOOD AND SERVICE. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS LOCATION!!! We dined in here as a party of 9, it was one of our stops for my mother's birthday. We were seated at our table very quickly. However, when we were ready to order, the servers behaved disinterested and made you feel as if you wanted to leave. They didn't explain anything, they took away all the menus while we were ordering, not after. We ordered the congee seafood soup, 2 chicken dishes, the vermicelli dish, and a fried rice. I asked specifically for a soft shell crab fried rice, as we saw it on another table, and the waiter stated to get another one, as it's the same thing, etc. When the dish came, it was bland and nothing like what I asked for and the waiters, despite us being a larger party, were not attentive at all. They served the dishes and basically ran away. They didn't set up the dishes, they left the cutlery in a pile. Supplied no napkins, and we had 4 kids with us. It was just a very cold, dry, bland boring experience in itself. Now the food, was absolutely tasteless. Soup had no flavour, trash. 2 chicken dishes, general taos, too sweat, and over breaded, and again, although sweet, not flavorful. The pineapple shrimp chicken dish literally had 2 shrimp in it, and had no real flavour. The vermicelli dish was ok, but nothing special, and we had about 7 speciality drinks, taro etc...all not top tier. They didn't even care to ask how we were doing, how was the food, what we were there for, nothing. Just treated like they didn't want us there. To be completely honest, we went in planning to try a ton of things, for the occasion especially, and we had more ppl for the group who were on their way, and we had to cut it short because of the treatment. In the middle of Scarborough, I would never had expected such horrible treatment, but it is what it is. Do not support this place. Our kids behaved impeccable and there was no difficulty given to the restaurant from our party, so it was really just them being awful. I hate to say it, but we were a mixed group and it felt like race was a factor, or I don't know what to say. We never experienced such horrible service, food and treatment. Do not support this garbage place, they need...

Dear Reader, Ben here. If you’re considering a summer visit to Congee Queen in Agincourt Mall, prepare to sweat like a marathon runner in a sauna. I recently dined there with my girlfriend, her parents, and friends. The lively atmosphere and tantalizing Chinese cuisine drew us in for years, but the temperature had us questioning our life choices.

👍The Good Stuff: Congee Queen's turnip cakes are hotter than a gossip session at a family reunion. Flavourful stir-fries, fried rice, and Seafood congee (our favourite) kept our taste buds dancing the cha-cha. Kudos to the hard-working staff who make this culinary magic happen!

🔥 The Hot Seat: The dining room felt like the inside of a dragon’s mouth during a heatwave. I politely asked a server to crank up the AC. Her response? “Already on.” But her forehead glistened like a dew-kissed dumpling wrapper and sweat beading faster than they can evaporate. Two passing servers whispered (as translated by my girlfriend), “It’s so hot that my underwear is soaked” and the other, “good luck convincing big brother to lower the temperature.”

🌡️ Big Brother’s Dilemma: Who is this elusive “big brother”? Is he a heat-loving lizard in disguise? I investigated. Lo and behold, the thermostat near our table read a scorching 28°C (82°F). The AC was on indeed but on HOLDING, effectively not doing anything. Our neighbouring table shared similar passive-aggressive remarks.

Why, Congee Queen, why? Our theory: more cold drink orders, faster table turnover, and secret savings on AC bills. But what about our comfort, our elderly patrons, and the staff’s sauna experience?

🤔 The Verdict: Dear Big Brother, let’s talk. Lower the temp, save our sanity, and prevent elderly heatstrokes. We’re all in this spicy soup together. 🥵

Experienced the same, my fellow Canadian and Chinese brothers and sisters? Then, tap ‘Helpful’ and maybe our collective mind can influence...

My family and I have been coming here for over a decade. The food is usually great , but tonight we popped in to celebrate my Father’s 77th Birthday… It was a bad experience so say the least . Once we were seated we waited 40 minutes just to order. The second we sat down a server brings a bowl of congee and insisted it was ours , when we told her we just sat down (hadn’t even taken off our jackets yet) so it was definitely not ours. She stood there for a while before taking off the table and not she did not even acknowledge it. Once the food came out, no one bothered to ask if we wanted any drinks or water which I found odd. We had to ask for anything we needed multiple times before actually receiving it . But the worst part was the food was served with no cutlery or plates on the table , and when we would make eye contact, wave servers to come over or say “excuse me I need some help” they would literally look directly at us and continue walking or avoid making any further eye contact. It’s odd to me that all of the servers that came up to the table looked at a full table of food and didn’t think to offer plates or utensils to eat with at any point …. Anytime we needed anything, even the bill it was such a hassle getting the servers to get to our table , or to pay attention to us even though they were constantly walking by empty handed. Very disappointed , we won’t be coming in any time soon after this unfortunately.

UPDATE: After giving them another shot , I was right the first time .. They spilled water on my Dad , did not apologize to him and to top it off the water they gave us was so dirty ! GROSS. Avoid if you can, or get takeout if you want it that bad . Sucks because this was a regular spot for me back...