The parents-in-law were in for the evening. They had brought some stuff into town for the house we were moving into and I had spent some hours trying to unstick painted-shut windows and tear up broadloom carpeting that must have been put in sometime in the 70’s. An appetite thus worked up, we headed to a place in our new neighbourhood called the Queen’s Pasta Café.

Reflective of the yuppietown that is Bloor West, there were lots of kids around. Not that I mind kids in and of themselves, of course, but I’m just not sure when people started to think it was ok to let their kids run around a restaurant. It’s not daycare, folks. Yeesh. It’s dangerous, too. Anyways, we sat down and got a bottle of an Ontario Cabernet-Merlot.

People around us were getting fancy martinis and such things. I’ve never really been much of a martini drinker myself, surprisingly. I mean, I wouldn’t go for all the fancy chocolate stuff as I don’t really like sweet drinks, but I could see myself enjoying your basic martini, as I enjoy gin quite a bit. No, the problem is the martin glass. I can’t really drink out of the wide mouth without extreme danger of spillage. Yes I realize this is my own shortcoming, not to mention a complete tangent.

Kim and her mom split a Caesar salad, while I got the mixed greens with vinaigrette. Queen’s Pasta did this right. Now, you have to understand, a lot of places serve a mixed greens appetizer, and I get it a lot because, well, I like mixed greens. There’s really only one way to screw it up, which is to use greens that aren’t fresh. You’d be surprised at how often this happens. But not here. Fresh greens and basic, uncomplicated vinaigrette. That’s all you need, and someone here knows it.

Now, the main event: pasta. I had penne with spicy sausage. The sausages were great; nice and tender and full of flavour. Likewise he pasta was the work of pros, tasty, perfectly cooked and held together with a powerful red sauce. I enjoyed the inclusion of sweet red peppers, but didn’t expect the green peppers, which I generally find to be bitter and overwhelming. Personal taste, though, I guess.

Kim got the black and white fettuccine with shrimp, olives, and asagio cheese. Her mom asked her what made the black parts of the pasta black, and Kim said “You don’t want to know.” She kept pressuring her, though, and even thought she was lying when she eventually said “squid ink.” Her fears were calmed however, with a coffee and skor bar cheesecake to finish.

All in all, yeah. Thumbs up.