Q Bistro

This is a good Thai restaurant. Better than you would expect out of Manhattan. The food is good and fresh. The service is good. The prices are very high for Queens.

This is my first (but not the last) review I will write for Unilocal.I have not posted before but feel my experience at Q Bistro yesterday has pushed me to the dark side. Where do I begin?
Q Bistro (previously named Thai Q Bistro) has recently reopened with an updated, more universal menu. It looks promising with things like chicken liver toasts, stripped bass tacos, braised short ribs, miso glazed Chilean sea bass and even a burger! I was super excited to try some of the new items from that arrived with a new chef. Sadly, the food was uninspired and disappointing.
We started by ordering wine from a wine menu that didn’t exist. We ordered a sauv blanc that was $ 35, which probably should have been priced more in the mid 20s.
My chicken liver was merely okay. It was served on a crostini that flipped over en route to my table (the waitress attempted to pick it up, but I stopped her) and was topped with arugula that was wilted and bruised (not purposely) but because it wasn’t fresh. The chicken liver was a bit grainy — probably from being overcooked.
My salad (the wedge) wasn’t fresh either. The lettuce was turning brown on the edges where it was cut– maybe it was prepped early? The grape tomatoes were wrinkled and the dressing (Gorgonzola) was a very thick, brown smear on my lettuce.
I ordered the onion crusted short ribs as my entrée and found it to be very tough. I couldn’t find the onion crust at all and the accompanying mashed potatoes lacked salt tremendously. They were not only a bit watery but still had hard pieces of potato. I will say, however, the bok choy served with this dish was perfectly cooked and seemed fresh.
The décor of the restaurant has also changed. They’ve taken down the fun colored wall art and have left everything white. I use to really enjoy the funky atmosphere — which gave it an East Village kind of flair. Now it seems like any other Italian restaurant in Queens. The service was not great either. Our waitress asked to take our order as quickly as we walked in and answered menu questions with statements like, «I don’t like that, so I couldn’t tell you if it was good» and «I’ve never had that before». Our food came out at different times and at complete different temperatures. This was very disappointing.
To summarize: The atmosphere and menu are trying desperately to be fine-​dining of Manhattan, but lacks all that the city has to offer. The food was not fresh, unsalted and expensive (entrees in the mid to upper 20s). For this environment and price, I’d much prefer Danny Brown’s Wine Bar and Kitchen on Metropolitan. After all, it has 1 Michelin star and has pleased me on many many dining adventures. If I’m going to spend $ 200 for 4 people– I want it to be worth it. Sorry Q! I want to love you but you have to show me why I should.

This restaurant is closed. I wanted to go for lunch on Valentine’s Day and I was sad to see it’s shut down, not even a sign on the door or anything.
I enjoyed this place despite the expense and I always feel like a restaurant can at least update their website that they’re closed. The owner was really nice. What a shame!

We have been going to Q Thai Bistro for years. This place holds a special place in our hearts. It was the first place I met my boyfriend’s mother.
We were quite upset to find that out recently that they are closing.
The atmosphere always made it feel like ‘date night’. The owners were always so warm and welcoming.
We spent many a Sunday afternoon having brunch at the little bistro tables out front watching the comings and goings of the local neighbors (and the LIRR trains).
We would love to rescue the «Twister» game board!

Very tasty food.
I could only afford lunch, not dinner. There is a big difference in the prices.
Expensive by Queens standard, but reasonable by Forest Hills standard.
I have try their steamed dumplings, Phad Thai and the Stir-​fry filet mignon in a garlic sauce with cashew.
The portion is not hugh, but it is very tasty.
If you are not on a budget, do drop by.
The staff are very pleasant.

I finally went to try this place out because my wife & I decided to have a nicer meal in the neighborhood and it was Wednesday. According to their own website, Wednesdays are SUPPOSED to be «Wine Madness» where you get a free bottle of wine with dinner.
So when we get seated I ask the hostess/​waitress (who I suspect is one of the owners) «which of the wines on the wine list are the ones that are free?»
She replies, «oh the promotion is over». I point out to her that I just saw it an hour earlier on your website. Her answer was «we just haven’t taken it off the website yet but we took down the sign». I don’t know/​care if there was a sign they had a promotion on their own website that they are falsely advertising.
Rather than graciously offer us the free bottle of wine, she only offered us 1 glass each. Since my wife has a problem with her foot right now and we were already there, we decided to stay & accept the lesser offer.
The food at Q is actually pretty good, we both enjoyed our entrees and they graciously offered to remove the head from my wife’s fish dish because the kitchen wasn’t busy.
But unfortunately, Q suffers from the typical Forest Hills syndrome of most menu items being overpriced by 20−25%. Taking into account the high prices and failure to honor an advertised offer, we won’t be back.
If they treated their customers properly and priced their food fairly, this could have been a 4* restaurant.

It seems that some people assume that this is just a standard Thai place, which clearly it’s not. Yes, it is more expensive than the $ 10 takeout up the block, and if that’s what you’re looking for then you won’t like Q I guess, but you can’t even begin to compare the two. (What’s that saying about apples and oranges again … ?) It’s Thai with a «French flair,» which you can read right on their website.
Regardless, the food is delicious, they are super accommodating if you’d like something modified, and the prices are comparable to EVERY PLACE else in Forest Hills. I’ve been eating in FH since my stroller days and would never begin to call this place overpriced, EVER. It’s not cheap, but for Forest Hills, it’s not unreasonable.
The negative reviews actually shock me… Seriously, take my word for it and go there.

I live very close to this restaurant, but only go here when my parents are in town – it’s simply overpriced. And this is barely a Thai restaurant, more like a Thai-​influenced pan-​Asian restaurant for white Forest Hills residents with more money than they know what to do with.
If you want really good Thai food at a more reasonable price, why not hop on the subway and go to Sripraphai in Woodside instead? It is much better, and more like the food you’ll actually eat if you visit Thailand.

Q stands for question mark, why are you here and what are you doing?
And what happened to the great food that people say you had? It
doesn’t have even a hint of Thai flavor. Did the original chef leave
because the flavor is missing? Maybe we went on an off night but it
had to be way off. So much so that there is no reason to go back! I
have noticed at many restaurants when the main chef is off the quality
suffers. I could not even finish my meal. I do not like to give bad reviews I really do not. But they earned this one. And some times people give bad reviews because the service was bad. Here the service was ordinary this is not about the service. Because of all of the good reviews I can only assume the chef left or was off.
Maybe it was good at one time. When a restaurant is good the tables
are full. Think of Wondee and the lines they have. Here the tables were empty and the bar was full.
We went through a phase from 2002 – 2006 that we wanted to
try all the Thai restaurants in NYC. (though everything I have reviewed I have been in the past year or 2 if it is not in NY) We have come to a
conclusion. Thai restaurants in New York city fall into 3 categories
1. really authentic but dirty and not great service
2.not terribly authentic but good quality food, great décor and
ambiance and usually has a good wine list
3.Chinese owned because they want to make money so they learn a few
Thai dishes but most of the white people are fooled.
But Q Bistro doesn’t really fit into any of these but I think they
are shooting for category 2. But they didn’t quite make it.
It must be living off of it’s former reputation. We did not even bother
to take pictures. For us it was a big waste of money in my opinion. I know others disagree but this was my experience.

Ok — food was good. Wine selection, great. DEFINITELY make a reservation on the weekend. Here’s my BIG complaint and why I will never go back:
My boyfriend and I agonized over where we would celebrate Valentine’s Day. The month before, we walked all over Austin Street looking for a place where we could celebrate close to home. Finally, after eating lunch at Nick’s Pizza, we noticed Q Bistro. We popped in after our meal and took a look around. It looked cozy and romantic. We thought it would be perfect and my boyfriend loves trying new restaurants so he was excited to check it out.
We arrived on Valentine’s Day night and our hearts sank. We waited 20 minutes for our reservation because they had clearly overbooked. It was also no longer the cozy little restaurant we had seen previously. The management brought in so many extra tables that in order to get to our seats, other couples had to get up from their meals in order for us to sit down. We were seated at a «table for two» which was pushed flush against another «table for two» making a table for four, which we shared, very awkwardly, with another couple. There were SO MANY tables in the restaurant that it was nearly impossible to even get up to use the bathroom.
DO NOT BOOK THIS PLACE FOR A MAJOR «RESTAURANT» HOLIDAY.
The restaurant COMPLETELY ripped us off. If we knew how many extra tables they were going to bring in to make an extra buck, we would have NEVER booked there. The experience turned us off so much that we now celebrate Valentine’s Day at home for fear of being cheated again.
Also, we’ve heard great things about this place, but will never go back because we don’t feel comfortable spending more money at a place that was so dishonest with us on our first visit.

Overpriced. An 18 dollar pad thai dish? What am I paying for? The ambiance is ok but I’ve seen better at Jade Restaurant down the road for less. I decided to try their noodles to compare the ones in the area and I decided not to go back after seeing the bill. The food did not taste twice as good as the other Thai places I’ve tried in the area which cost half as much to eat.

A fresh take on Thai cuisine and fine dining is what Q Bistro is all about. During the colder seasons, there is a curtain just inside the entrance to reduce the cold winds from seeping inside this small restaurant of approximately 12 – 15 tables. The ambiance is casual, erring to the slightly dressy side, with white tablecloths and candles. There is also a small rectangular bar area near the entrance that can fit 7 – 10 people. The kitchen area is semi-​open so that you can see the chefs over the half-​wall partition. The chefs don’t keep their kitchen space the most clean, as I saw open cans and kitchen utensils randomly lying on the partition wall.
Service was slightly subpar as most of the waitresses seemed to be hanging out near the rear cash register rather than checking up on their customers. Sometimes it took a while to get our waitress’s attention but when we did, she was very polite and attentive.
For apps, we ordered the:
— Chicken Satay ($ 9.95) marinated in Thai herbs and coconut milk and served with cucumber salad and peanut sauce. 4 sticks are served. The chicken was tender and moist and peanut sauce decent though ever so slightly thin in consistency.
— Beef Rotti ($ 12.95) — About 8 small triangular pieces of Indian pancake are served with small cubes of filet mignon in green curry sauce. The rotti was crisp and not too oily, filet mignon was tender and juicy. Compliment that with the green curry sauce, and you got one killer appetizer. Yum!
For entrees:
— Pad See Eiw (~$ 20.00) with beef — Stir-​fried flat rice noodles with eggs, Chinese broccoli and choice of chicken or beef. The noodles were soft and slightly oily with subtle flavors of sweetness. A good take on Pad Cee Eiw though nothing over the top. The beef was cut in typical fashion, thin flat strips similar to what you would find in beef & broccoli. Portions were average, probably only capable of serving one person or two people who have a modest appetite.
Glasses of wine range from $ 8-​$ 14 /​glass, decently priced for the amount of wine they serve (10 – 12 oz.). About 20 different wines can be ordered by the glass.
I enjoyed the food and ambiance at Q Bistro, though prices are slightly high for mediocre Thai food. Q Bistro is definitely not for the hungry eater, but for those looking to take a date or for a small (4 person max) intimate group dinner.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Forest Hills– I always enjoy a big glass of delicious red wine, their yummy steak salad and chicken satay. I’ve never had a bad meal here and wholeheartedly recommend this place. We’ve been eating here over 4 years and have enjoyed every meal!

Ever been by a place dozens of times and every time you ask yourself, «I need to go in and try the food»? Well, that pretty much sums up my thoughts these past three years and tonight, I finally sat down and tried Q Bistro.
This is a neighborhood joint with seasonal outdoor dining, intimate bar and open kitchen. To me, open kitchens reveal a lot since you can only hide so much when preparing the food. You can see the staff, cleanliness and action when your food is called and picked up. And, ever wonder how long your food has sat in a window with a heat lamp? Well, rest assured you know exactly when your food is up in Q Bistro.
The menu has range (appeals to a wide market) but is Thai based. I started with the rot-​ti of filet mignon with curry and grilled flat bread. Nicely presented, very tender and just spicy enough from the curry. It is an appetizer portion but was perfect for a relaxed moment at the bar with a glass of wine. My entrée was a standard Pad Thai and it was generous, tasted great and for a change, used a 21 – 26 size shrimp instead of the salad size so many restaurants use. I liked both dishes and am glad I found a quiet night to try an «in my neighborhood» eatery.
I felt it was an average value for my dollar. The food was very good but the prices were what you would expect. It is a four star place and I will be back. So, for inventive Thai cuisine, when you are running around Forest Hills on Austin Street, look for and find a comfortable break, sit back and enjoy the food.

I’ve been eating here on/​off for the last god-​knows how many years, but never seriously thought of giving it a review. And I’m not going to begin doing so now either, except I must share with you:
BEEF ROTI.
BEEF ROTI.
BEEF ROTI.
I had it last night for the first time (it’s a new item on their appetizers lists). I’ve never had anything like it before, it’s not the normal «roti» that you order from a Malaysian restaurant, or anywhere else. This dish is more like extra crispy and flavourful dosa wedges that are perfectly charred and moist at the same time, accompanied by bite-​sized cubes of beef and green peas rendang-​type curry (which didn’t taste heavy or strong at all) topped with a little bit of alfalfa sprouts.
It’s really, very amazing! Whoever thought of this combination of flavours and textures is a genius. You –must– try the Beef Roti here.

Good food, just a little pricey for thai. Although it is a little fancier than your typical thai food place.
Tuesdays are Price fixed and Wednesdays you get a free bottle of wine with your dinner — and the wine is not cheap either. They provide a partial wine list and each bottle is $ 25 and up!
Cute and romantic… nice place for a date.