My husband and I visited World Café Live at The Queen in Wilmington for dinner and a show. We ate in the upstairs area. Please note that The Queen is not somewhere you go to have an intimate dining experience. There was a Blues Jam, and there are so many speakers and the tables are all so close to the stage that we could not hear each other (or the waitress). If the music is good, it’s not that big of a problem. Luckily, it was good.
The menu has a lot of tasty options. I started out with a side Beet Salad – roasted golden beets, honey goat cheese, red onion. Cucumber, radish & arugula tossed with a sweet Vidalia onion vinaigrette. I was pleasantly surprised by the sweet taste. The goat cheese was crumbled (not what I expected, but very happy that it wasn’t in a large circle), but they did have a little too much on there for the size of the salad. The onion and cucumber added a slight crunch to the soft texture – and the salad was nicely coated with the vinaigrette. My one feedback point is that they brought the salad out with my main dish – not so great since I was starving. As my entrée, I had the Stuffed Pepper (the menu is kind of misleading, considering I was only served one pepper). It is a poblano pepper stuffed with a spiced Israeli cous cous and tofu blend set in a chipotle-tomato sauce. Fantastic! The dish made my eyes water a little bit, but that was mostly the chipotle-tomato sauce. The cous cous/tofu blend was mostly cous cous (I saw maybe 2-3 pieces of tofu) and the taste on that alone was very good. I would definitely get this dish again and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The one pepper that they served was enough to satisfy me, but not too much to have to take anything home. The pepper also added a nice texture difference to the rice. I hope that they keep this on the menu!
Update: My husband and I went to one of The Queen's Grilled Cheese & Craft Beer Tastings. If you get the opportunity, go! They made vegetarian-friendly options for the courses that were not already vegetarian. Some of the courses included a black bean pate on top of a biscuit with a little cheese sprinkled on top, bourbon-glazed onions, mushrooms, and pepperjack with a chimichurri spread, and swiss on multigrain with shaved brussel sprouts and a red pepper coulis. Very good!
Update: My husband and I went to one of The Queen's Grilled Cheese & Craft Beer Tastings. If you get the opportunity, go! They made vegetarian-friendly options for the courses that were not already vegetarian. Some of the courses included a black bean pate on top of a biscuit with a little cheese sprinkled on top, bourbon-glazed onions, mushrooms, and pepperjack with a chimichurri spread, and swiss on multigrain with shaved brussel sprouts and a red pepper coulis. Very good!
