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Caju
Category: Restaurants Brazilian Brazilian [Edit]
922 Queen St WToronto, ON M6J 1G6
Neighbourhoods: Niagara, West Queen West, Trinity Bellwoods
(416) 532-2550
- Hours:
Tue-Thu 5:30 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 5:30 pm - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
10 reviews for Caju
10 reviews in English
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Review from Miss P.
Toronto, ON
3/13/2012
Amazing food! Just don't go when it's super busy (ie: occasions like Valentines Day) - the kitchen is very slow.
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Review from Vivek S.
Stopped into Caju on a Tuesday night for a cocktail. Truth be told, this was our third try after two of their neighbours were packed to the gills. Tempted by a sandwich board advertising their caipirinha, we shuffled in.
It's classy looking spot. Long and dark, with a mini-lounge at front and a dining room in the back. It was also pretty quiet in there. Save for one other table it was completely devoid of human life. I of course ordered the caipirinha and was rewarded with a "good choice." I like being validated like that. I also ordered an appetizer portion of chorizo since I was famished.
The drinks were nice and went down smooth. Not too bad at $9 though I spotted some pricier cocktails too. I probably wouldn't do any serious drinking here. That said, I'm not sure about dining here either. Service was s l o o o w. Perhaps they only had one cook (and he was tripping on drams), because it took nearly 30 minutes get my appetitizer. And I can't really say it was worth the wait.
But for a classy or romantic Brazilian spot on Queen St W, I'd say Caju does the trick.
Obligatory Title Pun: La CAJ aux folles.
Menu Readability: Pithy but readable.
Need to mention: Appetizer portions are small.
What this place teaches me about myself: I'm a sucker for sandwich boards.Listed in: Queen Street Address
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Review from Tara A.
11/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
I received an invite to a Winemaker's dinner at Caju. Having never been to the restaurant (even though it's a 2 minute walk from my door step), I was pretty excited to try it out.
The restaurant is long and a bit narrower. The décor is simple yet elegant and they have great art (for sale!) on the walls that really compliment the Restaurant well. All of the staff were so friendly and accommodating. I really felt at home here.
The food that was paired with the wines was Spectacular. Although the menu was created with the wine pairing in mind, it reflected their regular menu well. The prices seem quite reasonable with the quality of the food. This restaurant is a great bit of Brazilian Flavour within the Trinity Bellwood's hood. -
Review from Jorge L.
The place is cool, lovely and romantic. This is a Brazilian restaurant with Brazilian servers (I think).
Meal portion is adequate and if you are like me, won't be able to finish it. It's not huge like a Montana-type size though. It has more class and presented nicely.
Chef Mario knows his stuff. I stayed here for four long hours until they closed just after eleven. We were not kicked out but the music was politely turned off ;).
I will come back here for sure to bring a date or eat with friends. A bit pricey fyi.Listed in: Bring-a-Date: Nice Restos
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Review from John F.
North York, ON
5/30/2011
This storefront restaurant describes itself as "Brazilian fusion." The food is quite good but it needs to change a few things to up my rating.
First, the atmosphere. It is decorated in a minimalist, sort of Miesian style with litte ethnic feel and rather uncomforable chairs. The halogen light fixtures are uncomfortably hot and - evidently due to lack of accoustic ceiling tiles - the noise level was unreasonably high despite the fact that there was niether music nor any really loud conversations during our visit.
Second, the menu is extremely short with more appetizers than mains. I cannot believe Brazilian food is that limited. Yes, it is worthwhile for a chef to limit himself / herself to what he / she does well, but this place needs at least another 3 or 4 entrees to show some of the country's culinary diversity.
Main dish prices are in the $18-22 range. That includes a nice complimentary dessert, served for each pair of people in the party. (I was in a party of seven and did not get my own, so we had to split one three ways.) Portions are not huge but are reasonable. There was not salt or pepper servered on the table, but the food was a bit salty to begin with.
I had a pork dish that was tasty but probably did not justify its prices. The meat (slices of loin) was flvourful and the Brazilian vegetables that came with it (fried cassava,I think, and a bean-bacon semi-puree) actually were more interesting. The soup of the day (cassava-leek) reminded me of an overly thin vichysoisse but was reasonably tasty.
This place has evidently been around for a while and has a following, but my own opinion is that it needs both a menu and an ambience makeover before I'd make it a priority to return. -
Review from Aileen C.
Toronto, ON
11/18/2011
Much like fellow reviewer Tara A, I live really close by but for some reason had never stopped in until recently, and now it's among my local favourites.
The service is so, so, so warm and knowledgeable - all of the wait staff I've encountered are either Brazilian or have spent considerable time there and they are all so excited to share the culture with you, answering questions about menu items and ingredients that customers are unfamiliar with.
The food is unique and delicious - my husband is completely obsessed with their fish stew. -
Review from Andrew L.
Toronto, ON
5/5/2009
I went to Caju knowing very little about Brazil (outside of the fact that it's cheif export appears to be soccer players) and even less about Brazilian food. After a lovely visit to Caju, both of those facts remain true, but at least now I can claim I've eaten Brazilian food.
I'm not the most cultured eater, in fact, the waitress had to basically explain to me how to eat my dish (not at all awkward on a first date) but once I got up and running it was good times all around!
The menu seemed to have a nice mix of more Canadian-ized food but I went for the most Brazilian-sonunding thing on the menu and thought it was great! I also noticed that another reviewer thought it was "priced like a fancy place" but I definitely didn't feel that way at all. It was a very mid-tier TO restaurant with prices between about 15 and 25 for entrees, as I recall...
Now I'm not going to be telling anyone that Caju is my favourite restaurant or anything, but if you're looking for a cool little place and a bit of a taste adventure (don't worry, it's not too spicy) then it's a pretty good bet. -
Review from Catherine L.
Toronto, ON
12/2/2009 4 photos
I went to Caju on a Friday, on a recommendation from a Brazilian friend. He said that this place was a bit overpriced for what he considered "basic" Brazilian food, but they did it well. He said the best Brazilian place in Toronto is actually Red Violin on the Danforth, but that is an all you can eat steakhouse that costs around $50, and I can't really eat that much food!
So back to Caju. I found his assessment to be spot-on. I am no expert on Brazilian food (I've only had the churrasceria), but I did like everything I had here. We started off with the Pasteis (Brazilian Turnovers), which were tasty. Though I have to say that the best part of the "appetizers" was the free cheese bread they gave us. It is cone-shaped and laced with cheese... mmmm....
For the main course I had Moqueca with Fish (Haddock) and I enjoyed it a lot. This is a classic Brazilian Bahia Stew. I liked it so much that I tried to re-create it at home. After looking up the recipe, I did realize that it's a simple tomato-coconut broth. I guess after making it at home, I could see why my friend thinks $25 is a bit over-priced.
The ambience and service was very nice. The place has a modern, fancy feel to it. I did ask the server for the recipe, which she tried to get for me, but the chef was too busy to write it at the time. Completely understandable. So she told me to email the chef and he will send it to me... that was about 5 days ago and I still haven't received yet!
Overall, Caju is a solid choice for Brazilian food. Though it may be overpriced for what it is, the food is good, and $15 - $25 an entree isn't expensive, and I'm not aware of too many Brazilian choices around. -
Review from Alejandro A.
Toronto, ON
12/9/2008
Caju is a Brazilian restaurant that caters towards a fancier dining experience. Inside the restaurant, the furniture is modern, with a bit of a wooden feel. I seem to remember bamboo, as well, but it's very likely that I'm wrong.
The menu is priced like a fancy place, but unfortunately the food I've eaten there isn't out of this world. Something about Brazilian/South American cuisine, screams "not fancy" to me, and to experience it in a setting like this is a bit strange. Not that I would compare the food in Caju to that of Tacos El Asador, but when I think of this style of food, I think of environments like Tacos El Asador, not fine dining.
These guys also participate in Summerlicious/Winterlicious, but I wouldn't recommend going here for that. This is definitely one of those restaurants that cuts corners for events like that, which is really a shame. -
Review from K S.
Toronto, ON
7/21/2011
A 3 plus, really.
First off, it says here there's outdoor seating and there isn't. Their website makes no claims. They are not licensed.
Went there for summerlicious. I called ahead to make a reservation and asked if they could accommodate my specific food allergies. I was told 2 of the 3 mains on the summerlicious menu would be no problem, and they'd take care of me. Upon arrival, the waitress informed me the only thing on the menu I could eat was the salad...I told her of the conversation I had while making my reservation and with whom I'd spoken and she went away and came back suggesting an entree from the regular menu. I asked if it would be offered to me as part of the prix fixe, and she said no. My party and I readied ourselves to leave and go elsewhere and she came back and said that they would offer the alternate, allergy free main course to me as part of the summerlicious menu. Mistakes happen, and when you resolve them like this, you shine. Of course it's better not to deceive somebody with life threatening allergies into coming into your restaurant in the first place but the waitress and whoever was in the kitchen covered the mistake beautifully, I would say.
The food: the salad off the summerlicious menu was quite delicious. Excellent dressing!
My alternate main, the gnocchi, was also delicious. My dinner companions enjoyed their meals (the chicken and vegetarian options) but found the veg portion to be really small-it was.
The tiny bite of dessert was also fantastic, although...tiny.
There were only 3 other tables in the restaurant while we were there, and one table was so loud that it felt like there were 100 people there...some wall hangings to dull the noise a bit wouldn't hurt-it made our conversation painful!
I would return here. Wish I could try the moquecas, as that was one of the tastiest things I'd ever eaten in Brazil.
