We came on a Friday for dinner and didn't have a good experience. 3 items on the menu was not available and when we ordered, we were told there was a 4th item not available. Their menu isn't extensive so it was a bit of an issue trying to find dishes we wanted to try. We got the duck dumplings, brussel sprouts, grilled shrimp, crispy tofu, miso cod and shrimp scallop chow mein for five people. The stand out was the miso cod, but for $36 it was not enough as an entree as the size of the fish is small and it didn't come with substantial sides. Also after taking our orders, our server disappeared. Another server came by to cover our table but there was no explanation or reason given. It was strange as they had just opened for the day. Expect high prices and small portions. Nice ambiance but don't think I will be back for that. read more

See all

Came here for Winterlicious 2026 $55 per person. They had an ube cocktail that i was interested in but sold out. I was quite sad... The 3-course menu had 3-4 options under each course. So there's something for every one. Nothing fancy but tasted delicious. read more

Mother Tongue - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

I came here with a friend for Winterlicious. Loved the interior design and the overall vibe of the restaurant. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I ordered the clarified ube milk punch to drink. Not gonna lie, when you think of ube, you think of the rich purple colour that is associated with it, so it was quite a surprise to see a clear colourless drink arrive at my table. The cocktail had a nice taste, on the sweeter side, but I had trouble tasting the ube notes in it. For starter I got the butterfish escabeche tartare. An umami explosion. Nice contrast between the the tenderness of the fish and the crispy texture of the rice cracker. For the main I got the seabass bicol express. Great portion size and very tasty, but it didn't taste like the traditional bicol express that I know. For dessert I got the pandan tart. These were a standout for me, and was pleasantly surprised to see that there were 4 of them. Very friendly wait staff, and would recommend for others to try here. read more

See all

A cozy, welcoming space with genuinely great service. Mother Tongue is one of those spots that works just as well for a date night as it does for a night out with friends. It's not a must-return-immediately kind of place for me, but it's an easy recommendation and one I'd gladly say yes to if friends wanted to go. We ordered: * Duck Dumplings * Torched Wagyu Chow Mein * Szechuan Sticky Pork Ribs * Korean Beef Short Rib * Butterfish Escabeche read more

See all

Visiting Toronto for the first time I knew I had to try some place good. Really good! Mother Tongue did not disappoint (and how convenient that it was right across the street from the BNB.) This dimly lit restaurant is inviting and easy to find with its neon sign out front. My friend and I sat in the back at a two top table where we had a glass of red wine and started off with the wagyu bistek bao. For dinner I had the Korean short rib and my friend had the Taiwanese noodles, both which were exceptional. Plan to pay on the higher end while visiting this restaurant. It is a great place to eat for yourself or split plates among a small group if you want to try a bit of everything and try to save some money. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly. I really wish we had a place like this in Charleston because I can't stop thinking about how amazing the flavors were in all of their dishes. Mother Tongue is a must visit on your travel list. read more

See all

I'll be honest, I walked into the restaurant with a bias. As someone who's Chinese, paying $16 for a bao and a bowl of chili noodles felt absurd. But... after tasting everything, I had to admit the food was well-executed and delicious. The ribs, in particular, were sweet, tender, and paired perfectly with the garlic rice. I still think the prices are steep, but once in a while, I could be convinced it's worth it. Service was warm and attentive, and the inside was unique and intimate, perfect for a date night. read more

See all

Went for winterlicious. Already loved this place which I first tried at Blue Mountain and was impressed there. Sexy atmosphere, delicious fusion food very detail-oriented and subtle nuanced flavours, awesome cocktails. Good service. On the pricier side, but at least for this place, u do get what u pay for, and it is worth it! read more

See all

The Summerlicious menu at Mother Tongue looked amazing, so my friend and I decided to come check it out. While we loved our cocktails (especially the ube!), the food was a bit of a miss. We both felt that the food was not quite flavourful. The ambience and vibe inside is trendy and fits the mood, and the service is efficient and kind. read more

See all

The food here is great always. They have a variety of Asian fusion foods and it tastes unique. Great spot for a date as the ambiance is nice and romantic vibes inside. Service was good even though we messed up the order and confused the waitress she still replaced our dish. read more

See all

This is the kind of place where I would actually want to go back again and order very specific items. Too bad the portions are small for the price. Scallion Noodles - Okay but wouldn't get again. Crispy Mapo - Good, no complaints, would order again even though the portion felt small. Tokyo Miso Black Cod - It was fine. I much prefer the Nobu-style miso marinade with the candied skin. This basically didn't have any skin and wasn't as luxuous. I'm a big fan of yuzu kosho, but it didn't really stand out to me much. Wagyu Old Fashioned - It isn't bad, but it wasn't worth it for me. Wagyu fat can taste different from regular beef fat (like having a nuttier flavor), but to me, it was still primarily a beef fat flavor at the end of the day. I am well acquainted with this flavor as I like to use the leftover fat and oil from cooking steaks (and I don't butter baste) to cook veg or fried rice. That might not necessarily be a bad thing since the fat contributed a lot to the texture and mouthfeel which was definitely very different from anything I've had before. I just probably would enjoyed their other cocktails more. read more

Unfortunately I just don't have many good things to say about this place between the quality of the food and the speed of service. We were here for almost 2.5 hours despite only having 2 drinks and were all let down by our food. Even the chefs selection (pre fixe) was underwhelming from start to finish which is incredibly disappointing. Bland flavors, poor execution. read more

Our dinner journey kicked off at Mother Tongue, where we sampled a trio of dishes--Filipino slaw, butterfish escabeche, and Tokyo miso black cod. Each one was a delightful. Service was adequate given that one server was juggling both the bar and front of house duties, and still managed to keep things flowing. It was a good stop to start the evening on a flavorful note. read more

See all

Came for dinner. Food was pretty good, the fish was very tender. Service was good. I liked the interior / vibe of the restaurant. read more

See all

Asian influence spot in the downtown core. My favourites were the skewer, Korean beef and the Bao dessert. It was really in read more

See all

My friends were keen to try Mother Tongue for their Summerlicious promotion, which is still going on as I type this. The dinner menu is $55 prix fixe, which seemed fair at the time. When we actually got down to ordering, the numbers just weren't numbering, meaning there were only a few combinations where the three course meal made sense for the price. We ended up doing a mixture of summerlicious and a la carte to get the best value. For 7 people, we ordered 2 summerlicious 3 course meals and 6 additional dishes. My favourite dishes were definitely the Grilled Liempo Skewer (part of summerlicious, but otherwise $19) and Fried Brussel Sprouts ($17), which were both appetizers. I wasn't the biggest fan of the fried rice, which really lacked flavour for me - but I don't think the rest of the table agreed since we ordered another one. I had a few bites that tasted just like white rice. The short rib was good, but nothing special. I'm not sure if the one on the summerlicious menu is the same as the one on the regular menu ($55), as the ingredients noted below the dish name are a bit different between the two. The service was attentive and the environment was also good. It does seem like they mashed two tables together to accommodate for our group of 7, which looked a bit awkward. Overall, the vibes were there but the food fell a bit flat for me, especially for the price (around $60 each). read more

See all

Stopped by Mother Tongue to have a quick drink. I had a lovely ube cocktail and my server Matteo was such a ki! Such a cute little spot!

Unique concept for a restaurant. I wasn't sure what to expect with the name of the restaurant and slightly worried there would be a menu full of delicacies. But seemed like pretty standard international dishes - more specifically Filipino-based pan-asian fusion? Didn't expect to like it but turned out to be a really interesting yet pricey experience. The atmosphere is gorgeous - the restaurant itself is sleek and beautiful with low lights and earthy colors. The menu is eclectic and there are definitely some hits and misses but appreciated the effort. I generally don't think a restaurant that offers a lot of different cuisines ends up doing anything well but surprisingly there were a few dishes I was really happy with. FYI - they are smaller plates meant for sharing though. Service was attentive and all the servers look like models - they blend in really well with the beautiful decor :) Also there is a speakeasy-style bar downstairs - I thought it was another section of the restaurant but saw these small well-dressed parties coming in and out the whole night. Finally figured out what was going on. Fun concept - would be a good spot for first dates. Would love to come back to try other dishes on the menu or check out the bar. read more

The atmosphere surrounding this place oozed a certain level of sophistication. As for the waiters, they were very attentive and asked us if we needed anything multiple times throughout the evening (maybe a bit too much). Be warned that the portions of the dishes are fairly small and come at a higher end price tag. Although the flavour profile was definitely there, I believe that the quantity should be significantly increased given that they are charging top dollar for these items. All-in-all, I would likely only come back for winter or summer-licious (reduced pricing - fixed menu) and/or a very special outting occasion as it is most definitely a bougie establishment read more

See all

Found by a colleague while in Canada this week, while I was skeptical of the name, I can assure you there is absolutely no skepticism about the taste and their menu options. We are a tight bunch at work and love family style so we orders the Sio Bao and General TSO bao and they lasted all of 30 seconds. We also ordered the fried chicken and the chili Spicy noodles were simply amazing! Great music, great service and super great atmosphere! read more

Great ambiance, great service, and amazing food! Was in town for work from Chicago and had dinner here my first night - the duck dumplings were absolutely phenomenal. So tasty and flavorful without being too rich. The chicken inasal Bicol express was my main, would have been great to have a side of rice but honestly I'm glad I didn't so that I could eat everything on the plate. The coconut curry and chicken were perfectly cooked and I could have licked the plate clean. Being Filipino myself, I have a high bar for Filipino restaurants but this place did not disappoint! Would definitely come back, maybe even on this same trip read more

Mother Tongue - Chicken inasal Bicol express - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

Winterlicious menu was good. The ube tart was disappointing because they were two mini ones instead of the one advertised on Instagram. There was too much crush and too little filling, making the ube flavour less apparent. I hope they don't do that again and just serve the one larger tart instead. Service was fine! read more

See all

Celebrated a friend's birthday here recently and everything was top notch. In fact the service and speed might have been too good. Not that it is a real complaint or anything, but we'd literally finish our bite of our app or main and the next thing was almost at our table right away. The servers were also right on top of everything and things like my water was almost topped up at all times. I'm always skeptical about pan-asian fusion food, probably because I was traumatized by it's popularity decades ago and poor execution, but this is different. From the pork belly app to short ribs and even ube dessert it had a sense of modern yet familiarity. All in all, like Arney says, I'll be back. read more

Food literally took 30 minutes. No attention to us was given and we were pretty hungry and a bit upset read more

Mother Tongue - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This review is for the speakeasy - liquid courage only. A very cool speakeasy in the basement of Mother Tongue. We came here on a Saturday night without any issues after learning about the 2-hr wait time at Bar Chef. The cocktail menu had a good selection for everyone. The honeycrisp old fashioned was boozy and flavorful, with a caramelized slice of honeycrisp: the strawberry rum punch was tasty and light; the razor crest was strong and smoky (mezcal). The bar was lively and the bartenders were friendly and attentive. Highly recommended! read more

See all

Birthday celebration!! My first time!! And I will Go back for sure! Totally enjoyed the atmosphere. Our server and amazing and super friendly. The food was delicious!!! Although I would have liked more rice with the short rib; I didn't realize there was so much meat! Not complaining!!! It was delicious! read more

See all

Mother Tongue is an Asian fusion restaurant located along Adelaide near Peter Street. The eatery is a hip spot primarily serving small tapas plates that are meant to be shared. There is also a great cocktail list and happy hour deals as well. Although the chef at Mother Tongue is Filipino, the dishes take influence from the Philippines, China, and Japan. The restaurant has a small front room with more tables in the back. There is also a small patio with about 3-4 tables. My friend and I dined at Mother Tongue on Wed night - we both tried the Summerlicious menu which was priced at $45. I was promptly greeted when I entered the restaurant and taken to my table. As the night went on, the place got more busy. Our server was extremely friendly as she went through the whole menu to explain the concept of the restaurant. She also pointed out some of the highlights and favourites from other customers. Summerlicious is a great way to try some of their dishes but some of the mains are made smaller for the prix-fixed menu. Drinks wise, it was still happy hour so I ordered a Pretty Lodi cocktail. A bit sweet for me but it was made well. My friend got a mocktail. In regards to the items we ordered (off the Summerlicious menu): - Appetizers: B.C. trout ceviche (citrus salsa, calamansi, crab chips) and the crispy mapo tofu (a vegetarian/vegan dish with a mushroom ragu, toban djan, and chili). - Mains: Torched wagyu chow mein (with roast picanha, chef's vegetable selection, and chow mein sauce) as well as the fried sea bass (golden curry, baby bok choy). - For dessert we both opted for the buko pandan custard cake. Overall, food was decent. The golden curry in the fried sea bass dish was delicious. Also, can't go wrong with a wagyu cut of beef. The mapo tofu wasn't spicy and the ceviche was fresh and light. The buko pandan custard cake was not too sweet and a good ending to the meal. Service wise, again, our server was attentive and made sure we were satisfied with everything. The meal was paced well. We also stayed for a little bit to talk and catch up and we never felt rushed or were asked to leave. Overall, a decent Summerlicious experience! The regular menu items looked interesting as well. read more

See all

Went here while on a ski trip in blue mountain. The food was good, but on the pricier side. We split some dishes. The restaurant did have a cool vibe which I enjoyed and the service was good. read more

Mother Tongue - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Really nice spot that's much bigger than it looks from the outside. Our bartender Theo made us some great cocktails. I love beer and I love gin. He made me a Hong Kong Handover which he created for the restaurant. It was a nice balanced drink great for the summer. And boozy. Bonus for it being called Hong Kong Handover and my background is HK ;) read more

Mother Tongue - Recommend Hong Kong hand over on the right - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I really enjoyed Mother Tongue and had my best meal of my short early Feb '23 Toronto trip there. I enjoyed the vibe, the decor, the friendliness, and most definitely my food and drinks. I'd arrived in Toronto during the winteriest days of winter. I therefore chose places that were generally within 2 blocks of my hotel, or my thin-blooded San Diego body would probably shut down in the sub-zero-F wind-whipped tundra. Fortunately these winter days also coincided with Winterfest, a prix-fixe "restaurant week" (as it's known in SD), where many restaurants had a special 3-course menu, and I was happy to find that Mother Tongue did, as well as having a seat available on a Friday night. I had the crispy mapo tofu, fried sea bass with curry, and a difficult-to-explain but tasty sweet-and-savory Ube ice cream for desert. (Ube is apparently a purple potato that's kind of related to the yam). All were excellent; I think the tofu was the best, and that's saying a lot when I applaud tofu at all. Mother Tongue is oh-so-pretty inside, with a candlelit, almost tiki-vibe. If you bring a date here, you're probably going to be thanked a lot later. I didn't, so I wasn't, but your results may vary. I had two really interesting drinks, a margarita in which the tequila had been infused with peppercorns and other spices, and a Filipino take on a pisco sour (the Pili Sour, I think it was called). Both were excellent. My server was very kind and also very proud to work there. She gave me the backstory regarding the Filipino chef and the various ingredients in the food, as well as advice for other not-so-cold-I-die things to do in the neighborhood later. I don't have any future plans in Toronto, but if I do, I'll definitely be back here! read more

Mother Tongue - It's Winterlicious: t-t-t-t-t-tasty-tasty! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Early birthday dinner this weekend at Mother Tongue. It was our first time visiting and I loved the decor as soon as I walked in. There's two floors - top floor is the main dining area with a homey feel and the lower floor is more of a vibey intimate speak easy cocktail bar. The menu features share plates with Filipino, Chinese and Japanese influences and a variety of cocktails and other drinks. . . Seafood mountain 4/5 Gai Lan 4.3/5 Garlic rice 1/5 High Noon Cocktail 4.5/5 Passiflora Mocktail 5/5 Cake 3.75/5 . . Overall we had a great time and enjoyed the drinks and most of the food. The seafood mountain had to be preordered 24-48 hours in advance and although the flavours and seafood were all good, I feel that for the price, it's not good. The lobster was pretty small for what it was. The Gai Lan was really good. The garlic rice was borderline edible... it was absolutely dry and hard. I'm not even sure if the kitchen knows how to cook rice.... Drinks on the other hand were all amazing!! Will definitely come back for the drinks next time and check out the lower floor. read more

See all

I've been here a few times and most recently for their winterlicious dinner with 6 other girls. The staff were friendly while we waited for the table ahead of us to finish. They seemed to be short staffed and only one server really knew what was going on but it didn't impact our dinner. I got the pork belly skewers and beef short rib with the crème brûlée for dessert. All the food was amazing, but I was very disappointed with the drinks. The cocktails were tasty but the glasses we were served were only half full all the time, even with ice. read more

4.5 stars it was great! Tried all the Dim Sum. Service was friendly and timely. A bit pricey but worth it.

we had a chance to visit mothers tongue during summerlicious. although there is a lot of hype with this restaurant, i found that the food fell short. from their summerlicious menu, we had the steelhead trout crudo, hoisin duck confit, and peach mango pudding. out of the three dishes i had, the crudo was the only thing that really stood out. it was vibrant in flavour and was very unique. i would get it again! 8/10 the hoisin duck confit however, i found that it lacked flavour. the hoisin was the only flavour coming through with this dish, which can get really tiring. additionally, we were excited to try the freshmade scallion pancake, but found this to be extremely dry and also lacking flavour. 4/10 the peach mango pudding was also nothing special. it was also very tart but that is a personal preference of mine. in addition to the meal, i found that the service here was not so great. we had a reservation at 7:30 but did not get seated until 20 minutes later. the food also took extremely long to come out. we did not receive our first dish until 40 minutes after ordering. on top of this, our server was more on the clumsy side as our drinks were spilled over our table. not really something you would expect from a highly rated restaurant. overall my experience here wasn't the best, but this may also be due to summerlicious- how they were busy during this time and used few ingredients as the meals are prix fixed. read more

See all

Mother Tongue was an incredible dining experience! I visited with a few co-workers, and loved everything from the ambiance, to food and drink, to service. I'd have to say the cocktails were some of my favorites. They were unique, well-crafted, perfectly boozy, and flavorful. We ordered everything to share and started with the crispy mapo tofu, mango papaya salad, duck dumplings, and calamari. They were all good, though take note that the duck is pâté style, so the texture was different than what you might expect. For entrees, we had scallop and corn fried rice, trout teriyaki baked fried rice, eggplant, and pork belly. I really enjoyed the pork belly and trout teriyaki baked fried rice the most! We visited during a construction period, so we just sat in the back room, which felt intimate and fun. Really good experience overall! read more

See all

I came here on their last day of summerlicious. The place looks small from the outside but it actually is spacious inside with even a lower level seating area. They have high top tables, bar seats, and also regular tables. After asking our server for suggestions, I decided on getting BC Trout Ceviche (citrus salsa, calamansi, and crab chips), Fried sea bass (golden curry, baby bok choy), and Buko pandan custard cake (buko leche flan, pandan chiffon cake, and coconut streusel). I also ordered a side order of garlic rice to go with the fried sea bass since it didn't came with any carbs. This was disappointing since the garlic flavor wasn't there at all, only in smell. Overall the experience was okay, with the Buko pandan custard cake being the most memorable experience. It was sweet and took a little bit of time to finish despite of the size, but the flavors were present, and neither the buko nor pandan flavor overpowered each other. read more

See all

Decided to check this place out as I heard some buzz about it...and I like a good buzz - LOL Anyways...this is a cute spot, dimly lit, great for a date night or a nice night out with your friends b/c you can hear the person talk, and they have a bar located downstairs! It's a rather small spot, so reservations are your best bet. We ordered a few items and shared: - Duck dumplings - pretty good, but not sure what all the fuss was about (heard these are the things to get) - Brussels sprouts - oh man - super delicious - definitely get an order of these! Nicely charred and great smoky flavour. I could eat a whole plate of these - Bao - these were good, nothing special - a solid effort - lemongrass chicken rice - this was pretty good. Note that it is supposed to come with a chili jam/sauce mixed in...I happened to mention I don't eat pork and the server mentioned the suace was made with a tiny bit of pork fat. I would have never had known! Thankfully, she knew and checked with the chefs if it could be made without (yes it can) The staff are really friendly - we were pretty early for our reservations and they took us in even though they were pretty full. The servers are clearly knowledgeable about their food which is amazing. We also went downstairs to the bar, the grove is fun, miami club kinda..but I didn't particularly care for the drinks. Overall, I'd love to come back and check out some other items..and get those brussels sprouts again read more

Mother Tongue - Bao - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

Definitely their menu has lots of interesting ideas that i didnt think about. Pretty lodi cocktail was delicious. Pork belly is like a must have. They did the duck dumpling so well that i realized i didnt like duck meat scent. Not being sarcastic at all. The duck meat was well minced and put together that the fragrance, taste, and texture are mostly equally balanced. For people who love duck, might like this dish. Fried sea bass! Taste great. Nothing to complain about the dish. The bao? its ok. It was for my husband. I didnt get to taste it nor I have much passion to have it. The vietnamese coffee affogato... its good and i like it but its a dessert i only need to try once. Save room for new desserts for next time. For sure, i come back for the fried rice that i didnt get to try and the pork belly again! read more

See all

I really can't say much about the food as I was soooo late joining my friends. Because I couldn't find the location after walking up and down Adelaide Street 3 times and had to go into a hotel to ask. Lo and behold the entrance was beside the hotel. The signage was practically next to invisible. However they do have a happy hour menu. I managed to get there in time for a glass of white wine at $5. There isn't a choice to choose from as it's happy hour. But hey, was just happy with the glass of wine to relax myself after being frustrated at having such a difficult time finding the place. read more

these were what we ordered: - duck pate dumplings: personal fav because i loveeee pate and it's an interesting combo of dumpling skin with super smooth pate inside - trout ceviche: could use more citrus - pad thai: liked that they used pumpkin seeds instead of peanut but it didn't taste like pad thai, felt like something was missing - general tao bao: amazing little fried chicken bun! so simple yet so flavorful. call out here is the hun itself was so nicely made with that subtle sweetness - totally accentuated the flavor profile -humba pork belly wrap: this is kind of like a variation of the classic korean bossam - they used pickled pear instead of the radish, it was a really good combo. the grape seaweed was an added touch. -brisket tataki: it was good and basically what you'd expect from a beef carpaccio type of dish, can do w/o the salty onions tho -drinks: margarita and niwa flores - good and pretty drinks overall i would give it a 4 - our waiter was nice, bartender was friendly, we enjoyed most of the dishes and our overall experience was jus on point! would return again if visiting toronto. it's a nice spot to hang out with friends with decent enough food but it is not really like somewhere that has like amaaazing and impressive food if that's what you're looking for. read more

See all

This is such a hip Asian fusion restaurant and bar. The chef is filipino I believe. There are modern twists on filipino dishes like adobo, pan de sal, and pancit. I loved the bar downstairs, the ambiance was great. It was dimly lit with a darker floral wallpaper on one side with a neon sign that said "get a room". The bar was nicely lit up, and they were playing old school rap. I came around 6 PM on a Saturday night and had reservations. The restaurant only had a few tables seated at the time. We were promptly seated at the restaurant upstairs but we asked to be relocated to the bar downstairs. The hostess was very accommodating and happily moved us there by the neon sign. The service was great. Our server always came by to make sure we were okay and checked if we needed anything. He also refilled our water frequently and ensured it was never empty. When we were looking for our server, if he was ever busy, the bartender would come by to assist us which was a really nice gesture. The bar also customized a drink for me as they didn't have any gin based drinks on the menu, and it was good. The bartender also seemed very knowledgable as he recommended for us to try a few different kinds of gin next time based on what we had liked. My boyfriend ordered a gin and tonic and although I really usually don't prefer this drink, it was really smooth and very enjoyable. For food, what really stood out was the duck dumplings and brussels sprouts. The duck dumplings were a bit too salty but there was a lot of good flavour there otherwise. The brussel sprouts were roasted with cheese on top and a somewhat sweet sauce. The combination was perfect and sooo addictive. We also ordered the curry seabass but later realized that they brought us the adobo seabass. The skin was crispy and the fish was good but nothing special about this dish as I didn't really taste much of the adobo rub. The server later realized and apologized for bringing the wrong dish as he usually didn't wait tables at the bar. He did offer to bring the curry seabass but at that point we were already stuffed. Would have loved to try that though as it came highly recommended. We also got the foie gras fried rice. It was tasty but nothing special. Not enough foie gras in each bite to make the flavour that interesting. It seems like they are still changing and revamping their menu, so I will likely be back. Apparently the brussel sprouts were only added to the menu last week! read more