Michael Eats

Great Mexican Food at Balam

Published on February 15, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 584 Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/balamtoronto/

Chilaquiles is one of those dishes that can be really, really good, but can also easily go wrong. It’s basically just tortilla chips tossed in sauce, so if the sauce isn’t tasty or if the chips are allowed to get mushy, it’s kind of a dud.

The version at Balam? Not a dud. Not even close.

The chilaquiles here can either be tossed in a red or green sauce (I went with red), and come topped with red onion (which I skipped), queso fresco, crema, and avocado. There are also a variety of proteins you can get on top for an extra three or four bucks; I went with chorizo.

It’s a great dish. The red sauce is zippy and satisfying, with a nice savouriness that’s quite compelling, and the chips retain their crunch despite being tossed in sauce.

The toppings all complement the dish perfectly, particularly the robust, meaty chorizo, which is easily worth the upcharge.

That’s not to mention the pair of mildly spicy sauces on the table, both of which do a great job of making the dish really pop.

Delicious Ukrainian Food at Barrel House Korchma

Published on February 14, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2385 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.instagram.com/barrelhousekorchma/

I’m not sure if I’ve ever been to a Ukrainian restaurant before visiting Barrel House Korchma; even when I was still updating 196 Plates, the blog where I attempted to eat at one restaurant from each country in the world (without leaving the GTA), I never got around to that country.

Well, if Barrel House Korchma is anything to go by, I guess Ukrainian food is pretty tasty (if not that dissimilar from the cuisine in any number of Eastern European countries).

I tried a couple of things. First up was the fried stuffed buns: “Two fried buns stuffed with potatoes and dill.”

I can’t say I’ve ever had anything quite like this; though the menu calls this a bun, it’s not really bun-like at all, with a thin exterior that’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and a fluffy mashed-potato interior that’s infused with dill. It comes with a garlicky dill sauce on the side that complements it perfectly. It’s a great dish.

Up next was the Chicken Kyiv: “Breaded chicken fillet with melted butter and herbs.”

This was a tasty version of a pretty well-known dish, with a delightfully crunchy exterior, and a buttery (but not overly greasy) interior that helps to compensate for the inherent dryness of the chicken breast. It comes with a sweet, Thousand-Island-esque sauce that pairs nicely with the savoury chicken.

You can choose your side; the waitress recommended the roasted potato, which was a solid choice, with a lightly crispy exterior and a bit of a garlicky flavour that’s quite satisfying.

A Tasty Meal at Angara Indian & Hakka Cuisine

Published on February 12, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5555 Eglinton Avenue West, Etobicoke
Website: https://angararestaurant.ca/

Angara is a great Indian restaurant in Etobicoke that recently opened a second location downtown. I checked out the original, and yeah, I get it — there’s clearly a reason that they’re doing well enough to expand.

I tried a couple of things. First up was the Chef Special Bombay Paneer: “Paneer prepared dry with red onion, green chilli, and curry leaves.” This was basically like a fried chicken dish, but with paneer subbing in for chicken; it’s battered and crispy, and tossed in a tangy, mildly spicy sauce.

You can also get this with chicken, which I’d imagine would be even better, but the dense, meaty paneer actually does a pretty solid job of subbing in for chicken. It’s a tasty dish.

Up next: Chef Special Lamb Angara (“Spicy yet creamy curry with homemade chef special spices served in a sizzling plate”). This was seriously good, with a generous amount of tender chunks of lamb in a rich, creamy, and ultra-savoury sauce. The sizzling plate it comes in kinda caramelizes the sauce around the edges. It’s delightful.

I also got an order of freshly-baked naan, which has the crispy bottom and chewy interior that you’re looking for. It, like everything else here, was seriously good.

Tasty Cheesecake in a Jar at Laila’s Cheesecake Co.

Published on February 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 855 Browns Line, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lailascheesecake.com/

It’s hard to go wrong with cheesecake, and Laila’s definitely makes a tasty one. Which is good, because it’s literally all they serve.

You can get whole cheesecakes, slices, or individual jars of cheesecake, which seems to be their specialty. The jars come in two sizes: four ounce or eight ounce. I found the four ounce serving to be a perfect amount, but eight is there if you really want to cheesecake it up (or if you’re sharing).

They have a variety of flavours like salted caramel, blueberry, and cherry; I went with caramel chocolate pecan.

It’s really good. It’s sweet but not too sweet, with a nice balance of flavours between the chocolate, caramel, and tart cheesecake (with another nice dose of texture and flavour from the graham cracker crust at the bottom). The NY-style cheesecake base is just the right amount of dense and creamy. It’s a satisfying dessert.

Great Pizza at King Slice

Published on February 9, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1598 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.kingslice.ca/

Whenever there’s a discussion of the best pizza joints in Toronto, King Slice pretty much always comes up. They’ve been around since ’89 and predate all the trendy spots in the GTA by a few decades, so clearly they’re doing something right.

And yeah, okay. I just tried a pepperoni slice, and I get it. I don’t know if it’s my favourite slice in the GTA, but it would be in my top 10 for sure.

It’s a simple slice of pizza, but everything is just right: it’s got a good amount of cheese and pepperoni (it’s heavy on both, but doesn’t feel overloaded), the sauce has a zippy richness and definitely doesn’t taste like the canned stuff you might expect from an old-school place like this, and the crust is nicely baked (if a bit bland) with a light crispiness on its exterior.

That’s not to mention the famous garlic oil, which they can either slather on just the crust or the whole slice (I went with the former). This stuff is herby, garlicky, and delicious, and definitely brings the pizza a bunch of personality. The crust is otherwise a bit lacking in flavour, but once you add a bunch of that garlic oil, you’re in business.

The pizza doesn’t taste as fussed-over as some of the trendier joints in the GTA like Badiali or One Night Only (I’m pretty confident that there’s no sourdough or 48 hour proofs happening with the dough here), but for an old-school, no-frills pizza joint like this, it doesn’t get much better.

I liked it so much that I came back about a week later to try the margherita slice, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I should also note that the slices are comically oversized; I don’t think I’ve had such a gigantic slice of pizza since the heyday of The Big Slice (RIP).