Michael Nusair

Cupfections at Dairy Queen

Published on July 5, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5449 Dundas Street West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.dairyqueen.com/ca-en/

Though Dairy Queen comes out with new Blizzards on a regular basis, new sundaes are much more rare. Maybe once or twice a year? If that?

They recently came out with not one, but two new sundaes called Cupfections; obviously I was all over it.

There’s the Brownie and Oreo Cupfection, and the Summer Berry Cake Cupfection. I tried the latter, which comes topped with berries (blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries), vanilla cake, and chocolate pieces.

It’s basically a trifle, but with a whole bunch of ice cream instead of custard.

So yeah, it’s good. I think if you replace any component in a dessert with a whole bunch of ice cream, you’re pretty much guaranteed to wind up with something delicious. The soft serve at Dairy Queen isn’t exactly great, but with all that other stuff, it’s tasty.

I watched the guy make it, and it was kind of interesting — I assumed the cake would just be cake crumbs, but he actually pulled out a full sheet cake from the fridge (frosting and all) and then dug into it with an ice cream scoop.

It would have been nice if the berries weren’t so cold (they were partially frozen), but otherwise this was a tasty dessert. I think it’s a summer-only thing, which is too bad — it would be a solid addition to the permanent menu.

A Delicious Veggie Sandwich at Forno Cultura

Published on July 4, 2019July 10, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 609 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://fornocultura.com/

I recently had a seriously tasty meal thanks to Toronto Life’s list of the 25 best sandwiches in the city. So it seemed like a safe enough bet to try another entry from that list: the melanzana from Forno Cultura, a great Italian bakery on King Street West.

It’s a roasted eggplant and zucchini sandwich with fior di latte (AKA mozzarella), Emmental cheese, and arugula.

I was tempted by the very tasty looking meatball sandwich, but I stuck with the list, and I’m very glad that I did. The list is on a roll. It’s an amazing sandwich.

The eggplant and the zucchini are both super tasty — they’re meaty and tender, with a very herby, garlicky flavour. The two cheeses balance quite well, with a nice soft creaminess from the fresh mozzarella, and a sharper cheesy flavour from the Emmental. Add in the peppery bite from the arugula, and you’ve got a tasty sandwich.

Though as good as the various fillings are, it’s the sesame-studded focaccia that’s the real star of the show. It’s crispy, fluffy, and amazing.

The sandwich is also exceptionally oily — basically as soon as you pick it up, your hands become slick with grease. Normally this might be a bit much, but I think that oil was also a vehicle for the aforementioned herby, garlicky flavour, because the whole sandwich was tasty and amazing. It never feels overly oily.

I should have left it at that, but I made the mistake of getting the cornetto cioccolato for dessert. It looked so good!

It tastes absolutely nothing like it looks. It was barely sweet at all, and the texture was oddly crunchy and dry. It was, weirdly enough, very similar to a pretzel. Not a warm, fresh pretzel; the dry kind from a bag. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I’m guessing it wasn’t because it was blatantly unappealing. It was quite saltine-esque.

Still; it’s hard to stay mad a place that serves a sandwich that delicious.

Cheesecake Blues at Sweet Jesus

Published on July 3, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.sweetjesusicecream.com/

Cheesecake Blues — which is a featured flavour, and not a part of the regular menu, sadly — might be the best thing on Sweet Jesus’s menu.

Here’s how they describe it: “Blueberry soft serve ice cream, cheesecake bites, blueberry sauce, graham cookie crumbs, Maria milk cookie crumbs, wafer crumbs, white chocolate bits.”

The ice cream is the highlight; the flavour is a lot more subtle than you’re expecting. Typically, fruity ice cream tends to punch you in the face with fruit flavour, but this one is more like blueberries and cream. It’s creamy, mellow, and delightful.

The crumbs on the exterior are a bit odd — they’re supposedly cookie crumbs, but the texture is soft and cakey. I’m not sure if that’s intentional, but either way, it’s tasty.

There are also cheesecake chunks and blueberry sauce, which obviously work quite well together. The whole thing is surprisingly good.

Bacon Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s

Published on July 2, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1520 Aimco Boulevard, Mississauga
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca/home

The Bacon Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich from Wendy’s has pretty much everything I like in a fast food sandwich; it’s got gooey cheese (with both a melty cheese slice and cheese sauce), bacon, jalapenos, crispy fried onions, pickled jalapeno slices, and a smoky japaleno sauce.

So yeah, it’s good. They’d have to work pretty hard to mess it up.

The worst part about this chicken sandwich is, funnily enough, the chicken. The sandwich features their Spicy Chicken patty, and they keep it in one of those warming drawers (AKA the fast food ruiner).

So it’s dry, of course. It’s also a little bit too salty, and thoroughly infused with a vaguely unpleasant processed flavour.

The toppings are so abundant, however, that it’s barely even an issue. I only had one or two bites that weren’t crammed with stuff.

You’ve got the richness from the cheeses, crispiness from the fried onions, zestiness from the sauce, a nice meaty bite from the bacon, and a good amount of acidity from the jalapenos to help cut through the sandwich’s richness. It’s quite tasty.

It also has a decent kick to it — it’s nothing too aggressive, but for something from a fast food joint, it’s not bad.

Tasty Flavours at Knockout Ice Cream

Published on July 1, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 342 Westmoreland Avenue North, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/knockout_icecream/

Knockout Ice Cream is a new ice cream shop in a formerly industrial area that’s recently become a foodie hotspot — places like Parallel and Famiglia Baldassare are right around the corner.

I’m interested in a new ice cream place by default, but the fact that this is the latest venture from Arthur Pezzelli, who was also involved with Bang Bang and Koishi, clinches it. Bang Bang serves what is clearly the best ice cream in the city, so of course.

The set-up is quite Bang Bang-esque, with the flavours listed on the wall behind the register, a freezer selling to-go tubs to the left, and a space that’s basically just big enough to order and then leave (they have a few chairs outside the entrance).

No ice cream sandwiches, however, though they do have a machine to make bubble waffles.

I tried the dulce de leche, which has a deep, intense caramel flavour (the ice cream itself tastes like dulce de leche rather than having sauce swirled inside). It was also incredibly rich and creamy, so it’s clearly top-tier ice cream.

It was a touch too sweet, however, and the texture was gummier than I’d like, so I don’t think Bang Bang has anything to worry about quite yet. But the place literally just opened (June 21st, according to their Instagram); assuming they work out the kinks, I think it could easily become one of the better ice cream shops in the city.