Michael Nusair

More Delicious Doughnuts at Dipped Donuts

Published on November 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1374 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://dippeddonuts.ca/

Dipped Donuts serves some of the best doughnuts in the city. The best? Quite possibly! I’ve written about their Kensington Market location a few times, and I’m happy to say that their second location on Queen is just as good (UPDATE: since I initially wrote this, this location has closed (I have a bit of a backlog), but their initial location in Kensington Market is still alive and kicking).

As usual, every flavour looked extremely delicious. Picking just one was an ordeal.

I went with peach & ginger jelly, which is an intriguing combo that worked out even better than I was expecting.

It’s a great doughnut. The filling is sweet, but with a mild tartness that helps to balance things out. And the ginger is present enough to give the filling some character and a mild bite, but subtle enough to not overwhelm. I’ve had some ginger desserts where the ginger is too aggressive, and let me tell you: it’s a bummer to eat.

And, of course, the doughnut itself is perfect, with a great flavour and just the right balance of chewiness and fluffiness.

General Tao Pizza at Martino Pizza & Asian Kitchen

Published on November 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 178 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://martinokitchen.com/

General Tao pizza. I’m going to say that again, just for emphasis. General Tao Pizza. If you can hear that combination of words and not immediately want to try that pizza, you and I are very different people.

Martino Pizza & Asian Kitchen is the unlikely combo of pizza joint and Chinese restaurant, which makes them uniquely equipped to serve the aforementioned fusion concoction.

The pizza comes topped with green peppers, red peppers, onions (which I skipped on my half of the pizza), and — of course — General Tao chicken (more commonly spelled “General Tso’s chicken”).

It’s… pretty good? The pizza itself is nothing special (it’s slightly better than Pizza Pizza, but it’s definitely along the lines of chain pizza in that vein), but the very generous amount of chicken on top is as delightful as you’d hope.

The General Tao chicken is fresh, with a nice crunchy exterior and tender chicken within. The sauce is very, very, very sweet, but of course, that’s what General Tao chicken is supposed to be. The contrast between the salty pizza and the sweet, tangy chicken actually works quite well.

Would I get this again? Probably not! But it’s fun, and I’m glad that I tried it.

Tasty Fried Chicken and Curry at Ramen Ryu

Published on November 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 486 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Wellington Market)
Website: https://ryusnoodlebar.com/ramen_ryu

I mentioned recently that I tried the ramen at Ramen Ryu at the Well and found it tasty, but not mind-blowing. Well, maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? This place has a “recommendation” board on their menu, and the top choice isn’t ramen at all — it’s karaage & curry.

I ordered it, obviously, and yeah, it’s quite tasty.

It’s a simple dish — rice, a whole bunch of Japanese curry, and three pieces of karaage (i.e. Japanese fried chicken).

The curry is great, with a nice depth of flavour and a mild spicy kick. It’s maybe a touch on the salty side, but is otherwise above average Japanese curry.

The chicken features a nice balance between the crispy exterior and juicy interior, and complements the curry well. And the rice does a great job of soaking up that curry. It’s a very satisfying dish.

Shawarma/Calzone Fusion at Keko Shawarma

Published on November 16, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3128 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://kekoshawarmaon.com/

As soon as I found out that Keko Shawarma sells a shawarma calzone, I was sold. I had zero follow-up questions. Shawarma calzone? Yes please.

It’s actually pretty basic. It’s filled with beef or chicken shawarma, a whole bunch of gooey cheese, and… that’s it. It comes with a salad on the side, along with a couple of little cups of hot sauce and garlic sauce.

I went with the chicken shawarma, which is definitely above average. It’s a tiny bit on the dry side, but it’s got a bunch of the crispy bits you’re looking for and is nicely spiced. It’s quite tasty.

The calzone was made to order and was hot and fresh, with a generous amount of chicken shawarma and melty cheese, and a thin crust that was mostly just a vehicle for the chicken and cheese.

The hot sauce could have been hotter (it was barely spicy at all), but the creamy garlic sauce was seriously tasty and quite addictive.

I’m glad I tried it, but I think I’d get the normal shawarma wrap if I found myself back here. Shawarma + calzone is a fun combo, but I think there’s a reason it’s not really a thing. The calzone wasn’t really better than the bread you’d normally get in a shawarma wrap, and the abundant cheese — while tasty — makes this taste more like a novelty than something you’d want to eat on the regular.

Baked Salted Caramel Pie at McDonald’s

Published on November 16, 2025November 16, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1500 Dundas Street East, Mississauga (inside Walmart)
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I’m going to try not to spend this entire review complaining about how McDonald’s used to fry their pies, resulting in a golden, satisfyingly crispy exterior, and now bakes them instead.

Remember how good the fried pies used to taste? No, you don’t, because the switchover happened back in 1992, and you weren’t even born when it happened?? That’s extremely upsetting to me, but yeah, fair enough.

Well, the fried pies were good. And you don’t need a time machine to discover this for yourself — basically every other country in the world still serves their McDonald’s pies fried, and it’s a million times better. Why we still have to put up with gummy, tasteless crusts despite the fact that the low-fat diet craze that spawned this change has been gone for decades is a mystery that will eternally haunt me.

Oh, did I say I wasn’t going to spend this entire review complaining about the crust? Well, I lied. Otherwise, this is basically fine — it tastes like an apple pie that’s all goo, no apples, with the slight hit of salt making it a bit more interesting. But seriously: why are we all putting up with the fact that the pies at McDonald’s are terrible when they don’t have to be???