Michael Nusair

Quick Bites: Superpoint, Good Behaviour Ice Cream, Falafel Plus

Published on July 14, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Cheese slice from Superpoint

Superpoint! It’s still great. This time I got a plain cheese slice, and it’s absolutely phenomenal — it’s got the perfect amount of gooey cheese, tasty sauce, and that nicely crispy/chewy thin crust. Pizzeria Badiali is right nearby also serving up top-notch slices, and I’m extremely envious of anyone who lives in the area because they’re both so good.

Mint Chocolate from Good Behaviour Ice Cream

Easily the weirdest scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream I’ve ever had — it didn’t taste like mint or chocolate. If I had eaten this blind, I honestly don’t think I would have guessed mint. It tastes more like a mild key lime pie. It’s not bad, it’s just weird when you’re expecting mint. As for the chocolate, I’m of the opinion that standard chocolate chips are useless in ice cream. They have a nice crunch, but nothing else — frozen chocolate chips are too cold to properly melt in your mouth, so they basically just crumble into little bits that you can’t taste.

Falafel from Falafel Plus

If you have “falafel” right in the name of your restaurant, you’d better be able to back that up. I’m happy to say that Falafel Plus very much backs that up: the falafel here has a great balance between crispy exterior and fluffy interior, and it’s perfectly spiced, with a herby flavour that’s very satisfying. Clearly, I’m going to have to return and try a bunch more stuff, because they have a fairly extensive menu, and based on the falafel it’s probably all tasty.

Above Average Patties at Phamilyeats

Published on July 10, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 858 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
Website: https://phamilyeats.ca/

Though Phamilyeats started out as one of the many delivery-only eateries that popped up during the pandemic, they now share a space with Conspiracy Pizza and Churnt Up. They specialize in meat pies — either family-sized pot pies, or individual patties — and based on the patty I tried, they’re definitely worth checking out.

I went with the spicy beef patty, which is a classic patty through and through. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but it’s really well executed, with a great beefy flavour and a decent level of spice.

I also appreciated that the beef was a bit chunkier than the norm. The meat in a lot of patties, particularly cheaper ones, is so thoroughly pulverized into a fine paste that it’s only vaguely recognizable as beef. That’s definitely not the case here.

And the pastry might just be the highlight, with a delightful flakiness that complements the beef filling perfectly.

Top-Notch Pastries at Bomou Artisanal Bakery

Published on July 6, 2022July 6, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1636 Bayview Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.bomou.ca/

Though I’m not entirely sure that this stretch of Bayview particularly needed another fancy French bakery (Patisserie la Cigogne is just a few stores down, and Rahier Patisserie is, according to Google, a one minute walk away), but sure, why not? If the area can sustain multiple French patisseries, then go for it, particularly if the pastries are as tasty as they seem to be here.

I tried a couple of things. The first was a ham and cheese quiche in a croissant-like crust. I don’t think anyone is going to lose their mind over this one, but aside from the pastry being a bit soggy, it’s rich and creamy, and it has a good amount of ham and cheese.

I also tried the pistachio croissant, which was a clear winner — the croissant was buttery, flaky, and delicious, and the generous pistachio filling was sweet without being overwhelming.

My only complaint is that it didn’t have a particularly strong pistachio flavour (I’m guessing there’s a mix of almonds and pistachios), but the combo of the top-notch croissant and nutty filling was so tasty that it doesn’t particularly matter.

Barbecue Meets Pizza at Conspiracy Pizza

Published on July 3, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 858 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
Website: https://www.conspiracypizza.ca/

Though Conspiracy Pizza started out as a pop-up inside of the infamous (and defunct) Adamson Barbecue, they’ve since cut ties and have their own space (which they share with Churnt Up, an ice cream shop, and Phamily Eats, which sells patties).

They’ve still got a bit of a barbecue theme, however — their namesake pie, the Conspiracy, comes topped with “white sauce, emmental cheese, brisket, red onion, jalapeno, barbecue sauce.”

It’s an odd pizza, but it absolutely works. In particular, the chunks of brisket are shockingly good — they’re nice and tender, and they’ve got a distinctly smoky flavour. It makes me wish they served a sandwich, because it’s top-notch BBQ brisket.

But then the whole pizza is pretty great, with pops of heat from the jalapenos, a satisfying richness from the white sauce and the cheese, and with the barbecue sauce bringing it a nice zippy sweetness to cut through the meat and cheese. The crust is quite good too, with a super crispy exterior and a fluffy interior.

I also tried the Government Cheese, which comes topped with “mozza, cheddar, emmental, provolone, manchego, oregano.”

It takes a lot for me to say that a pizza is too cheesy, but… this one was too cheesy. It’s overwhelming. It also kinda reminded me of a Costco pizza (the cheddar, maybe?). It’s not bad — a huge pile of gooey cheese is never going to be all bad — but I can’t say I’d ever order it again.

Quick Bites: Pho Tien Thanh, Ice Creamonology, Nani’s Gelato

Published on June 29, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

BBQ Pork on Vermicelli at Pho Tien Thanh

Not a ton to say about this one — aside from the pork being a bit dry, this was a tasty version of a classic dish. Most of the herbs and veggies are under the noodles, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, but there was a really good proportion of meat, noodles, herbs, and vegetables. The meat was a little bit sweet and nicely savoury, and the whole thing was thoroughly enjoyable, if nothing too mind-blowing.

Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake at Ice Creamonology

I wasn’t crazy about Ice Creamonology on my first visit, but I’ve been back a couple of times and it’s definitely getting better (or maybe it’s just growing on me?). The ice cream is nice and creamy, and while it’s still a bit stretchier than your average scoop, it’s not as gummy as it was the first time I tried it. I will say, however, that I haven’t been back since they’ve moved to Queens Quay, so I have no idea how it holds up now.

Pumpkin Pie soft serve at Nani’s Gelato

I recently mentioned that the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from Dairy Queen is the king of Blizzards, and this is basically just that, but a billion times better. I tried this last October (I’m still working my way through my backlog since the blog came back from hiatus); if you like pumpkin pie, the next time Nani’s brings this back (hopefully sooner than next October), you need to try it. It’s so good.