Restaurant Review – Page 2

Quick Bites: The Pie Hut, Mr. Yummy, Falafel World

Published on March 14, 2026March 14, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Pork, Apple & Fennel pie The Pie Hut (inside Good Behaviour)

It’s hard to find all that much information on it online, but the Queen Street location of Good Behaviour serves up a variety of tasty pot pies (along with the usual sandwiches and ice cream). I went with the pork, apple & fennel, and enjoyed it quite a lot. The crust is flaky and satisfying, it’s filled with a generous amount of tender pork, and the addition of apple adds a little bit of sweetness that helps to round things out. Bonus: it’s somewhat more svelte than the gut-busters they serve at a place like The Pie Commission, so if you’re looking for a pot pie where you don’t have to take a nap after, this is your spot.

Stir-fried vegetables and steamed rice with tofu at Mr. Yummy

I checked this dish out after Karon Liu wrote about it in an article about tasty eats for under $10, and indeed: it is tasty, and it is a steal at under ten bucks. Should you go out of your way for it? No, there’s nothing particularly exciting about it. But it’s got a decent kick, a nice contrast between the fresh crispiness of the veggies and the soft tofu, and again: it’s under ten bucks. If I lived near this place, I’d be a regular for sure.

Falafel plate from Falafel World

I don’t know if anyone else does this, but sometimes I’ll click on random restaurants on Google Maps to see if I can find anything interesting and/or well-regarded. That’s how I found Falafel World, a great little place on Bloor near Jane station. I got the falafel plate (I mean, what else are you going to order at a place called Falafel World?) and everything on the plate — hummus, salad, tabule, and three pieces of falafel, with pita bread on the side — was very tasty. The falafel was maybe a bit dense, but was otherwise fresh, herby, and tasty, with a nice crispy exterior.

More Tasty Eats at Do West Fest

Published on March 8, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

I found the Do West Fest to be quite enjoyable in 2024, and yeah: the 2025 version was still quite enjoyable. It’s probably one of the better street festivals in the city, though clearly I’m not the only person who thinks that because it is packed.

Still, if you don’t mind braving the crowds, there are some tasty eats to be had.

I tried a couple of sandwiches from Dam Sandwiches: the chopped cheese, and the spicy chicken. I’ve been meaning to check out Dam Sandwiches for a while; clearly I need to hurry up and visit their actual restaurant, because both of these sandwiches were very good.

In particular, the chopped cheese — with its tasty combo of nicely browned beef and melty cheese — was better than the version I recently had in NYC, its birthplace. But the spicy chicken was very tasty as well, with a nice zingy flavour and a decent amount of kick. Both were served on a sesame seed bun that was clearly fresh and well above average.

I also had a tahini ice cream bar from Smilk Bars, which had a very pronounced, nutty flavour from the tahini and was maybe the most tahini-ish tahini dessert that I’ve ever had.

The ice cream itself was a bit thin (I assumed maybe the name meant this was made entirely with milk rather than cream, but that doesn’t seem to be the case), but otherwise I quite enjoyed this.

Finally, I had a coconut brigadeiro from Padaria Toronto, which was filled with a generous amount of dulce de leche and had a great coconut flavour.

Chicken Tenders at Chica’s Chicken

Published on March 1, 2026March 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2853 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.chicaschicken.net/

My policy on this blog — in the last few years, at least — is to avoid negativity. If I think a place is just okay, I’ll generally write a quick review and not dwell on it, and if I think it’s bad, I won’t write about it at all. It’s tough enough to succeed in the restaurant business as it is, and whatever extremely mild (almost non-existent) level of influence that I have, I’d rather not use it against a local business that’s just trying to survive.

I do make an exception for big fast food chains, however — I think they can take it. And Chica’s, with its four locations, Michelin designation, and plans for growth (there’s a section on their website where they say that they’re “seeking passionate franchise partners”), is entering big chain territory.

That being the case, I can note that the chicken tenders at Chica’s really bummed me out. This is a place that I once said served some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and this was… not that. I’ve noticed that Chica’s has been going downhill since they started their expansion a few years ago, but this was the first thing I’ve had here that was outright bad.

The chicken was just so, so dry, despite being served hot and fresh. White meat is always going to be a bit on the dry side, but this was something else. It comes with some tasty dipping sauce on the side (which kinda tastes like coleslaw dressing, but in a pleasant way), and you’d better believe I used all of that sauce.

As for the exterior, it was more leathery than crunchy — I legitimately had a hard time biting through it.

I ordered this hot AF, and while it had a solid level of heat, it tasted like something was missing (salt, mostly, but overall the flavour just wasn’t there).

I recently had a fried chicken sandwich from KFC, and the chicken in that sandwich was better than this on every level — it was tastier, crunchier, and juicier. From KFC! Over a place that used to serve the best fried chicken in the city. What a world.

Tasty Slices at Revolver Pizza

Published on February 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 388 Royal York Road, Etobicoke
Website: https://revolverpizza.com/

Revolver Pizza is clearly doing quite well. They now have four locations, and when I visited on a weekday afternoon, the place was packed.

And yeah, I get it. I got the margherita (“sauce, fresh mozzarella, fior di latte, and basil”), and it was a solid slice of pizza.

I wish the slice had been a bit crispier on the bottom (or crispy at all — it had a softer texture, closer to Neapolitan than New York style), but otherwise, I quite enjoyed this.

I think the prodigious amount of cheese might have something to do with the crust’s lack of texture — I’m certainly not going to say no to a lot of cheese on a pizza, but there probably could have been a bit less here.

Still, the overall quality is pretty high, including a good amount of flavour and a nice chewiness on the crust. I don’t know if it’s up there with the best in the city, but it’s a top-shelf slice of pizza, that’s for sure (bonus: it costs about five bucks for a pretty sizable slice).

A Gigantic (and Delicious) Shawarma Wrap at Flaming Stove

Published on February 21, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 21 Davisville Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://flamingstove.com/

Flaming Stove is one of those places that seems to perennially come up in conversations about the best shawarma in Toronto, and having just tried it, yeah. Yeah, that’s accurate.

I got the chicken shawarma wrap, and basically everything about it was spot-on. The house-made saj bread they wrap it in is nice and fresh, with just the right amount of substance and chewiness to hold up to the very generously-stuffed wrap. And it’s nicely toasted on its exterior — a must.

The wrap features a healthy amount of meat that’s well-balanced by the various pickles/veggies; I know it looks overstuffed, but the chicken remains the star.

My only real complaint is that the meat has been shaved in advance and is slightly dryer than it should be, and has lost the delightful crispiness that makes top-tier shawarma so great. But everything else here is so good that this never seems like a huge deal.

In particular, they add several sauces to the wrap — tahini, garlic, amba, and hot sauce — and it’s an absolute taste explosion. The combination of those sauces is magic; it’s tangy, garlicky, savoury, and thoroughly delicious. You could put those sauces on basically anything, and it would be amazing.

Also: this might have been the biggest shawarma wrap I’ve ever had? It comes cut in half, with each half wrapped separately, presumably because it would be too unwieldy if they tried to wrap them together. Each half is about the size and heft of a large burrito. It’s insane.

It costs 15 bucks, which seems a bit pricey until you take a look at it and realize that it can (and should!) be shared among two people.