Restaurant Review – Page 20

Unique Pizza at Venga Cucina

Published on December 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3076 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.vengacucina.ca/

Venga Cucina is a really unique pizza place in the Junction that serves a style of pizza called pinsa, which their menu describes as a cross between focaccia and pizza.

The menu also features a variety of antipasti and pasta, but clearly the pinsa is where it’s at. I tried a couple: the margherita (“pomodoro, mozzarella, basil”) and the gino picante (“calabrian nduja, cured hot sausage, pepperonata, fior di latte, sundried tomatoes”).

Apparently the crust here is made with a combination of rice and soya flour along with regular flour, and is fermented for 96 hours. This gives it a texture that’s actually quite different from any pizza I’ve had before, with a very crispy exterior and a super light and fluffy interior.

I wouldn’t want this to replace normal pizza (I did miss the chewiness you get from a more traditional dough), but as something that’s almost in a category of its own, it’s quite tasty.

Both pinsas were very good, though as usual, the tasty simplicity of the margherita won out. Still, both featured a really satisfying contrast between the good quality toppings and the crispy/airy crust, and both were kicked up a notch by the tasty chili oil they had on the table.

Tasty Eats at Kish’s Roti & Doubles

Published on December 26, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5019 Spectrum Way, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/kishsrotianddoubles

I love roti, though I’ll admit that my experience with doubles is limited. I’ve actually only had this dish one other time, and I wasn’t crazy about.

Still, if you’re at a place with both roti and doubles in its name, you’ve gotta try the roti, and you’ve gotta try the doubles.

I tried the boneless chicken roti (well, technically I ordered the goat roti, but I guess the woman behind the counter heard chicken), and I quite enjoyed it. The chicken was relatively tender, had a nice curry flavour, and a good pop of heat. The wrap was a bit heavy on roti and light on filling, but the roti itself was so fresh and tasty that this barely even mattered.

As for the doubles, they have a variety of filling options, including chicken, goat, and lamb, but I went with the classic, which is just chickpeas.

I really enjoyed it. The flatbread was fresh and chewy, and the filling has a nice sweetness that balances well with the tender chickpeas and the decent level of spice. I was a bit confused by the appeal of this dish after my last experience, but now I totally get it.

Quick Bites: Masa Deli, T.O. Dickens Restaurant, Papi Chulo’s

Published on December 22, 2024December 22, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Sausage and egg breakfast sandwich from Masa Deli

I think my credibility takes a hit every time I say this (hey, I am what I am), but I feel like as far as breakfast sandwiches go, a McMuffin is surprisingly hard to beat. Whenever I get a breakfast sandwich (which inevitably costs two or three times as much as McMuffin) I ask myself: is this better than a McMuffin? And nine times out of ten, the answer is no, not really. The breakfast sandwich at Masa Deli features “chicken sausage, chive omelette, white cheddar, pickles, aioli, hot sauce, English muffin.” It’s tasty, with perfectly prepared eggs and an enjoyably flavourful sausage. But the omelette was a bit too substantial for the sandwich, and all the toppings were so sloppy that the toasted English muffin had thoroughly lost its crispiness by the time I ate it (which was maybe like three or four minutes after they handed it to me).

Bacon Grilled Cheese and BLT from T.O. Dickens Restaurant

I tried a couple of the sandwiches from T.O. Dickens Restaurant, a no-frills joint with a nice patio in Kensington Market — the bacon grilled cheese, and the BLT. Nothing about either of them particularly stood out (and I wish the quality of the cheese were a bit higher), but they were both solid sandwiches. Is it the most exciting option in Kensington Market? It sure isn’t, but everything I tried was pretty good.

Tacos at Papi Chulo’s

Speaking of restaurants with nice patios and solid but unspectacular food… Papi Chulo’s. It’s fine! I tried a couple of their tacos, and both were perfectly tasty. It’s not the type of place that anyone is going to be raving about, but if you’re on Ossington and you’re looking for a nice patio with decent food, you could do worse.

Tasty Slices at Gram’s Pizza

Published on December 21, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1640 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/grams.pizza/

Pizza! It’s good!

(Why yes, writing the opening paragraph of these blog posts is always the hardest part, why do you ask?)

Gram’s Pizza is a new pizza joint near the Junction that serves a variety of slices, along with whole pies. I went with the cheese (“tomato sauce + mozz + grana padano”), because a plain cheese pizza is the best way to suss out the quality of a pizza joint (also cheese pizza is delicious).

It’s a solid slice of pizza. The crust has a nice crispy exterior and is slightly thicker than the norm for this style of pizza, but it works. And they’re clearly not shy with the grana padano, with its nice salty sharpness really shining through.

It didn’t exactly rock my world, but it’s a very good slice of pizza. I’d come back.

Porky Goodness at C-Block Taiwanese Bento

Published on December 17, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 690 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/cblock.to/

C-Block Taiwanese Bento is a delightful little take-out counter (they have a couple of seats, but mostly, it’s take-out only) serving up a whole bunch of Taiwanese classics.

Their specialty are bento boxes that come with rice, one meat dish, and three veggie sides. I went with the braised minced pork, green beans, eggplant, and tomato scrambled egg.

This actually turned out to be not quite what I was expecting; the dish I thought this was going to be features braised pork belly and is thoroughly delicious. But then this was quite tasty too, so I can’t complain.

It’s really satisfying, with a spice-packed flavour that reminded a bit of Sichuan cuisine.

The sides were solid as well, with the highlight being the tomato scrambled egg; the contrast between the tender chunks of tomato and the firm, meaty egg was actually quite delightful.