Restaurant Review – Page 66

Pho Ngoc Yen is a Hidden Gem

Published on June 26, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1090 Kamato Road, Mississauga
Website: https://sites.google.com/orderup.ai/ngocyenrestaurant/home

Pho Ngoc Yen is one of those restaurants that must rely pretty much entirely on word of mouth; hidden away in an industrial neighbourhood in Mississauga, it’s basically in the middle of nowhere. The odds of you stumbling onto it are quite miniscule.

But yeah, it’s definitely got the word of mouth that it needs, and I can see why — it’s great.

I got the Pho Ngoc Yen Dac Biet, which the menu describes as “NY’s special: rare beef, beef balls and boneless beef shank with rice noodles.”

It’s a great bowl of pho. The generous amount of meat is tender and tasty, and the broth is beefy, richly spiced, and thoroughly delicious. The noodles were slightly on the soft side, and my bowl was missing the beef balls, but the broth and the beef were both so tasty that this never felt like a big issue.

Meaty, Cheesy Sandwiches at Good Behaviour Submarine

Published on June 22, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 342 Westmoreland Avenue North, Toronto
Website: https://goodbehaviourto.ca/

Though Good Behaviour started out as an ice cream shop, they also serve an assortment of meaty subs, and sure, why not? Ice cream and subs; seems like a winning combo to me.

The menu features a few cold subs, and a few hot ones. I tried a couple of the hot ones: beef brisket (“smoked beef brisket, smoked gouda, banana peppers, caramelized onion, horseradish, beef fat vinaigrette, iceberg lettuce”) and pork shoulder (“braised pork shoulder, provolone, salsa verde, broccoli rabe, chili preserve, mustard mayo, lemon juice, red onion, iceberg lettuce”).

The sandwiches were both meaty, cheesy, and incredibly rich. They were quite tasty — how could they not be, with that quantity of tender meat and gooey cheese — though nothing about either of them particularly blew me away.

The problem is that they’re both a bit one-note in their flavour and in their meaty richness. Though maybe “problem” should be in quotes there, because let’s face it: a sandwich being meaty and rich isn’t exactly the end of the world, even if I’d like some other flavours/textures to break things up a bit. To be fair, both sandwiches had elements like banana peppers and salsa verde that should have performed this function, but all I could taste was meat, cheese, and heavy sauces.

Still, they were both solid sandwiches, particularly the beef brisket, which had a mild but satisfying smokiness from the beef and the gouda. And the bread is great — perfectly toasty, soft and fluffy, but with enough heft to stand up to the sloppy fillings.

An Amazing Sandwich at Elsa’s Food & Bakery

Published on June 19, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Baywood Road, Unit 15, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Elsas-bakery-1905919683049150/

Elsa’s is a delightful hole-in-the-wall Iraqi bakery that specializes in a pita-esque flatbread called samoon; you can get it on its own (you should do this) or stuffed with shawarma or falafel (you should do this too).

This is the latest hidden gem I’ve discovered thanks to the inimitable Suresh Doss, and like basically everything he writes about, it’s great.

It’s that bread. It’s chewy, fluffy, flavourful, and amazing. It’s tasty as part of a sandwich, but it’s also pretty damn good on its own.

I got the falafel sandwich, which comes with the usual toppings, along with the delightful addition of eggplant and fries. The last time I had eggplant in a falafel sandwich was at L’As du Fallafel in Paris, and I’m starting to seriously wonder why every falafel sandwich doesn’t have eggplant in it. It’s a fantastic addition.

The other thing that stands out is the sauce they top it with, called amba — it’s a mango-based sauce, and it’s sweet, sour, tangy, and delicious, with a mildly curry-tinged flavour. It’s not a subtle sauce; its intense zippiness completely dominated the other flavours in the sandwich, but it’s so tasty that this barely felt like an issue.

A Tasty Poke Bowl at Pokito

Published on November 17, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 420 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.pokito.ca/

The poke bowl at Pokito isn’t exactly the most photogenic dish of all time. I mean, look at that thing. It’s basically just a melange of green and brown, but hey — if it tastes good, who cares?

And yes, it definitely tastes good.

The menu at poke is extremely flexible; you can get a bowl of poke that’s customized to your liking, or you can do what I did and order one of signature bowls. I went with the Creamy Spicy Salmon Bowl, which the menu describes as “Rice, Salmon, Crab Salad, Seaweed, Edemame.” Once you choose from white or brown rice and a few optional toppings, you’re good to go.

I went with sushi rice and got a topping of crispy onions, but otherwise got the bowl as-is.

It’s quite tasty. It’s got a great variety of tastes and textures; at first it seems like there’s maybe too much stuff, but everything complements each other quite well. And the star of the show — the salmon — tastes fresh, works really well with the creamy spicy sauce (which is, sadly, only marginally spicy), and is abundant enough that you won’t have to worry about running out before the bowl is done.

Chicken Tan Tan Ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar

Published on November 11, 2021April 4, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 190 University Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://noodlebar-toronto.momofuku.com/

The chicken tan tan ramen at Momofuku is a taste explosion. Its flavour is so incredibly assertive that it seems like it should be overbearing, but it’s not. It’s so good.

The broth is zesty and creamy and rich, with a roasty sesame flavour and a mild nuttiness (not to mention a bit of a spicy kick) that’s fairly irresistible. It’s absolutely not subtle, but it totally works.

It’s topped with green onions, a whole bunch of tasty ground chicken, and a silky sous vide egg that basically just melts into the soup and makes it even richer. Add the chewy noodles into the mix, and you’ve got a seriously tasty bowl.

I also tried the fried brussels sprouts (“fish sauce, yuzu, chili, mint”), which are nice and crispy and feature a great balance of flavours — the fish sauce is the first thing you notice, but it’s also sweet and zippy in a way that’s really satisfying. Brussels sprouts tends to be a divisive vegetable, but I dare anyone to try this and deny that it’s delicious.