Restaurant Review – Page 70

A Towering Pile of Nachos at Sneaky Dee’s

Published on November 4, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 431 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://sneaky-dees.com/

The nachos at Sneaky Dee’s are frequently called the best in the city, and yeah, I can see why.

I ordered the King’s Crown (“crisp corn tortilla chips covered with salsa roja, piled high with frijoles, ground beef, tomatoes, onions, mixed peppers, jalapenos, melted cheese, topped with guacamole & sour cream”). At 26 bucks, it seems like it might be overpriced until it comes to the table and you realize it’s enough to feed three or four hungry people.

It’s super tasty. All of the components work really well together, and it’s so loaded with stuff that you’re never going to get a dry chip.

If anything there’s too much stuff — the tortilla chips can’t really hold up to the insane deluge of cheese and toppings. It’s fine at first, but after a few minutes all of the chips in the middle are complete mush.

It’s also a bit one-note rich, though the bottle of vinegary hot sauce they bring with the plate helps out a lot in this regard.

I feel like it’s probably a bit too haphazard to be the best nachos in the city, but it’s certainly delicious.

A Delicious Fried Fish Sandwich at Sea Witch

Published on October 30, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 636 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: http://www.seawitchfc.com/

Taking the fish from a plate of fish and chips and serving it in a sandwich is such an obvious idea that I’m shocked it isn’t more common. And if Sea Witch is anything to go by, it totally works.

You can get the pickerel sandwich either with or without chips; it’s $15 with, and $13 without, so obviously you need to get the chips (it is, however, a massive amount of food, so bring your appetite).

It’s quite tasty. The sandwich easily could have been too rich, but they wisely pile on a whole bunch of zingy pickled onions, not to mention a generous amount of tangy tartar sauce. This balances things out quite nicely. The hearty ciabatta holds together well, and proves to be an ideal vehicle for the hearty sandwich.

As for the fish itself, it’s good, though it’s not outstanding — the batter is slightly too substantial, and the fish is a bit overcooked and dry. Still, with all of the other stuff going on, it works just fine.

The fries are the highlight. They’re crispy, creamy, and substantial; they’re basically the perfect fish and chips chips.

Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles at Gol’s Lanzhou Noodle

Published on October 29, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://lanzhou.ca/

There’s something both delightful and bizarre about the presence of Gol’s Lanzhou Noodle in Square One’s food court. It’s hard to imagine a place serving legit Chinese hand-pulled noodles — nestled between a KFC and a cheesesteak joint — being able to exist in a suburban shopping mall like Square One even just a decade ago.

But it’s here now, and it’s surprisingly great.

I had the beef noodle soup, and I was shocked at how good it was. It’s not the best bowl of noodles you’ll ever eat, but it’s seriously tasty for something in a mall’s food court. It’s not even in Square One’s fancy new “Food District” — it’s in the plain old food court, right near places like A&W and Manchu Wok.

(Sorry, I know I’m harping on its location, but it kinda blows my mind.)

And yes, they serve real-deal hand-pulled noodles; they’re freshly pulled to order, and you can watch them do it (which is always an oddly hypnotic display).

It’s a tasty bowl. The soup is a bit too salty, but it has a clean beefy flavour with a nice hit of freshness from the cilantro. It comes with a healthy amount of chili oil on the side; I wish this stuff were spicier (it’s just barely hot), but it has a fantastic smoky/savoury flavour that really kicks up the flavour of the soup.

The sliced beef had a slight leftovery flavour, but was otherwise tender and enjoyable.

And the medium-thick noodles are great. They were ever-so-slightly on the soft side, but they were nice and hearty, with a satisfying level of chew.

A Lauded Veal Sandwich at Kantene

Published on October 25, 2019October 29, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1059 Dundas Street West, Mississauga
Website: https://kantene.com/

The Veal Supreme at Kantene was recently named the best veal sandwich in Ontario by a group including John Cattuchi (of You Gotta Eat Here and Big Food Bucket List fame). If that’s not a reason to check the place out, I don’t know what is.

The sandwich consists of “Grilled Eggplant, melted Bocconcini in a fresh tomato based basil sauce with melted Provolone and crispy Parmesan on a soft bun.”

It’s a solid veal sandwich. The breading is nicely seasoned and has the perfect amount of crunch, and the veal is nice and tender (if a bit dry).

The sauce doesn’t quite have the oomph you’ll find in the best veal sandwiches, but it’s certainly tasty enough. And of course, tender eggplant and veal are best friends.

The bocconcini wasn’t quite melted all the way through, but for the most part it was gooey and satisfying. As for the crispy Parmesan, it’s a great idea in theory, but it had a profoundly burnt, bitter flavour that was actually quite unpleasant.

You can get the sandwich mild or spicy; the spicy version features pickled peppers that do a nice job of cutting through the richness of the sandwich. They’re quite mild, however, and I missed the intensely spicy bite of the un-pickled peppers you normally find in a sandwich like this.

The bread is great, with a lightly crispy exterior and a fluffy interior that holds up admirably to the very saucy sandwich.

Its a tasty sandwich — but I don’t think it’s the best in Mississauga, let alone all of Ontario.

Fake Butter Chicken at TVX: The Vegan Extremist

Published on October 24, 2019October 24, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 291 Augusta Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheVeganExtremist/

Is it still butter chicken if it doesn’t have butter or chicken? That’s the question at TVX, a vegan joint in Kensington Market that serves what it calls “plant-based South Asian cuisine.”

Mostly, they serve a variety of vegan curries that come with rice and paratha roti. One of those curries is the aforementioned butter-and-chickenless butter chicken, which subs in fried cauliflower for chicken.

So is it still butter chicken? Not really. But is it tasty? Definitely.

It doesn’t taste quite like any butter chicken I’ve had before — the sauce is tangier and less creamy — but for what it is, it’s quite good. It’s garlicky, very spicy (you can choose your heat level — I went with the spiciest, and it wasn’t kidding around) and surprisingly satisfying.

The fried cauliflower works really well — it’s battered and fried, with a nice crunchy exterior and a meaty interior. It doesn’t even vaguely resemble the chicken in a traditional butter chicken, but the hearty crunch stands up nicely to the sauce, and it’s delicious regardless.

The paratha roti was also untraditional but tasty. It’s thicker and more substantial than any paratha roti I’ve had before, but it still had that satisfying combo of crispy, greasy exterior and chewy interior that you’re looking for.