Michael Eats

Great Noodles at Gun Gun Rice Noodle

Published on September 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 565 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/gungun.noodle/

Gun Gun Rice Noodle is a seriously delightful restaurant near Yonge and Bloor that specializes in noodle soups made with, of course, rice noodles. I heard the crispy pork spicy pickle rice noodle is the thing to order, so that’s what I did.

The menu doesn’t say what the dish is, though it does mention that all the soups come with “tofu skin, tofu puff, kelp, quail egg, chives, bok choy.”

I really enjoyed this. The broth is vibrant and flavour-packed, with a noticeable spicy kick; it’s actually quite addictive. The noodles were maybe a touch on the soft side, but everything else was so tasty that it really didn’t matter.

In particular, the crispy pork that comes on top of the soup is thoroughly delicious, with a perfectly seasoned crispy exterior and nicely tender pork within. The exterior is crispy enough to hold up to the soup for quite a while, but even once it starts to sog up a bit, it absorbs that delicious broth and becomes tastier.

Tasty (and Unique) Ice Cream at Good Gang Ice Cream

Published on September 20, 2025September 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 656 Annette Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.goodgangicecream.com/

Good Gang’s been scooping up ice cream for a few years now, though they’ve only just moved to their new location on the west end in the last few months. Judging by the pretty serious line when I showed up on a recent Sunday afternoon, it’s a hit.

I should note that their hours are currently a bit odd (they’re open from Friday to Sunday, 3:00pm to 8:00pm), but they’ll presumably be expanding a bit in the coming weeks and months.

When I visited, they had an assortment of 19 flavours — most of it interesting, oddball stuff like black currant leaf, majicha brownie, and salted yuzu.

(I should also note that the format of the menu is quite similar to the one at Bang Bang, which makes me wonder if maybe the owners here used to work there? I will very strongly advise you to not try to look into this by googling “Good Gang Bang Bang,” however. No ice cream facts to be found there, that’s for sure.)

I got a scoop of the toast flavour (“sourdough bread base, haskap jam”), and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

They’re clearly starting with very good quality ice cream — it’s thoroughly rich and creamy, and based on this one scoop, seems to be up there with the best stuff in the city.

And the flavour is quite satisfying. I don’t know if there’s any particular sourdough flavour, but the bread — broken down into soft, fine crumbs — adds a pretty distinct personality to the scoop, and the jam adds a nice fruity sweetness (without being overly sweet). It’s really tasty.

Thanksgiving Stack from Tim Hortons

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1084 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.timhortons.ca/

I’ll admit that I tend to ignore Tim Hortons. I know they’re beloved (and pretty much always busy), but I’m not a coffee drinker, and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a savoury item from them that I thought was much better than okay.

But a Thanksgiving sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce? Yeah, I’m all over that; I don’t care who’s serving it.

Here’s how Tim Hortons describes it: “The Thanksgiving Stack is prepared to order, served hot out of the oven, and features thick slices of seasoned 100 per cent Canadian carved turkey breast, homestyle stuffing, cranberry sauce made with 100% real cranberries, crispy onions and mayonnaise, and is served on a toasted potato bun.”

I will say that I saw the woman behind the counter prepare this, and yeah — it’s literally hot out of the oven. The whole sandwich goes in the oven for something like 30 seconds, and it is noticeably hot and toasty.

It’s totally fine. It’s kinda one-note salty and nothing really stands out (the turkey is vaguely dry and the stuffing is standard boxed fare), but the bread is soft and fresh and the flavours all work well together (unsurprisingly).

The biggest issue here is that the crispy onions are on the bottom of the sandwich, between the cranberry sauce and the turkey, and by the time it was served to me, they had almost entirely sogged up. They should probably be applied to the sandwich last.

Seriously Good Sandwiches at Alfie’s Sandwiches & Market

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 36 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.alfies.ca/

Alfie’s is part of the recent wave of Italian sandwich shops sweeping the city. And hey, if all the sandwich shops can be this good, sure — open a million of them.

It’s hard to pick here. The menu is split into two halves (“classic” and “signature”) with 10 sandwiches each. And they all sound extremely tasty.

After some deliberation, I went with the Parma Classico: “24 Month Prosciutto Di Parma, Lemon basil Pesto, Artichoke in Oil, Truffle Aioli.”

Wow, it’s good. I mean, if you put a decent amount of high-quality prosciutto in pretty much any sandwich, it’s going to be tasty. And yeah, the prosciutto here is pretty fantastic.

But everything else in the sandwich complements it so well, from the zippy pesto to the generous amount of tender artichoke to the creamy aioli. I’m not really a fan of truffle oil, but it’s used sparingly enough that I didn’t find it particularly objectionable. Everything here just works.

It’s all served on some pretty great quality sourdough flatbread (“Alfie,” in this case, is the name of their sourdough starter). It’s crispy, chewy, and flavourful, and stands up quite well to the generously filled sandwich.

On another visit, I tried the Alfie’s Roast Beef (“House-smoked Roast beef, Sliced tomato, Chilli oil, Roasted Pepper, Baby Arugula, Rosemary and Roasted Aioli”), and it was just as good; the chili oil, in particular, really makes the roast beef sing.

Spicy McVeggie at McDonald’s

Published on September 18, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I tried — and enjoyed! — the McVeggie a few months ago, when McDonald’s was testing it at a few locations in Ontario. Now that it’s on the menu for realsies, I figured I may as well try the spicy version.

The Spicy McVeggie, per the McDonald’s website: “A breaded veggie patty made with a blend of vegetables (including carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, soybeans, broccoli and corn) and seasoning, topped with shredded lettuce and creamy Habanero sauce, served on a toasted sesame bun.”

It’s the exact same sandwich, just with a spicy sauce. And it’s pretty much as I remember it: it’s not super flavourful, but there’s a nice contrast between the crunchy exterior and softer interior. It’s satisfying.

I think the spicy version is the way to go, with the habanero sauce adding some nice zippiness and a mild kick. It’s nothing too mind-blowing, but I could see myself ordering this again.