Michael Eats

Tasty Subs at Lambo’s Deli

Published on January 12, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 176 Bellwoods Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.lambosdeli.ca/

Lambo’s is one of those places that’s pretty much always busy, no matter when you go. Though it’s certainly possible for a place like this to be overhyped, generally speaking, if you’re doing that well, you’re probably doing something right.

And indeed, Lambo’s is doing something right. They’re a sub shop, with nine classic deli subs on the menu. I went with the Italian Trio: “Soppressata, mortadella, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, pickled red onion, arugula, pesto, Calabrian chili spread.”

It’s a very tasty sandwich, with a great balance between the salty meats, rich cheese, zingy pickled onions, and flavour-packed pesto and Calabrian chili.

It seems a bit pricey at $16, until you get it and realize that each overstuffed sandwich is easily big enough to feed two.

I also tried the Caprese: “Fresh mozzarella, tomato, balsamic glaze, arugula, breadcrumb gremolata, pesto.”

I will admit that I missed the meat in this one, but it was still quite satisfying — in particular, the addition of the breadcrumb gremolata is actually quite ingenious. I wouldn’t have thought to put breadcrumbs in a sandwich, but it brings a nice crispiness that works well with the soft cheese and tomato.

Tasty Ice Cream at Moonmilk

Published on January 7, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1695 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://moonmilktoronto.com/

I’ve had the ice cream at Moonmilk once before, and I thought it was quite good. I just tried another scoop, and it was even better; clearly, Moon Milk has got the goods when it comes to top-notch ice cream.

Moon Milk serves about a dozen flavours of ice cream, along with a few cakes and pastries (I tried one of the cakes during the most recent Du West Fest and quite enjoyed it). On this particular visit, I had the Jelly Donut ice cream.

It’s seriously good. And the extent to which it’s able to recapture the flavour of a jelly doughnut is actually quite impressive; there are swirls of sweet jelly throughout, and the ice cream itself actually does have a doughnut flavour. I have no idea how they’re able to capture that flavour in ice cream form, but they’ve done it.

And the quality of the ice cream is great, with a very rich, smooth texture. It’s a seriously delicious scoop.

Delicious Nigerian Food at Afrobeat Kitchen

Published on January 6, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1510 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/afrobeatkitchen/

Sometimes you hear so many good things about a restaurant, you think, is it actually that good, though? Afrobeat Kitchen, a Nigerian place on Queen, is one of those restaurants, and spoiler alert: it is that good.

I tried a couple of things: the party jollof (“A West African celebration staple! Rice cooked in a fiery bell pepper, onion & tomato reduction — comes with peppered chicken”) and the buka beef stew (“luscious beef shank braised in tomato & palm butter sauce with coco rice & fried plantains”). They have three levels of spice, from medium hot to Naija hot — I went with Naija hot for both.

Both were very, very good, though the jollof rice was probably the better of the two. The rice is zippy and spicy (the level of heat on both was a bit more restrained than I was expecting, but this was the spicier of the two), and the chicken is perfectly grilled and topped with a flavour-packed sauce.

Still, the stew was no slouch in the flavour department, with a beefy, slightly sweet sauce and perfectly tender chunks of shank. It also comes with a nicely gooey egg along with lightly crispy slices of tender fried plantain, whose sweetness complements the beef quite well.

Quick Bites: Slow Jams, Emmer, Mascot Brewery

Published on January 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Fried chicken sandwich from Slow Jams

Slow Jams is a pop-up that specializes in Filipino BBQ and fried chicken; I tried their fried chicken sandwich (“coconut & lemongrass brine, spicy banana ketchup & soy pickled cucumbers”) at last year’s Taste of Little Italy street festival, and it was quite tasty. The bright red sauce its slathered in kinda tastes like the stuff you’ll find on sweet and sour chicken balls; it’s a bit overly sweet, but the pickles do a pretty good job of balancing things out. Otherwise, it’s nice and crunchy, and the dark meat within is pleasantly juicy. It didn’t rock my world, but it’s a solid fried chicken sandwich.

Pistachio Croissant from Emmer

The pistachio croissant is probably the thing that Emmer is the most well known for, but every time I’ve gone, it’s been sold out. They had just put out a fresh tray of them on my most recent visit, and yeah, of course I got one. It’s good! And it certainly looks impressive, with the generous layer of crushed pistachios on top. The croissant was maybe a bit overbaked (it was slightly dry) and I think inherently, a pistachio croissant will never be as good as an almond croissant. But I still quite enjoyed this; it’s got a nice pistachio flavour, a good balance between the croissant and the filling, and its sweetness was very well balanced.

Buffalo Wings from Mascot Brewery

Mascot Brewery, nestled away in an industrial area of Etobicoke, is a definite hidden gem. They’ve got a nice patio, a decent selection of sharable snacks and sandwiches, and — as you’d expect from a brewpub — a bunch of interesting beer on tap. I had the Buffalo wings (“Honey Buffalo Sauce, Buttermilk Ranch”), and they were quite tasty. I didn’t particularly notice any sweetness (they tasted like pretty standard Buffalo wings to me), but these were otherwise quite tasty, and the buttermilk ranch was a definite upgrade over the standard jarred stuff.

Tasty Hand Rolls at Hello Nori

Published on December 29, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 648 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.hellonori.com/

Hello Nori specializes in hand rolls — basically loosely constructed , uncut maki rolls –that they make in front of you and serve immediately. You wouldn’t think that would make that much of a difference, but the fact that the nori is still crispy when they give it to you is actually quite delightful.

It kind of reminds me of the onigiri they serve at variety stores in Japan, where the nori is wrapped on both sides to prevent contact with the rice until you eat it. Crispy nori and fluffy sushi rice turns out to be a great combo.

You can either order the rolls on their own (most of them are between six and nine dollars) or as a combo. I went with the four roll combo, which costs $23 and comes with negitoro (minced tuna and green onion), ora king salmon, snow crab, and spicy shrimp.

The negitoro was a bit oniony for me (raw onions are for jerks), but otherwise these were all thoroughly enjoyable. The rice was underseasoned, but then they do have soy sauce right in front of you at the bar; I think the expectation is that you’ll be dipping the rolls.

The salmon — which features big chunks of tasty fish — was probably my favourite of the bunch, but I liked them all.

I was worried four rolls might not be enough, but it was actually a pretty decent portion, at least for lunch.