Michael Eats

Tasty Noodle Soup at Wonton Hut Noodle Bar

Published on January 26, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 671 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://wontonhut.ca/

There are a bunch of great wonton noodle soup restaurants in the GTA — at least in places like Markham and Mississauga. In Toronto itself, it’s a bit harder to find. Enter: Wonton Hut Noodle Bar, which is on Queen Street and serves a very tasty bowl of the stuff.

They actually have a decent variety on the menu (including a handful of Vietnamese dishes, oddly enough) but of course, the place has “wonton” and “noodle” in its name, so you’ve gotta get the wonton noodle soup.

It’s good. The wontons themselves are seriously tasty, with big chunks of perfectly cooked shrimp and a very satisfying flavour. And the noodles are satisfyingly springy.

The flavour of the soup itself is a bit on the subtle side, but is nicely amped up by a couple of spoonfuls of the legitimately fiery chili oil they have on the table.

Great Ramen at Kaminari Ramen Bar

Published on January 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1330 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.bykaminari.com/

Kaminari Ramen Bar actually has a few types of ramen on the menu: clear Tokyo-style, creamy, “duck umami,” vegan, and a soupless yuzu ramen. The waiter said they don’t really have a specialty, so I went with the clear Tokyo-style.

The ramen, as per the menu: “Clear chicken broth, pork cha-shu, chicken cha-shu, wonton, Tokyo Negi, bamboo shoot, and nori seaweed.” You can get it either shio (salt) or shoyu (soy sauce); I went with the latter.

It’s a very good bowl of ramen. This style of ramen isn’t quite as common in the GTA as the more omnipresent creamy tonkotsu or tori paitan, but done well, it’s just as delicious.

The soup has a very rich and savoury soy-sauce-infused flavour. It’s the type of broth that never feels one-note or overly salty, no matter how much of it you have.

And everything else here was quite tasty, from the chewy, thin noodles to the tender chicken and pork. It’s a top-notch bowl of ramen.

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.