Michael Eats

Delicious Wraps at Little Baba

Published on August 2, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 75 Portland Street Main, Toronto
Website: https://littlebaba.com/

Little Baba is a casual spinoff of a Michelin-recommended Lebanese restaurant called Amal, specializing in various Middle Eastern wraps and plates (that they call Baba boxes). A casual restaurant with a Michelin connection? Sure, I’m intrigued enough to check that out.

I wound up trying a couple of their wraps: tenderloin (“pita, hummus, parsley, onion, pickles, grilled veggie salsa”) and kefta (“pita, hummus, pickles, grilled veggie salsa”).

Both wraps feature a grilled piece of meat wrapped in toasted pita bread, and both are quite tasty.

That grilling really does make a difference, bringing both sandwiches a nice smoky flavour. And both pieces of meat are perfectly cooked — the tenderloin, in particular, is cooked to a nice rosy medium and is impressively tender, with a tasty beefy flavour.

The kefta is quite good as well, with a good amount of spicing and a nice tender texture.

As for the other flavours, there’s a nice zippiness to both wraps that’s quite satisfying. Both were a bit oniony for my tastes, but then I’m not a fan of raw onion, so most people will likely disagree.

Tasty Noodles at Wu Ji Xi’an Foods

Published on August 1, 2026August 1, 2026 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 117B North Service Road East, Oakville
Website: None

Wu Ji Xi’an Foods is probably the hole-in-the-walliest hole in the wall I’ve visited in quite a while. It’s take-out only, with the extremely no-frills interior being about the size of a walk-in closet.

I actually wasn’t even able to get a photo of the interior, because as soon as you walk in, you’re face-to-face with the proprietor. Taking out my phone and trying to snap a photo felt like it would have been awkward overload, especially since the woman behind the counter seemed to speak minimal English (their card machine was down, and she had to tell me they were cash only via hand gestures).

They have a few things on the menu, but their specialty seems to be a cold noodle dish called liangpi, so that’s what I went with. It’s $7.50 for a pretty hearty serving, so it’s a great deal.

The dish comes with rice noodles, some sliced cucumber, a few chunks of seitan, and four sauce packets: sesame paste, soy sauce / vinegar (I think), garlic water, and chili oil.

It’s really good. The broad noodles are nice and chewy, the seitan has a satisfyingly meaty bite, and it’s seriously flavourful. This is definitely not a dish that’s subtle in the taste department; it’s savoury, tangy, garlicky, and a little bit spicy, with all the flavours working really well together.

My only real complaint is that with the generous amount of chili oil, I figured this was going to be spicier than it was, and it was surprisingly mild. A bit more kick would have been nice, but everything else was so satisfying that I can’t really complain.

Quick Bites: Bear Steak Sandwiches, Pizza Cantina, Pizza Karachi

Published on July 26, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Original Steak Sandwich from Bear Steak Sandwiches

I’m a big fan of Bear Steak Sandwiches, though I’ll admit that a recent experience there was a bit unfortunate. I ordered the special, which was a steak on rye sandwich, and… it was basically inedible. The rye bread it was served on was so stale and dry that it crumbled into bits the second I picked it up. I took a couple of bites, and then brought it back for a refund, which is something I basically never do. Not great! On the plus side, they seemed to know it was an issue and immediately offered to replace it with an original steak sandwich, which they assured I’d like much better. And they were correct — I’ve previously raved about this sandwich, and yeah, it’s still stellar. A bit too greasy, but otherwise the combo of the ultra-tender steak and zippy chimichurri (and non-stale bread!) is a big winner.

Diavola Stinger from Pizza Cantina

Pizza Cantina, a pizza joint in the Junction, seems to be pretty well regarded, so I was excited to try it. I went with the Diavola Stinger (“San Marzano tomato sauce, hot soppressata, mozzarella & hot honey drizzle”), and it was tasty enough. Certainly, I didn’t dislike eating it. The crust was odd, however. I don’t know if it was supposed to be like that or if something went wrong, but it was extremely stiff and cracker-like, with the ends being full-out crunchy with no softness or chew. It was a bit too much for me, but if you like a crunchy pizza, it was otherwise pretty solid. My only other complaint is that I found the hot honey to be a bit too aggressively applied — but then I find honey on a pizza to work best in small doses. Others may disagree.

Pizza from Pizza Karachi

As you’d gather from the name, Pizza Karachi serves pizza with a Pakistani flair. I tried a couple of pizzas (the Mirchi Sauga and… another one whose name is currently escaping me), and both were solid. They were pan pizzas (somewhat Pizza Hut-esque), and while the vaguely gummy crust was nothing to write home about, the vibrant Pakastani flavours actually worked pretty well.

More Great Pizza at Pizzeria Badiali

Published on July 25, 2026July 25, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 581 Markham Street, Toronto
Website: https://pizzeriabadiali.com/

After years of around-the-block lines at their original spot near Ossington, Pizzeria Badiali has finally opened a second location. Whenever a great restaurant starts expanding, the fear is that the quality will start to dip. Thankfully, that’s not the case here (not yet, at least!).

And the new location is a definite upgrade — it’s got a decently-sized seating area inside, and an even bigger patio out front. I went on a Sunday afternoon around lunch, and while it was packed inside and out, there was barely a line.

Mostly, it’s the same assortment of slices and full pizzas that you’ll find at the original location, with the notable addition of the Grandma Pie: “square, tray baked pizza with mozzarella, fior di latte, sicilian oregano, tomato sauce, pecorino and padano cheeses, olive oil and fresh basil.”

This was fantastic — the crust is slightly thicker than a standard slice, with a perfectly crispy exterior, a nice level of chewiness, and a good amount of flavour. It’s also fairly greasy, but in a way that feels pleasant and not overly heavy. And the balance (and quality) of sauce and cheese is stellar, as you’d expect from Badiali.

There’s always a possibility that a place this popular will coast by on their success and become overhyped, but the pizza here continues to be among the best in the GTA.

Tasty Crispy Beef at Faley Restaurant

Published on July 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 42 Rexdale Boulevard, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.faleyrestaurant.com/

I’ve been meaning to check this place out since reading about it in Corey Mintz’s list of the 50 best restaurants under $50, which was published way back in 2018. Yeah, I’ve got a bit of a backlog of places to check out — I have a custom Google map that I keep updated with all the restaurants I want to try, and it’s currently sitting at over 400 places scattered throughout the GTA.

Well, I’m glad I finally made time for Faley Restaurant, a Hakka joint in Etobicoke — it’s good.

The dish that Mintz singled out is Faley’s Special Gan-Ben Beef, which he described as being “embedded in [his] brain’s craving centre.”

It’s a crispy fried beef dish tossed in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce, and yeah, it’s tasty. In particular, the crispy fried coating on the beef is extremely satisfying, with the beef itself remaining nice and tender.

It is aggressively sweet, however. I found it a bit cloying, but when you combine it with the other dish I ordered, Manchurian style vegetables (a stir-fried vegetable dish with a deeply savoury, mildly spicy sauce), it tempers the sweetness and rounds things out. Both of those dishes are solid on their own, but together, they really come alive.