Michael Eats

Tasty Coconut Pie at New Pie Co.

Published on December 2, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: Currently online only
Website: https://newpie.co/

Note: Since writing this (I have a bit of a backlog), New Pie Co.’s brick and mortar location has shut down. You can still order a pie on their website, however.

New Pie Co. is a teeny, tiny little pie shop on King that’s easy to miss. They have a whole bunch of tasty pies that you can either order whole, or by the slice. It’s one of those places where everything looks so good that actually picking something is a challenge.

After much agonizing, I went with a slice of the buko crumble pie — New Pie Co.’s take on a classic Filipino dessert.

It’s basically a coconut cream pie, but with a sweet crumble topping instead of whipped cream. It’s super tasty, with a satisfying coconut flavour and a dense, creamy texture — it’s kind of like a cross between a traditional coconut cream pie and flan. The crumble on top adds some nice pops of sweetness and crispiness that works quite well with the silky filling.

My only issue is that — when I went at least — it was clear that the pie had either been baked way earlier in the morning or the day before, and the bottom layer of crust had completely sogged up. The pie was otherwise so tasty that this wasn’t that big of a deal, but it did hold it back from greatness somewhat.

A Delicious Almond Croissant at Castle and Coal

Published on November 24, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 108 Dovercourt Road, Toronto
Website: https://castleandcoal.ca/

I have a hard time saying no to an almond croissant. There’s something about the combo of a crispy, fluffy, buttery croissant with the creamy, sweet almond paste that’s kind of magical.

The version of Castle and Coal also has chocolate in it (it’s basically a cross between a traditional almond croissant and a pain au chocolate), and sure, why not? Add chocolate to every dessert. I have a hard time thinking of a dessert that wouldn’t be enhanced by adding chocolate.

The croissant itself doesn’t quite have the level of exterior crispiness that you’re hoping for, but it’s otherwise right where you want it to be. The very generous amount of almond paste almost borders on too sweet, but never crosses that line (and the addition of dark chocolate, aside from complementing it quite well, does a good job of balancing out the sweetness of the filling).

Festive Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on November 22, 2023April 13, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale)
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

The Festive Chicken Sandwich at KFC is one of those things you pretty much have to try. Or maybe that’s just me? Maybe normal people don’t feel an odd compulsion to try every weird new thing from a fast food joint? Who can say!

The KFC website describes the Festive Chicken Sandwich as “buttermilk marinated chicken fillet and savory stuffing, drizzled with buttery garlic oil, plant-based mayo and cranberry sauce.”

It’s an amazing idea in theory, though in execution, it’s just okay. The main problem is that the fried chicken and the stuffing are both so salty that the whole thing adds up to a pretty serious salt bomb.

I’ve never particularly thought about how much KFC’s fried chicken kinda has the same flavour profile as cheap, store-bought stuffing — but once you’re eating them at the same time, it’s pretty much all you can notice.

The cranberry sauce is actually pretty essential to offset some of the sandwich’s saltiness and cut through the richness a bit, but there wasn’t that much of it, and there’s only so much it can do.

As for the “buttery garlic oil,” if it was there, it was completely overwhelmed by the chicken and the stuffing. I couldn’t taste it.

Otherwise, the sandwich was fine. The chicken itself was pretty dry and had obviously been sitting out a bit, and the overall flavour is very one-note salty. But it’s not unpleasant to eat, I guess.

Tasty Sandwiches at Gus Tacos

Published on November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1546 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://tacosgus.ca/

I recently had a couple of tacos from Gus Tacos; I enjoyed them enough that I figured I should come back and try some other stuff. Well I just tried the carnitas torta, and yeah, this place is the real deal.

The menu describes the torta as coming topped with “beans, cheese, guacamole, chipotle mayo, onions, cilantro and your choice of protein.” I skipped the onions, though if you can handle raw onions, I’m sure their crunchiness would enhance the sandwich.

It’s a top notch sandwich. It’s served on a fresh, fluffy bun, and all of the flavours are exactly where they should be. The carnitas (which is basically like pulled pork) is super tasty, with a nice porky flavour and a great texture.

I asked for the sandwich spicy, and it came with a little container of zingy hot sauce on the side. Once I added this to the sandwich, things really came alive — it made a very good sandwich even better.

Torteria San Cosme, a thoroughly delicious torta place in Kensington Market, shut down during the pandemic, which seriously bummed me out. I don’t know if the torta here is quite at that level of amazingness, but it’s close enough.

Tasty New York Pizza at Prince Street Pizza

Published on November 16, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 472 Front Street West, Toronto
Website: https://princestreetpizza.ca/

Prince Street Pizza is a New York pizza joint that specializes in square, Sicilian-style slices that recently opened in Toronto with a whole bunch of hype. The lines were reportedly around the block.

Thankfully, things seem to have settled down a bit (there was a short line when I went, but nothing too bad). The place is takeout only, but if you go around the corner to the shopping area at The Well, there are some outdoor tables to be had.

It turns out the excitement over the place is quite warranted; it’s very good.

They have a variety of more traditional slices, along with the square ones they’re known for. I went with the Spicy Spring, which is their signature slice.

This particular pizza is basically just no-frills pepperoni, but every element is right where it should be: the slightly spicy pepperoni is thoroughly tasty (and it’s the type that curls up into little grease goblets — the king of pepperoni), the quality of the sauce and the cheese is top notch, and the crust is great.

The crust here is greasy enough that it essentially fries on the bottom, and yeah. Yeah, that’s the way to do it. It’s crispy, chewy, and has a great flavour.

While I liked that the slice wasn’t too overloaded with cheese, my only real complaint is that this meant that a lot of the pepperoni didn’t have anything to stick to, and fell off as soon as I picked up the slice. But if that’s the biggest complaint about a slice of pizza, you know you’re in good shape.