bacon – Michael Eats

Steakhouse Teen Burger from A&W

Published on May 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3300 Bloor Street West, Etobicoke
Website: https://web.aw.ca/en/home

I like A&W. Generally speaking, I think they’re one of the better fast food chains. The Steakhouse Teen Burger, on the other hand? Uh… well, they can’t all be winners, can they?

Here’s how A&W describes it: “A perfectly seasoned grass-fed beef patty topped with sweet and smoky bacon jam, real cheddar cheese, tomato, arugula and creamy peppercorn aioli, all served on a freshly toasted sesame bun.”

It’s that bacon jam. The ads for this thing proudly proclaim that it’s sweet and smoky; I don’t know if I noticed any smokiness, but wow, is it sweet. It’s sweet. I’ve had desserts that aren’t this sugary.

This might have been okay if it has been applied sparingly — a little bit goes a long way — but they had globbed an alarming amount of it onto the burger, and it was all you could taste.

Don’t ask me what the peppercorn aioli tasted like, because I have no idea — the flavour here was 100% pure bacon jam.

And hey, bacon jam can be quite tasty, but this stuff was all jam, no bacon — it had very little bacon flavour, a little bit of tanginess, and a whole lot of sweetness.

I also got unlucky and got a burger patty that had clearly been sitting out for a while, because it was honestly one of the drier hamburgers I’ve had in a long time.

I did not enjoy anything about this. Sorry A&W; I like you, but today was not your day.

Cheesy Jalapeno & Bacon Quarter Pounder from McDonald’s

Published on March 12, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

One thing I appreciate about McDonald’s versus most other fast joints: they aren’t shy with the sauce. I think they’ve smartly realized that a fast food burger patty, on its own, kinda sucks. It needs a bit of help to make up for the lack of moisture and flavour.

Which is to say that the new Cheesy Jalapeno & Bacon Quarter Pounder is saucy as hell (it was one of the messier burgers I’ve eaten in a while), and pretty decent.

Here’s how McDonald’s describes it: “A quarter pound of 100% Canadian beef topped with a cheesy jalapeño sauce, hickory-smoked bacon, pickled jalapeños, ketchup, mustard and two slices of processed cheese served on a toasted sesame seed bun.”

It definitely lives up to its “Cheesy” moniker, with the two slices of cheese and the zippy cheese sauce being a tasty combo. I wish they had skipped the ketchup, though, because it kinda overpowers the burger’s other flavours.

As for it living up to the “Jalapeno” part of its name… not so much. I think there were maybe two or three jalapeno slices in there? And I guess the cheese sauce is technically jalapeno-flavoured, but the ketchup is really all you can taste.

The bacon is a nice addition (bacon is always welcome on a burger, for obvious reasons), but it gets a bit lost among the other ingredients.

Quick Bites: Masa Deli, T.O. Dickens Restaurant, Papi Chulo’s

Published on December 22, 2024December 22, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Sausage and egg breakfast sandwich from Masa Deli

I think my credibility takes a hit every time I say this (hey, I am what I am), but I feel like as far as breakfast sandwiches go, a McMuffin is surprisingly hard to beat. Whenever I get a breakfast sandwich (which inevitably costs two or three times as much as McMuffin) I ask myself: is this better than a McMuffin? And nine times out of ten, the answer is no, not really. The breakfast sandwich at Masa Deli features “chicken sausage, chive omelette, white cheddar, pickles, aioli, hot sauce, English muffin.” It’s tasty, with perfectly prepared eggs and an enjoyably flavourful sausage. But the omelette was a bit too substantial for the sandwich, and all the toppings were so sloppy that the toasted English muffin had thoroughly lost its crispiness by the time I ate it (which was maybe like three or four minutes after they handed it to me).

Bacon Grilled Cheese and BLT from T.O. Dickens Restaurant

I tried a couple of the sandwiches from T.O. Dickens Restaurant, a no-frills joint with a nice patio in Kensington Market — the bacon grilled cheese, and the BLT. Nothing about either of them particularly stood out (and I wish the quality of the cheese were a bit higher), but they were both solid sandwiches. Is it the most exciting option in Kensington Market? It sure isn’t, but everything I tried was pretty good.

Tacos at Papi Chulo’s

Speaking of restaurants with nice patios and solid but unspectacular food… Papi Chulo’s. It’s fine! I tried a couple of their tacos, and both were perfectly tasty. It’s not the type of place that anyone is going to be raving about, but if you’re on Ossington and you’re looking for a nice patio with decent food, you could do worse.

Garlic Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy’s

Published on November 20, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

Wendy’s is on a roll — the last burger I tried here, the French Onion Cheeseburger, was easily a top-tier fast food hamburger. This one? Not on that level, but still quite tasty!

The Garlic Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger, as per their website: “A quarter pound of fresh, never-frozen Canadian beef, roasted mushrooms, 3 strips of Applewood smoked bacon, muenster cheese, and Renée’s Gourmet Creamy Garlic Spread. Literally oozing with umami.”

Muenster cheese! On a fast food cheeseburger! Ooh la la.

Also, normally I’d mock the line “literally oozing with umami,” but you know what? It kinda is. It’s savoury AF, and is definitely more umami-packed than your typical fast food fare.

Maybe too umami-packed? On top of being incredibly savoury, it’s a bit of a salt bomb. Something with a little sweetness and/or acidity to cut through the salty richness would be nice.

Still, I can’t deny that it’s tasty. The very rich, garlicky sauce pairs nicely with the mushrooms and the bacon, and the slice of muenster cheese definitely sets it apart from its American-cheese-topped fast food brethren.

Seriously though, throw some pickles on there or something? It’s a lot.

Stellar Pizza at One Night Only

Published on October 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 581 Pape Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://ono.pizza/

I’ve been hearing basically nothing but great things about One Night Only since it opened — it started out as a home-based pandemic-era lark, but quickly became popular enough to justify their own storefront.

They’re way out on the east end and have somewhat unusual hours (they’re closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays), so it took me a while to check the place out, but man I’m glad that I did. The pizza here is phenomenal.

I tried the pepperoni, bacon and jalapeno; I typically like a more sparsely-topped pie, particularly when I’m first trying a place, but that was all they had left when I showed up at around 1:30 on a Saturday.

It’s an amazing slice of pizza. The crust has a great balance between exterior crispiness and interior chewiness/fluffiness, with just the right amount of heft and flavour.

The slice is generously topped but still nicely balanced, with a good ratio between the sauce, cheese, and toppings. And while it’s not the pizza I would have picked if I had the choice, it features great quality pepperoni and bacon, and the pops of heat from the jalapeno slices works well.

The buzz about this place meant my expectations were quite high, but this still managed to exceed them. It’s easily on par with top-tier places like Badiali, North of Brooklyn, and Superpoint. It’s so good.