Bakerbots Baking – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Slow Jams, Cotolet, Bakerbots Baking

Published on April 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Smoked pork sandwich from Slow Jams

Slow Jams is a Filipino pop-up shop that you can find at various street festivals. I previously tried their fried chicken sandwich, and between that one and the smoked pork sandwich (“tamarind & sweet soy sauce, spicy pickled cabbage”), they clearly need to get their own location ASAP. The sandwich features a very generous amount of pork that’s meaty, tender, and satisfyingly smoky. The slightly sweet, squishy bun suits it perfectly. Between the strong vinegary punch of the sauce and the cabbage, it’s kinda acid overload, but the pork is tasty enough that this is only a minor complaint.

Pork loin katsu with brown demi-glace sauce from Cotolet

You can’t go wrong with a good pork katsu. I mean, you can’t go wrong with basically anything that’s breaded and fried, but there’s something about katsu that’s particularly magical. And the version at Cotolet? Quite good! The pork was maybe a bit on the dry side, but the panko-breaded exterior was perfectly crispy, and the brown demi-glace sauce (“made with various fruits and vegetables”) has a very nicely balanced fruity sweetness that’s a bit different from any katsu sauce I’ve had before.

Pecan sticky bun from Bakerbots Baking

Yep, Bakerbots is still chugging along, serving some of the tastiest baked goods in the city. I’ve written about them a few times before, so I don’t need to dwell here, but I do feel like it’s my duty to tell you that their sticky bun is very good. Sweet but not too sweet, nice texture on the bun itself, gooey but not complete mush like certain national chains that sell sickly sweet cinnamon buns… it’s very tasty. But then I’ve never had anything that was less than delicious here, so I guess that goes without saying.

Tasty Desserts at Bakerbots Baking

Published on March 23, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1242 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://bakerbotsbaking.com/

Bakerbots is affiliated with Bang Bang, which serves some of the best ice cream in the city (I’ve written about Bang Bang roughly a billion times on this blog, and while it’s been a while, they’re still great). So, of course, it’s a top-notch bakery.

They used to be in a teeny-tiny location that was about the size of a generous walk-in closet, but have since moved to a much larger spot on Bloor (they even have a few seats!).

I think the assortment of desserts might be slightly larger than before, but it’s also possible they’re just more spread out now. Either way, they have a very tempting variety of cakes, cookies, pies, and other tasty stuff.

I ordered the key lime puff, which features a choux pastry stuffed with whipped cream and key lime pie filling, topped with Italian meringue.

It’s hard for me to not compare a pastry like this to the amazing Choux Lab, and no, it’s not as good as that — but it’s close!

The key lime filling is nicely tart and very creamy. I’m not sure if this needs both whipped cream and meringue, which I think dilutes the lime flavour a bit too much, but that’s a minor complaint. The filling is delicious, and the nicely crisp choux pastry complements it well.

Quick Bites: King’s Tacos, Bakerbots Baking, Hanyang Jokbal

Published on September 15, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Tacos at King’s Tacos

The most interesting thing about the tacos at Kings Tacos might just be the way they serve them — an order comes with a very generous platter of meat (in this case the King’s Special, which comes with pork, beef, chorizo, onion, bacon, and cheese) and tortillas on the side, and you build it yourself. It’s interesting, and it’s a great value, because that pile of meat is not kidding around. That’s not to mention the very generous bowl of free (and tasty!) tortilla chips and sauces that comes with the meal. It’s not just a good value, however: it’s quite tasty, too.

Cinnamon Bun at Bakerbots Baking

I’ve heard the cinnamon bun at Bakerbots referred to as one of the best in the city, and yeah, that sounds about right. It’s absolutely fantastic, with a slightly crispy exterior and a gooey (but not overly gooey and sweet, like a Cinnabon) interior. The pastry itself is top-notch, with a nice chewy texture and a flavour that ensures that the cinnamon bun isn’t just one-note sweet. Is it the best in the city? It could be!

Jokbal at Hanyang Jokbal

I mean, look at that glorious pile of pork. Do you even need me to say anything? Jokbal is a Korean dish featuring braised pig trotters; I tried the half and half, which is half jokbal and half bossam (pork belly, if I recall correctly). You eat it wrapped in lettuce with some of the tasty sides and condiments on the table, and yeah. It’s delicious. Again: look at it.

Quick Bites: Nani’s Gelato, Fishman Lobster Clubhouse, and Bakerbots Baking

Published on March 3, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate gelato from Nani’s Gelato

I’ve written about Nani’s Gelato a couple of times for this blog, and it continues to be fantastic. Both flavours were top-notch, and the gelato itself is as rich and creamy as ever. Alas, they’re currently closed for the season; apparently a permanent location might be in the cards, so fingers crossed that they’re able to make this happen. Clearly, gelato of this calibre needs to available all year round.

Lobster mountain at Fishman Lobster Clubhouse

I don’t have much to add about this place since I wrote about it last — but come on. Look at that thing. That’s a photo you have to share. And that’s the impressive thing about this place: it seems like it’s expressly designed to impress on social media (and yeah, it clearly is), but it’s also surprisingly delicious. It’s meaty and perfectly cooked, and the way they fry it makes it a bit more interesting than standard boiled/steamed lobster, but still allows the meat be the star of the show (it’s fried in the shell, so the majority of the meat isn’t battered). It’s so good.

Orange Cardamom ice cream from Bakerbots Baking

Hot tip: Bakerbots Baking serves a decent assortment of Bang Bang ice cream flavours, so if you ever feel like a scoop of Bang Bang without the line, head to Bakerbots. And the orange cardamom was exactly what I was hoping it would be: creamy and orangey like the best creamsicle you’ve ever had, but with a nice hit of cardamom flavour. It’s a quality scoop of ice cream.

Quick Bites: Sweet Jesus, Parka Food Co., and Bakerbots Baking

Published on February 5, 2020April 12, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Apple Fritter Crisp from Sweet Jesus

This was actually pretty tasty. Here’s how Sweet Jesus describes the Apple Fritter Crisp: “Vanilla soft serve, Apple pie sauce, Apple fritter pieces, Apple fritter crumb, Caramel sauce.” I enjoyed it, mostly — it pretty much nails the apple pie/crumble element, with a cinnamon-infused flavour, and a nice hit of caramel and apples. But the “apple fritter crumb” it’s rolled in was more chewy than crispy (there was a disconcerting lack of crispiness for something with “crisp” in its name), and the apple fritter pieces were entirely absent. Still, the creamy vanilla ice cream and the apple-crumble-infused flavour are a tasty combo.

Caesar Salad at Parka Food Co.

I recently found myself back at Parka Food Co., a place that specializes in vegan eats; on my first visit I had a sandwich and found the bun to be fairly horrifying, so I skipped the sandwiches and went with a Caesar salad instead. It was fine, I guess? Caesar dressing traditionally features very non-vegan ingredients like anchovies, egg yolks, and cheese; whatever vegan alternatives they used here were decent enough. But the dressing was overly vinegary, and the pickled onions on top are a bizarre choice — they only amplify the puckery vinegar flavour.

Lemon Tart and Raspberry Rosewater Tart from Bakerbots Baking

Both of these tarts were absolutely fantastic, particularly the Raspberry Rosewater tart, which featured an ultra-rich custard with a pronounced rosewater flavour that complimented the tart raspberries on top perfectly. And unlike the last pie I had at this place, the crust was superlative; it was crispy, buttery, and perfect.