beef – Michael Eats

Tasty Hot Pot at Mabu Generation

Published on April 21, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: https://mabugeneration.com/

Mabu Generation is a small chain (they also have locations in Markham and Toronto) that serves what they call Taiwanese fusion. Their specialty seems to be their “Taiwanese style mini hot pot.” Not so sure about that “mini” designation — I split this with one person and it was way more food than either of us needed. I’m pretty sure you can comfortably share this with three or even four people (making it a great deal at 26 bucks).

I went with the House Special Spicy Hot Pot: “Nappa cabbage, seafood mushroom, tomato, iced tofu, meat ball (pork), clam, quail egg, pork blood cake, pork blood, pork intestine, preserved vegetables, cilantro, sliced beef, luncheon meat.”

It’s a very enjoyable dish. It’s absolutely crammed with tasty stuff, and the Sichuan-peppercorn-infused soup has that satisfying spicy/numbing mala thing going on in spades. It could probably be spicier, but it’s got a decent enough kick. It’s quite good.

Tasty Noodle Soup at Pho Anh Vu

Published on March 26, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1482 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://phoanhvu.com/

I’ll admit that I did not have particularly high hopes for Pho Anh Vu. A chain Vietnamese restaurant in a Walmart plaza? Surely that will be okay at best.

And indeed, the chain Hakka joint a couple of stores over is just as mediocre as you’d think. This place, however? Surprisingly good. Way, way better than you’d expect.

In particular, I’d heard good things about the bun bo hue here, so that’s what I got. I actually got the deluxe version of the dish, bun bo hue dac biet, which they only serve on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: “Hue Style Beef Special, Crab Cake, Homemade Sausage, Rare Beef with Vermicelli Soup, Beef Shank, Ham Hock.”

It’s a tasty bowl of noodle soup and a solid version of this dish, with a vibrant, flavourful broth that has a nice spicy kick.

It’s also crammed with tasty stuff (though I think they left out the crab cake in mine, sadly), with the very tender beef and the flavour-packed sausage being the highlights. It’s quite good.

Decent Wraps at Shawarma Kingdom

Published on January 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 377 Burnhamthorpe Road East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.shawarmakingdom.ca/

Shawarma Kingdom is totally fine. It’s fine! It’s shawarma. It’s good. You don’t need to go out of your way for it, but it’s acceptably tasty.

I mostly wanted to check this place out because they have beef and lamb on the menu. I’m of the opinion that lamb shawarma is the best shawarma — and yet it’s almost impossible to find in the GTA. When you do see it, it’s mixed with beef like it is here (and in most cases, the mix leans much more towards beef than lamb). It’s a shame.

You can get the wrap either in a pita or saj (for a few bucks more). I went with saj and stuck with the default toppings, which are tahini sauce, tomato, onion, parsley and pickles (okay fine, I lied — I skipped the onion, as I tend to do).

They definitely don’t skimp on the meat; the wrap is absolutely crammed. They don’t skimp on the sauce, either, making this a bit of a mess. The saj was over-toasted, which meant that the wrap was very brittle, with its structural integrity being extremely questionable; it basically exploded, and I had to eat most of it with a fork and knife.

It’s a satisfying enough wrap, with the meat being fairly tender and flavourful, and with the generous amount of parsley giving it an interesting herby kick. I wish the tahini sauce were a bit zippier, and I wish the meat had more of the crispy bits you’re looking from shawarma, but it’s a solid wrap (figuratively, not literally — again, it fell apart basically instantly).

Tasty Mexican Food at Pa’l Antojo

Published on January 15, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1885 Drew Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/palantoj0/

Pa’l Antojo is in the middle of an industrial wasteland near the airport, so it definitely qualifies as a hidden gem. I was mostly in the area to pick up nuts from Master Delight, which I think sells the best nuts in the city. But it’s worth the trek to check out Pa’l Antojo either way; the food is stellar.

I tried a couple of things. I’d heard the quesabirrias (“stewed beef seasoned on a crunchy corn tortilla with cheese, cilantro, onion and beef broth”) are the thing to order here, so that was a must.

It’s very, very good, with a great contrast between the slightly crispy tortilla, the gooey cheese, and the tender beef. Once you dip it into the very flavourful broth, you’re off to the races. I could eat a million of these.

I also tried a pastor taco, and it was just as good, with the very generous amount of pork being crispy and abundantly tasty, and with the double layer of fresh corn tortillas complementing it perfectly.

Tasty Shawarma at Shelby’s

Published on January 6, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1289 Marlborough Court, Oakville
Website: https://www.shelbys.ca/

I could have sworn I had already written about Shelby’s for this blog, but when I went to look for the post, I couldn’t find it. It turns out I actually blogged about Tahini’s, not Shelby’s.

In my defense, the two chains are quite similar: both are chains with a similar name and logo, and both serve a similar menu of saj-wrapped shawarma topped with a pomegranate-infused sauce.

Also: both are surprisingly tasty. Shelby’s, despite being a chain with a couple dozen locations, probably outclasses a decent amount of the independent shawarma joints in the GTA.

I ordered the Shelby’s Wrap: “freshly baked saj bread stuffed with lettuce mix, fries, pickles, turnips, tomatoes, sumac onions, tahini, hummus, and regular or spicy garlic.” I got it with beef and lamb shawarma, spicy garlic, and skipped the onions.

It’s a great wrap, with the slightly chewy and nicely toasted saj wrap being a nice vehicle for the generous amount of tasty meat and veggies/sauces. It’s mildly spicy, zippy and garlicky (my wrap didn’t say it came with pomegranate molasses, but I’m pretty sure I tasted its slightly tart flavour, which worked well), and the shawarma is tender, with a decent amount of crispy bits. I didn’t get much lamb flavour, but the whole thing was tasty enough that this didn’t really matter.