beef – Page 13 – Michael Eats

Amazing French Street Food at Mister Frenchy

Published on October 17, 2018June 18, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 675 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://www.misterfrenchy.com/

Mister Frenchy is an unassuming restaurant on the Danforth that specializes in something called French tacos.

No, I had never heard of a French taco either. But it’s a real thing, apparently — it’s basically a meaty, pressed wrap that was popularized in the Lyon region of France.

I think it’s safe to say that this is the only place in the city where you can try one, which is something that you should absolutely do. It’s shockingly amazing.

They have a variety of French tacos and baguette sandwiches on their menu; I went with the Le Lyonais French taco, which comes with “ground beef, Algerian sauce, tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, French fries, and sauce fromagere.”

It was so good. The wrap was perfectly pressed, giving you that perfect combo of crispy and chewy. And the filling was pure comfort food perfection: an amazing mix of nicely spiced beef, perfectly cooked veggies, zingy sauce, and abundantly gooey cheese.

Oh, and there are fries in there as well — I’m normally not crazy about potatoes in a sandwich/wrap, but the fries here add substance without getting in the way or calling attention to themselves. The whole thing is ridiculously satisfying.

Alas, the fries on the side didn’t work nearly as well as the fries in the wrap. They were undercooked, the herb mixture they were tossed in was overbearing, and the sauce on top was way too zesty to work as a dipping sauce.

Which is fine — the wrap is a perfectly satisfying meal on its own. Plus, it’s way heavier than it looks. It’s a bit of a gut-buster.

A Ridiculously Bad Philly Cheesesteak at Philthy Philly’s

Published on October 11, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 960 Southdown Road, Mississauga
Website: http://www.philthyphillys.com/

If you’re looking for an authentic Philly cheesesteak in Toronto, I think you’re out of luck. There used to be an amazing place called I Went to Philly; their cheesesteak was dead on. Tragically, it went out of business, breaking cheesesteak-loving hearts across the GTA.

It’s not all that difficult to find a cheesesteak in the city, but it’s almost impossible to find an authentic one; most places clutter it up with extraneous toppings like peppers and mushrooms and other sauces. A real-deal Philly cheesesteak should consist of only four things: a roll, steak, griddled onions, and Cheese Wiz (you can substitute provolone if you’re feeling fancy, but really, Wiz is where it’s at).

So I was pretty excited to try Philthy Philly’s — they have a ton of stuff on their menu, including a whole bunch of optional toppings, but if you want it, you can get a cheesesteak the way it’s supposed to be.

Alas, the cheesesteak here somehow manages to get every single element wrong. It would be impressive if it weren’t so frustrating.

The beef was the wrongest part of the whole maelstrom of wrongness. The beef in a Philly cheesesteak should be thinly shaved slices of steak. The meat here, on the other hand, consisted of little pebbly bits of beef that were either ground, or chopped so finely that it may as well have been ground. It also had a chewy, rubbery texture and absolutely zero beefy flavour. It was pretty bad.

The “Cheese Wiz” had the consistency of water and zero cheesy tang; the onions had been cooked to the point of being mush.

The final insult was the bread; instead of a lightly crispy outside and a fluffy interior, it was just dense and chewy throughout, with zero exterior crispiness.

The sandwich was cheap, at least. The smallest size costs just seven bucks, comes on a six inch roll, and is crammed with a generous amount of beef. But I wish they’d charge a little bit more for a higher quality product; as it is, the sandwich is about on par with Subway, and I say that as someone who doesn’t like Subway at all.

Horrifying BBQ at Hungry Hollow Smokehouse and Grille

Published on September 20, 2018September 20, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 134 Guelph Street, Georgetown
Website: http://www.hungryhollow.ca/

I try to be a “glass half full” type of guy whenever I can, because it’s always good to have a positive outlook on life. So, glass half full: Hungry Hollow Smokehouse and Grille gives me a much better appreciation for the disappointing BBQ joints across the GTA.

Places like Adamson Barbecue and Hogtown Smoke might not be as smoky as I’d like, but at least what they’re serving tastes good. Hungry Hollow, on the other hand…

I tried the brisket and the pulled pork, along with the fries and coleslaw.

The brisket was, no contest, the worst barbecue brisket I’ve ever had (and probably the worst brisket I’ve ever had, period). It was atrociously bad.

There’s no sugar-coating it; this particular glass is completely empty. The brisket was dry, it had zero smoky flavour, and worst of all, it was the leftoveriest piece of leftover meat in the history of the world. It had a sharply gamy flavour that immediately let you know something was amiss. It was outright inedible.

The pork was much better. It wasn’t particularly good, mind you, but I was able to eat it.

The texture was complete mush, and like the beef, it wasn’t even remotely smoky — but the flavour was otherwise okay. It was about on par with the vacuum-sealed pulled pork you can get at the supermarket, and it was clearly fresh. Under any other circumstances it would have seemed much worse, but after that questionable beef, something with no off flavours was quite delightful.

The sides, at least, were unambiguously tasty. The fries were fresh and perfectly cooked, and the coleslaw was nice and creamy, with a good level of acidity.

Another Tasty Meal at Manpuku

Published on August 30, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 105 McCaul Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.manpuku.ca/

I’ve already talked about Manpuku, so I’ll keep this brief. I went back and tried the shigure don, and just like the udon I tried on my last visit, it was absolutely delicious and delightfully cheap.

The shigure don consisted of a heaping pile of tasty, well-marinated beef and onions atop a generous portion of rice. The beef looks a bit dry in the picture, but it was actually super tender, and surprisingly packed with flavour. And the soft, tasty onions compliment the beef perfectly.

It cost $6.49. I mean, come on, Manpuku — now you’re making all the other restaurants look bad. I’ve frequently paid three or four times as much money for meals that weren’t half as good as what they’re serving here.

Mediocre Tacos at Wilbur Mexicana

Published on August 28, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 552 King Street West, Toronto
Website: http://wilburmexicana.com/

Wilbur is one of those places with a perpetual line out the door, and having just tried it for the first time, I’m not sure why.

That’s not to say it was bad. I just had two tacos, and they were both fine. But in a city as suffused with taco joints as Toronto, “fine” isn’t much.

I will say that their hot sauce selection is impressive. They have a few dozen bottles to choose from, not to mention a bunch of homemade sauces as well. If you want to add some spice to your taco, I can guarantee you’ll find something that strikes your fancy.

I tried a couple of tacos: al pastor (“pork, grilled pineapple, onion, cilantro”) and bulgogi (“Korean beef, cabbage, pear, sriracha, sesame seeds”).

I was most excited to try the al pastor, which is essentially Mexico’s take on the shawarma. But there were none of the crispy bits you associate with shawarma; it was just dry, personality-free lean pork brought to dessert levels of sweetness thanks to whatever they marinated it in and the pineapple.

It came on a corn tortilla that was dry, crumbly, and stale. A note to all restaurants serving corn tortillas: cook them fresh or GTFO.

The bulgogi, surprisingly enough, was way better. It was also quite sweet, but it had some savoury complexity to round things out. The beef was a little bit dry, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pork.

The tacos came with a handful of tortilla chips on the side. They were a huge upgrade over store-bought; they were way better than the tacos.