Bloor – Michael Eats

Tasty Pastries at Ba Noi

Published on November 7, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 806 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://ba-noi.myshopify.com/

Ba Noi is a delightful bakery on Bloor that specializes in sourdough, along with a handful of tasty treats.

They’re also very, very popular. When I showed up on a Saturday afternoon, they were sold out of everything outside of chocolate chip cookies and butter tarts. That was unfortunate, but certainly, there are worse things to be forced to order at a bakery. I tried both, and they were each extremely tasty. I’ll definitely have to come back to try the sourdough.

The cookie was the highlight. It helped that it was extremely fresh (arguably too fresh, but who can say no to a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie?), but this was a superlative cookie, with great quality chocolate and a nice depth of flavour. I find a lot of chocolate chip cookies can be one-note sweet, but that definitely wasn’t the case here.

The butter tart was interesting; it was kind of like a hybrid between a standard butter tart and a Portuguese custard tart, with a flaky crust and a filling that was less sweet and more custardy than the norm. It was absolutely delicious, though the crust was a bit soggy despite it still being warm from the oven when it was served to me (the woman behind the counter advised that it might be too fresh to sample immediately; I waited about an hour to eat it. It’s possible it steamed in the bag?).

Delicious Fried Chicken at PG Clucks

Published on October 21, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 384 Bloor Street West (inside the Annex Food Hall)
Website: https://www.pgclucks.com/

I mentioned recently that I think Chica’s Chicken serves the best fried chicken in the city. I still think that, but PG Clucks is giving them some serious competition for that title.

I tried the Jalapeno and Honey (Toronto Life’s pick for the second best sandwich in the city): “Honey Dipped Chicken, Sweet Pickled Jalapeños, Fermented Jalapeño Sauce, Ranch Sauce.”

It’s so good. It’s quite sweet from the honey (the chicken is tossed in some kind of honey sauce) but it’s balanced perfectly by the zingy pickled jalapenos and the abundantly delicious ranch and jalapeno sauces. It’s almost absurd how delicious it is.

And the chicken itself is absolutely perfect — it’s super crispy, juicy, and flavourful.

Bonus: their new location, in the Annex Food Hall, is way nicer than the original on College. That one is just a closet-sized take-out joint, but this one actually has tables, which means that you don’t have to eat your sandwich hunched over on the sidewalk like an animal. That’s always nice.

Tasty Greek Food at Fat Lamb Kouzina

Published on July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 874 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.fatlambkouzina.com/

Fat Lamb Kouzina is a delightful little Greek place near Yonge and Bloor that, as you’d guess from the name, specializes in lamb. It’s mostly a take-out joint, though they do have a communal table and some stools.

The menu’s pretty simple — you can either get lamb, pork, chicken, or eggplant, and you have the choice of getting it on a pita, or with a side of potatoes or salad.

I went with the lamb; it’s right there in the name. It’s an easy enough choice.

There’s nothing better than well-prepared lamb — there’s something about its distinctive flavour that’s fairly irresistible. And they prepare it very, very well here. It’s slow-roasted and seasoned perfectly, with a zippy, herb-packed flavour.

It’s also incredibly tender. Maybe a touch too tender? I would have liked it to have a bit more texture, but it’s hard to complain when it’s this delicious.

I got it with the potatoes on the side, which were perfectly creamy, and just as herby and delicious as the meat. It comes with a cup of creamy tzatziki that amps up everything’s flavour. It’s good stuff.

Solid Ice Cream at Put A Cone On It

Published on December 6, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 633 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.putaconeonit.com/

Ice cream is the best. And while what they’re serving at Put A Cone On It probably isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, it’s above average ice cream. Which means that, yes: it’s the best.

Plus, they make their own ice cream, which is always nice. There’s nothing more disheartening than going to an ice cream shop only to realize that they’re serving commercial stuff like Kawartha or Nestle. I can buy that at the supermarket. Get out of here with that.

They have a handful of dairy and non-dairy flavours available; I tried the roasted banana, which is one of the dairy options.

It’s quite tasty. True to its name, it has a very pronounced banana flavour that almost reminded me of banana bread, only with a more amplified fruity flavour.

The texture was ever-so-slightly icy, and it could have been richer, but it was quite good. Like I said: it probably won’t be your favourite ice cream in the city, but you’re definitely going to enjoy eating it.

Good Eats at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Published on October 15, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 515 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.santouka.co.jp/en

After ramen disappointments at Konjiki and Kinton, I was starting to worry that a really good bowl of ramen might be impossible to find in the city.

Well, here’s Santouka, riding in to save the day. Their ramen certainly wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was a solid bowl of noodles. I enjoyed it.

They specialize in tonkotsu ramen, in which pork bones have been boiled down for hours until you get a rich and creamy broth. They have shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso, or spicy miso. I went with shio.

It’s a quality bowl of soup. The broth doesn’t quite have the magical complexity that you’ll find in the best versions of this dish, but it had a rich porky flavour (without the heavy greasiness that can bog down tonkotsu ramen), and a good amount of salt that doesn’t overwhelm.

The noodles were slightly thinner than I’d like, but they have a nice chewy bite. They’re satisfying.

The egg is an add-on, but it’s worth shelling out the extra cash; it’s nicely seasoned and perfectly-cooked, with a gooey but — and this is the key — not runny yolk.