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A Satisfying Breakfast at A Bing – Chinese Crepe

Published on October 31, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 895 Bay Street, Toronto
Website: None

I mentioned recently that jian bing — a tasty Chinese crepe — used to be nearly impossible to find in the city, and is now delightfully common. Case in point: A Bing – Chinese Crepe, which is now the third place I’ve written about specializing in the Chinese breakfast dish.

The menu features several different versions with fillings like sausage, chicken, or bacon, but as far as I’m concerned, the classic is where it’s at.

I ordered the traditional style crepe: “egg, crisp fritter, green onion, cilantro, sauce.”

It was quite tasty, though the flavour was a bit muted; slightly more of the sweet sauce would have been welcome. Plus, this dish generally features a hot sauce of some sort, and that was completely absent here. I’m assuming I could have requested this, but they didn’t mention it and I didn’t think to ask. Next time.

The taste might not have been quite as vibrant as I would have liked, but the texture was dead-on. The contrast between the crispy fritter and the slightly chewy eggy crepe was absolutely delightful.

A Tasty Wrap at Tianjin Auntie’s Steamed Bun

Published on March 5, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 77 Huron Street, Toronto
Website: None

When I first found out about the existence of jian bing a few years ago, it was impossible to find in Toronto (if it was being served, I couldn’t find any evidence of it online). Living with the grim knowledge that something so delicious existed, and having no way (outside of an expensive plane ticket) to eat it was actually pretty brutal.

Thankfully, things have changed in the last few years; several places serving jian bing have been popping up, so if you’re looking for it (and you should be looking for it), you’re good to go.

I guess I should probably explain what jian bing even is — it’s more common than it used to be, but it’s not exactly at sushi levels of ubiquity quite yet. It’s a tasty Chinese breakfast wrap that finds a crepe (of sorts) cooked with eggs until they combine into one thing, and it’s all wrapped up with tasty sauces and crispy fried dough. It’s delicious.

And the version they serve at Tianjin Auntie’s Steamed Bun is legit; it’s a seriously addictive combo of chewy exterior and crispy interior, it’s a savoury, a little bit sweet, eggy, and delicious. It might actually be slightly too eggy, however, and the whole thing is somewhat soggy. This dish is traditionally served as street food; I took it to go and was planning to eat and walk, but it quickly became apparent that it was a bit too sloppy to eat while on the move. That’s a minor complaint, however. It was still very good.

(I should also note that Tianjin Auntie’s Steamed Bun is a restaurant with a full menu of tasty looking Northern Chinese dishes, in case I’m giving you the impression that they just serve one thing. A repeat visit is almost certainly in order.)

Mexican Bacon Queso More-Ning McWrap at McDonald’s

Published on July 20, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 85 Ellesmere Road, Scarborough
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.ca/

This is it — my final stop on the McDonald’s World Taste Tour. It’s been fun? I guess?

Well, the McFlurry was pretty good, at least.

And the Mexican Bacon Queso More-Ning McWrap isn’t bad. It consists of bacon, scrambled eggs, lettuce, tomato, and queso sauce wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla.

The biggest surprise here is the generous serving of scrambled eggs, which are actually pretty well prepared. You kind of assume it’s going to be dry and rubbery, but shockingly enough, it’s neither of those things. They weren’t the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had, but they were tasty.

And while the queso sauce didn’t taste particularly cheesy — it tasted more like a zesty mayo — it did a good job of brightening up the eggs and adding a very minor dose of spice.

The biggest issue here is something you (probably) won’t have to worry about. There wasn’t any bacon. I kept thinking the bacon would reveal itself in the next bite, or that it was all clustered at the end of the wrap, but it was MIA throughout. By the time I realized that the wrap was bacon-free, I was too lazy to get up and do something about it.

I’m actually impressed that I enjoyed this as much as I did, considering that one of the primary ingredients was missing (it’s right there in the name).