breakfast – Michael Eats

A Delicious Brunch at Emma’s Country Kitchen

Published on May 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 810 Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: https://www.emmascountrykitchen.com/

Emma’s Country Kitchen has been serving up brunch for a while. I’ve been wanting to check the place out since seeing it on a 2015 episode of You Gotta Eat Here, and yeah, they’re still around and kicking. Even more surprising: the place is still hopping. I showed up at about 10:00am on a Saturday, and it was a half hour wait to get in.

I tend not to go to brunch places all that often, because it’s all a bit boring, and it’s generally all stuff you can make at home relatively easily. But when it’s as good as it is here? Yeah, I can’t do that at home, and I doubt you can, either.

It’s worth braving the crowds. Everything here was stellar.

In particular, the cinnamon bun pancakes (“Stack of light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes swirled with caramelized brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Served with whipped brown butter and real maple syrup”) might be their most well known dish (it was featured on that episode of You Gotta Eat here all those years ago), and for good reason.

Seriously, I think these might be the best pancakes I’ve ever had? They were nice and fluffy with just the right amount of density, they’ve got a nice tang from the buttermilk, and the caramelized brown sugar gives the pancakes a nice crispiness in spots and a delightful amount of sweetness. I didn’t even use the syrup on the side — the level of sweetness here was restrained, but perfect.

The brown butter on top gives it a nice creaminess and a mild salty pop that offsets the sweetness of the brown sugar. Good lord these were good. I could eat about a million of them.

I also tried the Breakwich (“Freshly baked buttermilk biscuit topped with over easy egg, melted cheese and choice of sage and onion sausage, house cured bacon or griddled tomato”) and yeah, that was stellar, too. You can choose your egg, cheese, and meat: I went with scrambled, spicy pimento cheese, and sausage.

The perfect biscuit was the highlight, but everything here was very, very good. In particular, that pimento cheese has a nice kick and a satisfying zippy flavour. I want this stuff on all my breakfast sandwiches from now on.

Finally, I tried the Emma’s BLT (“Freshly baked buttermilk biscuit, 2 pieces house cured bacon, fresh tomato, baby arugula and roasted garlic mayo”). You can get this with a biscuit, or a toasted rye bun. I went with the bun since I was already having the biscuit.

This was the least exciting of the dishes I tried, but still quite tasty. I’m pretty sure I’m going to dream about that thickly-cut house-cured bacon. It’s fantastic. But then everything here is fantastic, so why shouldn’t it be?

Tasty Eats at Lamb Soup Noodle House

Published on May 22, 2026May 22, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4750 Yonge Street, Toronto (inside Emerald Park food court)
Website: none

The lamb soup at Lamb Soup Noodle House is pretty tasty, with a very clean lamby flavour. I got the spicy version, which also had a very noticeable fiery kick. Nothing about it blew my mind — but I’m a fan of lamb, and I’m never going to dislike anything that packed with lamb flavour.

(The chunks of lamb are a bit tough and the fat noodles are overcooked, but I think the broth is the real reason to order this.)

I think the better thing to order here, oddly, isn’t the lamb soup — it’s the jian bing, an eggy Chinese crepe.

I actually tried the jian bing here several years ago and quite enjoyed it. It was called Gao’s Crepe back then, so I’m not sure if it’s the same place or another jian bing spot in the same location, but either way, it’s thoroughly delicious.

Rather than going with the standard jian bing, I went with the one that comes stuffed with spicy noodles and cheese (!), and wow it was good. The wrap itself was chewy and satisfying, it has a nice crunch, and the zippy noodles and melty processed cheese work surprisingly well together. There’s also some kind of sausage in there, and yeah, that’s tasty too. It’s all quite junky, but in a really satisfying way.

Stellar Diner Food at Susie’s Rise & Dine

Published on April 22, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 539 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://susiestoronto.com/

The crowds at Susie’s Rise and Dine are no joke — the first time I tried to visit, I told them I didn’t have a reservation and was told the wait would be something like two hours. Clearly, reservations are advised.

It’s in the style of an old-school diner, with the menu mostly consisting of brunch and diner standbys (with the occasional item having a bit of an Asian twist).

I tried a couple of things. First up: the tuna melt (“Japanese tartar sauce, malt vinegar pickled celery, sour cream & onion kettle chips, American cheese, served on griddled rye bread”). I wasn’t planning on ordering this, but the waitress said it was her favourite, so sure, why not?

The waitress was 100% right. Good god, that tuna melt. It’s almost certainly the best I’ve ever had. I know that it looks pretty standard (I mean, there’s not much you can do to gussy up a tuna melt), but trust me, it was obscenely good.

The contrast between the perfectly crispy bread and the creamy tuna (not to mention the extra crunch and flavour from the chips) is perfect, and the whole thing has an addictively zippy flavour that just works. It’s so satisfying.

Next up: The Big Trouble Breakfast Sandwich (“soft scramble, char siu glazed sausage, crispy hash brown patty, cheese, scallion milk bun”).

This was good, but after that mind-blowing tuna melt, there was really nowhere to go but down — and yeah, that’s where this went. All the components are quite nice and it’s an above average breakfast sandwich, but none of the flavours really pop and it feels like it’s missing something.

Some pickles or a sauce with some zip to it would really perk things up (though the sausage was quite light on the char siu glaze; it’s possible that more of that might have added the flavour that the sandwich was missing). Still, I didn’t dislike eating it, that’s for sure, but it couldn’t help but be a bit of a letdown after the tuna melt.

A Great Breakfast Sandwich at Kitten and the Bear

Published on April 20, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1414 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.kittenandthebear.com/

You wouldn’t think that Kitten and the Bear — an unassuming little bakery that specializes in scones — would serve one of the best breakfast sandwiches in the city, but hey, what do you know? They do.

They’re actually one block over from the breakfast sandwich amazingness of Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee, and they serve a breakfast sandwich that’s pretty much just as good (but with substantially less hype).

There’s just the one breakfast sandwich on the menu, the Egg & Cheese on a Scone: “Fluffy egg and aged cheddar on a fresh herb scone. Add peach & red pepper savoury jam or hot honey!” I went with the jam, which they make in-house.

Everything here just works: the sharp, gooey cheddar; the silky egg; the nice contrasting sweet and savoury punch of the jam; and especially, the amazing scone.

I mean, the place specializes in the stuff, so I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the scone is stellar, but it really is. It’s delightfully buttery, with a nice crispy exterior, and an interior that really nails the fluffiness and substance that you want from a scone.

The quality of the egg, cheese, and jam is high enough that this would be a great sandwich even on lesser bread, but that scone really takes it over the top.

A Great Breakfast Sandwich at Alma + Gil

Published on March 28, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 392 Dufferin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.almaygil.com/

Alma + Gil started as a pop-up specializing in breakfast sandwiches, and have recently expanded to a new location with a full menu. There’s some tasty-looking stuff on the menu, but of course, I had to get one of those sandwiches.

I went with the pork belly sando: “overeasy free run egg, roasted pork belly, cheese chicharron, caramelized onion sauce, brioche.”

It’s a great sandwich, with the combo of the perfectly runny egg, tender pork belly, and crispy cheese being thoroughly delicious.

The “cheese chicharron” is just a piece of cheese that’s been browned and crisped up on the griddle, and yeah, of course it’s a great addition to this (or any) sandwich.

The soft, ultra-fluffy brioche bun adds some mild sweetness, and is a great vehicle for the other ingredients here.

There are a couple of things holding this back from breakfast sandwich perfection (I wish they had gotten at least a little bit of colour on the pork belly, and the ultra-rich sandwich is crying out for some hot sauce or anything acidic to cut through its decadence somewhat), but it’s still a top-tier sandwich.