breakfast – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Stellar Sandwiches at Sleepy Pete’s

Published on November 17, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 69 Kensington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/sleepypetes/

I’ve noticed Sleepy Pete’s coming up in discussions of the best breakfast sandwich in the GTA; it’s also from the same people behind the great Kensington Market taco joint, Seven Lives. Obviously, I had to check it out.

So did a lot of other people, apparently. I showed up at around 11:00 on a Saturday morning and the place was packed. It was about a half hour between the time I showed up and the time I started eating, but you know what? Totally worth it.

I tried a couple of the sandwiches: the sausage and egg (“chicken sausage, hot honey, Kraft cheese”) and the fried chicken (“breaded chicken breast, hot lemon pepper sauce, mayo, pickles”). The sandwiches come on your choice of biscuit: buttermilk or jalapeno cheddar. I went with buttermilk on the breakfast sandwich and jalapeno cheddar on the fried chicken.

Both sandwiches were very, very good. This place is mostly known for its breakfast sandwiches, and yeah, I get it. Every element here is dead-on; in particular, the spicing in the meat is actually quite different from your standard breakfast sausage, but it really works. And the biscuit is pretty much perfect, with a great fluffy texture, just the right amount of density, and a lightly crispy exterior.

I’ve mentioned before that my secret food shame is that I think a McMuffin from McDonald’s is better than like 90% of the fancy breakfast sandwiches in the GTA. This is in the 10%. It’s so great.

The fried chicken didn’t knock my socks off like the sausage and egg, but it’s still a very good sandwich. I don’t think there were any pickles (at least not in my half of the sandwich), which would have been nice, but the combo of the savoury fried chicken and the sweet lemon pepper sauce was a tasty one. The chicken had a layer of crispy breading that’s lighter than most of the fried chicken sandwiches in the city, but that works quite well. I enjoyed it.

Tasty Breakfast Sandwiches at La Boulangerie

Published on September 30, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1134 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://laboulangeriedundas.com/

The breakfast sandwich at La Boulangerie was recommended by no less than Susur Lee, so I figured it was probably worth checking out.

And clearly, La Boulangerie is a popular place, because it was absolutely swarming with people when I visited on a recent Sunday afternoon.

They have a handful of tasty-looking sandwiches on the menu, but on this particular visit, I was a man on a mission.

The breakfast sandwich, as per their menu: “egg, ham, bacon, white cheddar.”

It’s a well-executed breakfast sandwich, that’s for sure. The eggs are perfectly cooked, and the quality of the ham and the bacon are top-notch.

I don’t know if it’s worth going out of your way for, though. It’s very good, but it’s such a basic, unornamented sandwich that it’s hard to get too excited about it.

This is probably not something I should admit publicly, but it also doesn’t pass my personal “is this substantially better than a McMuffin?” test. I clearly have garbage taste, because I think a McMuffin from McDonald’s is better than like 90 percent of the fancy breakfast sandwiches in the city, including this one.

Quick Bites: Sun’s Kitchen, Bei Wei Ju Dumpling House, Perkins

Published on July 22, 2024July 22, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Noodles with Spicy Pork from Sun’s Kitchen

Sun’s Kitchen is (was?) my favourite restaurant in the Pacific Mall food court, but sadly, it seems that they’ve gone downhill. I pretty much always order the same thing here (noodles with spicy pork), and mostly, it was just as tasty as ever. But the real attraction of this place are the delightfully chewy noodles that they hand-pull on site, and on this particular visit they were shockingly mushy. My dining companion said he had the same experience a few months ago, so I’m not even sure if this was a one-time mistake. They’ve also stopped serving the soup and soy milk that used to come on the side (and the bowl now comes with an egg), so I wonder if there was a change of ownership. Either way, I can’t imagine I’ll be back anytime soon, sadly.

Crispy shrimp and pork dumplings from Bei Wei Ju Dumpling House

Speaking of the Pacific Mall, I also tried these fried dumplings from Bei Wei Ju Dumpling House, and they were quite satisfying. The filling could have been a bit more generous (there was a marble-sized ball of meat in the centre of each dumpling, which was otherwise all wrapper), but the exterior had a nice balance of chewiness and crispiness, and the whole thing was very tasty.

Southern Fried Chicken Biscuit Breakfast from Perkins

I was actually pretty excited to try Perkins, an American chain with a menu that reminds me of places like Bob Evans and Cracker Barrel (both of which have zero locations in Canada, sadly). I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken Biscuit Breakfast, and while the whole thing wasn’t unpleasant to eat, I think I could have had roughly the same experience (at a fraction of the price) by going to the supermarket and buying a Hungry Man dinner.

Quick Bites: Apricot Tree Cafe, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Gouter

Published on July 1, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Apricot Breakfast from the Apricot Tree Cafe

The Apricot Tree Cafe seems to be quite well regarded, so maybe it’s just not my thing, but I got the Apricot Breakfast (“Smoked salmon, poached eggs, dill sour cream, Apricot Tree salad, toast”) and it mostly left me puzzled. Nothing on the plate was bad — in fact, the smoked salmon was actually quite good, and the eggs were well prepared, with a nice runny yolk. But none of the individual flavours particularly cohered in any meaningful way, so it basically just felt like random stuff on a plate. Also: the toast came unbuttered (with no butter on the side, either!), and get out of here with that.

Classic vanilla bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes

True to their name, Nothing Bundt Cakes sells bundt cakes, bundt cakes, and more bundt cakes. They’re available in various flavours like chocolate, lemon, and red velvet (among many others), and they’re all topped with cream cheese icing. They have full-sized cakes, but their specialty seems to be smaller versions that are about the size of a very big cupcake. I went simple with the classic vanilla, and it was tasty enough. This place is apparently a chain with hundreds of locations, and yeah, that tracks. It basically tastes like if Little Debbie came out with a line of bundt cakes. I have a soft spot for junky treats like that, so I enjoyed it — but at about seven bucks per individual cake, it might be a bit overpriced for what it is.

Blueberry tart from Gouter

I had a raspberry croissant that I really did not care for the last time I visited Gouter; however, I just tried a blueberry tart from their Etobicoke location, and I think maybe they’re better than I gave them credit for, because the tart was quite good. The shortbread crust was buttery and had a nice texture, the custard filling was creamy and not too sweet, and the blueberries and crumble topping were thoroughly tasty.

Tasty Brunch at Good Fork

Published on May 12, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1550 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://goodfork.ca/

The first thing I should note is that Good Fork is extremely popular. I showed up a bit after 11:00 on a recent Saturday and the place was an absolute madhouse; it was completely packed, with a whole bunch of people standing around waiting for tables and a 45 minute wait to be seated.

I came back a week later at around 9:30 and got seated right away, and by the time I left it was packed again. They don’t do reservations on the weekend, so be warned: show up early or get ready to wait.

I tried a couple of things. First up was the crispy chicken sandwich: “toasted bun, breaded n’ fried chicken thigh, lemony schmaltz mayo, lettuce, dilly labneh, pickles.” This didn’t particularly knock my socks off, but it’s a very good fried chicken sandwich. It kinda reminded me of an upscale McChicken. I got the salad on the side, which is fairly by-the-numbers, but is nice and zippy and does a good job of cutting through the richness of the sandwich.

I also tried the blueberry halva pancakes, which, unlike the sandwich, kinda did knock my socks off. From the menu: “buttermilk pancake stack, orange blossom ricotta, lemony blueberry, halva crumble, pure hockley valley maple syrup.”

These were some top-notch pancakes; the pancakes themselves strike the perfect balance between fluffiness and substance, and all the toppings were super tasty. It never would have occurred to me to put halva on a pancake, but its nutty richness complements the sweet blueberry sauce perfectly.

I also liked that the level of sweetness was relatively restrained — the dish comes with a bottle of maple syrup on the side, but it’s so good on its own that I found this to be completely unnecessary.