Canada – Page 15 – Michael Eats

Intense Jiro-Style Ramen at Ramen Tabetai

Published on July 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 154 Cumberland Street, Toronto
Website: https://ramen-tabetai.ca/

Ramen Tabetai is the brainchild of chef Masaki Saito, best known for Sushi Masaki Saito, which is noteworthy for having been awarded two Michelin stars (and it’s the only two star restaurant in Toronto, which makes it Michelin’s highest rated restaurant in the city).

I mean, you had me at ramen, but ramen from a Michelin-starred chef?? Yes please.

Tabetai serves a very specific type of ramen known as Jiro-style ramen, which they describe as “garlic heavy, pork fat loaded – no apologies.” It features a very flavourful pork broth topped with thick ramen noodles, a fat slice of chashu (which was oddly lean, given this place’s whole M.O., but still tasty), chunks of unctuous back fat, a whole bunch of raw garlic, and a crunchy veggie mix (cabbage and bean sprouts, I believe).

I’ll admit that while I enjoy this style of ramen, it isn’t my favourite. I think the best bowls of ramen have an amazing complexity, and Jiro-style ramen is kinda just a porky, fatty, garlicky, salty assault.

Don’t get me wrong — I love being assaulted by porkiness, fattiness, garlickiness, and saltiness. Those are all great things! But it’s a lot of in-your-face big flavours, not to mention the intense richness. I probably don’t need to have it more than once every several months, if that.

(I also think that this style of ramen is probably an odd fit for a Michelin-starred chef, as it’s more about blowing out your tastebuds than the type of gastronomical finesse you typically associate with Michelin-caliber chefs.)

To be fair, the restaurant does allow you to adjust your level of back fat, garlic, and salt — I went with the default 100%, though the waitress did suggest that 50% might be advisable for first-timers. So that might feel like less of an assault. But hey, go big or go home, right?

Tasty Sandwiches at Tutto Panino

Published on July 5, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.tuttopanino.com/

In case you haven’t noticed, Toronto is in the grips of an Italian sandwich obsession. It seems like every other new restaurant these days is serving up a variety of Italian cold cut sandwiches.

Enter: Tutto Panino. They’ve got the usual assortment of cold salami and mortadella sandwiches, though their specialty — the Bolito (“beef brisket, salsa verde, chili oil”) — is a hot one.

It’s a solid sandwich. It comes crammed with a healthy amount of ultra-tender braised beef brisket, and is topped with a zippy salsa verde. You can get it mild or hot — I went with hot, and yeah, it’s got a decent kick. It’s nothing too aggressive, but it’ll give you a bit of a tingle.

The lightly crispy bun does a good job of holding up to the meaty sandwich, though I wish it were either a bit crustier, or lightly toasted. Everything here is quite soft, so some extra texture would be nice.

Similarly, the salsa verde is tasty, but I really think the sandwich needs some pickles or something a bit more acidic to cut through the richness of the beef.

Still, I didn’t love it, but am I mad that I ate this sandwich? Absolutely not. Would I eat it again? I absolutely would.

Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s

Published on July 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

The Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich is the type of fast food novelty item nuttiness that I love, though I’ll admit that it’s probably more fun to look at / think about than to actually eat.

Here’s how Wendy’s describes it: “Our iconic spicy chicken fillet topped with chopped Takis Fuego® Chips, with cheddar cheese sauce, a creamy corn spread, and chili lime sauce. Get fired up because, well, you’re gonna get fired up.”

I certainly did not dislike eating this, but the spicy lime sauce wallops all the other flavours in the sandwich. It’s tasty enough — it certainly captures the zippy/spicy flavour of Takis Fuego, and has a mild kick — but the intense acidity is overwhelming.

There are other flavours here that should theoretically complement and/or tone down that in-your-face flavour, but everything else is thoroughly wiped out by the Takis flavour. What did the cheese sauce or the “creamy corn spread” taste like? Don’t ask me!

Still, the chicken itself was solid, and the additional texture you get from the chips is nice. The sandwich is not unpleasant, but it’s not something I’m going to run out to get again. But if you’re a Takis Fuego superfan? Run, don’t walk to try this sandwich. You’re going to love it.

I also got an order of the Fuego Fries (“Our always hot and crispy fries made even hotter by getting shaken in a chili lime seasoning, inspired by Takis®. The shake will leave you shook”), which was extremely unnecessary — it’s the exact same flavour, just on fries instead of in a sandwich. It’s a lot.

Big Rösti at McDonald’s (The International Menu Heist)

Published on June 30, 2025June 30, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2736 Lakeshore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I’ve now tried every item featured in McDonald’s International Menu Heist (aside from the Sweet Tangy Chili Dip), and it looks like I’ve saved the best for last. The Big Rösti from Germany? Quite tasty!

Here’s how McDonald’s describes it: “Picture a beautifully beefy burger, hickory-smoked bacon, melt-in-your-mouth processed cheese, delicious cheese sauce, and the jewel in the bun: our golden ‘Rösti’ hash brown. Served on a fluffy bun topped with rolled oats, it’s time to say ‘Willkommen.'”

The cheese sauce here is interesting; it’s more like cheese-flavoured mayo than the Cheez-Whiz-esque sauce that you might expect, but it works. It’s nice and zippy, with a noticeable cheesy flavour.

The Quarter Pounder patty was quite dry, but there was enough of that tasty sauce to (mostly) cancel this out.

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a burger with a hash brown on it, but it works surprisingly well — it adds some nice crispiness, and helps to round out the saltiness from the cheese sauce and the bacon.

The placement of the cheese slice was odd, however; it’s on top of the bacon and the hash brown rather than the burger, which means that it doesn’t get particularly melty. That’s a shame, but everything else here is tasty enough that this never feels like a huge deal.

Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich at McDonald’s (The International Menu Heist)

Published on June 29, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 377 Burnhamthorpe Road East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

Well, I’m three items deep into the International Menu Heist (I’ve tried the Biscoff McFlurry, the McPizza Bites and the Garlic Mayo-Style Sauce), and everything’s been pretty tasty so far, so I guess a dud was inevitable.

Enter: the Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich from Japan (“The Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich has a breaded seasoned chicken patty, covered in a delicious, sweet and tangy teriyaki sauce, topped with shredded lettuce, mayo-style sauce, and a sesame seed bun. These mix of flavours will have you reaching for another bite. And another. And another, and somehow it’s all gone!”).

It’s basically a McCrispy with teriyaki sauce.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a McDonald’s chicken sandwich that was dunked in sauce rather than just topped, so that’s interesting I guess?

But also: too much sauce. This wouldn’t have been an issue if it were tasty, but the overly sweet, gloppy teriyaki sauce here is a bit of a whiff.

It’s just way, way too sweet, with a mild hint of teriyaki flavour and a whole bunch of in-your-face sugariness. If you hadn’t told me it was supposed to be teriyaki, I’m not sure I even would have guessed. It’s overwhelmingly sweet.

Also, I don’t know if my sandwich was over-dipped or if it was supposed to be this saucy, but holy cow, it was a mess. It was easily the sloppiest sandwich I’ve ever had from McDonald’s, and maybe the messiest sandwich I’ve ever had, period? My hands were basically soaked in sticky teriyaki sauce by the time I was finished.