Canada – Page 19 – Michael Eats

Sweet and Savoury Crepes at La Crepe

Published on April 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 300 Richmond Street West, Toronto
Website: None

Note: I’ve got a bit of a backlog of posts, and apparently this place has closed since my visit. Super useful post, I know. Enjoy?

La Crepe is a relatively new restaurant downtown that specializes in crepes. They have a few stools inside and one table outside, but mostly, it’s a take-out joint.

They have two sides of the menu: sweet, classic crepes, and savoury buckwheat crepes. I ordered the Parisienne from the savoury side (“French Emmental, ham, side up egg”).

A whole bunch of gooey cheese, ham, and an egg is always going to be a tasty combo. You cannot go wrong there. It’s impossible. They also peppered it pretty aggressively, which complemented the other ingredients well. It’s quite tasty.

The crepe was a little disappointing, though. The best buckwheat crepes have a light exterior crispiness and a chewy interior; this one was was just kinda dry throughout, despite being freshly made.

Still, it certainly wasn’t bad, and was a nice vehicle for the tasty stuff within. It may not have blown my mind, but it was a solid meal.

Tasty Sandwiches at Cubano Kings

Published on April 27, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 141 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.cubanokings.com/

As you’d expect from the name, Cubano Kings is pretty much all about Cubanos (though they do have a few other things on the menu). They actually serve five different varieties of the sandwich — who knew that many types of Cuban sandwiches even existed?

The Miami Cubano (“slow-roasted mojo pork, black forest ham, Swiss cheese, mustard & pickle”) is the classic Cubano we all know and love, so that’s what I ordered.

It’s a solid sandwich. It’s nicely pressed with a crisp exterior and gooey cheese within, and it has a good proportion of ham and roast pork.

It was very light on the mustard and probably could have used a bit more to cut through the richness of the other ingredients, but otherwise this was a solid, no-frills Cuban sandwich.

Cheap Eats at Mini Bar

Published on April 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 116 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: None

If nothing else, Mini Bar is an absolute steal. A relatively hearty sandwich downtown for eight bucks? Yeah, you can’t go wrong there.

Well, I suppose you could go wrong if the sandwich didn’t taste good, but that’s clearly not an issue here.

I ordered the bulgogi and kimchi, which comes in a Kaiser roll, topped with tender beef bulgogi, kimchi, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and a slice of cheddar cheese.

Is it going to rock your world? No, probably not; it’s a pretty no-frills sandwich, but for what it is (and considering the price) it’s very tasty. If I worked in the area, I’m sure I’d be a regular.

Mini Bar serves kimbap on Fridays, which is also quite satisfying. They were making them as I ordered, so it was super fresh and filled with tasty stuff.

Quick Bites: Doraji, Chica’s, Maman

Published on April 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Bibimbap from Doraji at the Well

I tried the bibimbap here during the media night at the Well, and quite enjoyed it. Well, I just tried it again — spicy pork this time (bulgogi beef, chicken, fried tofu, and vegetarian are also options) — and again, I quite enjoyed it. It’s a very classic bowl of bibimbap, executed perfectly. I honestly don’t have much more to say about it than that. If you like bibimbap, it’s a great version of that dish. And if you don’t, what is wrong with you??

Hot Honey at Chica’s Chicken

While Chica’s days of being the mind-blowing, thigh-slapping best fried chicken that you’ve ever had are long gone, it’s still quite good. For some reason, I hadn’t tried their Hot Honey sandwich until now, and yeah, it’s predictably delicious. Most things at Chica’s tend to be a bit sweeter than I’d like, so I probably shouldn’t be surprised that their version of hot honey is more honey, less hot. A bit more acidity and heat would really help round out the sweetness, but it’s still quite tasty for what it is. And as always, the chicken itself features a great balance between the crispy exterior and juicy interior.

Chocolate chip cookie at Maman

Maman is an NYC bakery chain that opened a location in Toronto a few years ago. They have a whole bunch of sandwiches and pastries on the menu, but I heard that the chocolate chip cookie is the thing to get. And yeah, it’s tasty. Nothing about it knocked my socks off, but it’s clearly an above average cookie. My only real issue is the sugar they sprinkle on top; it’s a neat idea in theory (I’m assuming the idea is to give you a crispy, slightly caramelized top), but in practice it just gives the cookie a slightly grainy texture. I still quite enjoyed the cookie (and it wasn’t too sweet, despite the sprinkling of sugar), but that was a shame.

Delicious Doughnuts at Fab’s Donuts

Published on April 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1618 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fabsdonuts/

Fab’s is in the same spot where Maverick’s Donut Company used to be, which I liked a whole lot. Apparently it’s from the same owners, who decided to strike out on their own. Clearly, they know what they’re doing, because the doughnuts here are very, very good.

They are quite different, however — notably, Maverick’s specialized mostly in cake doughnuts, and as far as I can tell, this is a cake-free zone. All the doughnuts that I tried were classic raised doughnuts.

I tried four: creme brulee, pistachio heaven, Biscoff, and chocolate kunafa.

All were generously filled, and all were thoroughly delicious, though the creme brulee — with its crackly top and tasty custard filling — was probably my favourite.

But then everything was thoroughly tasty, with the doughnuts themselves having a nice chewy texture, and with the flavours being right where they should be. It’s all quite sweet, but not a sugar-bomb. They’re great doughnuts.