Canada – Page 19 – Michael Eats

Tasty Drinks at Yomie’s Rice X Yogurt

Published on June 8, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4188 Finch Avenue East, Scarborough
Website: None

I didn’t realize when I visited, but apparently Yomie’s is a chain with locations all over the world (I can’t find a listing of all their locations, but a quick Google search shows locations in the US, Australia, and Singapore). They specialize in yogurt drinks, and yeah, I get why they’re successful. It’s tasty.

They have a fairly extensive menu, but the purple rice yogurt seems to be the specialty, so that’s what I went with.

It’s a really simple drink: it’s just sweet yogurt with chewy purple rice. I had a similar drink at Kome Yogurt downtown, and I think I liked this one even better. It had a satisfying proportion of yogurt to rice, and the level of sweetness was slightly more restrained. It’s quite good.

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich from BEAR Steak Sandwiches

Published on June 7, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 550A College Street, Toronto
Website: https://bearsteak.ca/

The Great BEAR sandwich is a collaboration between BEAR Steak Sandwiches and Great Fountain Fast Food, and it’s only being served this weekend (June 7 and 8).

That’s just not enough time for a sandwich this great. I think it’s safe to say that this is the most upsetting thing happening in the world right now. No, I’m not going to look at the news. You look at the news. I want to eat this sandwich for the rest of my life.

The Great BEAR sandwich, as per Instagram: “crispy pork belly, black vinegar sauce, black pepper aioli, pickled onions, scallions, black sesame bun.”

Yes. Yes to all of that. For whatever reason, the notion of putting Chinese roast pork in a sandwich had never even occurred to me, but yeah, of course. Of course that’s good.

The pork is fatty and perfectly cooked, and while my first few bites were a bit lacking in crispy skin, the back half of of the sandwich was loaded with the stuff.

The meat itself is so tender and and flavourful that you could throw it on a bun and call it a day, but the other stuff here really amps up the flavour of the sandwich. And the zippy pickled onions and black vinegar sauce do a great job of cutting through the richness of the unctuous pork; the sandwich is very finely tuned, and never feels too heavy.

The bun looks a bit big in the photos, but it’s pillowy and light, and lets the pork be the star of the show.

So no, sorry BEAR Steak Sandwiches. This can’t just be a limited-time thing. I won’t allow it.

Bangers and Mash Sandwich at Hot Pork

Published on June 4, 2025June 4, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 932 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/hotpork.to/

I tried the beef brisket breakfast sandwich from Hot Pork last year, and spoiler alert: it was one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had.

So when I heard Hot Pork was serving a bangers and mash sandwich (“Irish Banger Patty, Mashed Potato Patty, Caramelized Onions, Brisket Gravy, Brioche Bun”), I thought, well, that sounds weird, but if Hot Pork is doing it, it must be great.

And indeed it was. Indeed it was.

I will say that it could have used something like 50 percent less mashed potato; the bun already kinda fills that role in a sandwich, and the prodigious amount of mashed potatoes here is carb overload (it also dilutes the other flavours, which are all fantastic).

Otherwise? Amazing sandwich. The pork patty is nicely-spiced and thoroughly delicious, and the combo between the savoury, ultra-flavourful gravy and the deeply caramelized onions is a big winner. And the brioche bun adds some nice sweetness and holds up to the very, very messy sandwich without overwhelming.

With slightly less mashed potato, this could have been an all-timer — but even as is, it was seriously tasty.

A Delicious Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea’s Cookies

Published on June 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 166 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://andreascookies.com/

The last time I tried a cookie from Andrea’s, I’ll admit that I liked it but didn’t love it. I’m just not generally a fan of the type of underbaked-on-purpose cookies that they serve here.

The cookie I just had, however? Phenomenal. Seriously, seriously good.

I got the knafeh, which is basically their take on the Dubai chocolate craze that’s slowly taking over the world (“milk & dark chocolate, phyllo, pistachio cream, pistachios”).

Oof, it’s good. With a chocolatey cookie like this (particularly with all the stuff they’ve crammed into it and onto it), my issues with an underbaked cookie completely disappear. This cookie was pleasantly soft, but had none of the raw flour flavour or gumminess that can plague these types of cookies.

That’s not to mention the the crispy bits of kadayif, which do a great job of bringing the soft cookie some texture.

And of course, the combo between the very chocolatey cookie and the rich pistachio cream is a big winner. It helps that they’re clearly using good quality chocolate, but it’s easily one of the better cookies I’ve had in a while.

Tasty Sandwiches at Paris Steak

Published on May 25, 2025May 25, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 120 Atlantic Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.parissteak.ca/

Paris Steak has an admirably focused menu — you can get their steak (ribeye, striploin, or chuck) in a sandwich, by itself with fries, or on a salad, and that’s about it.

They have a small seating area downstairs, but seem to be mostly a take-out joint.

The sandwich, as per their menu: “Your choice of steak, seasoned and grilled medium rare, served on a buttered ciabatta bun with arugula salad and house-made chimichurri.”

I tried a couple: ribeye and striploin, and both were quite tasty; I slightly preferred the fattier ribeye, but both were perfectly cooked and quite tender, with the toasty ciabatta bun being a great vehicle for the substantial steak.

It’s a very satisfying sandwich, though the heavy-handed application of garlicky, herby chimichurri — while extremely tasty — kinda defeats the point of using dry-aged steak, at least somewhat. While dry-aging does add tenderness, which is certainly a factor here, its main draw is that it adds complexity to the beef’s flavour. That’s almost entirely lost here, with the flavour of the beef being mostly overwhelmed by the chimichurri.

I should reiterate that the thing that’s overwhelming the flavour of the steak is thoroughly delicious, so it feels absurd to complain too much. But I wish that the chimichurri was dialed back a bit so that it could complement the steak without becoming the star of the show. Regardless, it’s a very good sandwich.

The duck fat fries (“fresh-cut fries tossed in duck fat and finished with parmesan crumble”), on the other hand? 100% perfect, no notes. Great flavour, with an amazing crispy/creamy balance. Legitimately some of the best fries I’ve ever had.