chicken – Michael Eats

A Satisfying Meal at Hancook Cheese Dakgalbi

Published on November 30, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 605 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.hancookcanada.com/

It’s always nice when you go to restaurant and know exactly what to order. In the case of Hancook Cheese Dakgalbi, that’s an extremely easy decision: it’s gotta be the Hancook cheese dakgalbi.

Dakgalbi is a Korean dish that consists of stir-fried chicken, rice cakes, and veggies in a sweet, gochujang-infused sauce. You can get it without cheese, but why would you? The richness of the cheese actually complements the zingy dish quite well.

It’s seriously tasty. It’s kind of like an amped-up version of tteokbokki, with the tender chicken being a great addition to the sweet/spicy sauce and the chewy rice cakes.

You can order it at a spice level from one to four; I went with three, and it was pleasantly spicy but not overwhelmingly so. I’d probably get four next time, but it certainly wasn’t lacking in spice.

I also got an order of the fried vegetable dumplings. Nothing about these particularly blew me away, but they’re nicely crispy on the outside and come with a creamy dipping sauce that’s thoroughly delicious and surprisingly fiery.

Hearty Kothu Roti at Saffron Spice Kitchen

Published on November 29, 2025 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 459 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.saffronspicekitchen.com/

Saffron Spice Kitchen is a delightful little restaurant on Queen Street specializing in Sri Lankan eats. And when I say little, I mean little. They’ve got a couple of counter seats, but mostly, this is a take-out place.

They have a variety of wraps and curries on the menu, but their specialty seems to be the kothu roti (basically a Sri Lankan hash, with chopped up roti, eggs, and meat), with the butter chicken version being the one they’re best known for.

It’s quite tasty and seriously hearty, with a richness from the eggs and a satisfying chewiness from the roti. It’s also delightfully flavourful, and is absolutely crammed with Sri Lankan spices.

The butter chicken on top isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, it’s a solid version of the dish and works well with the kothu roti.

You can choose from three levels levels of heat; I went with the hottest version, and while it could have been hotter, it was studded with sliced peppers that gave it some nice pops of heat. It’s a tasty dish.

But the portion, good lord. It costs fifteen bucks, which seems like it might be on the pricey side until they hand it to you and you realize that it must weigh like three or four pounds. It’s a good thing this is mostly a take-out joint, because this is a dish that either needs to be shared or split up into like two or three meals. I barely made a dent in it.

Tasty Fried Chicken and Curry at Ramen Ryu

Published on November 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 486 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Wellington Market)
Website: https://ryusnoodlebar.com/ramen_ryu

I mentioned recently that I tried the ramen at Ramen Ryu at the Well and found it tasty, but not mind-blowing. Well, maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? This place has a “recommendation” board on their menu, and the top choice isn’t ramen at all — it’s karaage & curry.

I ordered it, obviously, and yeah, it’s quite tasty.

It’s a simple dish — rice, a whole bunch of Japanese curry, and three pieces of karaage (i.e. Japanese fried chicken).

The curry is great, with a nice depth of flavour and a mild spicy kick. It’s maybe a touch on the salty side, but is otherwise above average Japanese curry.

The chicken features a nice balance between the crispy exterior and juicy interior, and complements the curry well. And the rice does a great job of soaking up that curry. It’s a very satisfying dish.

Shawarma/Calzone Fusion at Keko Shawarma

Published on November 16, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3128 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://kekoshawarmaon.com/

As soon as I found out that Keko Shawarma sells a shawarma calzone, I was sold. I had zero follow-up questions. Shawarma calzone? Yes please.

It’s actually pretty basic. It’s filled with beef or chicken shawarma, a whole bunch of gooey cheese, and… that’s it. It comes with a salad on the side, along with a couple of little cups of hot sauce and garlic sauce.

I went with the chicken shawarma, which is definitely above average. It’s a tiny bit on the dry side, but it’s got a bunch of the crispy bits you’re looking for and is nicely spiced. It’s quite tasty.

The calzone was made to order and was hot and fresh, with a generous amount of chicken shawarma and melty cheese, and a thin crust that was mostly just a vehicle for the chicken and cheese.

The hot sauce could have been hotter (it was barely spicy at all), but the creamy garlic sauce was seriously tasty and quite addictive.

I’m glad I tried it, but I think I’d get the normal shawarma wrap if I found myself back here. Shawarma + calzone is a fun combo, but I think there’s a reason it’s not really a thing. The calzone wasn’t really better than the bread you’d normally get in a shawarma wrap, and the abundant cheese — while tasty — makes this taste more like a novelty than something you’d want to eat on the regular.

Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Aloette Go

Published on November 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 171 East Liberty Street, Toronto
Website: https://aloettego.com/

I’ve had a couple of things from Aloette and thought they were both pretty great. Well I just tried the Spicy Chicken Sandwich (“Crispy buttermilk fried chicken, Aloette hot sauce, Go sauce, & shredded lettuce”), and hey, what do you know? It’s great as well.

It’s a really, really good fried chicken sandwich. The chicken itself is ultra-tender thigh meat, and the crispy exterior? Perfection. It’s got a great level of crunch without being overly substantial, and it’s nicely seasoned.

It’s topped with hot sauce and “Go sauce” — it doesn’t look all that saucy from the photo (sadly, I wasn’t able to cut it in half), so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was saucy and delicious. The hot sauce / Go sauce combo is basically Aloette’s version of Buffalo sauce and ranch, which is a classic combo.

The heat level is somewhere between medium and hot — it’s certainly not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s satisfying.

And the bun was soft and fresh, and held up to the saucy chicken quite well (again, you can’t tell, but I assure you that it was saucy). It’s a stellar fried chicken sandwich.