chicken – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Kumain Kitchen, Kezy Doner, Salad King

Published on October 19, 2025October 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Chicken Inasal at Kumain Kitchen

Kumain Kitchen is a “Filipino inspired pop-up” that was in the pop-up space in the Food District at Square One last year (yeah, I have a bit of a backlog). I tried the chicken inasal (“grilled lemongrass chicken served with garlic rice and cucumber salad”) and mostly, it was quite tasty. The chicken was slightly on the dry side, but it was so well seasoned and absolutely crammed with vibrant flavours that this wasn’t a big deal. I really enjoyed it. But I guess they ran out of garlic rice, because it came with plain old rice instead, which was a shame. As for the cucumber salad, it was actually just undressed cucumbers, radishes and tomatoes, along with pickled onion. I actually Googled this to see if that’s just a Filipino thing, but nope — Filipino cucumber and tomato salad is called ensaladang pipino, and it’s definitely supposed to be dressed. Still, that chicken was delicious enough to make up for everything else.

Chicken Wrap at Kezy Doner

The chicken wrap from Kezy Doner was thoroughly okay. Did anything about it stand out? No, not even remotely. But it came up to exactly ten bucks with tax, came crammed with a healthy amount of relatively juicy chicken, and was satisfying enough for what it was. It’s not something you should go out of your way for, but if you’re in the area and you don’t feel like spending too much money, sure, why not? This place is in a food court right near the OCAD campus, and I can definitely see it being popular with broke students.

Lime Leaf Chicken at Salad King

Speaking of restaurants with (relatively) cheap eats that are popular with students… Salad King. This is a Toronto institution (it’s been around since 1981) that I’ve somehow never tried. I got the lime leaf chicken (“Chicken breast slices, snap peas, red pepper, lime leaf, & carrot in a spicy chili sauce with Thai herbs”) and it was perfectly fine. The chicken was a bit dry, but otherwise it was flavourful and satisfying. I’m not exactly going to be dreaming about the place, but I can see why it’s so popular. They are also, famously, not kidding around with the spice here, and yeah. I chose 10 out of 20 on their spice-scale, and it was thoroughly fiery.

Hot Ones Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

Published on October 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 7080 Saint Barbara Boulevard, Mississauga
Website: https://www.popeyeschicken.ca/

Things have gotten a bit better over the last few years, but generally speaking, if a fast food joint claims that they’re serving something spicy, it’s probably mild at best. But given that this is a collaboration with Hot Ones, I was excited that this would be a bit spicier than the norm.

They have a couple of Hot Ones items on the menu, but the spiciest is supposedly the Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings: “Classic wings (bone-in) dusted with a bold ghost pepper dry rub, served with a Hot Ones Last Dab Ranch dip cup.”

(You can also supposedly buy a little packet of the notoriously fiery Last Dab hot sauce, though I think this might not be available in Canada — I tried a couple of locations, and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about.)

The wings themselves are only mildly spicy, but the Last Dab Ranch dip actually does have a nice kick (and otherwise tastes like pretty standard ranch). I was kinda hoping for it to blow my face off, and it wasn’t even remotely that hot, but it was almost certainly the spiciest thing I’ve ever had from a fast food chain.

Otherwise, the wings were fine. They were maybe the teeny-tiniest wings I’ve ever had, but they were hot and fresh and had a nice crispy exterior.

Wacky Eats at The Ex

Published on September 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 210 Princes’ Boulevard, Toronto
Website: https://theex.com/

Another year, another batch of over-the-top carnival food from The Ex.

Butter Chicken Birria Tacos from Rick’s Good Eats

Rick’s Good Eats — which specializes in tasty Indian fusion — is always a safe bet, and yeah, these tacos were very good. They came looking a bit flat and sad (and small, considering they cost about twenty bucks with tax and tip), but they’re actually quite delicious, with some tasty butter chicken inside and a whole bunch of gooey cheese. Not cheap, but hey, it’s The Ex. Everything’s a bit overpriced.

Poutine Dumps from Super Noodle Company

Unfortunate name aside (I shouldn’t have to say this, but please don’t shorten dumplings to “dumps”), this was also quite good. The menu describes this as “homemade chicken dumplings, torched American cheese, coconut curry gravy, crispy shallots, garlic, fresh green onions & chili oil.” It’s not even remotely poutine-like (I never in a million years would have made that connection if you hadn’t told me), but whatever it is, it’s tasty. The combo of cheese and dumpling is vaguely pierogi-esque and quite satisfying, and everything else in the bowl is tasty.

Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich from Korean Fried Chicken

The chicken in the sandwich was pretty skimpy (it maybe filled half of the bun), but the chicken that was there was crispy, juicy, and covered in the usual Korean fried chicken sauce, which is always satisfying. The fries were a bit undercooked, however.

Rib Sandwich from Hogtown Ribs

Well, something had to be a dud, I suppose. I don’t know why I thought (or hoped, at least) that this would have actual rib meat rather than ground-up McRib-style patties, but yeah, of course it was the latter. And okay, fine, I can roll with a McRib — but the meat here had clearly been sitting in a warming tray for hours, with a chewy texture and that gamy flavour you get from pork that’s been reheated one time too many.

Chicken Nugget Cookie from Craig’s Cookies

Here’s a head-scratcher: the rib sandwich that seemed like a sure bet was a dud, and the chicken-nugget-stuffed cookie that should have been gross was… actually kind of good? This seems like it should be horrible, but it’s tasty for the same reasons that chicken and waffles are tasty — it has a very similar flavour, but in a convenient hand-held package. And the salty chicken nugget helps to balance out the sweetness of the cookie itself (which is always a bit more pronounced than I’d like at Craig’s Cookies). I was shocked by how much I liked this.

Tasty Eats at Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

Published on May 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 10 Dundas Street East, Toronto
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

Shake Shack is currently doing a limited-time collaboration with Mimi Chinese. It ends on May 26, so you’d better hurry if you want to check it out (and trust me, you want to check it out). They’re serving a chicken sandwich, seasoned fries, and a black sesame milkshake; all three are thoroughly delicious.

First up: the Málà Chicken sandwich (“Crispy chicken spiced with MIMI’s signature chili oil, charred scallion relish, green chili mayo, tangy pickles and lettuce”).

In Chinese cuisine, “mala” refers to a flavour that’s simultaneously spicy and numbing (thanks to Sichuan peppercorns), and yeah, this sandwich nails that. It’s not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s got a good kick and a noticeable tingliness from the peppercorns.

The sandwich is otherwise nice and zippy, with a great balance of flavours. It was kind of a bummer that the piece of chicken in my sandwich only filled half the bun (it was basically a hefty chicken strip), but the quality was great, with a crispy exterior and a very juicy interior (particularly impressive, given that it’s white meat).

And everything here was so tasty that even the condiment-only half of the sandwich was still satisfying.

I also tried the Shaokao Fries (“Crinkle cuts, street food–style—dusted with cumin, chili, and Sichuan peppercorn. Served with green chili mayo”).

The fries themselves were standard-issue crinkle cut fries, but that tasty seasoning really elevates them, with more of that hot/numbing flavour. And the dip is a great combo of creamy and zesty.

I wasn’t planning on getting the milkshake, but if you’re already getting the sandwich and the fries, I guess you may as well go all the way and get the shake, too. The Black Sesame Coconut Shake: “A nutty blend of black sesame and coconut inspired by traditional Chinese desserts.”

And hey, what do you know — this was pretty great, too. In particular, the pronounced black sesame flavour actually works really well in a milkshake, which was nice and creamy without being overly thick.

Great Shawarma at Tahini’s

Published on April 5, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 347 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://tahinis.com/

Tahini’s is a shawarma chain with around a dozen locations peppered throughout the GTA, so I’ll admit that my expectations were not super high. Still, I figured I’d give it a shot.

I ordered the chicken shawarma wrap, which comes in three different configurations: original, old school, and authentic. I went with original (“garlic, tahini, pickles, tomatoes, pomegranate molasses, parsley”).

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this.

Everything here is just where you want it to be: the chicken is juicy and has a decent amount of crispy bits, the proportion of toppings to meat is just right, and the sauces (which are very generously applied) are quite tasty. In particular, the addition of pomegranate molasses is kind of ingenious, as it gives the wrap a zippy brightness that helps to cut through its richness.

And the wrap (saj, I think?) is nicely toasted, giving it a nice balance between its lightly crispy exterior and chewy interior.

In my experience, once a restaurant opens more than two or three locations, the quality starts to take a nosedive, so the fact that Tahini’s is this delicious is a very pleasant surprise.