chicken – Page 5 – Michael Eats

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.

McSpicy at McDonald’s

Published on February 12, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

The McSpicy isn’t the most exciting new item at McDonald’s. It’s basically a spicy McCrispy? I don’t think the chicken patty is identical, but the flavour and texture of the breading is similar enough that if they had called this the Spicy McCrispy, no one would have batted an eye.

Here’s how McDonald’s describes it: “The McSpicy chicken sandwich brings the heat, made with 100% seasoned white meat chicken breast marinated, battered and breaded in a fiery seasoning blend. Enjoy this crispy delight topped with shredded lettuce and cooling mayo-style sauce, all in a toasted sesame seed bun.”

It’s not super exciting, but also: it’s pretty good. Notably, the spice level is actually surprisingly pronounced. No, it’s not going to blow your face off, but for something from a fast food joint, it’s got some heat.

And that spice actually does make a difference — it takes what would otherwise be a pretty ho-hum, vaguely dry fast food chicken sandwich and gives it a decent amount of personality.

Great Ramen at Kaminari Ramen Bar

Published on January 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1330 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.bykaminari.com/

Kaminari Ramen Bar actually has a few types of ramen on the menu: clear Tokyo-style, creamy, “duck umami,” vegan, and a soupless yuzu ramen. The waiter said they don’t really have a specialty, so I went with the clear Tokyo-style.

The ramen, as per the menu: “Clear chicken broth, pork cha-shu, chicken cha-shu, wonton, Tokyo Negi, bamboo shoot, and nori seaweed.” You can get it either shio (salt) or shoyu (soy sauce); I went with the latter.

It’s a very good bowl of ramen. This style of ramen isn’t quite as common in the GTA as the more omnipresent creamy tonkotsu or tori paitan, but done well, it’s just as delicious.

The soup has a very rich and savoury soy-sauce-infused flavour. It’s the type of broth that never feels one-note or overly salty, no matter how much of it you have.

And everything else here was quite tasty, from the chewy, thin noodles to the tender chicken and pork. It’s a top-notch bowl of ramen.

A Great Wrap at Shawarma Alzaeem

Published on December 28, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1018 Eglinton Avenue East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.alzaeem.ca/

How many shawarma restaurants do you think there are in the GTA? A thousand? Two thousand? More?? There’s no shortage of shawarma, that’s for sure.

(This would be a great place for me to be like, well the actual number is [insert actual number here], but no, I haven’t done that research. What do I look like, Edward R. Murrow? I would be very curious to know the actual number, though.)

This means if you’re going to go out of your way for shawarma, it had better be pretty damn good, because there’s probably one or two (or more) shawarma joints within walking distance of basically any home in the GTA (well, outside of the hardcore suburbs where there’s basically nothing within walking distance).

So, is Shawarma Alzaeem worth going out of your way for? Yeah, kinda. I got the chicken shawarma saj wrap, and it was thoroughly tasty. Most notably, it’s absolutely doused in a particularly delicious garlic sauce that would make pretty much anything taste great. It’s also nicely toasted, giving the saj a light crispiness on the outside (while maintaining its interior chewiness).

My only real complaint is that the chicken is a bit on the dry side (I’m pretty sure it’s all white meat, which doesn’t help). But then there’s so much of that aforementioned sauce that this barely even matters.

Tasty Eats at Kish’s Roti & Doubles

Published on December 26, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5019 Spectrum Way, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/kishsrotianddoubles

I love roti, though I’ll admit that my experience with doubles is limited. I’ve actually only had this dish one other time, and I wasn’t crazy about.

Still, if you’re at a place with both roti and doubles in its name, you’ve gotta try the roti, and you’ve gotta try the doubles.

I tried the boneless chicken roti (well, technically I ordered the goat roti, but I guess the woman behind the counter heard chicken), and I quite enjoyed it. The chicken was relatively tender, had a nice curry flavour, and a good pop of heat. The wrap was a bit heavy on roti and light on filling, but the roti itself was so fresh and tasty that this barely even mattered.

As for the doubles, they have a variety of filling options, including chicken, goat, and lamb, but I went with the classic, which is just chickpeas.

I really enjoyed it. The flatbread was fresh and chewy, and the filling has a nice sweetness that balances well with the tender chickpeas and the decent level of spice. I was a bit confused by the appeal of this dish after my last experience, but now I totally get it.