coconut – Michael Eats

Tasty Australian Pastries at The Sydney Grind

Published on November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2883 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.thesydneygrind.com/

The Sydney Grind is a delightful Australian-themed coffee shop that serves a bunch of tasty-looking pastries. One of those pastries: the lamington, an Australian specialty that features yellow cake coated in chocolate and coconut.

It’s quite tasty. I mean, how could it not be? It’s just plain cake with chocolate and coconut — all tasty stuff.

Well, I guess you could mess it up by making a bad quality cake or using shoddy chocolate, but that’s clearly not the case here. The cake is tasty and moist, and the chocolate/coconut combo is expectedly delicious.

Tasty Sweet Buns at Akko Cake House

Published on October 20, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4040 Creditview Road #1, Mississauga
Website: None

Akko Cake House is a bit oddly named. They do have a handful of cakes at the front, but mostly, this is a fairly standard Chinese bakery with a whole bunch of sweet and savoury buns and tarts.

I tried a few sweet buns: coconut, custard, and walnut.

The pastry itself was quite good — it was fresh, a little bit sweet, and super fluffy.

I was intrigued about the walnut variety; I don’t recall ever seeing a walnut bun before, and I’ve certainly never tried one. It was fairly subtle, however, with a very thin layer of walnut paste and a few walnut chunks. It tasted more like a plain bun with a mild walnut flavour.

The custard was about what you’d expect. It was sweet, creamy, and tasty.

The coconut bun was where it was at. The generous filling was really tasty, with a nice coconut flavour. It also has a surprisingly strong hit of salt that does a great job of rounding out the sweetness. It’s really good. The bakery was packed (the line was to the door when I left), and with buns that good, it’s easy enough to see why.

An Amazing Turkey Sub at Good Behaviour Submarine

Published on August 14, 2022August 14, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 342 Westmoreland Avenue North, Toronto
Website: https://goodbehaviourto.ca/

The last time I went to Good Behaviour, I tried a couple of the hot subs, and found them to be tasty, but not much more than that; they were a bit too one-note rich. Well, clearly the cold subs are the way to go, because I just tried the turkey and it was very, very good.

The turkey, as per their menu: “smoked turkey, smoked gouda, grainy mustard, salsa verde, pickled artichoke, iceberg lettuce.”

The key here is that, unlike the hot subs, there are a variety of tastes and textures — the meaty turkey, the creamy cheese, the crispy lettuce, and the sharp mustard and salsa verde are a winning combo. It seems like a lot of lettuce, but it’s nicely dressed, so it adds a ton of flavour, not to mention the very satisfying crunch and freshness.

It’s a great balance of flavours that’s all held together by a fresh, tasty bun; it’s a seriously top-notch sandwich.

I also got a scoop of ice cream, because it’s an ice cream shop, so of course I got some ice cream. I got the coconut cream pie, which is rich, creamy, and thoroughly coconutty, with tasty cookie chunks interspersed throughout.

Nani’s Gelato: Still the Best Gelato in the City

Published on August 1, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6 Charles Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.nanisgelato.com/

I wrote about Nani’s Gelato a few times before this blog went on hiatus; back then they were operating out of a truck, and I mentioned that I think they might serve the best gelato in the city.

They upgraded to a permanent location near Yonge and Bloor last year, and there’s no longer any “might” about it. It’s easily the best gelato in the city.

The combo of delightfully unique flavours (they come up with a new assortment every couple of weeks) and top-notch quality ice cream is irresistible. On this particular visit I went with salted olive oil candied pecan and toasted coconut, and both flavours were perfectly creamy and intensely delicious. Some of the flavours here sound odd in theory, but always work — you never, ever get the sense that they’re odd just for novelty value. The flavour combos are as tasty as they are unique.

Cupcake Perfection at Bobbette and Belle

Published on September 24, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1121 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: http://bobbetteandbelle.com/

I’ve already mentioned Bobbette and Belle, a delightful bakery on the east end (they also have a location north of the city).

I quite enjoyed the last cupcake I had here — the cookies and cream — but the pineapple coconut variety I just had blew it out of the water. It was outstanding. It might have been the best cupcake I’ve ever had, and that’s not a proclamation I make lightly.

Holy moly it was so good. I only have the one photo, because I wasn’t planning on blogging about it, but then I ate it and of course I have to blog about it.

The balance between the fluffy buttercream icing and the perfectly moist cake is phenomenal, and the coconut and pineapple flavours work incredibly well together. That’s not to mention the toasted coconut on top, which adds more flavour and a delightful crispiness.

Seriously: it’s ridiculous how delicious this cupcake is.