cookie – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Susie’s Rise & Dine, Dear Grain, The Saj Wraps

Published on March 24, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Mapo Frito Pie from Susie’s Rise & Dine at the Taste of Little Italy

The food at last year’s Taste of Little Italy was a bit of a disappointment — it was mostly an assortment of generic street festival stuff, without a whole lot of local flavour. There were a few gems, however. Most notably: the Mapo Frito Pie from Susie’s Rise & Dine, which consists of a bag of Fritos topped with a seriously tasty chili (that, as the name implies, is infused with mapo tofu flavour). They serve this at the restaurant, and clearly I’m going to have to check the place out.

Buckwheat cookie from Dear Grain

I can’t say I’ve ever had a buckwheat cookie before, but if the one from Dear Grain is anything to go by, I need more buckwheat cookies in my life. It’s basically a chocolate chip cookie, but with a nuttiness and earthiness from the buckwheat. It’s also got a nice sprinkling of salt on top to cut through the sweetness. It’s a very good cookie.

Sujuk saj wrap from The Saj Wraps

I feel like, very broadly, there are two types of restaurants: restaurants you’re happy to go out of your way for, and local joints that are solid, but not exciting enough to warrant any kind of trek (well, I guess there’s also a third kind — a bad one — but I make it a point to not discuss anything I outright do not enjoy on this blog). I’d classify The Saj Wraps as more of a local place — the wrap I tried was solid, but nothing about it particularly jumped out at me.

Amazing Cookies at Bakery Pompette

Published on February 22, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 655 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.pompette.ca/bakery

I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of Bakery Pompette prior to Toronto Life ranking them number four on their list of the best new cookies in the city. Which is crazy, because based on how good the cookie is, I feel like everyone should be talking about this place. You’ve all failed me.

The pecan caramel cookie (“pecan chocolate chip cookies topped with coffee caramel and pecan praline”) is pure magic. It’s basically a chocolate chip cookie, but greatly enhanced with the addition of pecans and the two sauces on top.

It’s cookie perfection, with a great crispy/chewy texture, a generous amount of good-quality chocolate chips, and a nice nuttiness from the pecans.

You’d think the caramel sauce on top would be overkill, but the pleasantly mild bitterness from the coffee does an amazing job of cutting through the cookie’s sweetness.

Every element here just works. It’s a seriously, seriously good cookie.

Quick Bites: La Casa Dolce, The Fourth Man in the Fire, Petite Bouchée Patisserie

Published on February 16, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Chocolate chip cookie from La Casa Dolce

I certainly wasn’t in a rush to go back after my last visit to La Casa Dolce, but I was in the area and craving something sweet, so sure, why not? I went with the chocolate chip cookie this time, because it’s basically impossible to mess that up. That’s one of those things where even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. And this one: not bad! Not great, certainly, but it had a good amount of decent quality chocolate chips (bittersweet, I think), a nice chewy texture, and it wasn’t too sweet. It felt like something was missing, however (vanilla, maybe?), which held it back from being much better than pretty good, but I still enjoyed it.

Meatball sandwich from The Fourth Man in the Fire

I’ve written about the pizza from The Fourth Man in the Fire a couple of times on this blog, and in case you don’t feel like clicking on that link: it’s great. I like it a lot. So I decided to try their meatball sandwich this time (“Meatballs (Beef and Pork Mix), Povolone. Served on Fresh Baked to Order Bread”), and yeah, it’s good. In particular, the flavourful, tender meatballs were actually pretty amazing, and the ultra-rich tomato sauce they come with is the stuff dreams are made of. I want to bathe in the stuff. Oddly, I was expecting the bread to be the highlight (I like the crust on their pizza quite a lot) and it wasn’t. It got the job done, but I think it might have been slightly underbaked, with a mildly doughy consistency that I wasn’t crazy about.

Chocolate cake from Petite Bouchée Patisserie

I picked up a chocolate cake from this place after reading several references to it being the best in the city, and hey, wouldn’t you know it — it just might be. The cake itself is delightfully tender and fluffy, and the rich and creamy frosting is crammed with a delicious, chocolately flavour. It’s very sweet, but not in a way that feels overwhelming or cloying. Immediately after eating it, we were all making plans to order another one. So yeah, it’s quite good.

Great Cookies at Robinson Bread

Published on December 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6 Brock Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.robinsonbread.com/

The sesame, fig, and white chocolate cookie at Robinson Bread appeared in Toronto Life’s list of the top 10 best new cookies in the city, which is all I needed to know.

As you’d expect from the name, Robinson Bread is mostly known for their sourdough loaves, though they do have a handful of cookies and other pastries on offer.

They’re one of those fancy bakeries that refuses to slice their bread, which infuriates me more than I should probably admit. So I have yet to try the sourdough, but based on the quality of this cookie, I have no doubt that it’s tasty.

It’s a great cookie. It’s got a perfect texture, with a nice light crispiness on its exterior and a great chewiness within. And the sweetness is perfectly tuned, with a nice balance between the white chocolate and the figs. But it’s the pronounced nuttiness from the sesame that really makes the cookie stand out. It definitely deserves its place on a list of the best cookies in the city.

Delicious Cookies at Cosette Coffee

Published on November 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1715 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/cosette_coffee/

After reading the description of Cosette Coffee’s chocolate chip and walnut cookie (which they call a milky walnut cookie) in this Toronto Life article, I had no choice but to visit. I was obligated. Read that article and look at those photos and tell me you don’t feel the same way. I dare you.

So yeah, got that cookie. It’s a good cookie!

It’s a big, fat cookie with a gooey middle, but unlike some other places in the city (*cough* Crumbl *double cough* Andrea’s), there’s no off-putting rawness in the middle. It’s soft and melty in all the best ways.

It’s also pretty clear that they’re using great quality chocolate, and the big chunks of walnut do a great job of adding some texture and cutting the sweetness a bit. The baker here mentioned in that article that she doesn’t like a cookie that’s too sweet, and yeah, the sweetness here feels very well balanced.

It’s a great cookie, though it does taste like something is missing — not enough vanilla, maybe? But it’s otherwise so tasty, with such an addictive crispy/chewy/gooey texture, that it’s easy enough to overlook this.

I actually wound up coming back on a different day and tried the salted caramel. This one wasn’t quite as fresh as the chocolate chip cookie (it was dense and chewy throughout, with no soft gooiness), but still very, very tasty. Like with the other cookie, the sweetness level is just about perfect, with the addition of a light sprinkling of salt on top doing a great job of balancing thing out the extra sweetness from the caramel.