Cookies – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Craig’s Cookies, Pink Ice Cream, Barbershop Patisserie

Published on November 25, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Dark chocolate chip cookie from Craig’s Cookies

I’ve been to Craig’s Cookies a few times since initially trying them back in 2018*, and I’ll admit that I’m not quite as crazy about the place as I was then; since then, I think the flavour of the cookies has diminished somewhat, and the sweetness level has skyrocketed. They’re very, very sweet cookies. Still, they’re far from bad, and on this particular visit I noticed that they have a dark chocolate chip cookie (made with chocolate chips from Soul Chocolate), which is clearly the way to go. The slight bitterness and restrained sweetness of the dark chocolate helps to balance out the sweetness of the cookie itself, and being from Soul, the quality of the chocolate is stellar. It’s a tasty cookie.

*It’s funny to look at my complaint in that review about there being almost no bakeries that specialize in cookies in the GTA. What a difference a few years makes — there’s gotta be like a couple dozen cookie shops in the GTA now, if not more.

Tahini walnut and pistachio ice cream from Pink Ice Cream

Pink Ice Cream is very well regarded and has some unique flavours, so I was pretty excited to try it. I had two flavours: tahini walnut (though I think they might have given me banana peanut instead, because the ice cream had an unripe banana flavour and no tahini that I could detect) and pistachio, and neither flavour jumped out at me as being particularly enjoyable. But people really do seem to love this place (it’s sitting at an impressive 4.9 out of 5 on Google as I write this), so it’s very possible that I’m wrong or they were just having a bad day (it also didn’t help that the freezer was too cold, resulting in very, very hard ice cream). Oh well. You can’t win ’em all!

Holiday cookie from Barbershop Patisserie

You know how I mentioned above that I’m not crazy about the cookies at Craig’s Cookies? Well, you know what cookie I am crazy about? The holiday cookie from Barbershop Patisserie. This has a chunk of chocolate in the middle (along with pistachios and cranberries), but mostly, isn’t particularly crammed with stuff. But the cookie itself is so amazingly good that it really doesn’t matter. Seriously: every cookie shop in Toronto needs to learn from this place. The cookie here has a great flavour, it isn’t too sweet, and it’s got the perfect balance of lightly crispy exterior and chewy interior. It’s cookie perfection.

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.

A Delicious Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea’s Cookies

Published on June 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 166 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://andreascookies.com/

The last time I tried a cookie from Andrea’s, I’ll admit that I liked it but didn’t love it. I’m just not generally a fan of the type of underbaked-on-purpose cookies that they serve here.

The cookie I just had, however? Phenomenal. Seriously, seriously good.

I got the knafeh, which is basically their take on the Dubai chocolate craze that’s slowly taking over the world (“milk & dark chocolate, phyllo, pistachio cream, pistachios”).

Oof, it’s good. With a chocolatey cookie like this (particularly with all the stuff they’ve crammed into it and onto it), my issues with an underbaked cookie completely disappear. This cookie was pleasantly soft, but had none of the raw flour flavour or gumminess that can plague these types of cookies.

That’s not to mention the the crispy bits of kadayif, which do a great job of bringing the soft cookie some texture.

And of course, the combo between the very chocolatey cookie and the rich pistachio cream is a big winner. It helps that they’re clearly using good quality chocolate, but it’s easily one of the better cookies I’ve had in a while.

Tasty Treats at Andrea’s Cookies

Published on March 15, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1632 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://andreascookies.com/

I’ve been wanting to try Andrea’s Cookies for a while. I actually tried to get a cookie a few months back, only to find that they were entirely sold out. Disappointing, but also, I figured, a good sign.

They’re popular enough to have recently expanded, with a second location on Ossington, though I visited just before that one opened.

They have several very interesting flavours that they rotate through (on my visit, they had intriguing varieties like almond croissant and coconut cream pie), but on my first visit to a cookie shop, I’ve gotta get the old standby: chocolate chip or chocolate chunk.

It was chunk, in this case, and it was clearly quite fresh, with the chocolate being delightfully gooey. You can’t go wrong there.

Aside from the generous amount of good quality chocolate, the cookie itself was not too sweet (with a nice — but not overapplied — hit of salt to balance things out), and a delicately crispy exterior.

The cookie is basically a much better version of Crumbl, in that they serve big fat cookies that have been way underbaked on purpose. This isn’t my favourite type of chocolate chip cookie; I like a chewy cookie as much as the next guy, but the gummy texture, not to mention the mild raw flour taste, isn’t particularly my jam. But if you like that, this is a better-than-average version of it.

Tasty Cookies at Felix & Norton

Published on December 15, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 8601 Warden Avenue, Unionville
Website: https://www.fncookies.com/

I should note that I cannot possibly be objective about Felix & Norton. My high school was right across the street from this cookie shop. I was a fat kid. Cookies were a very, very regular occurrence.

So I don’t know if these cookies are actually delicious or if it’s just the nostalgia talking, but either way I like them a whole lot.

On this visit, I had two of my favourites from back in the day, Menage a Trois (which features white, milk, and dark chocolate) and Caramelt (milk chocolate and caramel).

They have that slightly cakey texture you get from cookies that are designed to be perpetually chewy; I’m normally not crazy about that, but it works here. Again, it might be the nostalgia.

The quality of the chocolate is pretty decent, and the cookies themselves are sweet, but not overly so. They’re quite good. They also have a flavour I can’t quite put my finger on, other than to say that it is unmistakably Felix & Norton. That flavour is thoroughly ingrained in my brain, and has remained unchanged over the years. I don’t know what it is, but it makes these cookies taste noticeably different from anything else I’ve had in the GTA.