crispy onions – Michael Eats

Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on February 24, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4559 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I was actually kind of shocked to see that chili crunch is now mainstream enough to pop up at a giant fast food chain like KFC — but then I guess it’s been on its way up for a few years now (here’s an article from 2022 about how chili crisp “took over America”).

KFC’s got several items with the stuff, including a sandwich, Loaded Chili Crunch Tenders, a chili crunch Snacker Wrap, and chili crunch fries.

I went with the Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich: “Meet your new spicy obsession – the Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich. KFC’s juicy, crunchy, signature tripled-breaded chicken fillet is layered with spicy chili crunch oil, creamy chili crunch mayo, crispy onions, and pickles— all sandwiched between a toasted potato bun.”

I’m a fan of chili crunch, so I sort of figured this would be good, and yeah, it is. For one thing, unlike my last experience at KFC, the sandwich was hot, fresh, and made with some level of care. This seems like it should be the bare minimum, but here we are.

But even aside from that, this is a tasty sandwich — the chili crunch they’re using is a bit tangier than the norm, but it works. Combined with the heat and the garlicky punch, it’s a great topping for a fried chicken sandwich. The mayo also has some of that flavour, which is nice.

The level of spice is pretty decent, too — it’s certainly not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s got a nice kick. It’s a level of heat that would have been unheard of from a fast food chain a few years ago, but fast food places have been upping the spice recently.

I’m not sure if the crispy onions add all that much, and the sandwich is maybe a bit too salty, but otherwise I really enjoyed this.

Double Cheesy Melt from McDonald’s

Published on January 7, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I don’t think it’s possible to have too much cheese on a fast food cheeseburger. Generally speaking, I want the beef to be the star of a hamburger, even a cheeseburger, but a fast food burger with fast-food-quality beef patties? Sure, pile on the cheese. The more the better.

And McDonald’s definitely piles on the cheese with this one. Here’s how they describe it: “Two juicy 100% Canadian beef patties with a delicious cheesy sauce, two processed cheese slices, grilled onions, crispy onions and pickles on a warm toasted sesame seed split bun.”

I think the fact that they’re using smaller patties rather than the Quarter Pounder patties that you might expect really helps to tip the cheese-to-beef balance in favour of the cheese. The cheese isn’t kidding around here, that’s for sure.

I liked it. The cheese sauce tastes exactly how you want it to taste: extremely processed, but in a satisfying way. The grilled onions are a nice touch, and make the burger feel a bit more deluxe than your typical McDonald’s fare. And the crispy onions, as always, are tasty and add some nice texture.

I will say that I wish there were more pickles in the burger, or some sauce other than the cheese. The pickles do a great job of rounding things out by cutting through the richness of the cheese, but they’re not in every mouthful; the pickle-free bites feel like they’re missing something.

Black Truffle Burger at Shake Shack

Published on November 11, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

The last time I tried Shake Shack, it was during their collaboration with Mimi Chinese; it was thoroughly delicious.

I went with their latest special on this visit, the Black Truffle Burger (“Gruyere cheeseburger topped with black truffle sauce made with real black truffle oil and our crispy sweet onions on a toasted potato bun”), and it was… not thoroughly delicious.

I find it kind of hilarious that they boast that this is made with “real truffle oil,” as if that means anything. Seriously: don’t make me tap the “the vast majority of truffle oils have never seen a truffle in their life, and are artificially flavoured to taste vaguely like a truffle” sign.

No, I’m not a fan of truffle oil — though I will say that its flavour here isn’t too overbearing, and is mostly balanced out by the crispy onions and the tasty cheese.

This should have been a decent enough cheeseburger, except the star of the show — the beef — was surprisingly bad. The patty had a decent beefy flavour, but was very dry and disconcertingly crammed with crunchy gristly bits.

Shake Shake is ostensibly about higher quality food than big chains like McDonald’s or Wendy’s, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had beef this bad at either of those places.

Bull’s-Eye BBQ Cheeseburger at Wendy’s

Published on November 6, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

No, the Bull’s-Eye BBQ Cheeseburger isn’t the most interesting new item at a fast food joint; it’s a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and crispy onions. Is is boring? Yeah, absolutely. But is it tasty? Also yes.

Here’s how Wendy’s describes it: “Wendy’s new Bull’s-Eye BBQ Cheeseburger gets the combo of sweet and smoky exactly right. 100% fresh, never frozen Canadian beef topped with applewood smoked bacon, crispy onions, and a sweet twist on the bold taste of Barbecue sauce. It’s the freshest in the west.”

Yeah, it’s good. The barbecue sauce is sweet, tangy, and a bit smoky, and the generous amount of crispy onions adds a noticeable crunch. The description doesn’t mention it, but there’s also mayo in there, which brings the burger some creaminess and mellows out the sweet barbecue sauce a bit.

That’s not to mention the bacon and the cheese, which are both quite welcome on a burger, for obvious reasons.

The only other fast food item I can think of that features barbecue sauce this prominently is the McRib, and you know what? This is better. It’s a top-tier fast food hamburger.

Big Arch at McDonald’s

Published on August 27, 2024 by Michael Nusair5 Comments

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

The Big Arch is kind of a big deal for McDonald’s. They’re making a pretty big deal about it, at least, and apparently it’s going to be rolling out internationally soon, though right now it’s limited to a few countries.

The idea was to make a bigger, “more satiating” burger, and they’ve certainly succeeded on the size front. It’s a big boy, that’s for sure. Just looking at it, it’s substantially heftier than your typical McDonald’s fare.

(For comparison’s sake, the Big Arch is 1065 calories, the Big Mac is 570, and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is 530.)

The Big Arch, per the McDonald’s website: “Two quarter pound 100% Canadian beef patties, layered with three slices of white processed cheese, and topped with crispy onions, slivered onions, pickles, lettuce and delicious Big Arch sauce, served on a toasted sesame and poppy seed bun.”

I should note that I got lucky. My burger was well assembled, and the patties were fresh and a little bit juicy (a juicy burger? At McDonald’s??). As always at a fast food joint, your mileage may vary. But I really enjoyed this thing.

The element that stands out the most is the Big Arch sauce. It’s similar to Big Mac sauce, but like five or six times zestier. It’s got an almost citrusy brightness to it that actually does a pretty great job of cutting through the richness of the patties and the cheese. It’s quite tasty, which is a good thing because this is a saucy burger; they put two napkins in my bag and that was just barely enough.

Everything else works quite well. I’m normally not a fan of raw onions, but here there’s so much stuff going on that you can barely taste them. They mostly just add crunch (and the crunchiness from the fresh onions and crispiness from the fried ones are a nice combo).

I liked this way more than I thought I would. It McDonald’s-y in all the best ways. I guess the idea is that this will become a permanent part of the menu, and I hope that’s the case. It feels like it could happily live alongside McDonald’s classics like the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder.