dessert – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Sovily, Misfit Ice Cream, Little Baba

Published on August 30, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Pizza from Sovily

I had a slice of the Sovily Rosé (“Rosé Sauce, Mozzarella, Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, Parmesan”) from this place, and it was totally fine. The fluffy crust was kind of lacking in substance or flavour (it’s reportedly sourdough, though there’s zero sourdough flavour), but it had a nice exterior crispiness and was generally pleasant enough. The sauce tasted canned and was a bit too generously applied, but the combo of mozzarella and parmesan was nice. I can’t say I’m in a huge rush to come back here, but it got the job done.

Soy Boy at Misfit Ice Cream

I was extremely intrigued by the Soy Boy flavour at Misfit Ice Cream, which the menu describes as “tofu fa, brown sugar ginger syrup.” Tofu fa is a really tasty dessert made with silken tofu, and I’m certainly on board for an ice cream version of it (but then I’m on board for an ice cream version of basically any dessert). The version here does a pretty solid job of capturing the flavour of that dessert, though I’ll admit that the texture — which was icy and dense — left a bit to be desired. The whole point of tofu fa is its luxurious ultra-silky texture; if you lose that, it does kinda put a damper on things.

Chicken Tawook Baba Box from Little Baba

I was a pretty big fan of Little Baba when I tried a couple of their wraps; well, I just tried their namesake Baba Box, and yeah, they know what they’re doing. The one I tried came with chicken tawook, a zippy fattoush salad, basil hummus, some pickles, and a generous amount of garlicky toum (which their menu calls “garlic cream”). Everything here was quite tasty, particularly the perfectly grilled chicken and the basil hummus. I’ve never heard of adding basil to hummus, and I was afraid its distinctive flavour would be overwhelming. But they add just enough of the stuff to bring a nice herbal zip that perfectly complements the other flavours, and the ultra-creamy texture is a thing of beauty (it might be one of the silkiest versions of this dish that I’ve ever had).

Tasty Turkish Dessert at Helvaci Ali

Published on August 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3535 Odyssey Drive, Mississauga
Website: https://helvaciali.ca/

I’ll admit that I hadn’t even heard of helva, a Turkish dessert, before checking it out at Helvaci Ali. I sort of figured it would be similar to halva or halawi, but it’s a completely different thing.

Helvaci Ali is a Turkish chain that’s been serving up the stuff since 1900, so it seems like a good place to try it.

The version of helva they serve here is made with semolina flour and butter, and is basically like a very rich pudding. It comes on top of ice cream (the menu describes it as 2/3 semolina helva and 1/3 ice cream), and it’s extremely delicious.

It comes in several flavours: walnut, pistchio, Biscoff, chocolate, caramel, and Dubai chocolate (I believe it is now illegal to be a dessert shop and not have some Dubai chocolate variety on the menu). I was told walnut and pistachio were the most popular, so I went with both.

Wow, it’s good. It’s super rich and creamy, with a grainy (but not unpleasantly so) texture from the semolina. It’s served warm, and the contrast between it and the cold ice cream is really, really nice.

The flavour of the walnut and the pistachio were both pretty mild, but present enough that you know what you’re eating.

I was afraid it might be too syrupy, but it’s actually got a really great level of sweetness. It’s quite sweet, but not aggressively so. It was my first taste of helva, but I can guarantee it won’t be my last.

Stroopwafel McFlurry at McDonald’s (World Menu Heist)

Published on August 19, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I’ll admit that this is — to me — the most boring item in this year’s World Menu Heist. McFlurries in general are kinda boring, but this one, with just waffle cone pieces and caramel, is particularly uninteresting.

Still, it’s on the menu, and I have an odd (possibly unhealthy??) compulsion to try it all, so sure, why not?

The Stroopwafel McFlurry: “Missing from the Netherlands, now somehow spotted in Canada. Creamy vanilla soft serve swirled with caramel flavoured cinnamon waffle cone pieces and caramel sauce. Sweet, smooth, with a perfect crunch… enjoy it while it’s here.”

It might not be the most exciting thing ever, but it is pretty satisfying.

Though I’m not sure if I would have guessed the stroopwafel connection if I didn’t know that’s what this was. Stroopwafels are a Dutch dessert featuring two thin, waffle-like cookies encasing a middle layer of chewy caramel (though if you get a fresh one, the caramel is delightfully gooey). Once you separate the caramel and the waffle and treat them as two separate components, it loses its stroopwafel energy. It’s just caramel and waffle cone pieces.

Still, the cinnamon on the waffle cone bits is a nice touch and brings this more personality than it otherwise would have had. The waffle cone bits also have a satisfying crunchiness that contrasts well with the creamy soft serve and gooey caramel.

It’s kinda one-note sweet and not something I’d order again, but I’m not mad I ate it.

Tasty Pastries at Barburu

Published on July 12, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1000 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/barburu_bakery/

Barburu is a delightful little bakery and coffee shop in Yuan Ming Supermarket’s food court. They mostly specialize in various filled croissants, though they have a few other types of pastries as well.

I went with the pistachio croissant, and it was quite satisfying. In particular, it’s got a very generous amount of pistachio filling that has a tasty pistachio flavour.

I know it seems odd to complement pistachio filling for tasting like pistachio, but the pistachio flavour just isn’t quite there in a lot of croissants like this. This one definitely doesn’t have that problem.

There’s also a sweet, creamy pistachio spread on top of the pistachio filling, which is a nice touch.

My only real issue here is that the layer of croissant surrounding the filling is quite thin. It’s got a nice crispy exterior and the whole thing is certainly very satisfying, but I would have liked a bit more croissant and a bit less filling. The ratio is off. It’s tasty enough that I’m not going to complain too much, but it’s still a shame.

Quick Bites: Poke by Sushi Shop, Eataly Ristorante, Mizzica Gelateria & Cafe

Published on July 5, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Salmon & Tuna poke bowl from Poke by Sushi Shop

The salmon & sushi poke bowl (“Salmon, tuna, lettuce, red cabbage, wakame, radish, orange masago, ponzu, teriyaki and poke sauces, spicy light mayo, nori”) at Poke by Sushi Shop is solid. Did anything about it blow me away? Not particularly (I also found the presence of a whole bunch of iceberg lettuce to be a bit off-putting). But it featured some tasty toppings and sauces and a generous amount of fresh salmon and tuna. For something from a food court (particularly the Sherway Gardens food court, which kinda sucks), it’s a nice option.

Ragu pasta from Eataly Ristorante in Sherway Gardens

I haven’t been particularly crazy about anything I’ve had from the Eataly location in Sherway Gardens thus far, and yeah, that’s still the case. I got a ragu pasta (which isn’t on the menu on their website, so I’m not sure what it was called or what was in it — very helpful, I know), and it was fine. It had some surprisingly big chunks of pork, which were fork-tender and easily the highlight. Otherwise it was just kinda one-note salty. Certainly not unpleasant to eat, but I think anyone with even a moderate level of skill in the kitchen could whip up a tastier pasta dish with stuff in their pantry.

Black Sesame gelato from Mizzica Gelateria & Cafe

Mizzica is generally regarded as serving the best gelato in the city. They’ve also started to expand, with a second location around Yonge and Eglinton. So this is about the time you might expect the quality to start going downhill. Happily, that doesn’t seem to be the case — at least not yet. The black sesame gelato is just as rich and creamy as everything else I’ve had here, and has a very satsifying roasty sesame flavour. It kinda reminded me of a gelato version of Sesame Snaps, but with no crunchiness. I find most black sesame ice cream doesn’t quite have as much sesame flavour as I’d like, but this was pretty fantastic.