dessert – Page 17 – Michael Eats

Enjoyable Yogurt Drinks at Kome Yogurt

Published on February 19, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 10 Stephanie Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.komeyogurt.com/

Kome Yogurt is right across the street from the original Mizzica Gelateria & Cafe, which is an unfortunate location; I’ve been intrigued by it for a while, but obviously if I’m in the area my first choice is that amazing gelato, which is some of the best in the city.

But I’ve been to Mizzica a few times now, so sure, why not — let’s yogurt it up.

They actually have a pretty extensive menu, with a couple dozen choices ranging from various fruity options to Asian dessert standbys like red bean and black sesame. The woman behind the counter said that the Purple Kome is one of their most popular choices, so I went with that.

It’s pretty simple — it’s just sweet yogurt blended with purple rice. But sometimes the simplest things are the best.

It actually reminded me a lot of the dessert I recently had at Xe Kem; it’s pretty much the same thing, but in beverage form. There’s a decent amount of chewy rice at the bottom that you suck up with a big straw like bubble tea. It’s like rice pudding, but yogurty and drinkable. It’s quite refreshing.

My only complaint is that it’s probably a touch too sweet; I would have liked the tartness of the yogurt to stand out a bit more. But the sticker on the side of the cup indicated that the sweetness level was standard, which makes me think you can customize the sugar level. I’ll definitely have to do that next time.

(Mostly) Tasty Doughnuts at Cops Doughnuts

Published on January 31, 2023January 31, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 445 Adelaide Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.eatcops.com/

What’s better than a doughnut? A warm, fresh-from-the-fryer doughnut, that’s what.

Outside of a few beverages, Cops does just one thing: Tiny Tom’s-esque mini doughnuts that you can order topped with OG sour cream glaze, cinnamon sugar, or the weekly feature, which was orange sherbet when I visited. I went with an order of six of the feature.

My batch had an unnervingly pale colour, and I thought, uh oh, but maybe they serve a different style of doughnut?

Alas, they do not — the doughnuts were underdone, with an interior that wasn’t quite raw, but that was softer than you’d like.

Still, I didn’t dislike eating them — it’s hard to go wrong with a fresh doughnut, even when it’s not quite fully cooked. The exterior still managed to have a very light crispiness, and while I wish the interior was less mushy and more fluffy, it wasn’t unpleasant to eat.

That’s not to mention the orange sherbet icing, which was fantastic — it had a great balance of sweet and tart, and a nice hit of orange flavour. You could put that on anything and it would be great.

A Tasty Yogurt Dessert at Xe Kem

Published on January 24, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 888 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.xekem.ca/

Though they bill themselves as an ice cream shop, Xe Kem actually serves a whole bunch of Vietnamese-inspired desserts, including cakes, puddings, and yogurt.

I was tempted to try the ice cream — they have a handful of scooped flavours on offer, as well as soft serve you can get in a traditional or a charcoal cone — but one of the yogurts was calling my name.

I tried the purple sticky rice yogurt, which I quite enjoyed. The yogurt itself was sweet and creamy, and the rice has a nice chewy texture. It’s basically like rice pudding, but yogurty. I don’t think it’s going to knock anyone’s socks off, but it’s thoroughly satisfying.

Quick Bites: Red Lobster, Tuck Shop Kitchen, Lola’s Gelato

Published on January 19, 2023January 19, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Lobster-topped stuffed tilapia from Red Lobster

I used to love Red Lobster as a kid. It was my birthday restaurant for pretty much the entirety of my childhood, so I still have very warm, fuzzy memories of the place. Every several years I feel the need to go back to indulge my nostalgia and remind myself that no, it’s not very good. The lobster-topped stuffed tilapia was actually surprisingly terrible; the flavour was one-note salty and it was absolutely doused in an unpleasant cream sauce. The rice tasted like one of those Uncle Ben’s packets from Dollarama that’s been reheated about a dozen times. The whole thing was just a straight-up bummer. I do still enjoy the biscuits, however, so there’s that.

Smoked Butternut Squash and Egg sandwich from Tuck Shop Kitchen

Though they had more traditional breakfast sandwiches on their menu (which they serve only on Sundays), I was intrigued by this one, which comes topped with “Applewood smoked butternut squash ‘Bacon’, Canadian cheddar, egg and roasted garlic aioli on a toasted sesame bun.” It’s a tasty sandwich, though like with most items labeled as vegetarian bacon, the squash did not resemble anything even vaguely related to bacon. It was just a smoky slice of squash. Still, it works quite well in the sandwich — my only complaint would be that it’s a very rich sandwich, and needs something acidic to cut that down a bit. The menu lists pickled jalapenos as an optional one dollar addon, and I think that would be the thing this sandwich is missing.

Candy Cane Bark gelato from Lola’s Gelato

I feel like everyone (myself included!) sleeps on Lola’s because it’s so far out of the downtown core, but every time I go there I’m impressed by how great the gelato is. This visit was no different; I was particularly struck with the quality of the gelato itself, which is incredibly rich and creamy. And the flavour was great, with a nice balance of mintiness and chocolate. Their assortment of flavours tends to be a bit more basic than places like Nani’s or Mizzica, but when the gelato itself is this great, who cares?

Greek Doughnuts at Mr. Puffs

Published on January 15, 2023January 15, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1425 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://mrpuffs.com/

Mr. Puffs is a chain that specializes in fried doughnut holes — they’re basically Greek-style loukoumades, though the menu and website never uses that word, referring to them only as puffs.

The puffs come topped with various sauces and flavours; the woman behind the counter said that honey cinnamon and sugar cinnamon are the two most popular, so I got six of each (an order of 12, which comes out to about eight bucks, is the smallest you can get).

This location has just opened, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they’re still working out the kinks. This style of doughnut is generally soaked in syrup, but the syrup was just drizzled on here, resulting in a final product that was just barely sweet (and the sugar cinnamon variety had the same issue). The doughnuts mostly tasted of the oil they were fried in.

I also think that the oil might have been a bit too hot, because the exterior was aggressively crispy (I could barely put a fork through it) and the interior was soft and gummy.

Still, despite the issues, it’s a fun concept — assuming they work out the kinks, it’s definitely worth checking out.