Stroopwafel McFlurry​ at McDonald’s (World Menu Heist)

Stroopwafel McFlurry​ at McDonald's (World Menu Heist)
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?

Stroopwafel McFlurry​ at McDonald's (World Menu Heist)

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.

Stroopwafel McFlurry​ at McDonald's (World Menu Heist)

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

Barburu
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.

Barburu

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.

Barburu

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

Barburu

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

Salmon & Tuna poke bowl from Poke by Sushi Shop
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
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
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.

A Delicious Burger at General Public

General Public
Location
: 201 Geary Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.generalpublic.ca/

It’s been a while since I’ve had a really good burger, so the one at General Public hit the spot.  They only serve it on the happy hour menu, for some reason (which is 4:00pm to 6:00pm), but it’s worth coming here at that time to check it out.  Really, really good.

General Public

The GP Burger, as per their menu: “red leicester & cheddar blend, bone marrow, onion, branston pickle.”

Given how hard it is to find anything other than a smashed burger in Toronto, a hamburger in any other style is kinda delightful by default.

General Public

This one features a nice, hefty patty that’s cooked to a perfect medium rare.  They’re obviously using good quality beef with a good amount of fat, because it’s seriously juicy and has a satisfying beefy flavour.

General Public

The cheese is nice and gooey, and the toppings mostly complement the burger quite well, other than the onion (I’m not a fan of raw onion, so this my fault, not the burger’s).  The bun appears to be too big, and yeah, it kinda is, but it’s so plush and fluffy that it’s not nearly as big of a problem as it seems just by looking at it.  It works.

General Public

I tried a couple of other things.  There was the curried lamb tartare (“kashmiri, curry mayo, poppadom”), which was a really unique spin on a classic dish, with a nice crispy crunch from the poppadom that comes on the side, and a spiced flavour (particularly cumin) that distinguishes it from any tartare you’ve had before.

General Public

I also tried the bone marrow, which isn’t normally on the menu but was a special when I went.  It’s over-the-top rich (the bread that comes on the side is basically soaked in butter, as if it weren’t decadent enough on its own), but it’s so, so good.

General Public

I also had the lemon posset for dessert, which features an ultra-creamy lemon pudding topped with a crispy shortbread cookie.  Like everything else, it was seriously tasty — the pudding itself was maybe the silkiest I’ve ever had, and the bright, lemony flavour was perfectly tuned.

Tasty Cookies and Onigiri at Momochee’s Desserts

Momochee's Desserts
Location
: 263 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga
Website: https://momochees-desserts.square.site/

Momochee’s Desserts is a delightful bakery in Port Credit that specializes in cookies, basque cheesecake and, oddly enough, onigiri.

Momochee's Desserts

Onigiri, for the uninitiated, is a triangular rice ball with various fillings; frequently, it comes wrapped with a sheet of nori that’s been protected from the rice by plastic, keeping it crispy.

Momochee's Desserts

It’s not something that you’d expect to find at a bakery, but yeah, I’m into it.  I’m a big fan of the stuff, but it’s hard to find a really good one in Toronto.  Usually, the seasoning is off or it’s been sitting out too long, with unpleasantly firm rice.

Momochee's Desserts

I went with the spicy mayo onigiri, and aside from being served too cold, it was just right.  The rice was fresh and nicely seasoned, it had a good proportion of creamy tuna filling (with a surprisingly pronounced spicy kick), and the nori was perfectly crispy.

Momochee's Desserts

But of course, the place is mostly a bakery, so I had to get a dessert.  I went with the classic chocolate chip cookie, and it’s quite tasty.  Nothing about it blew my mind, but the contrast between the crispy exterior and gooey interior was satisfying, and it had a nice amount of good quality chocolate chips.