dessert – Page 24 – Michael Eats

A Tasty Bowl at Musoshin Ramen

Published on August 5, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 9 Boustead Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.musoshin.com/

I think ramen might be my favourite dish of all time, which means the last year and change has been a long, sad, ramenless slog.

(Yes, there is instant ramen, but that’s not even remotely the same. You could also make it yourself, but that’s an all day project and it’s never going to be as good as what you can get at even a half-decent ramen shop.)

Well, ramen is finally back in my life, and, of course, it’s delightful. Musoshin is actually a small Japanese ramen chain (they have three locations in Kyoto) that recently opened in Toronto, and yeah, it’s good.

I started with the karaage, which features very crispy pieces of juicy boneless chicken thigh; this was maybe slightly too salty, but was otherwise packed with flavour and was top-notch fried chicken.

Next up was the ramen: I went with the namesake Musoshin Ramen, which features a porky tonkotsu broth — it has a very rich, roasty flavour with a lot going on (is it made with seafood, too? Because it definitely has some subtle seafoody notes). It borders on being a bit overwhelming in its flavour, but it never crosses that line. It’s very tasty.

The noodles were quite good, too, with a springy texture and a satisfying level of thickness. The egg costs extra, but it’s nice and creamy and worth the two dollar surcharge.

The chashu, on the other hand, is the bowl’s clear weak spot. It was pretty dry and had a very pronounced gamy, leftovery flavour. Everything else is delicious enough that this doesn’t really matter, but it’s a bummer nonetheless.

I had the strawberry mochi for dessert, and it was the perfect way to end the meal. Featuring a full strawberry surrounded by sweet red bean paste with a chewy mochi wrapper, this was a delightful mix of chewy and creamy with a perfect level of sweetness.

Nani’s Gelato: Still the Best Gelato in the City

Published on August 1, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6 Charles Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.nanisgelato.com/

I wrote about Nani’s Gelato a few times before this blog went on hiatus; back then they were operating out of a truck, and I mentioned that I think they might serve the best gelato in the city.

They upgraded to a permanent location near Yonge and Bloor last year, and there’s no longer any “might” about it. It’s easily the best gelato in the city.

The combo of delightfully unique flavours (they come up with a new assortment every couple of weeks) and top-notch quality ice cream is irresistible. On this particular visit I went with salted olive oil candied pecan and toasted coconut, and both flavours were perfectly creamy and intensely delicious. Some of the flavours here sound odd in theory, but always work — you never, ever get the sense that they’re odd just for novelty value. The flavour combos are as tasty as they are unique.

Decent Gelato with a Fun Gimmick at Solato

Published on July 25, 2021 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: Stackt Market (28 Bathurst Street, Toronto)
Website: https://www.solato.com/

Solato is a new gelato place in the Stackt Market with a pretty distinctive gimmick — the gelato itself is made on the spot in a process that’s basically like coffee pods, but for ice cream. It’s very slick.

The menu is relatively limited; when I went, it was just vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, and a couple of fruity flavours. You can either get the gelato by itself for six bucks, or pay an extra dollar and get a couple of toppings.

I went with hazelnut sans-toppings, and the whole process was pretty seamless; they put a pod in one of the machines, and within a couple of minutes it was dispensing soft serve gelato.

It’s fine. It’s a fun gimmick, I guess, but it’s hard to deny that there’s better gelato in the city.

I was afraid it might taste artificial, but it has a pretty clean hazelnut flavour, albeit a weak one (the nutty taste is far from robust). It’s very smooth, which I guess is the advantage of making it right on the spot, but otherwise it’s nothing special; it’s a bit of a shrug, especially for the price, but if you’re in the Stackt Market anyway it might be worth a shot just for the novelty value.

Cookies and Cream at Ice Creamonology

Published on July 18, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1184 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.icecreamonology.com/

Ice Creamonology had only been around for a few months when, after what sounds like a pretty horrifying dispute with their landlord, they had to move out of their spot on Queen’s Quay. That’s a bummer, but they seem to have landed on their feet, with a new location on the west end right next to Chen Chen’s.

Their rotating menu mostly consists of old standbys like pistachio, dark chocolate, and vanilla; I kept it pretty simple with Cookies and Cream, which they describe as coming with “real Oreo pieces and Oreo crumbs.”

Nothing about the flavour particularly blew me away, though to be fair I’m not sure what you could do with cookies and cream to make it mind-blowing. It features a pretty perfect amount of cookie pieces; it’s enough to give it a nice Oreo-infused flavour, but not so much that it overwhelms the ice cream.

And the quality of the ice cream is pretty decent, though the flavour is a bit muted and it’s gummier than I’d like (it’s much stretcher and chewier than your average scoop).

Checking out the Summer Scoop Series at Eataly

Published on July 11, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 55 Bloor Street West (in the Manulife Centre), Toronto
Website: https://www.eataly.ca/news/housemade-gelato/

Eataly is currently doing a promotion they’re calling the Summer Scoop Series; every month, they’re collaborating with a different local gelato-maker on a special flavour. This month, they’re working with Nani’s Gelato, and the flavour is pistachio ricotta kulfi.

The Eataly website describes it as “an Indian-inspired flavour with an Italian twist, featuring Italian pistachio paste, chopped pistachios, steeped saffron, cardamom, and whipped ricotta.”

As you’d expect from Nani’s (and the gelato at Eataly is no slouch, either), it’s superb. The pistachio flavour is pronounced, and it’s perfectly complemented by the saffron and cardamom. The bits of sweet ricotta interspersed throughout are a nice touch. It’s top-notch gelato.