Biscoff McFlurry at McDonald’s (The International Menu Heist)

Biscoff McFlurry at McDonald's (The International Menu Heist)
Location
Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Montreal
Websitehttps://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

The International Menu Heist continues!  Seriously: I love this.  Can we just make this a permanent thing?  One new menu item a month from an international McDonald’s location?  Forever?  Yeah, let’s go ahead and do that, McDonald’s.  Thanks.

Biscoff McFlurry at McDonald's (The International Menu Heist)

I recently tried the McPizza Bites from Italy, which I thought were pretty decent.  Up next: the Biscoff McFlurry from Belgium (“Think creamy vanilla soft serve swirled together with Biscoff cookie crumbs.  Now you can picture yourself wandering cobbled streets of Bruges while tucking in to this deliciously sweet treat”).

Biscoff McFlurry at McDonald's (The International Menu Heist)

Do I need to describe this?  If you’ve had Biscoff cookies and you’ve had vanilla soft serve, then there are no surprises for you here.  It’s crushed up Biscoff cookies in soft serve.  It tastes exactly what you think that’s going to taste like, which is to say: quite delicious!  I’m a big fan of Biscoff’s distinct spiced caramel flavour, so yeah, I enjoyed this.

Also: I had this on a layover in the Montreal airport, and I don’t know if the soft serve at McDonald’s is tastier in Quebec or if it’s just better than I remembered, but it was creamy and satisfying.  It was a great McFlurry.

Tasty Drinks at Yomie’s Rice X Yogurt

Yomie's Rice X Yogurt
Location
: 4188 Finch Avenue East, Scarborough
Website: None

I didn’t realize when I visited, but apparently Yomie’s is a chain with locations all over the world (I can’t find a listing of all their locations, but a quick Google search shows locations in the US, Australia, and Singapore).  They specialize in yogurt drinks, and yeah, I get why they’re successful.  It’s tasty.

Yomie's Rice X Yogurt

They have a fairly extensive menu, but the purple rice yogurt seems to be the specialty, so that’s what I went with.

Yomie's Rice X Yogurt

It’s a really simple drink: it’s just sweet yogurt with chewy purple rice.  I had a similar drink at Kome Yogurt downtown, and I think I liked this one even better.  It had a satisfying proportion of yogurt to rice, and the level of sweetness was slightly more restrained.  It’s quite good.

A Delicious Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea’s Cookies

Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea's Cookies
Location
: 166 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://andreascookies.com/

The last time I tried a cookie from Andrea’s, I’ll admit that I liked it but didn’t love it.  I’m just not generally a fan of the type of underbaked-on-purpose cookies that they serve here.

The cookie I just had, however?  Phenomenal.  Seriously, seriously good.

Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea's Cookies

I got the knafeh, which is basically their take on the Dubai chocolate craze that’s slowly taking over the world (“milk & dark chocolate, phyllo, pistachio cream, pistachios”).

Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea's Cookies

Oof, it’s good.  With a chocolatey cookie like this (particularly with all the stuff they’ve crammed into it and onto it), my issues with an underbaked cookie completely disappear.  This cookie was pleasantly soft, but had none of the raw flour flavour or gumminess that can plague these types of cookies.

That’s not to mention the the crispy bits of kadayif, which do a great job of bringing the soft cookie some texture.

Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Andrea's Cookies

And of course, the combo between the very chocolatey cookie and the rich pistachio cream is a big winner.  It helps that they’re clearly using good quality chocolate, but it’s easily one of the better cookies I’ve had in a while.

Tasty Eats at Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese
Location
: 10 Dundas Street East, Toronto
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

Shake Shack is currently doing a limited-time collaboration with Mimi Chinese.  It ends on May 26, so you’d better hurry if you want to check it out (and trust me, you want to check it out).  They’re serving a chicken sandwich, seasoned fries, and a black sesame milkshake; all three are thoroughly delicious.

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

First up: the Málà Chicken sandwich (“Crispy chicken spiced with MIMI’s signature chili oil, charred scallion relish, green chili mayo, tangy pickles and lettuce”).

In Chinese cuisine, “mala” refers to a flavour that’s simultaneously spicy and numbing (thanks to Sichuan peppercorns), and yeah, this sandwich nails that.  It’s not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s got a good kick and a noticeable tingliness from the peppercorns.

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

The sandwich is otherwise nice and zippy, with a great balance of flavours.  It was kind of a bummer that the piece of chicken in my sandwich only filled half the bun (it was basically a hefty chicken strip), but the quality was great, with a crispy exterior and a very juicy interior (particularly impressive, given that it’s white meat).

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

And everything here was so tasty that even the condiment-only half of the sandwich was still satisfying.

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

I also tried the Shaokao Fries (“Crinkle cuts, street food–style—dusted with cumin, chili, and Sichuan peppercorn. Served with green chili mayo”).

The fries themselves were standard-issue crinkle cut fries, but that tasty seasoning really elevates them, with more of that hot/numbing flavour.  And the dip is a great combo of creamy and zesty.

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

I wasn’t planning on getting the milkshake, but if you’re already getting the sandwich and the fries, I guess you may as well go all the way and get the shake, too.  The Black Sesame Coconut Shake: “A nutty blend of black sesame and coconut inspired by traditional Chinese desserts.”

Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese

And hey, what do you know — this was pretty great, too.  In particular, the pronounced black sesame flavour actually works really well in a milkshake, which was nice and creamy without being overly thick.

Fruit on a Stick at Tanghulu Tanghulu

Tanghulu Tanghulu
Location
: 252 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.tanghulutanghulu.com/

Tanghulu is an Asian street food snack in which pieces of fruit are coated in crispy sugar and served on a stick.  That’s it — fruit + sugar + stick.

Tanghulu Tanghulu

At Tanghulu Tanghulu, they give strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and clementines the sugar-coating treatment.  They also serve fruit cups with chocolate sauce.

I went with strawberries, and yeah, it’s good.  The strawberries were fresh, ripe, and juicy, and the generous layer of sugar gives it a nice crunch and some extra sweetness.

Tanghulu Tanghulu

That’s it.  It’s fruit covered in glassy sugar.  It’s exactly what you think it is.